Sujin entered through the outer walls of his home village, his father casually striding along beside him. They had just returned from their monthly father-son camping trip. Bringing back with them some freshly hunted rabbit, they were much more successful than recent trips.  Usually there was a shortage of food to scavenge, and throughout the duration of their camping trip, they often lost weight due to hunger. This time, things turned around on them even though they were heading out during the colder months of winter.

His father whistled through the village as they headed home. The cold seemed to not even dent his sunny demeanor. The happy mood was contagious and affected Sujin as well, bringing a soft smile against the harsh winds that whipped through the streets of the village. They made their way back in happy silence, entering the home with a big welcome from his mother.

"So, how was it?" asked his mother as she hugged him.

"Not too bad," Sujin replied, accepting the hug graciously.

They parted quickly, his mother reacting to his cold clothes. "Must be freezing out there."

Sujin's father nodded, "It was terribly cold out there, but that didn't stop us from catching the biggest bounty yet!" He tossed the string of rabbits off his back to show his wife.

She clapped in delight, taking them off his hands and starting for the kitchen. "I'll get these ready so we can use them this week."

"Not tonight?" Sujin's father called after her, the two heading off into the adjacent kitchen.

Sujin sighed, picking up his father's camping pack and heading to the storage closet. He tuned out his parent's conversation and unpacked all the gear, placing the items back in their respective holders.

Finishing his work, he checked in with his parents in the kitchen. His mother was starting to skin the rabbits and his father was moving the skinned rabbits to the cutting board. As it was still midday, Sujin realized there was some free time until the next meal and decided to head out.  With a quick word to his parents, he headed back out the door into the cold afternoon.

Having left, Sujin didn't really know what he was gonna do besides walk around, so he made his way through the streets until something caught his eye.  Not too far in his walk, a little gypsy-looking tent caught his eye. The tent tucked into a corner in between a restaurant and a mattress store. Just outside the tent was a sign that read "Five Ryo Fortune."

Not finding anything else particularly interesting, Sujin brushed through the folds of the tent and sat down before a small, kneeling tea table. Opposite of Sujin was an old lady, draped with a blanket in similar pattern as the tent's tarp. A colorful, geometrical pattern of diamonds and circles.

"So, do I give you the five ryo or...? Sujin asked, his right hand holding the five ryo needed for the fortune-telling.

The old lady carefully placed an empty tea cup and placed it on the table pushing it towards Sujin. She then picked up a peace pipe and lit it, taking a few puffs. With this, Sujin hesitated a moment before putting his ryo in the tea cup, not sure if that was her answer or not. She took a final puff from the peace pipe and then handed it to him.

"No," Sujin waved his hand repeatedly. "No thanks. I'm good."

The old lady just squinted a bit, and made another thrust of the peace pipe, holding it out before him.

Sujin sighed, dropping his head and shoulders in quick defeat. The lady was a stubborn one, and quite possibly the peace pipe was part of her shpiel. He took the pipe and placed it in the crook of his mouth. A quick suck from the pipe, he held the smoke in his mouth for a bit before spitting it out into the air.

The old lady closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her back raised up with the large inhale, her body rising a few inches from her slumped position. She remained like that for a few minutes, leaving Sujin to take a few more puffs from the peace pipe.

After some time, he parted the peace pipe from his lips. "Look, this is nice and all, but are we gonna--"

"Hokage Mountain top," the old lady broke her silence abruptly, shutting Sujin up immediately. "Today. A small girl.  I see... big future."

"Wait, is her future big, or mine? I thought this was my fortune you were telling here," Sujin interrupted the lady, getting a bit frustrated with the method of her telling.

The old lady just squinted at him again. "Meet her. Danger will come, she will help you."  And with that, the old lady slumped back down and took the teacup from the table.

Feeling a bit ripped off, while also strangely curious. Seeing that the fortune-telling was apparently over, Sujin stood up and turned to head out the door. As he reached for the fold of the tent, the old lady quipped one more thing, "Also, in the case you don't meet, I saw... death..."

Sujin widened a bit at this. Death? That was a bit extreme for not meeting one small girl. "I guess I'd better head over now, then, huh?"

The old lady didn't respond, instead picking up her peace pipe again.

Strange old coot, he thought to himself as he stepped back out to the streets. He turned his head to Hokage Mountain. Somewhere up there, he had to meet a girl. A small girl. Or die.

He took a deep sigh and shrugged his shoulders. As much as that old lady sounded like a charlatan, he was better of trying to save his life by simply heading up there instead of just waiting for whatever this 'death' situation might be.

Sujin walked up to the Hokage Mountain, where the tourist overlook section was on top of the mountain.  He would lean his back against the railing and scan the few others that had made the trek up to the mountain top.  On a windy day like today, it wasn't the best weather for sightseeing at the highest point of the village. Still, there was one person he had to see, or at least try to see.

And so he waited.



Post WC: 1086

The wind blew a gentle breeze over the great stone faces atop the mountain that bordered Konohagakure. Chitsuki lay atop the yondaime's head with her hands folded behind her head to give herself comfort, as she looked upwards towards the vast blue sky. Birds in a flock soared above. Chitsuki let out a small yawn. She had heard several tourists come and go behind her, probably seeking the amazing view over konoha that she had grown up with. She let out a very audible sigh, which she suspected might catch the attention of some of the people above her. This, like most things was growing very boring. "nyaaahhh" she gowned "I need something to dooooo" she said as she sat up from her position. "i'm soooo bored". she groaned once more, flopping back down on the forth's stone head.

As she let another sigh, and lay there for a few moments more, she placed her hands on the stone next to her head, tilted back placing her weight on the hands, and in a feat of incredible upper body strength, and practice, she did a moved her body upwards into a handstand, and then kept going, pushing off her hands, when her center of balance was more forwards than backwards, and kicking her legs as she did so, she would flip sending herself up to where the tourists were all standing, and she would land on the railing perfectly, once again facing the overview of konoha. Today she landed next to a man with blackish-blue hair, and silver eyes. The sound of her landing next to him should have given away her position instantly, if the sound she made when she pushed off the rock hadn't. She landed with two feet on the railing, and her right hand in between her feet gripping the railing so she wouldn't fall backwards or forwards. She had pulled off this maneuver almost flawlessly, as if she had done it many times, which truth be told, she had. However it was rare for her to land next to someone. And the person she landed next to gave her an odd feeling. As if she was meant to land next to him. Although it was a small nagging feeling, the feeling was still there. Either way, she wanted to know more about the peculiar man, and she hoped that maybe he could entertain her for a little bit. So she stood on the railing and in a rather childish manner spun, on one foot, with the other foot dangerously, dramatically, and childishly swinging with her movements as the other one simply spun in place, barely going above the man's head. Then once she had spun, she would plop down on the railing once more actually sitting on it this time, with her hands on either side, gripping the railing, and the headband around her neck bouncing as she did so. Although, during this whole thing she would barely even acknowledge the man was there at all. After all of this was done, she would simply learn back, so she at a forty five degree angle, using her hands to keep her from falling, and look at the sky and say "the sky sure is pretty, isn't it?"

---

WC: 550
Total WC: 550

He didn’t have to wait long for the girl for it appeared she had been up on the Hokage Monument for some time. Sujin was leaning back on the railing, viewing what few people were around him when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a small girl hop onto the railing next to him. Her movement suggested she had come from the top of the old hokages’ heads.  Her feet landed on the railing and her right hand grabbing the railing to steady herself before standing tall to look over the village. Sujin pushed off the railing with his forearms, and turned to face the girl just before she made a 180 degree twirl on one foot, the other foot just going over the height of his head before plopping down to sit upon the railing. The girl leaned back to widen her view of the sky, breaking the silence between them with a remark of the sky’s beauty.

Sujin watched in a sort of small sense of wonder as the girl had sat herself down, but once she had spoken up, he rested his eyes and focused back to the village. The amazement was more for the sudden entrance of the girl and how quickly his fortune had come true. Was this all a big set up? He already had his doubts, especially about the ‘danger’ part of the scenario. He had noticed the girl’s shinobi headband making him believe that was most likely what the fortune teller meant by having ‘danger’.  Still, he didn’t understand why this meeting would have anything to do with whether he lived or not. The old woman had said there was death, and yet what could possibly be so threatening to his life while he was still within the village. This was one of the safest places a shinobi could be, especially in times of peace.

He stood by the railing and turned his head towards the girl to respond quickly to her own abstract comment. ”Quite the flair for gymnastics,” he would say after a curt nod to the girl’s remark. ”Some might think you have a death wish doing stunts like that.”

His speech was only in form of idle chit chat, but it was something he wanted to use as a method of getting a feel for the girl. Obviously she was someone important, either in general or at least in regards to his life and well being. Which one of those was it? He wanted to find out, and see if he would ever trust a fortune teller’s words again.



Post WC: 440
Total WC: 1526

OOC:

While the girl seemed to have been speaking to him with her comment, it seemed she was completely ignoring his presence. She had completely disregarded his own remark of her risky stunt and continued to stare upwards at the sky. For a moment, Sujin did not really know what to do. This was one of those really awkward moments when he didn't know if he should say something more to get her attention, as if she had somehow not heard him earlier, or if he should just wait for her to respond. His eyes glazed over the fantastic view of the village that lay before him as he leaned forward on the railing. Thoughts drifted back and forth through his brain as he waited for something to happen, for the girl to say something else. Anything.

The old lady had said there'd be a small girl. This girl was small. Couldn't it be her? By the looks of her there was nothing that stood out to Sujin. Clothes were very plain, if a bit dusty from her having lain on the carved monument. Her hair was set in any particular way, just hanging down to her shoulders. She looked like she had just gotten up from bed. The girl's face also seemed to show signs of complacency, an almost dreary look one has when they slowly begin to wake in the morning. A completely deadpan look that made her appear like she was contemplating something about her own life as she stared up at the clouds.

Sujin sighed, dropping his head to rest on the railing in defeat. Here he was standing at the top of Hokage Monument to meet some girl that a crazy old lady on the side of the street had told him would be a matter of life or death. The only thing about this situation that was life or death was the fact that he still had a slight chance of falling over the railing if a strong enough wind blew. The wind would have to be on par with the force of a hurricane, but still the possibility was there. That possibility was more present than the ryo he spent on the stupid fortune telling. All he really paid for was a couple of puffs from that smoking pipe the old granny had made him smoke. And Sujin hated smoking himself! Others that smoked were fine but him smoking was a completely different thing, and something he never really expected he would try. Until now.

The whole thing got him in a little fury. His hands gripped the iron railing tighter as his mind stewed. He had been having a decent day, too. Went out for a little hunt with his father and brought back home some really nice looking rabbits, two of which he had killed. Then an afternoon stroll to get away from his parent’s usual behaviors as he waited for dinner to be cooked. In fact, dinner might as well be ready by now with all the effort it took for him to get up here. Such a day could have any man a bit on edge, but Sujin was a bit more than just a man on edge. frick this, he spat loudly in his mind.

Having enough with the silly shenanigans by the old fortune telling lady, Sujin straightened up and turned on his heel. Taking quick strides he exited the way he had come. ”Stupid little ol’ Granny,” he muttered angrily to himself. ”Last time I believe in that hocus pocus.”

And so, if there was no other interruptions as he went, Sujin walked back to his house. When he arrived, his parents would have already gathered at the table. His mother would be the first to make a remark on his arrival. “About time someone showed back up!”

“Yeah, here we were celebrating you finally up and moving out of here,” his father would laugh at his own joke, only to be cut into silence by the death glare given by his mother.

”Sorry, I got tied up.” Sujin would have said as an apology. Then he would sit down at his spot at the table and begin to eat, starting with a big bowl of rice.

What a day...




Post WC: 718
Total WC: 2244
Trained Reaction Time from D-1 to D-3: 850/850
WC Remaining: 1394
Trained Strength from D-0 to D-3: 1175/1175
WC Remaining: 219