A wedding party found Lord Shikashige in a crowded tavern, surrounded by friends and foes alike. An honored guest of the wedding party, Lord Shikashige was invited into the private rooms for special wine and conversation. His retainers stood guard outside, and, upon seeing the slighted enemies of their lord exit the tavern, sent a page to inform Shikashige of the good news.

The pages found their master unperturbed, drinking heavily of the special wine and laughing at the jokes of the groom. Mortified, the page returned to the retainers and reported that their master had let his guard down, dishonoring their vigilance in protecting him.

When asked angrily about the drinking and conversation with his enemies outside the door, Lord Shikashige invoked the Warrior's way, stating that a warrior's life was rooted in the present moment. Great warriors master the present moment before discarding it forever, placing it atop a pile of the moments preceding. In this way, a warrior must treat his life as a flammable vapor, which may either dissipate or be ignited quickly. This is the essence of the Will of Fire.

Shinako sipped her sake and looked worriedly at the river motif behind the bar, imagining that somewhere, along the river she had loved so much as a child, lay the body of a young man for whose death she was responsible. The young woman heaved a sigh, catching a whiff of her own perfume intermingled with the smells of alcohol and stale sweat. She had still not become reacclimated to the scent of orchid after so many days in the wilderness. Something about the world still smelled like blood.

Of course, the higher-ups had been duly thankful for her service, but her lingering melancholy had reminded her of a page from her family's history, in which Lord Shikashige had taken a break to enjoy drinks and conversation. Shinako had had enough wine to stir a warm feeling in her cheeks and chest, but had not been able to find a stimulating conversation with the strangers in the bar.

And so, dressed in her dark blue Qipao dress, Shinako drank alone. After reporting, she had shed almost all vestiges of the Shinobi, leaving her tools, forehead protector, and functional clothing at home. She wore minimal make-up, but had taken care in doing her hair in a loose cascade that fell below her shoulders, decorated with an ivory comb from her mother's collection. Her fingernails were painted a pleasant lilac color to match her dress, and she had forgone the heavy pants and boots of her training for bare legs and black high-heels.

Shinako closed her eyes briefly and finished her cup, allowing the sense that she was wearing a costume to fade away. Returning to the moment, she filled her cup again and cast her eyes about the room, looking for signs of life.

488/488

Time off. Something that did not come to the young man often, but something that was very welcome. With the return of the new (old?) Hokage, things had gotten very busy around the village. Things were coming back to life in the hidden leaf village, like a flower blooming the spring after the thawing of the snow. The reeking of stagnation was starting to be cleared from the air, and the things were being whipped back into shape. For the young male, and many other ninja of the village, it meant a significant increase in the number of missions they were assigned to take. Time off was becoming scarce now, but when it did come around, he was grateful for it.

Why he chose this particular place today, he was not sure. He simply wanted a drink, one would suppose. into the establishment the young male would move himself, slipping through the door without a word. The place seemed decent enough for his tastes, not that he wanted much out of a a pub; Shushuya was well known in the village and frequented by ninja who were off duty, so it was almost expect that he come here. Nevertheless, he was here somewhat thirsty...

The male was dressed differently today as a departure from his typical style of dress; today, he was clothed in a long-sleeved black trench coat with slit sleeves and red designs and a white symbol on the left side. His trench coat was red on the inside with red flame-like accents at the bottom and a large emblem on the back, with a white tulip design covered by a red rose design. His lower body was clothed in long black pants and black shoes that are red on the bottom, and black gloves with red emblems on their fore hand, appearing to be a variant of the Greek letter Ω (Omega), the last letter in the Greek alphabet.

Making his way over to the bar counter of the pub, the male would take a seat. Once the tender approached him, he would order a simple drink to get himself started: a bottle of Ramune. As the tender stepped away to retrieve the drink, the male took a moment to look around the pub, noting that it was nearly empty as it was still a bit early before the crowds came in.

Oh well. There was a female seated nearby, roughly two seats down, who seemed to have a troubled look on her face and was sipping from a glass. Tre could only assume that what she was drinking was alcoholic, as it would seem appropriate for someone to come to a bar to drink thier sorrows away; if they want to drown them in milk, more than likely they would stay home, yea?

467 Wc

"Do you come here often?

The words were out of Shinako's mouth before she could stop herself. She had watched coyly as the young man had entered the pub, and something mysterious in her had chosen him as the next target for her attempts at conversation. Something far plainer in origin was embarrassed at her use of such a cheesy cliche.

"I mean..."

Shinako laughed a tinkling, nervous note, determined to press-on despite herself.  

"...that's not normally how I start a conversation with a stranger in a bar. I'm usually far cooler than this, I promise."

The young woman laughed again, this time a bit more confidently. A moment later, the bartender returned with a soft-drink for her new acquaintance. Shinako had pegged him as a shinobi from the moment he had arrived, and had guessed that he was a bit younger than her. His choice of drink only reinforced that guess.

The red symbol on his glove caught her eye briefly, and she decided that he must be a shinobi. She knew of quite a few professions throughout the Hidden Leaf Village that required gloves, and almost none of them looked like that. These gloves seemed more like a fashion statement, or tactical gear.

In the next moment Shinako realized that she was using the profiling techniques that she had mastered in Academy. If her cheeks had not already taken on a hint of rose from her wine, they certainly did now as she blushed. She had promised herself that she would take at least one night of distance from being a citizen soldier. There was no cure for this but to lean in, and discover what she could about the newcomer, independent o this role as a Shinobi. She would not ask about that.

In another stunning display of impulse, Shinako gracefully slid from her own seat into the next one down, toward the darkly dressed stranger. She pulled her wine and glass into a position on the bar-top more suitable to her new perch. Then, giving her winningest smile, she patted the seat next to her, indicating that he should move down. Her lacquered fingernails gleamed in the dim light as she did so, and she became vaguely aware that their shadows were now touching. That thought was pushed deep down as she then extended her hand daintily to shake.

"I'm Shinako. It's nice to finally meet you."

Her phrasing was strange. Perhaps her words were encumbered by the influence of the cheap sake. However, her large, bright eyes may have given away a hint of deeper meaning in the apparent slip of her tongue.

452/940

"Do you come here often?"

An eyebrow was raised slightly as the young man turned a pair of blue eyes to the female seated nearby. Was she speaking to him? Did he know her from somewhere? A passing acquaintance? Did he have a class in the academy with her and simply not remember her? Was she a civilian that the young man had assisted on a mission? In those few moments, the male took note of the appearance of the female, from the style of her hair to her dress and the shape of her face, attempting to match them to something from memory.

"I mean..."

A small laugh left the speaking female, a soft and pleasant sound. She seemed to compose herself somewhat, then spoke again.

"...that's not normally how I start a conversation with a stranger in a bar. I'm usually far cooler than this, I promise."

Tre released a small chuckle, nodding his thanks to the tender as the male returned with the requested drink. Fishing his wallet from within the inner pocket of his coat, the male the male paid for his drink, taking his eyes off the female for the briefest moment to do so. When he looked back to her once he had received his change and put his wallet away, the female had slid closer to him and was patting the seat between them in an invitation.

Despite not knowing this woman, the male felt there was no harm in having a drink and conversation with someone. Tre offered her a warm smile and nodded, sliding his drink down first before moving over himself. As he did, he took note of the faint blush covering her cheeks; a clear sign of how much this female had been drinking before the male had arrived to the establishment. Perhaps he should be on guard against a drunken pass at him?

"I'm Shinako. It's nice to finally meet you."

The smile upon his face spread further into a grin now. He nodded to the female, extending his right gloved hand to grasp and shake hers.

"Natake, Tre." The male withdrew his hand slowly, before reaching and popping the seal of his drink. A quick sip allowed the cool liquid to flow down his throat, revitalizing him somewhat. When he set the drink down, he turn his attention to the female once more, a questioning look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure how you happen to know of me? Could you please explain?" A legitimate question. From what the female seemed to imply, she had heard of Tre before this moment, and was just finally meeting him for the first time. The young man was not quite sure what he had done recently to earn any kind of recognition save for a few missions around the village, but he did not remember seeing a woman such as this. Had he indirectly helped her in some fashion?

He would wait calmly; the young man was not sure of what kind of answer this female would give, but he had time. He would simply wait, enjoying his drink and his time off in her company for the moment, provided things went well.

537 | 1004

It was only just then, when Tré asked how she knew him, that Shinako realized the slip of her tongue. When she had been a fledgling socialite, such a mistake would have embarrassed her greatly. She could almost hear her etiquette teacher chiding her to say what she meant, and to mean what she said.

Now, sitting in the twilight of the pub, Shinako was not sure how she felt about her little hiccup. Such a small thing, a minute detail, flung her deep into her own feelings. She assumed that the average person would simply correct the small instance of miscommunication, but she knew it would not be such an easy matter for her. It was one word, but there was something almost illicit about it. She felt like she was naked in public; even more surprising, was that she did not feel the smallest bit of trepidation.

"I don't know you, exactly, but I want to know someone like you..."

Shinako looked down into her cup at the thin, almost clear liquid, swirling the glass around pensively in her left hand, the one closest to Tré. Then, looking over her shoulder at him, she smiled again, as though she was trying to evade the gravity of what she had just said. Later, she would think that she had reached a new level of escaping from her own escapism.

"...you know...the kind of person who talks to strangers in bars."

The Kunoichi deftly handed her sake cup to her right hand and leaned her chin on her left, moving her face a bit closer to Tré's to better see him in the low light of the bar. Her nose and eyebrows crinkled with thought as she surveyed his strong, angular features. Finally, her probing gaze settled on his pale, blue eyes. She did not detect a single hint of kindness there, but that fact didn't scare her like it might have in the past.

Shinako held her ground, looking up into the young man's eyes with a determined, almost hungry look. She wasn't sure what she would find there, but decided that she would confront whatever it was head-on. She had stared, for so long in her life, into eyes that she knew entirely too well. She had fled when she had finally felt like they were starting to know her, too. Until then, when she became a shinobi, she had never once met anyone who cared about something that mattered. Sitting in the pub, looking into Tré's eyes, she wondered what he cared about.

"Hm...forever is just a string of nows..."

The last sentiment was said in a low whisper, almost absentmindedly. It was as though Shinako was bringing herself to a realization. Through sheer force of will, she had caused the physical space between herself and a complete stranger to evaporate into thin air in a matter of moments. It felt wild. It felt uncontrollable. It felt good.

500/1,440

"I don't know you, exactly, but I want to know someone like you..."

Shinako looked down into her cup at the thin, almost clear liquid, swirling the glass around pensively in her left hand, the one closest to Tré. Then, looking over her shoulder at him, she smiled again, as though she was trying to evade the gravity of what she had just said. Later, she would think that she had reached a new level of escaping from her own escapism.

"...you know...the kind of person who talks to strangers in bars."

Tre blinked slowly, unsure of how to respond to this statement. He did not think of himself as something special; not in this sense. To the young man, he was simply being polite, holding a conversation with a beautiful woman in a bar while they both had a few drinks. It was just that simple to him. If this woman was thinking that he was something special because of this, then it was speaking volumes of her own personality. Perhaps she was a mostly shy persona who kept to herself, and the liquid courage in her glass was making her brave enough to speak to him in this moment.

Perhaps... maybe she was a bit too drunk in this moment? Tre said nothing just yet; instead he raised his bottle of Ramune again and took a deep drink of it, nearly emptying the bottle. For a second, he pondered what to say to this woman in response to this. Should he just attempt to boost her morale, despite knowing that if she was truly indeed drunk, it would not be remembered? Or, should he simply ignore it for the moment, and just enjoy his drink?

"Hm...forever is just a string of nows..."

Once more, the bottle of soda was lifted and drank from, finishing it off. Placing the bottle onto the bar top, the man would signal for the tender to bring him another. When this one arrived, Tre would pop the top on it, and sip from it before setting it down and mulling over what this woman just said.  It was starting to seem like this woman was a bit too intoxicated to carry on a decent conversation, and he should probably look for an excuse or reason to make his exit.

But at the very least, he would not be rude about it.

Turning his attention to the female known as Shinako, he offered her another smile. He was still unsure of what to say at this point, and quite frankly... had never encountered a situation such as this one. Perhaps, he could help in this situation. The male reached out, attempting to push the glass away from her hand. As he withdrew it, he spoke quietly.

"Perhaps you have had a bit too much to drink, hm? Lets see about getting you someone to take you home, Miss." If she would comply, he would motion for the bar tender, attempting to get thier attention so that he could secure her a passage home.

508 | 1513

Her new companion's words were like a slap in the face, and as he reached for her cup she felt even more injured. In an almost hilariously unladylike gesture, like those seen in the newspapers' drawn cartoons of the legendary thief Ryoku, Shinako threw her head back and simultaneously downed the rest of her drink. A moment later, she placed the glass squarely outside of Tre's reach, wiping her hand across her mouth and smudging her lipstick. She was almost sorry that she could not produce a belch, like the ill-mannered protagonist in the comics.

Here she was, thinking that she had been about to engage in a deep conversation to tear herself away from her own melancholy. In that moment Shinako had felt like the writing prompts she had received in high-school, so full of promise that the boundaries that defined her were scarcely important. Somehow, she had felt incredibly close to this stranger, only to be awakened (reawakened?) to the idea that he did not feel the same. Her smile faded, and she looked almost helplessly at the River behind the bar. Her hands fell to her lap and folded there, and the Kunoichi almost instantly became smaller.

*The world is so full of people. Even this village is full to bursting. Each one is so infinitely imaginable, and so consistently mis-imagined.*

She had read about this particular emotion before; sonder. That unimaginably lonely feeling one could get when the solipsistic walls of the mind were breached, and the awareness of others flooded in. Once that vessel was broken, there was no repairing it. However, Shinako could not help but think of her father's Kintsugi rice-bowls. She could almost visualize the webs of gold stretching through the lacquered blue-green clay, and her father's satisfaction at their reforming. Perhaps there was something golden even in her own history of brokenness. Perhaps she would find it later.

She spoke in a decidedly colder tone.

"Perhaps you are right. I'm sorry if I have embarrassed myself, and I beg your pardon."

The young woman offered a side-on bow, without fully turning to face Tré. The gesture was more a twist of her shoulders than an actual conciliatory offering. Shinako became aware all at once that her shadow had gained a bit of definition, and crossed Tré's almost angrily where they lay on the floor. She could tell without looking at it that it had taken an aggressive, pointed shape that did not resemble her at all. At her bidding, it softened and slid away from the young man's shadow, moving to the right side of its owner and her barstool. Both physically and symbolically, the divide between strangers was back in place.

Even though, from the corner of her eye, Shinako could still see Tré there, she felt strangely solitary in the bar. It felt like the time she had nearly been hit head-on with a fire-style jutsu in academy, and had deftly utilized the substitution jutsu to escape. Everything had been a blur, a flurry of sound and motion, and then there had been nothing. She remembered feeling like she had survived some sort of extinction event; even in the cacophonous silence, there was a sense of accomplishment, as though she had avoided certain destruction.

560/2,000

It would seem that he had struck a nerve with his statement; Shinako threw her head back and simultaneously downed the rest of her drink. A moment later, she placed the glass squarely outside of Tre's reach, wiping her hand across her mouth and smudging her lipstick. An eyebrow raised as the woman did so; was she truly this upset that Tre had implied that she was drunk? While it was known to the young man that some people did become upset when their intoxication was pointed out, Tre had never experienced it before and therefore had never expected a reaction to this degree; the young man was somewhat shocked.


"Perhaps you are right. I'm sorry if I have embarrassed myself, and I beg your pardon."

The tone of Shinako's voice was frosted over, and the male raised an eyebrow once again at the sight of the odd bow that was performed by this female. If she was going to be feeling some type of way over a comment like that, then there was nothing Tre could do to convince her or indicate otherwise; perhaps, there was, but he could not be made to care anymore than he currently did. He said nothing for the moment, instead opting to pick up the bottle of Ramune to drink from again. When the male was finished, he set the bottle down and signaled for the tender to bring him another for the road. Once the young man paid his tab, he took his bottle of Ranume and departed the establishment without another word to Shinako.

As the male walked, he popped the tab on his bottle of Ramune, and began to reflect on what had happened back in the bar; a beautiful woman who appeared to be a bit drunk approached him, seemingly flirty. Upon further conversating -- if could even be called that -- the young man came to conclusion very quickly that this woman whom approached him when he sat down was very drunk. When he pointed this assumption, the female named Shinako seemed to become offended that the young man had implied that that she was intoxicated; she drank down her liquor before Tre could remove it from her reach, gave an awkward bow and seemed not want to speak to him.

Had he done something wrong? Tre saw himself only as trying to help this young woman in her situation; getting her out of the bar lest someone with less than noble intentions take advantage of her intoxicated mindset. Perhaps she did not feel like she needed his help, or did she simply not want someone deciding things for her?

Or perhaps, perhaps there was something else to the situation. Perhaps this woman was looking for someone... in the manner that a call girl waited at a bar in order to be 'purchased' for a fun time? Was that it?  No, that could not be it; Shushaya Pub was not known for that kind of behaviour, at least thats what Tre had heard.

Maybe he was wrong?

-Thread Exit~

Total WC: 2020

2020/940 [Genius Perk = 20% WC Reduction per stat tier] = SPD D to D-3

1080/940 [Genius Perk = 20% WC Reduction per stat tier] = REA D to D-3

140 wc remaining

"Everything is uglier up close."

The bartender, having seen Tré leave so abruptly, had almost instinctively drawn near, and now asked if Shinako had been talking to him. She shook her head and the man moved back to his work, prepping for the night-time crowd. His departure revealed a spot, black and striking, in the motif behind the bar that threatened to take her breath away. In her fuzzy state, she could have sworn she saw a human figure, bending to drink from the white-blue foam of the Naka. However, blinking to clear her eyes, she saw that the dark, shadowy depiction was, in fact, a deer. She almost cried.

115/2,115

Training: