Kusono took his long hair in his hands again, gathering the stray white strands into what resembled a proper ponytail. Finishing his work he swept a milky white hand over his hair, smoothing it back into place. Some strands along his hairline hung across his forehead, hiding one of the red dots that made up his clan tattoo. The other strands framed his face or hung over his shoulders. The woes of having long hair.

He had only just recently arrived in Kumogakure, breathing in it's thin mountain air. Kusono had to trek a fair amounts up steep inclines to arrive at the gates. The mountains surrounding the place made up a natural defense against potential invaders. Having a natural defense against armies did nothing to soften the security at the entrance. Kusono had to go through even more of the usual nonsense that travelers had to go through because he was from another village. An hour of getting his passport, I.D, and certificate of travel 'authenticated'; a fancy word for "Making damn sure you aren't a spy". An hour to search his person and belongings multiple times, and another hour of just waiting for the appropriate people in the chain of command to show up. A giant fucking waste of time. But no matter, Kusono could still see the exams, fight, drink, and have more than enough to do all of that multiple times.

After the fiasco at the entrance, Kusono was treated to something oddly familiar. The daily bustle of a hidden village. It seemed to be the same as in Kirigakure, albeit the civilians wore different attire and it rained a lot more. He expected it to be, he didn't know, something different. They where completely different nations after all with their own unique customs and histories. But, some things just never change. After looking around a bit he wandered into the market district where everyone from young shop owners to the elderly peddled their wares at stores, markets, stalls, and carts at every corner. He perused a few of the stalls wares. Some offered clothes. They where a lot more colorful than Kiris, a lot more wavy, with longer sleeves. A few fruit and other food stands, and finally a store front which he stopped at. This one happened to be more modern, featuring refrigerators and other amenities. Naturally, Kusono headed straight to the back where the liquor was at. He browsed for a few minutes and selected a dark colored bottle of hard Sake. He took it to the counter where a young clerk sat. When Kusono placed the bottle on the table the cashier looked him up in down, focusing on his headband that hung loosely around his neck and his face. "Uhhh, you don't look old enough to buy this." The cashier said. Kusono took some ryo out of his pocket and placed it on the table, paying double for the bottle. "Yes I am." Kusono said with a sly grin. The cashier cocked his head to the side then slowly smiled, realizing the obvious. "Why yes you are sir, here you are." With that exchange over, Kusono headed out to take care of his final business.

Kusono arrived at the beginning of Mt. Ikkuy, a resort/vacation spot he planned to rent a room for however long he was staying here. There was a small housing structure that the front desk was stationed in. It was manned by a young woman, about his age or a little older which gave him a room for a modest price. His room was alright, about above average in furnishings. It featured a small living room which lead into a bedroom with an even smaller connected bathroom. The living room consisted of a wooden Kotatsu next to a radio. The bedroom was a queen bed draped with black covers and white pillows. The left of the room opened up to a balconey with a nice view of the water falls and the pool below them. Kusono unloaded his backpack and clothes. Shoving them into their proper places before settling down at the balcony. He enjoyed the view a bit, admiring the dozens of families longing and swimming in the pool that the waterfall emptied into. Around the pool sat rows of beach chairs. Each one filled by a Kumo citizen. He couldn't see up to the top of the waterfall, but that was where he wanted to go.

After eating a small snack and some water, Kusono locked his room and headed to his destination. As usual everything in this nation was on some incline or the other, so he spent the better part of his journey hunched over; but not before checking out some of the women lounging about at the waterfall's base. His walk took about an hour or so to complete. Once he reached the top he was treated to a mostly grassy plateau with a few trees dotting the scene with alone boulder at the edge of the grassy area. After the boulder a natural rocky pool of water opened up that spilled out into the pool below. Kusono took off his kimono and hung it on a tree branch next to the bolder. The rock was mostly flat, making a great place for Kusono to lounge about. Laying with his feet straight and his head in his hands, he enjoyed what Kumo had to offer.

WC: 908

Training:

Speed:C ->C-1 (575/575)
Speed: C-1->C-2 (333/600)

The last few days before the Chunin Selection Exams were quite uneventful for the young Kirigakure no Sato shinobi. Before he had even left for them they had seemed like the most important event in his life. They would basically open up his own future and his village's future for becoming a well known ninja, and if he was able to bring in a flow of income to the Hidden Mist Village, then he'd be doing his duty without a doubt in helping it to prosper; it and it's people. His father had made the Chunin Exams seem like a big thing, the only thing that seemed extraordinary about it was that you were capable of killing your opponent, but it was frowned upon to do so. The promise of death's sweet kiss was one that Yasutake didn't want, not yet in his life, but he knew as he grew older he'd want to fall into death's embrace and to fall into an eternal sleep for the rest of time. But he had a few things to do first.

Like getting far into the Selection Exams. To be a failure wouldn't stain his family's honour so much as it'd distraught him for not making the Hidden Mist Village look good. He believed his only mission here was to get past the First stage of the Chunin Exams and to put an end to anyone who was in his way, and then proceed to make a name for himself after he became a C-Rank ninja from his current D-Rank. Of course, he wouldn't be able to do that if he didn't grow in skill, so before he had even left Kiri the ninja had been training hard, all the way up to the last day when he had left with Team Nozomi and even for the first few days since he had been there in Kumogakure no Sato. He knew it wasn't the best of ideas to train so hard, especially so early before the Chunin exams since the possibility of harming oneself was high, but he had done it anyway.

The last few days he didn't however, he had toned it down to the point that he'd only combat someone every now and again, the last person he had actually encountered who would spar him was a Ruesaito from Iwagakure no Sato, a seemingly flirtatious woman that he could say was quite entertaining to be around, but he knew a woman like that would be the same way with almost any other man. Simply a flirt. He thought to himself as he maintained his spot near the edge of the waterfall, and continued to bask in his own thoughts. There wasn't much to do when relaxing he had recently wondered, and to some that must have been the greatest thing ever, but to him, one that was always training and pushing themselves beyond their limits, it was beyond boring. But like all things, it eventually became something that he got used to and accepted it, just as he had thought when he had been with Riss in the hot springs previously.

With an impassive face all throughout his personal thoughts, he swung his head around to look over his shoulder at someone who was splashing in the water multiple meters away from him in a pool of water sectioned off water. For a moment, his Kirigakure headband shined off his forehead, and he reached upwards to untie it, the heat building upon his forehead through the band of metal, and he tied over his left bicep, something that he had begun to do quite frequently, and he watched for a few more moments before looking back to the world beyond the edge of the waterfall.

Yasutake only approached someone when he knew said person had the ability of teaching him something useful. Of course, he didn't know this fellow jumping into the water and therefore he didn't care enough to approach him. Besides, he felt it was weird to watch other wet shirtless men who were enjoying their own free time.

WC: 703

Kusono slowly drifted off to sleep as he reclined on the flat rock. His body was completely relaxed. He hadn't really gotten to have any relaxation time. Being a ninja was all about training and advancing both your skills and knowledge. Most nights Kusono would go through the challengers at his clans training grounds. They pour over the scrolls he nabbed from the old Kaguya compound outside of the city. To be honest, most of his repertoire of jutsu came from the scrolls. Either he copied the jutsu from the scroll and mastered it, or added onto a theory, skill, or jutsu; making it all his own. One example was his various armor techniques. One of them was taught to him by his father, the other he learned from his scroll. Together they formed a formidable defensive technique. Regardless of how he obtained a jutsu, he still needed to acquire and create more. When it came to jutsu, the more the merrier always rang true. Kusono's mind drifted to blankness after a few more minutes of thinking.

Flashback to last years Exams

Kusono watched his opponent, Suutei of Kumogakure bleed to near-death from numerous piecing wounds all across his body. Kusono had gotten the boy into a bear hug where his spiky armor did what it was meant to do. It was the first time he felt the carnal blood lust of his clan course through his veins. The sheer excitement of besting someone else with your own skill in combat. It was pure ecstasy. Next, his mind flashed to his fight with Sero of Kirigakure. In their match Kusono was named the victor; though it hardly went that way. Their bout ended at a standstill. Sero's kunai launcher firmly planted against Kusono's cheek. Kusono's bone blade pressed against Sero's throat, both ready to end the other's existence. Lastly, his mind glossed over his fight with Kaekio of Kumogakure. Kusono remembered it intensely, it was a permanent stain on his honor and memory. His bone armor was cut to pieces, his body cut to shreds by her twin swords. He ended up unconscious and bleeding to death. His body still bore the ugly scars of defeat all across his torso.

Flashback end

Kusono woke up with pure rage that dissipated as soon as he seen the cool, blue rushing water of the waterfall. Kusono slammed his clenched fish into the rock he was laying on. He jumped up off the rock and shook the thoughts from his head. Every day he was getting stronger, and every night he was getting smarter. But today was a day to unwind. He rolled his neck, and set to undressing. He had worn his swimming trunks under his shinobi attire, stripping his ninja pants and shoes off to reveal a black and white swimming pants. Placing his discarded clothes by his kimono he saw a figure in his peripherals. Another boy, about his age by himself. Kusono walked up to him, the boys back to him. "What brings you to the top of the waterfall?"

WC: 514

Training:

Speed:C ->C-1 (575/575)
Speed: C-1->C-2 (600/600)
Speed: C-2->C-3 (247/700)

Face still impassive, Yasutake wasn't one to be horribly active when he wasn't training. It was almost as if he was another person entirely when he was partaking in whatever form of relaxation took his fancy at that moment. Usually, he spent his time sitting around, thinking about how he could train better, new exercises, sometimes he ad even gone as far as to draw them out. Never had he included another person in his training unless it was to test out a new technique, and even then he preferred to use wooden dummies for such things. Recently the Hattori had begun to understand that it was necessary to face off against actual people when one was practicing in the shinobi world, even if it meant revealing whatever techniques you had at your disposal. He wondered if the time would ever come that it'd be required for him to use his kekkei genkai technique.

I don't even know how though, he thought to himself in hindsight. In truth he wasn't entirely sure as to how to activate his jutsu. It wasn't one that one was able to force he knew, when his father had explained it to him it was something that just... Happened. A technique that activated itself on a subconscious level, and even then when it had been explained to him he couldn't understand. He even remembered being surprised at how such a means of activation could exist.

"It activates on a subconscious level? Is it possible for other techniques to be the same?" Those were the questions that he remembered asking his parents when he had been practicing his own style of fighting before he had even left for Kumogakure no Sato. It was a technique that he wanted to be in control of, if only because he couldn't rely on a technique that wasn't able to be commanded through conscious effort.

I just have to be in control of myself. That's not so bad... His thoughts slowly slipped from the front of his mind as he heard the steps of someone approaching him from behind, forcing him to wake up from his reverie as his bubble of free space slowly became smaller. First the words came when the walking had stopped, and then there was a pause from both parties. A simple question to answer, but he took an extra few moments to remain silent instead.

"It's peaceful up here."

A simple answer for a simple question.

WC: 426