Folding his arms he looked over the skyline of the village.  It was bright and early he awoke today, but others saw it wasn't out of character.  Looking out over the village wearing a blue jacket and a red scarf with an anchor on it. Under that is a white shirt with a single blue line down the middle. He also wears a pair of grey jeans with a belt and dark blue boots.  The village of Kumogakure no Sato was more peaceful as of late, and since he handled the Giant monster case nothing was much of an issue.  Aside from the normal petty crimes taking place within the village, and he hadn't heard much from his friend Keigo as well.  Taking in a breath of air fresher than the first flower of spring, and he got to thinking that the mountain air was something he had grown fond too.

Suutei began to think of how his parents were doing at this time, and if his father would finally relinquish the family sword to him.  Now that he thought about it he had not taken the time to actually practice sword skills at all.  Yet the difficult part was finding a teacher for the said technique, but where this teacher was he could only imagine.  Grabbing his back pack from the ground he leaped over the cliff diving into the village, and the wind blew through his hair.  Preparing the Storm technique before he hit the ground a large gust of wind spread from around him.  Slowly touching his toe to the ground to his heel, and looked around as he adjusted his self accordingly taking his stroll onward through the village.

As he wandered the village he aimlessly spent his money frivolously.  On random things realizing he ran low on Ryo he stopped.  He cursed himself as his head hung low and he looked down at his fingers at the red dust from the potato chips.  Looking over his shoulder he saw the light shimmer into his eyes from a woman's hair, it was silver than the finest crafted steel.  It was rather invigorating to see someone young with hair like that. Licking his fingers and making himself quickly presentable, he took a deep breath and began to approach her.

385

Gin would have never described herself as a tourist. The word had a sort of demeaning connotation to it. It kind of meant that you didn't really know what you were doing and were rather annoying and obnoxious about it. No, Gin wasn't like that. She was more of a... sightseer. Yes, that sounded far better. After all, she had been to Kumogakure no Sato on several occasions. Sure, before now, it had been years since - around twenty, which made Gin feel old. She used to come to the village once a year with her merchant caravan during her youth. They would sell odd trinkets, weapons and household items such as tapestries, rugs and paintings. Gin remembered having sold a couple of her own works. Her mother had been honest and had told her that they weren't good at all. Gin was stubborn at the time, but secretly agreed. The arts weren't really an area of talent for her. Nevertheless, at her mother's insistence, she still spent her early life learning how so sow, weave and play music. As hard as she tried, Gin couldn't quite forget how to do any of those things and even sometimes found herself indulging in them. She tried her best to keep that to herself, however, lest those close to her start teasing her for it.

Going back to the subject at hand, however, Gin currently found herself shopping in one of the more popular areas of the village. She noticed people from many other villages - she could tell by the accents she overheard, the clothing they wore and of course the headbands. At the moment, she was just looking at what they offered in their window displays, some of which were quite impressive. She didn't really see anything that she felt like buying - after all, these were mostly civilian shops with clothes and such. It was still quite entertaining to walk around on her own, however. It was at this point that she noticed someone staring at her from the other side of the street. She tried to pay no attention to it, but gave up on that when she saw him approaching. She turned to look at him, somewhat annoyed.

This was supposed to be her time to enjoy by herself and get away from the increasingly crowded Raikage Estate. She didn't quite feel like interacting with people at this point, much less someone that looked to be half her age and seemed like he might start hitting on her. Handsome as he was, Gin drew the line at people younger than twenty five. "What do you want, kid? I'm busy," she stated simply, narrowing her eyes in a way that could only be described as terrifying.

[464]

The silver haired woman was well aware of his approach and stared him down until he came within closer view.  It was then did he finally recognize the woman more familiar, and if she was the one he was looking for he needed to take extreme precaution.  It turned out it was a small world and that anything can happen, but Suutei had a funny way of running into people.  Even the girl in Sunagakure no Sato he met a few months ago named Misao, was almost fateful after helping her ill twin brother Shinji.  Misao was a pretty girl with and he loved her very essence as it wreaked nothing but beauty.  She was shorter than him, but she had the curves of a well developed adult.  Most couldn't tell due to her baggy priestess clothes, but Suutei knew this after accidentally walking in on her changing one day.  Suutei loved her soft subtle smile it was almost natural when she was not trying to smile and he could remember the first day she smiled for him.  

Atop of the roof of the Kuroka house a traditional japanese house in Sunagakure no Sato sat two figures, male and female from the distance they were mere silhouettes as they watched the sun set over the dunes of sand.

"I gotta say Misao-chan the sunsets here in Sunagakure are so much better than in Konohagakure."

"You think so?  I have never been to Konohagakure before Suutei-sama, maybe you can take me there one day."  

"Hehe I think I can make that happen.  Oh um Misao-chan.  I hope you don't mind me asking this but...what happened to your parents?"  

Suutei was walking on a fine line asking her this question, but he was actually nervous to hear her response.  It was rather weird to ask a girl about her personal family situation, but he'd shared on of his reasons for leaving Konohagakure which he spoke of rarely to anyone.  It would appear Misao was feeling the same as her demeanor changed entirely, and she seemed more gloomy now.

“No it is fine that you asked,” she said with hesitation.  Well...My father passed away or was murdered to be honest I just know he is gone and Shinji is hurt the most by that.  My father and mother well had their differences one would say, and as for my mother...well...My mother was the Kazekage, Gin Kuroka.”

Suutei’s eyes burst with enticement at the news because other than the now deceased Raikage Reiko Misora, Gin was the strongest Kage of the 5 Great Shinobi Villages.  Then it hit him that Gin had abandoned her village, but more importantly her children.

“I actually miss my Mother and still wish I could see her to this very day, but those are just dreams.  I wouldn’t even be able to leave Sunagakure because of her...but Suutei-sama you could maybe help me.”

Puzzled as to what she meant she reached into her bag and grabbed his old camera.  She aimed it towards herself as she leaned up against him as he blushed.  The camera flash went off and the picture printed from the mouth of the two.

Suutei came back to his senses and began to analyze the woman's face and she nearly fit the description, and fixed his appearance to become a bit more lax to the woman.  Reaching into his back pocket of the picture of him and Misao he asked the woman.  ”Okay I have a question ma’am sorry to bother you.  Just one second do you recognize this girl here?”  Revealing his picture of the girl and himself he let the woman analyze the photo, and to see if he actually found Misao’s mother...THE Gin Kuroka.

1025

Gin unintentionally let her energy leak from the pores of her skin. It was intertwined with hostility, making for a rather discomforting presence. The point was to keep this random kid away, but it made people around her quickly walk away from the area and crowd around cautiously on the other side of the street, whispering and covering their eyes. Gin sighed and ran a hand through her silvery locks of hair, ruffling it a bit. Maybe she went a little bit overboard. That, and the kid was already standing in front of her. Such a bother. She couldn't seem to have one single day go the way she wanted it to. At her current age of thirty two years, she should have known by now that things were unlikely to change. She eased up on her hostile aura, keeping her chakra stored inside of her body. She raised an eyebrow when he reached for his pocket to pull something out. What was that? A piece of paper? Did he want an autograph or something? Gin was about to roll her eyes when she noticed that it was a picture. She found herself getting curious, despite her better judgement.

Her eyes widened when she noticed who it was that was on the picture. She quickly snatched it from the boy's hand and looked at it carefully. She was almost gawking at it. She couldn't help it. The last time she had seen her little girl had been three years ago. She hadn't even had the chance to say her proper goodbye. She had just walked into her room one night and kissed her forehead knowing it would be a long time before Gin was strong enough to return for her and her siblings. In this picture... Oh how she had grown. She was shaping up to be quite the beautiful young lady. She looked so much like her father and yet nothing like him at all at the same time. Gin's late husband never smiled, not like her daughter was doing in this picture. She seemed happy. Gin smiled wistfully as a feeling of nostalgia filled her. Now, there was only one question to ask.

"Who are you? And how did you get this?" she asked, regaining her composure and narrowing her eyes. She was instantly suspicious of the boy. The former Kazekage had no choice but to be. She had a target painted on her back. If this kid had a picture of her daughter, it meant that he was either affiliated with Sunagakure or had been there recently. She didn't see a headband on him, so she suspected the latter. In any case, that meant that he could have easily been influenced by the Council and sent to spy on her or to deliver some sort of twisted message. Gin's jaw clenched involuntarily as she kept her eyes locked on the boy's. She realized that she didn't even know his name, though she felt now wasn't really the time to ask.

[977]

Suutei could tell that something had came up by the woman’s facial reaction, and not only that but her snatching away the photo in the blink of an eye.  Frantically touching over it as if searching for authenticity or a minute flaw with the photo.  Unaware of why this was the case it was as if she imagined he was an assassin.  The woman went from annoyed to nearly bursting with extreme excitement, and Suutei found the woman but now he had questions for her.  That expression quickly changed by the way she looked up from the picture, hinting that she noticed him in the picture of her.

"Who are you? And how did you get this?"

Suutei thought to himself whether he should tell the full truth, or continue questioning the woman since she was exactly who he was looking for.  Though judging by what Misao told her about her mother was she was a hothead, and borderline bipolar it would be easy to take precaution by giving her what she asked.  Sighing the boy shook his head as things were never easy for hi, and people always took the offensive against him.  It was only fate that the fact this person was once the Kazekage one the strongest Kage during her reign.

”Well Misao-chan did warn me you were a bit of a livewire, but um well she is my girlfriend.  No I mean she is my friend who is a girl, or my girlfriend because I don’t like her that much.  Well actually I love her to be honest, oh no no no maybe not love.  Well I’m not saying she isn’t a loveable girl I mean just seeing her smile is like the sunrise peaking over the horizon.  Oh damn I started rambling.  I am sorry but my name is Suutei Kimura I come from Konohagakure no Sato, and I think it’d be best if you didn’t speak your name aloud.  This area really isn’t the best setting for a casual meeting, but what is important is Misao-chan.  That picture was taken last time I visited Sunagakure no Sato and met Misao-chan.  Now Milady is there anywhere you know that you and I could speak privately?”

Suutei found himself rambling as he began to speak to the former Kazekage.  Yet the only real thing he was concerned with Misao, and his mind started wandering again about the Suna born girl.  She would be ecstatic to find out that he was able to find her mother.  Then Suutei thought that if the former Kazekage could train him he would be a formidable foe to anyone, and he could protect Misao.

1478

Exit

Trained

Endurance B to B-1 for 175 Ryo
Perception B to B-1 for 175 Ryo