The door to the library opened with a small sound of creaking hinges, revealing Reiko as she pushed her way into the building, arms laden with books. Lately, she'd been feeling as if she hadn't been studying enough. Sure, it was good to have a physical hold on things, but she needed a mental one as well, or she'd never catch up with her peers. Thus, as soon as she'd gotten back from Kumo, she'd tried to read as much as she could, between her hours of training or forced relaxation.

Some of it was interesting, between the different historical battles and techniques. Other parts, however, were almost boring enough to put Reiko to sleep. Why would she want to know the dialogue of a diplomatic meeting from twenty years ago? She'd be fine with a summary; what Kanata said at 11:20 exactly was not needed.

A heavy sigh slipped between her lips, quickly followed by another one of relief as she settled the books in her arms onto the counter. "Turning these in," she said to the desk clerk. The man seemed to have little to no interest in her, simply pointing to the left. She followed his finger's invisible line, finding a small slot in the desk labeled "check in".

"Ohhh," she said, taking a moment to heave the books across the desk before starting to put them into the slot, one by one. Given she'd never been that big of a reader, she was done far before those with more of an inclination for words would have been.

That done, she dusted her hands off, turning inward, towards the shelves that always towered above her head. Part of her wanted to find what she could on her clan, but it was always a bit of a difficult task. In the past, her clan had been one that kept their information, including their secrets, close to their hearts, and present day was no exception. She could, however, find information on other subjects, such as specializations. Lately, she'd been thinking that a third specialization might be fun to learn in the future. After all, her strength was close combat, it wouldn't give her much help when it came to enemies that  specialized in long-range combat. In fact, it gave her a major disadvantage. Sure, on missions she'd have her comrades to help her deal with that disadvantage, but if she ever got separated, she needed to be able to hold her own. And that's where she came to the point that brought her to the library for the second time that month.

Making her way over to the shelves, she browsed the titles idly, picking a book out whenever it seemed it would meet her expectations. She reached three before she knew she'd probably be spending the night here if she dared choose more. Tucking the items under her arms, she wandered towards the sitting area, settling down in the comfiest chair she could find and stretching out, opening the first book to it's beginning page.

Slowly turning over a page, as if reading the pages slowly could somehow help her uncover the answers to the mystery of this world....which it did not. If previously, the huge block of text wall from this giant ass textbook looks like a mountain made purely out from jargon before, reading it slowly somehow only worsen the experience for her, now that the jargon wall can slowly roast her up with its technical formulations, mathematical examples and what is that..?! Is that foreign language, geography, historical and mythological reference throw into the mix??? I know this particular textbook aims to give an overview of some of the most popular form of coding used in the Ninja world. But she was just here to try to decode a 500 words max simple letter that she received through the mail, why would she need to know the Konoha Shogun family tree in order to understand the mechanism behind this one decoding example?!

Shihai was about to pull on her own hair at this point, mind turned into a mash by the level of details provided by this book. She had asked the librarian for help and this one was recommended to her, it appears she forgot to mention one very important detail in her request, she needed a book for beginners! She was already here for hours, she was here since the morning in fact, and her progress is around...non-existent at the moment.

If there is anything she could take away from this book, it would be that decoding takes time, it takes a really long time. In fact, even the textbook itself admitted that a lot of decoding runs on trial and error, and luck. But at the very least, she could now safely cross out a few of the common coding formula. Which just left.....oh why, dear Kami sama....

Shihai closed the giant textbook with a thump, because just looking at it now gives her a headache. Sighing, she considers maybe a little break, or a break from decoding forever. After all, there was no reason for her to spend so much time trying to decode, what is likely to be, a small prank letter; she was doing this entirely to satisfy her own curiosity and for no practical purposes, if she wants to come back to the textbook some other day, or not at all, it would not have matter. Besides, once her brother returns, she could have just easily asked him, he does this kind of things all the time during missions, would probably be a lot faster than for her to do it. In fact, at the moment, looking for the one who dropped this letter sounded like a much more interesting and much better idea by the moments.

Rubbing the back of her neck, and is now seriously considering a little break from the books and the text. Shihai's eyes wanders around this small section towards the back of the library. And that was when she noticed another long black hair girl walking towards this table, and seated down on the chair across the table from her. Shihai blinks when she noticed the other girl's eyes, pure white, she appears to be another Hyuga. Tilting her head slightly towards the side, Shihai is not used to seeing a lot of Hyugas here in the public library, since their clan host a healthy collection of books in their own compound (or so she heard), so her presence here in the public sparkles some of Shihai's own curiosity; a quick glance at the cover of the first book that the other girl lay on the table, reveals the title to be about training specializations.

"Specialization training huh?" Without much of a thought, Shihai says quietly to herself. Then she blinks, just then noticing that she has just voiced out her thoughts, so she lit out an awkward smile to the girl. "Ops, sorry. Didn't mean to peer." She bows slightly as an apology, but looks up again at the girl. "I'm Shihai Kimura. Just here to look at some decoding stuff." Introducing herself automatically to be polite, but after a bit she can't help but ask. "So are you looking to train a new specialization? I heard that we can only do that after Special Jounin. So which third specialization are you considering?" Shihai asked casually, then realized that she had just assumed the other girl to be another Genin, but she could very well be a special Jounin in casual clothes. Rubbing the back of her neck, she hopes that she hasn't just offended this new person.

This book seemed more acceptable, one that got straight to the point. Sure, it read like a textbook, but at least she got the information she needed. In fact, it was probably more interesting than any of the books she could have found at home. Now it was just a matter of whether she absorbed it or not.

She didn't have much of chance to get deep into her reading, however. A small, indistinct muttering caught her attention, pulling her eyes up and away from her book for a moment, curious at the noise. Reiko almost went back to her book, until she realized that the muttering had been directed at her. Lifting her gaze to the person in front of her, she found herself staring at a girl with dark hair. She had a surprised look on her face as if she hadn't meant to grab Reiko's attention. Even so, Reiko smiled happily in return to the one she was given, tilting her book down a bit so she could see better.

Part of her was surprised at the bow she was given; she didn't see the small interruption as one that was worth something so serious as a bow. She took it with what grace she could, willing to start a conversation if the other person was. After all, that was far more entertaining than a book, and she had all the time in the world to read them.

"I'm Reiko Hyuga," she replied, inclining her head in a small bow of her own, this one of greeting rather than an apology. She was curious at  the admittance that she'd been there to look at coding; all the coders Reiko had met were older. Was it possible that she was looking to go into that field in the future? It seemed like one that would cause a lot of brain pain... but maybe some people liked the challenge. She could only assume they did if they chose to spend every day doing it. At the other girl's reference to her reading, however, she shrugged. "Byakugan can only get you so far in combat. I figured in the future I'd broaden my horizons a bit, but I want to know all I can about the different paths I might take before I get to the point at which I need to take them." In reference to what she was looking at, she shrugged again, a sheepish smile coming onto her face. "I'm not quite sure. I think I might like Medical Ninjutsu, or maybe Senjutsu, but I think it's too early for me to really decide on anything. There are a lot of specializations, after all."

Figuring that was enough of her taking over the conversation, she settled the book on the table, being sure to let it settle open. She hated losing pages, and she had no desire to try and find her page in a book like that, it'd be too much skimming. "What about you?" she asked. "You said you were looking into coding. Are you planning to become a coder in the future?" Underneath the table, her feet kicked back, then crossed together to settle against the floor more comfortably. She thought that the other girl didn't have much when it came to looking like a coder (they tended to have a bookish air to them) but it didn't hurt to ask. For all she knew, this girl could be one of the best coders the village could come to have.

Shiahi nods in agreement at the mention of Byugukan can only get you so far, coming from a newer clan whose eye GKK can also be used for surveilliance purposes, she could understand the limitations of replying solely on the eye GKK, but not sure about the weight of the statement though, the usefulness of Byugukan sounded understated, since Byugukan gives the user almost 360 degrees of field of vision and the ability to see the chakra flow, sounded like an OP GKK in her mind but to each their own. lol

However, the desire to become better than simply a member of their respective clan, the desire to be known on an individual level, and to walk out of the shadow of a great clan's name, specially for something as well known as the Hyuga clan, that is a something even Shihai could understand and agreed to. To be your person, not just a simple reflection of something larger, and make a name for yourself so to speak. Reiko Hyuga sounds about right.

Shihai commented casually. "Senjutsu sounded really good. In fact, I was going for Senjutsu as my third specialization, it adds more to my GKK's surveillance capability and it goes really well with my Kenjutsu. I would imagine that it would do the same for you, but better, since it would do a lot more for Taijutsu comparing to Bikujutsu."

Still, prehaps getting more surveillance capability is a bit excessive when you already have the Byugukan, and other fields may offers more versatility to the arsenal.

"Medical Jutsu also sounded good, it sounds admirable, so then you can break and you can heal. You can also take missions from the hospital that way." Shihai supplies lightly, then thinking for a bit for her own future path. "I was thinking either Seijutsu or Summoning as my fourth, but not for any practical use, just for the appearance. Guess I'm a bit less practical than you are." Shihai supplies with a smile, feeling quite happy to talk about the future path choice with someone similar in age.

At the mention of becoming a professional coder though, Shihai winced at that for a bit. "Oh dear Kami sama, no....I would never...Not even if someone were to pay me lol." Shihai bites back a chuckle to herself and opened her coding textbook to a random page, and pushes the book to in front of Reiko, from her angle, she should be able to see the what appears to be 10 pt front words and written as two sections side by side per page, on a 1.5 line. "If I have to stare at this thing all day long....! I would probably try to jump a lake." She laughs quietly to herself, shaking her head at the meantime. Although that does bring out a very painful point, one that causes a lot of head pain, one of which she tries really hard to not think about it.

After a bit, she says quietly. "Although, I was aiming for Anbu....so I guess sooner or later I would have to deal with this monstrosity."

But if she dislike it so much, it doesn't really explain why she was looking at it now. Well. Shihai closes her eyes and reach back into her bag and pulls out a folded letter. She spread out the letter on the table so that Reiko could have a look too if she chooses.

"A few days ago, I founded this little thing in the mall, on the envelope, it doesn't say addressed to whom, and it has no return address. Written entirely with codes, and when I asked around, none of the neighbors saw who dropped the letter and it was a little bit creepy." Shihai rubs the back of her neck at that. "I didn't want to bother anyone about it since it would be a dumb prank by some kid, but I am curoise and I have been trying to decode this by myself, so far I have estimated a few possible formula but not much else. If I can just decode one word, just one, it would have been a break-through and the rest would follow. I been looking at these four formula as the next potential targets."  Shihai reaches out to turn to the page and pointed at the sections. "But it hurts my head too much to try for them right now." she signs. "Do you have any experience with decoding, or do you anyone who do?" Not really expecting an answer, Shihai asked casually.

The word GKK confused her slightly. Was it a kekkei genkai? Or maybe a technology of some sorts? Or a jutsu she created? It wasn't hard to guess that it was a surveillance item or technique of some sort, but knowing what kind could be an interesting thing to learn about. Well, it was always a topic that she could look into at a later date. She found herself more interested in Shihai's plan in terms of specializations. To her, it seemed like a good combination, just judging from what she was being told.

For her, however, she had worries. She was primarily surveillance suited, she knew that. Any ninja with Byakugan would be. Senjutsu would increase her range of sensory power, but part of her wasn't sure that's what she wanted, more sensory ability. Of course, it would help with power as well, but so would any other specialization.  All the same, however, the Medical path and Senjutsu seemed the most likely to her. After all, Bukijutsu would hinder her ability to use Taijutsu, and she refused to learn something that would hinder the one thing she'd been focusing on most of her life. Genjutsu just... she didn't like it. It felt like lying, and if there was one thing she disliked, it was liars. Maybe summoning, but she preferred to fight her battles on her own power. Puppets creeped her out, so using them would just be unenjoyable. And lastly, she didn't really have much of an interest in sealing things. So, she was left with Senjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu. Though, it seemed at this point she was leaning more towards the latter than the former. Plus, Shihai had a point. She could heal herself as well as others, and it'd give her more of an opportunity to travel, given the wider mission variety she'd have access to. It'd be a busy life, considering many teams brought a Medical Ninja with them on longer missions, but it'd be rewarding in it's own way. "I think I'm leaning Medical," she admitted with a shrug. "Something about it appeals more to me than Senjutsu."

When it came to Shihai, she could see how Summoning would fit, though the idea of learning something just to look better made her a bit uncomfortable. Not something she would ever do, but each to their own.

Shihai's reaction to coding brought a smile to her face. That was something she could agree with. Coding sounded more boring than watching grass grow. Reiko leaned forward to look at the book, grimacing at the wall of text that met her eyes. "I don't blame you, that looks painful," she replied. "But if you're looking for ANBU, I guess it'd be good to start now." In fact, she would have assumed that's what she was researching it for, had Shihai not removed the letter and set it on the table, explaining her purpose for her reading choice. Already leaned forward, Reiko looked down,  attempting to read. However, her eyes skated over the nonsensical letters like one would when attempting to read a foreign language. It looked like a bunch of gargle.

"It could actually have no meaning, if it were a kid's prank. If there's a keyword though, I'd check all the ones kids these days find funny, so mainly curse words and anything to do with the bathroom. " When asked if she knew how to code, she shook her head. "I just read a few books that had coding inside the story, when I was younger. Nothing like that, though, that could be a whole new language, just looking at it. If it's too hard, you could always ask one of the Coders up in the Administration Building? They love this stuff, so I'm sure none of them would mind taking a look at it if they're free."

OOC:

"Medical Jutsu huh?" Shihai gives her a big smile at that. "It's gonna be great! I think it is a good choice for you, although technically, any specialization would in theory works for anyone." Shihai blinks, realizing that her conclusion seemingly came out of no where, so she quickly added to her response and explains her thoughts. "Because, you know, having the Byakugan allows you to see pressure points, and chakra flows, and some of the Medical Jutsu also replies heavily on being able to accurately pin point pressure points, temporarily stopping or redirecting chakra flows and whatnot. So having Byakugan already gives you a step up comparing to most other starting Medical Ninjas, whether you chose to go offensively or go for support, or perhaps go for both. " Shihai paused, tilting her head and deep in thoughts.

On the same note, it could have being a terrifying combination, if someone were to let her close in on them, offensive Medical Jutsu and Taijutsu mixed together, and combing with the ability to use poison, it would make her a very effective close quarter combat fighter, and pretty sure Hyuga has some range clan Jutsu too, and the Hyuga 360 spinning stuff.... natural surveillance unit....and she can do support. em....better stay on her good side then.

"I think, you would have no problem finding a team then. Lol. On that note, fight alongside me sometimes too, I tend to either stay towards the back for range Jutsu, or I go for the very front line, I have a feeling that I could really use some emergency Medical support at some point in the future. But that's way ahead future talk."

Shihai responded causally while Reiko leans forward to attempt to look at the letter, she noticed the other girl immediately draws back with a slight frown or wince at the sight of the nonsense letter, Shihai nods in understanding. Yep, I didn't expect any other reaction from anyone who is not the book type either.

Shihai draws in a sigh, she actually has no motivation to do any more work today. The sight of the thick textbook on the table, with all of the stickers sticking out from the pages, handwritten with her own little notes, when they all add up together, attempting to find anything becomes a difficult task, one that gives her so much headache that she doesn't even want to embark on right now. She was contemplating to calls it a day when Reiko mentioned something.

"It could actually have no meaning, if it were a kid's prank. If there's a keyword though, I'd check all the ones kids these days find funny, so mainly curse words and anything to do with the bathroom. "

At first, Shihai merely nods off that as an off-handed comment. Then she frowned, considering it seriously, and she sits up a bit straight on her chair again, as opposed to the previous slacking position.

....if it really was a prank, it wouldn't be impossible, and that since nothing else work, and this wouldn't really take that long....

Grabbing her pencil and her notebook as she quickly tries out a few different formula, none of which worked, until suddenly, she manged to decode one word. A breakthrough.

"die"

.....?

Alright, it looks like it really was some random cursing, now to apply the same formula to other words....

...?!!

Shihai stares at her notes deeply, as if trying to burn the page with her stares alone. She wasn't able to decode any other words with the same formula, it wasn't until she off-handily tried another formula did she managed to decode another word, now it reads:

"....will die...."

What the hell?! They are not all written with the same code across the letter?! Who's great idea was it to make it so difficult, for a prank for crying out loud!! Shihai pushed away her chair and stands up, shaking her head.

This doesn't feel right, if it was meant to be a prank, to scare me or get back at me or whatever...why makes it so difficult for me to break it?! The only benefit for making the codes difficult to break would be to drags on more time, why?! What is going on here?! Is someone trying to burn my house while I was away or something?!

Clenching her teeth, she did not like how this letter is reading out so far, and she was seriously considering bringing it in to the admin building, but if it reads out "your pet will die" then the admin will have a laugh...but then again, killing Yamato would not be a laughing matter. So...perhaps....the admin building....? Shihai asked herself silently.

"Sorry Reiko, for cutting the conversation short, I need to check up on something, but enjoy your day. You do seem more like the outdoorsy type, perhaps I will see you in the fields someday." Shihai gathers her stuff and says to Reiko politely as she was making her way out of the library, thoughts still half occupied by the small breakthrough, it did nothing to ease her situation, in fact, it sense just the briefest cold feeling down her spin. Shihai returns the book to the check in stand and walks out to the street.

[Shihai Exit]

Total WC: 2409