Godric's day started off in the same way as every other morning had since his arrival in the village Hidden in the Clouds had, after cleaning up and eating he headed out the door. His first stop was the Thunder Temple, he had worked out an arrangement with the caretakers of the Temple, they would allow him to come meditate each morning and he would help them maintain the cleanliness of it, and in Godric's eyes it was the perfect arrangement. As he arrived at the temple he saw the broom was already waiting for him in the usual spot so he went ahead and started his daily routine and began sweeping the floor of the main meditation hall, once he was done with that he grabbed the window cleaner and a towel and cleaned all the windows and then started dusting the different antiques around the hall, with these he took the most time mostly due to the fact that as part of their arrangement he had to ensure that nothing got broken or misplaced. Once his cleaning was done he took his Normal spot in front of the Thunder idol and began his meditation like he had done everyday he had come to the Temple, he was not sure what it was exactly that drew him to the Temple but he did know that he always felt energized when he left as if the Temple recharged his batteries. He had first started coming to the Temple in the late afternoon after a day of training to relax and unwind from the day but when he started noticing that he had more energy when he left the Temple than he did when he woke up he decided to start making two trips to the Temple, once in the morning before he trained and then once after he had finished his training for the day and it had become a ritual of sorts for him. As he sat down crossing his legs and began his meditation his mind slowly began to clear and all the worry and concern he had started to drift away as he went deeper and deeper into his meditation.


The tapping in his head broke his concentration and stopped his meditation, the Temple didn't have a clock but looking out the window he could see the sundial and judging by the shadow cast from the sun he would say he had only been meditating for an hour or two, "Damn noise, always interrupting me" he mumbled under his breath as he started to stand. Despite the sort meditation Godric felt more energized than he was when he had arrived and was  ready to start his training for the day. Godric knew that it was the electrified atmosphere of the Thunder Temple that energized him he could even feel the energy surging through his chakra, he could not help but come to the conclusion that it was his natural affinity to lightning that helped to energize him so much and that was the reason he has been drawn to the Temple since the day he first stepped through the gates of Kumogakure. On his way out the door of the main hall Godric stopped and lit one of the insense that was sitting there, one of the caretakers had told him when he first came to the Temple that it brings luck. Godric wasn't much for believing in things he could not see luck being at the top of the list, but he figured it wouldn't hurt and if by some strange coincidence it did actually bring him luck than that would be great too.

As he left the Temple he was planning on going straight up to the battle plateau but then his stomach growled and he realized it was nearly lunch time and headed down the pathway to the shops to get some food. As he neared the marketplace he heard a lot of loud remarks coming from around the corner ahead of him, "did you see that" he heard a woman ask, "that was amazing" another woman answered, "I've never seen anything like it" came the deep voice of a man, followed by very loud cheering and request for more, as he drew nearer to the corner his interest was peaked over the limit he had to know what it was that everyone seemed to be talking about what was so amazing what could possibly draw so much attention.

---

WC: 755

Working for tips wasn't really Gin's thing. Somehow, she thought it felt somewhat... undignified, for lack of a better word. A job like weighting tables or driving people around was different. Those had a base salary and tips were just a small bonus for a job well done. But this - entertaining people in the street - was only a step above begging for cash. However, having gambled away most of what she had brought with her, she was rather pressed for cash at the moment. There was always the option of going on a quick mission, but the Raikage would probably never allow that. However, the reason had nothing to do with her being a foreigner, but because he had wanted to spend as much time with her as he could before she once again had to return to the Hidden Mist Village. Taking on an S rank, A rank or even B rank mission might require her to travel for a few days. And with the Chuunin Exams currently going on, there was no way that the highest ranking official in the entire Hidden Cloud Village could afford to take some time off just for the sake of the former Kazekage's company.

If Gin really needed the money, Sanosuke would no doubt understand. That, or he would insist on paying for everything, as he usually did. Under normal circumstances, Gin wouldn't mind mooching off of the Raikage at all. Given their current change in relationship, however, she felt she needed to contribute, even if it was just a little bit. There was also the idea of getting him a gift, but that wouldn't come for a while. That brought her to where she currently was - standing in the middle of a crowd and drawing up as much attention as she could. "Come one! Come all! Ladies and gentlemen prepare to see the show of your lives! She yelled out. She knew that that wouldn't draw up the amount of people she needed or stop anyone in their tracks, but it was a start. She had a couple of people stare at her momentarily, wondering with curiosity. That was enough for her to begin. She concentrated chakra around her lips and mouth, infusing it with what she believed to be the most flashy elements she had in her arsenal: Katon and Raiton.

For a brief second, she felt the overwhelming heat flood through her. She had even less than that to give it a shape. She decided to go for the classic eastern dragon, which flew from her mouth and circled around her several times before it flew towards the air. It was made purely our of fire, with lightning crackling around it for added effect. It made complicated maneuvers in the sky before bursting like a firework. The warm sparks of color slowly drifted towards the ground before gathering together once again as if they were being pulled towards each other with an immeasurable force. They formed a sphere of fire and lightning before morphing and changing into another shape. The fire and lighting split from each other ti form two different dragons that began twisting around each other.

At this point, a large crowd had gathered around her and began to drop coins and small bills of paper into the hat that Gin had placed in front of her. The show ended once the dragons finished a mock battle that dissolved them both and rained small particles of heat over the crowd. They cheered wildly for her and began to leave more money. Once the crowd had dissipated, she began to count what money she now had. "Hm... 500... 550... Alright, more or less 800 ryo without counting coins. Not bad, I suppose," she mumbled to herself, concentrated in what she was doing for the moment. She sighed. She would need to do this about twenty more times if she wanted to sustain her usual habits for the coming few weeks. She sighed and ran her fingers through her silver strands of hair, wondering what she should do next.

[686]

Godric rounded the corner just in time to see the end of what had everyone so captivated and what he saw took his breath away, there was a sphere of what looked like fire and lightning swirling around together but that was not what took his breath away it was what came out of the sphere. Splitting off in different directions out of the sphere came two dragons of the different elements of the sphere that began twisting around in the sky above, it was by all accounts the most amazing thing Godric had ever witnessed. The dragons soon dissipated showering the crowd in sparks as the crowd went roaring with cheers and applause, Godric began to wonder if that was the end of the show what did he miss of the beginning. The spectacle was over and slowly the crowd began to die down until soon there were only a few standing around the area that just a few seconds before was full of people and their cheers, that's when he saw a young woman with long silver hair who was sitting in the center of the area where the crowd once stood counting ryo out of a hat.

Could she be the one that created that beautiful display Godric wondered to himself as he stood there eyeing the woman, if she was then she could be just what I need. Godric wasn't sure how to approach the lady mostly due to the fact that he did not want to seem too eager as he felt it was a sign of weakness on his part but at the sametime this woman obviously had skills and Godric hoped she would be willing to train him or at the very least give him a few pointers to help him out. He slowly approached her as she counted her earnings from her show, but he waited to make sure she was done counting before he said anything as to not be rude and cause her to be angry with him for interrupting her. "That was quite a show miss" he said when he was sure she had finished, "the most impressive display I have had the pleasure of witnessing" He tried his best to appear indifferent about the show but his voice betrayed him coming out a little higher pitched than he liked. He silently scolded himself for sound like a school girl who was trying to get the attention of the quarterback that threw the winning pass at a football game. He quickly did his best to try and recover the situation before the woman thought him a fool, "my name is Godric, I was on my way to do some training when I saw your performance" Godric's words sprouted from his mouth quickly and in a jummble, pausing briefly to take a breath before he continued "I hope I'm not over stepping but from your performance I saw that you used Katon and Raiton, it might be a coincidence but those are my elements as well" Godric paused again thinking back to the insense he had lit before leaving the temple earlier, could this woman be his luck he wondered to himself. "Anyways I was just wondering seeing as I can tell your pretty skilled if you might be willing to give me a few pointers or something" by now the woman probably thought him to be an idiot as he stood there stammering to get his words to come out but he had to try he would never get better unless he trained but without someone to train with it was really hard for him to determine if his training was doing any good for him and so he stood there and waited for the woman's answer hoping she would say yes.

---

WC: 638/1393

Gin recounted the paper bills that were now in her hand, muttering the number under her breath. She had lit a cigarette that was now burning slowly in the edge of her lips as she puffed on it every once in a while. She was rather distracted - her brow was furrowed in concentration and her eyes were narrowed suspiciously as if the money were going to somehow run away or disappear. The former Kazekage let out a grunt and pursed her lips. She didn't quite notice someone approaching her as she sat on the sidewalk. Or rather, she noticed, but assumed that it was someone simply walking past her. However, a small shadow projected over her and still lingered there. Moreover, whoever this was was speaking to her. She lifted her head to look at the person. It was apparently a young boy with olive colored skin, dark hair and matching eyes. He didn't quite match with any ethnicity in the area, mostly because what he wore wasn't exactly the traditional clothing that people in the Hidden Cloud wore. Maybe he was a wanderer from a foreign continent or a nomadic tribe. In any case, it wasn't Gin's business. He would probably be gone soon.

She tilted her head slightly, her face showing annoyance at being interrupted. The silver haired woman carefully put her money away in her item's pouch for the moment and pulled the cigarette from her mouth to exhale a plume of light grey smoke. "Thanks," she said, though she didn't quite seem too amicable when she spoke. As she did with most younger people she met, she disregarded his name entirely. She sighed when he got to the point and ran her fingers through silvery white locks of hair. "I'm too sober for this," she mumbled under her breath, not really caring if the boy heard. "Look, kid, I'm not in the market for a new student. Last one I had is still trying to kill me," she said, referring to the Hidden Mist ANBU member known as Sero.

It seemed that every time they saw each other, no matter how hard Gin tried, he still wanted to drive a sword through her gut. That's family for ya... Her young nephew would likely never stop until he reached his goal, which was something that Gin found admirable. The fact that such determination was at her expense couldn't really be helped. Gin stood up and brushed the dirt and dust off of her much too tight pants. She took one last puff from her cigarette before dropping it onto the ground and putting it out under her foot with a twist of her heel. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to start hitting the bars before it's four o' clock in the afternoon." The kid would probably insist on following her until he got his way. Deep down, Gin knew that she would relent at some point and train the kid as she had done so many before him. She supposed it was just ingrained in her nature, at this point. After all, she was a mother of five kids and had spent the better part of the last seventeen years training the next generation to take over once she was too weak to continue.

For now, however, she would walk past the boy and head down the street with a sour look on her face, knowing that she would have to come up with some other way to both get the money she needed and sustain her bad habits over the course of the next few weeks.

[1301]

The look of annoyance on the woman's face told Godric that she was not interested in anything the young shinobi had to say, it also told him that she was more concerned about her ryo which she stuffed into her pouch than what he was saying. She then muttered something about being sober, before telling him she was not on the market for a student because her last one was still set on killing her. What could of happened between this woman and her unknown student that would cause them to want to kill her Godric wondered to himself as the woman stood and started to dust the dirt off her pants that had gathered from her sitting on the ground. What is this woman's problem Godric asked himself as he stood there watching her dust herself off, here I am giving her compliments and she just blows me off, the woman took one last drag off of her cigarette before dropping it and putting it out under her foot before saying she wanted to get to the bar before it was four. So she must be a drunk, that might explain why she seemed so ungrateful to his compliments, Godric thought to himself as the woman pushed passed him to head down the road. Maybe this woman was not meant to be his luck after all, maybe it was just a coincidence that he even ran into her. Godric thought back to the insense he had lit before he had left the Thunder Temple earlier that day, maybe it just was not meant to be... Godric almost slapped himself as he thought about just forgetting about the woman and heading over to the battle plateau for some solo training, it was not in his nature to give up on something and this woman would have to get it in her head that he would not stop just because she was rude or did not want to train him, if this woman could indeed help him to become stronger than he was not going to let her get away from him so easily.

Godric realized he had been standing in the same spot with a slightly dumbfounded look on his face since the woman blew him off and walked past him. Turning on his heels he looked down the street to find her, her silver hair was easy for him to spot she was not joking about getting to a bar as she was already almost a block away from him now. "Hey lady!" Godric called out as he took off down the road after her, skidding to a stop right in front of her kicking up a dust cloud as his feet skidded across the street. "Just who do you think you are? I was being polite and you think you can just blow me off as if I don't matter do you have any sense of manners or common courtesy?" Godric asked the woman with anger in his voice, he had tried to be nice and that did not work and now he let his emotions get the better of him as he stood in front of the woman not letting her get passed him again. "Just because your a drunk that has to do side shows to make money does not give you the right to be so rude to people" Godric continued and although he was not yelling the anger in his words surely showed "what is it do you think I am not good enough to be your student? Am I not worthy of learning from a drunk?" By this time Godric was fully lost in his emotions not thinking clearly as he normally would, whether she knew it  or not the woman had insulted the young shinobi and whether or not she cared what he had to say he was going to make her listen. Godric slowly lowered himself into his Guren stance, turning his body slightly sideways as he put most of his weight on his back leg and extended his front leg out in front of him slightly with his arms raised in position, "how about you come find out just how worthy I am, because whether you want to help me or not I will be the strongest shinobi this world has ever seen and nothing will stand in my way or disrespect me, especially no some drunk sideshow." Godric knew there was no turning back now and he was fairly sure that if the woman wanted to she could kill him with ease but he wouldn't go down without a fight and he was never one to back down, fire burned in his eyes as he stared at the woman wondering what she would do next.

---

WC: 800/2193

Gin came to a sudden stop when she heard the kid yell after her, making grand claims and calling her a drunk. She turned around slowly, looking at him curiously but not at all amused. She approached him like a panther would an unsuspecting prey - her steps were slow and deliberate, hiding immense power and strength. Her chakra flared around her, spelling a promise danger and violence to anyone nearby. "So you've got a nice spine there, kid. It's look nice propped up on my wall. Hell, I could turn it into a stand and hang shit on it, my kids would love that," she began, her voice now dangerously low and serious. She was standing uncomfortably close to the boy and would take slow steps to close the distance between them if he tried to move away. "What are you kid, a Genin? Chuunin, maybe? It'd take me about four seconds flat to kill you and you'd barely even notice until I held your entrails right in front of ya'. And all that cause you called the wrong person a useless drunk," she finished off and let silence linger in the air for a moment before relaxing completely and letting out a loud and somewhat obnoxious laugh.

The young woman's expression turned into a mixture of a smirk and a grin. "You really don't know who I am, do ya', kid?" she said with a chuckle. It's not like the silver haired woman expected people to stop and ask for her autograph or anything like that, but most shinobi had heard of her, even if it was negative rumors, for the most part. "Former Kazekage of the Hidden Sand and current member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Most, Kuroka Gin," she introduced herself formally.

The young woman took a few steps back to look at the boy. She scanned him from head to toe, taking a look at what she was going to work with - assuming she was going to take him on as a student. He was tall and had a broad build, not to mention a great deal of muscle. He didn't seem to be carrying a weapon with him, and given his looks, Gin assumed his specialty was in taijutsu and close ranged combat. Given that he'd asked her to teach him, he probably also knew ninjutsu. His elements were either Katon or Raiton, maybe even both. Overall, not the worst she had seen. She remembered the little Uchiha girl that used to be part of her team who knew only some genjutsu and Katon. That had been a real... Treat. "So you wanna be the very best, kid? You've got lots of people to beat before you get there, lots of people aiming for the same thing. You're not completely hopeless, I'll give you that, but you're not the best I've seen either," she said, giving him her honest appraisal. Of course, she hadn't seen him fight yet, but the former Kazekage had a keen eye for talent, given her exceptional perception and experience.

Gin pursed her lips for a moment and sighed. She turned around and motioned for the kid to follow. "Accurate as they may be, I don't appreciate the insults. You've got some guts and maybe you can take a couple of hits, so I'll train you for as.long as you need it. However, from now on, you call me ma'am or Gin-sama," she would say as she walked, assuming that the boy was now following her. Her words were straight to the point, leaving little room for doubts or questioning. "Before we get started, though, I need a couple of drinks," she would turn to look at him and grin, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're buying." Her tone would leave little room for questioning as she walked into the bar and took a seat in front of the bartender.

[2015]

The woman began to approach him slow as if she wanted to take her time, and as she did so she began to speak in a very low and serious tone, Godric was unsure of what the woman had planned and remained on his guard as he watched her with very careful eyes. At her words about killing him a flash went through Godric's mind of the woman standing over him with his insides in her hand, however despite the image in his head he kept his outward expression calm and unwavering but the fire had died from his eyes. 'What have I gotten myself into' Godric thought to himself as the woman suddenly burst into laughter, causing a puzzled look to cross the young shinobi's face although he remained in his Guren stance he knew he was no match for the woman standing in front of him. Her remark about him not knowing who she was sounded to him as if she was surprised, 'how am I suppose to know every drunk on the side of the street' Godric thought to himself but her next words caught him completely off guard 'could this woman really be the 8th Kazekage? It impossible Gin Kuroka died from what his father told him yet this woman says that is who she is' Godric thought to himself as he looked at the woman with new eyes. His father had told him stories about all of the Kazekages and although their clan was not officially a part of the village hidden in the sand his father always revered the Kazekages with the utmost respect, if his father was to hear the way he had been speaking to the 8th then the woman would not even have the chance to kill him as his father would have just to show her the respect she had deserved. Gin Kuroka the 8th Kazekage had always been Godric's favorite from his father's stories, but his father had never spoke of what her or any of the others looked like he only spoke of their reputation and abilities, and now Godric stood in front of one of the people who he had idolized and he was nothing but disrespectful to her. He cursed himself under his breath as he stood up straight before slightly bowing to the former Kazekage "forgive me for my outburst and rudeness I did not know who you were" he said in a very low fearful tone as he looked up at the woman who then pursed her lips and turned around motioning him to follow.

The woman did not seem as upset by the insults as he would of thought but she did say she did not appreciate them which by all rights she shouldn't, as she continued talking Godric heart skipped a beat when she told him she would train him if only his father could see him now he thought as he tried his best to hide the joy he felt from the idea of the former kazekage teaching him. The woman turned placing a hand on his shoulder with a grin as she told him that he was buying her a drink, he could not refuse not that it was a question anyhow the fact remained that he had insulted her and if he had to buy her drinks in order for her to train him then that was exactly what he would do. "Yes Gin-sama" was all he could say as he followed her into the bar and sat next to her. As they sat there Godric looked to the silver haired woman he had so many questions for the former Kazekage however after his outburst in the street he did not want to upset her more and recant her statement of training him. Godric thought for a few seconds before finally he had to ask "Gin-sama I have heard many stories about you and the other Kazekages growing up but I have one question what happened to you?" His words were soft as if asked by a child half his age the fact that he was sitting next to one of his idols had put a lump in his throat and although he tried his best to act normal he knew his nervousness showed. The bartender snapped him out of his thoughts of how stupid he sounded by sitting a full glass in front of the woman "got you the usual Gin, what about you lad?" The bartender asked turning towards Godric, "water would be fine" Godric answered as the man grabbed a glass for the water and sat it in front of him. Godric cleared his throat a little before continuing "what I mean is from the stories my father told me you died.." Godric paused unsure if this might be a sensitive issue for her or how to continue "umm... How is it that you came to umm Kumo?" Godric's voice was cracked and full of nervousness of how Gin would respond and he hoped he was not asking her too much to tell someone she just met.

---

859/3052

Gin watched as the kid visibly flushed once he realized who he had been talking to. She shook her head. He didn't really need to bow. When she had served as Kazekage, she had never been too fond of the expected formalities. She preferred it when people said what was on their minds instead of trying to keep appearances. After a few years in office, however, she soon found out that they were a necessity in order to play the game of politics. Gin had hated every moment of it almost as much as she had hated the paperwork that came with the job. She smiled when she remembered not so accidentally letting her young daughters draw over proposed trade agreements with crayons and the occasional blood of their enemies when Gin wasn't supervising.  Which was often. Her smile turned into a soft sigh, not because of her children being a handful, but rather because she missed her family. It had been almost over a year since she had seen them all together.

With Godric following behind her, Gin took her usual seat in front of the bar and greeted the bartender with a wave of her hand. She was promptly handed her drink - an appropriately named cocktail called "death in the afternoon." The bartender knew her drinking schedule by now. Before 5 in the afternoon, she drank this particular mix. After that, she promptly switched to an Aunt Roberta - equal parts gin, vodka, absinthe, brandy and blackberry liquor. Around 8, the bartender just pulled out a bottle of his finest alcohol and Gin gave up on the pretext of mixes and just drank without bothering to pour it into a glass. Of course, this all went straight to the Raikage's tab, much to his displeasure. However, he had probably already figured that it'd be way too much of a hassle to make Gin pay for her own things. Besides, he had already figured out that all the money she earned was sent back to her family in Suna, smuggled into the village through several different underground channels.

Gin took a sip of her drink and sighed happily. She heard Godric order just water and shook her head. "Nah, at least give the kid some beer," she told the man, who nodded and placed an open glass bottle next to the kid's water. She didn't really know if he drank. Truth be told, he seemed to have some sort of my body is a sacred temple vibe. Gin looked at her own drink. They had been there for a little over a minute and half of it was already gone. Figures. She turned to the boy next to her when he asked his question. She could sense his hesitation. Well, he had a reason to be somewhat shy about asking such a thing. It was a personal question and she had threatened to rip his spine out for being disrespectful about fifteen minutes ago. The former Kazekage mentally shrugged. She didn't really have a problem talking about her situation. She figured most of it was public information anyways.

"It's a bit of a long story, but it starts with this," the silver haired woman stretched her arms in front of her for a moment before bringing one hand to her mouth and pulling her glove off with her teeth. Under the cloth was a mechanical arm, made purely out of metal. She wiggled the jointed fingers as if to show that yes, it was a prosthetic. "Got into a bad fight with my ex-husband. He went batshit crazy and defected. I tried to calm him down, but that didn't work out too great - makes it worse when you know I was pregnant at the time. A few years later, he came back because he wanted to meet his kids and I let him. I should have killed him or at least arrested him right then and there. Eventually, the council found out I was letting a known criminal sneak in and out of the village. He wound up revealing village secrets to Hao - I'm guessing you've heard of him. Of course, the council blamed me for it and wanted me dead. So I faked my death when they started threatening my kids, wandered around for a bit. Ayakashi took me in and now I'm visiting Sanosuke. The council found out I'm still alive and now they're holding my and my mom kids over my head to keep me out of Suna," she explained, skipping over several details like joining a criminal organization and nearly killing the Hokage.

Nowadays, she told the story like it was just some night out at the bar. There was really now sadness or remorse in her tone of voice or her expressions despite how somber the story really was. She finished her drink happily and motioned the bartender for another one. "The old Tsuchikage wound up killing my ex-husband, so technically I'm a widower," she added as an afterthought, mostly to herself. She supposed it was nice that her registration papers showed her as singe instead of divorced as a result. Of course, that was mostly a technicality seeing as by the time Trilby had died, she hadn't seen him for well over a year. Nevertheless, she had been faithful to him regardless, thinking that maybe one day he would snap out of it or she would wake up and it all turned out to be some sort of dream. That never happened, evidently. Reality was bitter like that. Even so, Gin didn't really have that many regrets regarding how she had acted and what she had done. If given the chance, she would likely do the same all over again. After all, everything had that had happened led her to where she was now. All things considered, that wasn't bad. She would rescue her children soon enough and everything would be perfect - or at least as perfect as it could be. It was only a matter of time before she did what had to be done.

In the meantime, she had a new student to train. All she could hope for was that this didn't turn out like the last few. That wasn't to say that Gin hadn't had wonderful students in her tenure as a high ranking shinobi. She cherished most, if not all of them, in her own way. The main issue was that some of them had a tendency to be eccentric and somewhat difficult to deal with from time to time. It was only natural, she supposed. Kirigakure no Sato was full of all kinds of characters and personalities, often both unique and twisted. It made her wonder what kind of person this kid would turn out to be.

[3167]

"Actually I don't drink before training, I prefer to keep my mind on the task ahead of me" Godric said as the bartender sat the bottle of beer in front of him. It wasn't that he didn't drink he did so on several occasions, he just wanted to keep his head clear for what he needed to get done today adding to that fact he didn't really care for beer he was more of a whiskey drinker if anything, he just hoped that his teacher would not be upset by his refusal of the beer offered to him. After his question about what had happened to her the woman stretched out her arm removing her glove with her teeth and Godric was shocked to see a metal arm, she wiggled her fingers a little bit before she started to explain what had happened as she spoke Godric listened intensely to her story, awh struck by it and everything she had gone through and how it didn't seem to bother her too much as she told the story as if it was just an ordinary day, there was no doubt in his mind by the end of her story that she was a very tough woman and he seemed happy that she was willing to train him. He knew he had made the right decision in ask her to train him and he also knew that he could learn a lot from her even if the training was only for a day or however long she was willing to put up with him. The woman finished off her drink before getting another from the bartender it was clear that she could drink and he wouldn't mind having a drinking contest with her, but today he had his hopes set on training they could have that contest at another time or something. "It must be hard for you not being able to see your family" Godric said as he looked down at the counter, "I haven't seen my family in over two years so I know what it's like being away from the ones you love, I made a promise to my mother that I would return once I'm strong enough to do what needs to be done that is why I train" Godric paused for a second remembering back to the conversation he had with his mother before running away, abandoning his clan and what they wanted his voice was low and full of sorrow, but then he looked up to the woman with a fire in his eyes and his voice more stern than before "I will be the best this world has ever seen and I will return and bring back the order to my clan and restore it to the greatness it once held" Godric said as if it were written in stone and was destined to happen no matter what anyone said or did to try to stop it. Godric took in a deep breath and when he exhaled a smile was on his face "enough about all that now, if you don't mind I would like to talk about what we can do as far as training?" Godric had done a complete one eighty from when he had first spoken, if a passerby was to witness his rapid expression change they would probably think he had issues. They would be half right, the tapping in his head constantly drove him to the edge of his sanity and at time he thought of himself as insane as he appeared to those around him. Godric took the last drink from his glass of water before looking back to the silver hair woman who had been his childhood idol, "I hope I'm not too forward with this Gin-sama but when can we get started?" He asked anxious to get started training, although they may not have been at the bar that long he could not control his excitement for the chance of training with the former Kazekage.

---

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The former Kazekage shrugged. "Suit yourself, kid," she said, enjoying her own beverage and nursing it in her hands briefly before taking another long sip. "As for my family, yeah, it's hard. But they can take care of themselves for the most part. One of 'em is strong, but he gets sick often. His twin - god bless her soul - is useless in a fight. But I'm sure my mother's dealing with that jut fine," she explained. Honestly, the young woman could talk about her kids for hours like a doting parent. Despite often being harsh during their training, she was quite the affectionate mother. She spoiled them, really. Gin rummaged through her items pouch for a moment. "Do you want to see a picture?" She asked him. The question was little more than a formality, since she had already pulled it out and was holding it in front of her for the boy to see.

The family looked surprisingly... normal. They were all grouped together, smiling at the camera. Sanosuke had his arm around Gin's waist while she hugged a young boy with a tuft of blonde hair and a soft and childish smile on his face. Next to them were two similar looking teenage girls. One of them was beaming brightly and holding her hand up in the air with a peace sign. The other was very composed, her smile barely visible. On Gin's other side was a small brunette girl dressed as a priestess, holding one of Gin's hands. Next to her was a slightly taller boy with silver hair, holding a thumbs up to the camera. Behind him, an older woman dressed in a traditional kimono placed her hands on his shoulders. From the looks of it, they were all one big, happy family. After a moment, Gin tucked the picture away once again.

The silver haired woman chuckled, finishing the rest of her drink and sighing cheerfully. Out of all of the bars she had been to in Kumo, this one was definitely her favorite. The bartender didn't judge her for the amount of alcohol she needed in her system, was glad to put everything on Sanuske's tab and served her favorites. "You'll be begging for it to stop and wishing you'd never been born by the time we get started. But suit yourself. Mind you, I'm not gonna be held accountable for any lasting damage," Gin said offhandedly. "But if you insist," she said as she began to get up. She pulled out a sealing scroll and motioned to get the bartender's attention. "Hey, wanna get me the rest of the usual to go? I'm gonna need it," she asked. The large man nodded and in less than thirty seconds, managed to produce about twenty drinks of differing colors, all placed on the stretched out scroll.

Gin smiled and clapped her hands together. One hand sign later, and all the drinks had disappeared in a puff of smoke. Gin rolled the scroll back to its original form and put it away for the time being. "Let's go, then!" She said. She left the bar, presumably with her new student following closely. She planned to lead them to a more secluded area to avoid collateral damage. On the way, she began to explain what they were going to do. "We'll start off with a game. It's called Wheel of Bad Ideas and it's exactly what it sounds like. It lists a bunch of things. Spin it, and whatever it lands on happens. Helps you react to unexpected conditions," she explained concisely.

[3779]

The Woman's family in the photograph looked like a perfect everyday family with no problems or secrets, but after what he heard from the woman it was clear that this photograph wasn't the perfect family it seemed to be but it was at least a happy memory and that was something he did not have. Godric's entire life or at least what he could remember of it was that of seclusion and training, he had never even seen his own father in person until the day he died and the only time he had with his mother was once a month growing up it was something that had bothered him his entire life, of course now he had not seen his mother in over two years but it was for the greater good, at least that is what he told himself otherwise he might have given up a long time ago. The woman put the picture back into her pouch before chuckling at his comment about training, saying he would be wishing that he was never born, he had to hide a smirk this woman did not know what he had been through already just to get where he was today and all the crap he had to do including being forced to fight his childhood friend to the death, "I think I can handle it" he chuckled as the woman asked the bartender for the rest of her usual to go.

Godric thought back to the day before he had left his clan behind the day they forced him to kill his best friend, the day everything in his life fell apart. It was a beautiful day out in the desert and it was his thirteenth birthday, a birthday that was shared with his childhood friend, Rukasu and him were out doing their normal training in the early morning before their party. The day was one of the best day's of his life, that is until that night at towards the end of their party it was announced that due to the prophecy of the clan being unclear which of the two were to be the true stormborn that they must face one another to determine their birthright by clan law it was to be a fight to the death...

Godric's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clanking and when his eyes focused he was shocked when he saw the bartender sit twenty drinks onto her scroll, That was the usual? he thought to himself he had never seen anyone drink that much and he didn't even think it was possible to drink that much in one day and still function properly but he kept his thoughts to himself and just watched her seal the drinks into her scroll before putting it back into her scroll pouch and heading out the door. Godric shuffled off quickly following the woman as she led him down the road he wasn't sure where they were heading but he was going to follow her and learn all he can while he could. After walking a short distance in silence the silver haired woman began to explain what it was that they would be doing in their training, "A game huh, sounds interesting" Godric chuckled, "I'm up for it so how do we get started?" he asked interested in this game and what it might have in store for him.

---

~4307

Gin my apologizes but I have waited 2 months now for a reply and need to move on with Godric's storyline I must travel to Iwa. I will happily do another thread with you if you get the time later. :)

~ Exit Thread
~ 4307 words
~ Training Ninjutsu from C-Rank to B-Rank (-2000)
~ Training Jutsu: Takarai (-1000)
~ Training Jutsu: Lightning release: Arc Restraint (-1000)
Words remaining: 307