Karumo sat lazily at his desk, leaned back with his head pressing a small dent into the leather of it. Feeling his weight sink fully into it, ignoring the risk of falling backwards and all else as he thumbed through a few folders. Three in total scattered on the empty space between other papers and materials, the records of each of his squad members. The next group he'd be teaching and pushing up through the ranks of the village, an interesting group in personality for one but in skills for another. Looking at each of them on paper, they all had their own... expertise and shown skills, from various sources from the academy and missions beyond.

The particular folder he was looking at was for one Himura, Taeru. There was one seriously interesting aspect to it, in that she enrolled and went through the steps of the academy in the time of a year, being placed as a genin at an exceptionally young age. Really, a key driving factor for Karumo to take her on, she also seemed to have a knack for some genjutsu and was described as focused, motivated, and quiet all in the same breath. An interesting combination for sure, Karumo was sure to want to dive in more behind, and while he had a responsibility to all of the villagers, he certainly like to dive into the mentalities of each of his students.

Still, not much to initiate a conversation with, he sighed and closed up the folder before placing it abruptly back onto the desk and shuffling each of the folders together in a neat stack. Giving off a labored huff as he used his head and its momentum being thrown forward to throw his whole body lazily forward into an upright position. Placing his forearms on the desk, he sighed a bit, feeling the weight of himself shift back into form. It wasn't his weight, but some imaginary weight he'd been feeling weigh heavily, undescribed at best he slowly pushed it out of his mind.

Standing up from his desk, he pushed the chair back, rolling on the balls of its legs until it stopped, he grabbed a small note and wrote on it, the kanji for the word 'Roof' on it and left it on his desk, dead in the center and away from everything else. Then, he grabbed a board with a 9x8 square grid pattern cut into it, pieces within the hollow board rattled within as he shifted about. Then, he made his way out of the office, walking quickly and silently through the hallways, paying careful attention not to be noticed by anyone. Shifting around into a stairwell and flying up the stairs as he could, still remaining as quiet as possible all the same, finding himself emerging on the rooftop of the administration building. A not easily accessible place given that there was only a window and no door at the top of the stairs but, he was the Tsuchikage, this wouldn't be difficult for him in the slightest.

On top of the rooftop was a setup of his own request, a wooden outdoor table with a few reclining chairs as well, a shaded cover over the top of it. He pretty much justified it as preventing aerial recon of the admin building and himself but really, he just wanted the shade from the sun when he could afford it. Luckily at that, as partly cloudy skies gave way to a heavily bearing sun in the mid afternoon. He hadn't told anyone he was coming up here, he knew his summons to his office would lead to being empty, the note the only clue (albeit obvious one) to his location on the rooftop. He spent a moment and set the board up for a game of chess, then stepped back for a moment.

The first of his three students was set to arrive shortly, if he'd done the mental time management properly but that left him with some time to kill. Well, not really but he'd find a way, working his way over to the ledge, he sat down and leaned back against the stone edging of the rooftop, letting his legs lay out in front of him and crossing one over the other. Crossing his fingers and letting his hands lay on his chest as his head fell back, eyes closed, just... meditating on what was to come.


[747 words]

She would slip sliding down along the floorboards past the stairs, missing them by just a smidge as her miss matched hues gazed down them. She would purse her lips before bursting into a spluttered laughter as she felt a child plop down on her side. Turning on her stomach she would attempt to scramble away only to be met by another dropping down on her, somewhat winding her. She would choke slightly on a breathless laughter as she forced herself over scooping the two children up into her arms "Not near the stairs, Elder brother will have our asses if one of us falls." Still grinning she would release them dropping back down as she watched them giggle at one another before raising from her. She would slowly prop herself up waiting a moment to catch her breath allowing her hands to fiddle with her binding straps tightening them a little more as she heard what sounded like elder brother coming to the bottom of the stairs. She would pause allowing her head to tilt to one side returning her miss matched hues gaze back down the stairs just in time to allow Elder brother to fill the void. Her hair would graze across her face overshadowing some of it as a smile graced her pastel pink lips tugging them up at their edges. Elder brothers eyes would rest on her before allowing his head to tip to one side watching her as he spoke "A note came, you to meet with the Tsuchikage Sama. You have ten minutes to get ready and look presentable, then you are to leave and head to his office immediately."  Her head would tilt upright as she lent on her left forearm drawing her right arm back over her frame turning to face the Elder brother, the subtle shock leaving her features allowing excitement to build within her once again tearing her smile into a grin. Elder brother would simply roll his eyes somewhat playfully "Well.. Get moving." She would turn fully onto her stomach, placing her palms flat against the ground before pushing up. Drawing her knees up to the flat of her chest she would dart back off into the bedroom skidding to a holt in front of her bunk, quickly rummaging through her things, unsure of what she might need she would simply pack the essentials. Popping her beaded senbon between her lips before slithering her tongue around them drawing them into a more secure place between her lips, she would drop to her rump allowing her hands to trail down along the straps and buckles that wrapped around her baggy black trousers tugging them, in order to tighten them off before adjusting her kuni's pouch. She would shift adjusting her position so that she knelt setting her rump against her feet before placing four of her senbon only to adjust her backside pouch. Placing her hands down against the ground for support she would push up to her full height of five foot five, shrugging into her black with red trimmed jacket she would tackle the stairs tapping against each step in a fast rhythm sounding most likely like a pack of elephants coming down the stairs. She would skid off to a holt in front of the mirror only to find the elder brother waiting there for her. He would step closer reaching to take the senbon from between her lips as he spoke turning her around so that her back faced him "You shouldn't run with things like this in your mouth.. At least not around the house." As he spoke he would grasp her hair before twisting it into a bun slipping the senbon into place, to secure the bun. His fingers would brush past her ears loosening the bangs she had tucked behind them before stepping back. She would turn to face him with a soft smile highlighting the subtle dusty pink hue that had spread along the bridge of her nose. He would flash her a quick smile before stepping to one side allowing her to take a look in the mirror. She would nod as the blush faded stepping to hop off of the step to where her boots where "Thank you". Settling her rump once again she would quickly tug her boots on wiggling her feet down against the ground to get comfortable in them. She would smile up at the Elder brother once again as he handed her the note that had come before quickly slipping out of the door sprinting off down the streets of the living quarters.

She would slow her pace a tad as she headed through the winding streets pausing as she reached the administration building. Her head would tilt back as she looked up at the building arching a brow as her head tilted a touch to one side. She would a little early but that’s how she liked it. A soft smile would return to her pastel pink lips before pushing on into the building itself. She would step over the receptionist slightly clearing her throat before speaking "Hello. I'm Himaru, Taeru, I'm reporting in to see the Tsuchikage Sama."  The receptionist would flash a smile before directing her through the hallways to the Tsuchikage's office. She would pause outside of the door to the office straightening off her jacket  before rolling her broad shoulders as she fidgeted a tad trying to look as presentable as possible before drawing her hand up grazing her knuckles against the door before knocking loud and clear. She would pause only to hear nothing. She would begin to fidget once more before pressing her somewhat masculine seeming form against the door as her ear rested against its surface. She would pause there holding her breath for a short time hearing nothing from inside. She would step back pursing her lips only to bite down on the supple pastel pink flesh of her bottom lip causing it to discolour. Her miss matched hues would flicker to the clock, she were still early for the appointment but time was ticking. She would grasp the handle of the door closing her eyes tightly before opening it slowly. She would peek inside allowing her miss matched hues to search the room taking in its empty state. Pausing she would look up at the ceiling just in case before lightly shaking her head stepping inside of the office. Nothing seemed out of place only  to notice the note on the desk. Her eyes would return to the ceiling as she smile tugged at her lips. Her hand would shift to her lips once again as she stifled a giggle. She would almost tiptoe back out of the office closing the door behind her leaning against it for a second before pushing to sprint off down the hallways heading for the front doors of the building. She had considered hopping out of a window but didn't want to be disrespectful, along with being almost certain that there would be a door leading to the roof but having not known where it were, such would only waste time. She would slip back outside before pausing to inhale deeply finding her center quickly, allowing a soft flow of chakra to run into her hands and feet. She would raise a leg placing the sole of her foot against the wall only to lean  against it a few times checking her chakra flow before shifting to scale the building occasionally placing her hands against the wall for balance. Reaching the lip of the roof she would grasp at its edge pushing from her feet, adjusting her chakra flow down along her forearms to aid her as she pulled herself up returning the flow to her feet as she took a step away from the edge. Her miss matched hues would fall on the setting in front of her having pretty much intruded on the Tsuchikage, seeming to be meditating or simply relaxing. She would take to her knees dividing her chakra flow to her knees as well as her feet before arching her body forwards into a bow, low enough for her pastel lilac fringe to brush against the roof itself as she spoke "Tsuchikage Sama." her dull voice would twist along a somewhat soothing tone as her light accent clipped at the ends of her words. She would run over the image she had caught before bowing from the Tsuckikage's relaxed position to the seats and chess board. She would bite down on the soft pastel pink flesh of her bottom lip discolouring it again as curiosity seeped into her being. She would inhale deeply filling her lungs with the scents  the roof had to offer, allowing a subtle smile to grace her features tugging the right corner of her lips up, recognizing the Tsuchikages scent.

(Word count: 1479)
(Chakra: 150/ 145 )

jutsu used.:

There was a flash of light that burst in the sky, the sound of clanking metal and sparks tearing in pops across his view. The sounds of yells and all else... was he on a battlefield? Karumo found himself omniscient to the scene, a fireball raged across the ground right for him, but he was far enough away, moving to escape it's path. Kunai flew out in the gap, right for him, but he was just as quick, blocking each of them into the ground, the gold and red cloak from his days as Captain of the Oracles flapped a bit. Too theatrical for a real battle, too limiting. This couldn't be real, but the battle seemed a bit familiar to say the least, the defiant look in his eyes, crashing around him, his purple eyes scanning out for the focused attacker and where he could go next. Things shifted, the scenery around him change as his mind's eye view shifted, what was a battle raging on open and cracked land shifted into a forest, he was running through branches and threw a kunai out. But to where? The image faded again, this time Karumo was in his grey ANBU armor, the same kind he had when he first joined on, things were moving, more purple eyes surrounded him. And there was, no... the image moved again, Karumo lost years but remained in the forest, he reminded himself of when he was a genin. There wasn't anything happening though, it quieted down, everything from beginning to end and he was stumbling around like he was in search of something?

He straightened out after a few more steps, then it came... a blow directly to his back that severed through the skin and muscle, he fell to the ground in a gasp, he was even younger now. A child, there were other faces around him, piled up with twisted faces and the ground ran red... not just with blood, had turned red.

There was a clear cut voice in the sound of it, it rang out... a bit quietly? "Tsuchikage Sama." Karumo blinked in his mind's eye, the version of him that was in the midst of his own blood and panic, and then... it shattered. The ground opened up and swallowed him in darkness, he fell, felt the feeling kick his body as he started to fall, but the real Karumo didn't move a single muscle. He wanted to jump up, throw both eyes open and find where he was, but avoided it all. He'd grown so accustomed to that dream, to the feeling within it was starting to not affect him any longer.

Instead, his arms crossed around his chest and head leaned back, he opened his left eye slowly and found... a young girl there, his student just smiling at him. She'd made it along, he'd lost track of time in his meditation, but a thought of how long she'd been standing there ran across his mind for a brief moment. He shook his head a bit and blinked heavily, expanding his eyelids and pulling them as wide as he could to wake up from the fatigued part of him, dragging light into his irises if he could. "Right..." he said uncrossing his leg and bending his knees, throwing his head and back forward and in one motion standing up all together, stretching and rotating his neck around to crack a few of the bones.

"Taeru, right?" he paused and glanced down towards her, wherever she was positioned in relation to him as Karumo relaxed in his stance a bit while still remaining postured tall. He of course, knew who she was, they'd met briefly before in his introduction the day before and he'd read over her file at least twice, soaking up what he could of the information as he had the time. Still, he'd give her a short chance to respond, nod, rant on, whatever form of communication she would pick out before Karumo would tap his fist against his hand and hum a bit, "Do... do you like games?" he would pause for a second with a raised eyebrow to see how she would respond or react, "Like board games, strategy games, the likes..." he glanced towards the chess board to draw attention to it for a moment before turning back.

"I had an idea to meet one on one with each of the squad members, find out who they are and where their skills and talents lie, but... " he glanced around and scratched his temple, "Well, it's a bit of an unorthodox choice at that but regardless... it'll be something to do while I interrogate you." he kept calm and mostly expressionless at his own little joke. He didn't think it would strike any degree of nervous fear but he did enjoy to make little comments and keep people on edge as he could. He paused for a moment again to wait to see how she would react and, depending on her answer, turn his attention back to the board.


[862 words, 1609 words total]

Remaining in the bow she would shift her frame back a touch grazing her knee and shin along the roof drawing very close to the edge of the roof keeping her hands pressed against her knees, waiting for the Tsuchikage to stand before raising her head first allowing her striking miss matched hues to rest on him before shifting forwards away from the edge and pushing down on her knees as she drew up to her full height of five foot five getting her footing before cutting the chakra flow once she felt secure as he spoke.  She would draw her body to attention keeping a firm stance with her body straight to its full height and her arms pressed to her sides "Yes Tsuchikage Sama" Her accent would sit lightly in the dull tone of her voice clipping slightly at the end of her words.  

Her eyes would dart to and frow with each and every movement the Tsuchikage made from the way he stood to him tapping his fist against his hand only never drawing her gaze to his. As he mentioned games her gaze would flicker over to the chess board unable to stop herself, her smile would grow tugging the corners of her lips higher still as she willed her frame to remain still, even so her head would tilt just a touch to the right causing a small section of her pastel lilac strands to graze over her cheekbone obscuring the view of her intense blood coloured left orb ever so slightly, as the other side simply fanned out a little from the frame of her face. For a moment her attention would remain on the board game before flickering back to him as his attention shifted to it. She would for a moment that she had take in all the detail the Tsuchikage had to offer her, from sight right down to the sound of him taking note of his posture and actions even the tone of his voice as he spoke. "I do Tsuchikage Sama" though her voice itself were rather dull, the tone of her voice would spill a touch higher as though some excitement of some sort poured into it, "Though it's not often that I get to partake..." Her words would fade almost as quickly as they had come.

She would nod as he spoke mulling over his choice of words, absentmindedly nodding along as he spoke as her attention flickered back to the board before speaking herself, " Tsuchikage Sama..if you don’t mind me saying," She would pause for a moment in case he did mind and spoke out, before inhaling, filling her lungs deeply before continuing "I wouldn’t call this method unorthodox per say... A strategy game whilst under interrogation will give you a glimp's into the way my mind works under two different types of pressure along with seeing how well I am able to split my attention between tasks, the way I would strategize and take a situation and my reaction to whatever questions you may pose. This simply way you will see both my strengths and weaknesses." As she spoke her body would slowly begin to lean allowing her head to tilt a touch further "That is how I see it.. " Her head would tilt back a touch raising her gaze only to draw her gaze immediately back to the ground, as she bite down on the soft pale pink flesh of her bottom lip trapping it between her teeth just enough to discolour it a touch, ' I should have thought before speaking...' She would bite down a tad harder on her lip as she though only to realize her posture had dropped. She would immediately draw her frame upright once more in a quick enough motion to cause her pastel lilac hair to catch an almost un-noticeable breeze whipping about before dropping back down once more to frame her features, only showing more of its unprofessional, choppy cut. Her bottom lip would slowly peel from the clutches of her teeth almost instantly regaining its pale pink colour replacing the air of uncertainty with a light smile as a calm wave passed over her as she thought 'What is said is said... after all he is using this time to get to know me. I shall at the very least comply and try to in turn learn from and of him' regaining her composure. Her slightly fidgeting would cease as her frame relaxed a touch yet continued to keep her posture strict and to attention, inhaling slowly as she found her center point once more.

(Word count: 772.)

Karumo noticed that she kept a very rigid and formal sense, even though he stood tall he felt mostly comfortable in the position but ignored it for now. But, she agreed that she liked games! The real important part here. Which was a start he supposed, at the very least it meant he could relate to one aspect of the student. He did notice a bit of excitement build up at first in her, her eyes and attention flickered to the board as he went on about it. She spoke up after though, waiting for his permission Karumo gave a slight nod and low hum as he was curious to what she would have to say, his eyes curiously glancing as he awaited her words.

He words, being her own thoughts and agreement with the situation, she seemed to have already thought it through, ignoring... well, killing his joke for the calculated reality that it was. He ignored that though, as she left off with how she saw it, he chuckled, trying to contain it, his chest and shoulders raised as it peeked through his lips. At first a single raise, followed a moment later by a few more, a smile danced across his face as his laughter picked up a bit into a chuckle. He did notice her rather bad habit of biting down onto her lip, though, he couldn't tell if it was so much as a nervous twitch or a bad habit yet, he ignored it for his own musing and laughter. He turned as her fidgeting would stop and would leisurely walk over to the table and take a seat down into the chair, leaning back into it as well, waving his hand towards it if she hadn't followed along herself.

Still chuckling to himself with a smile, he would speak up as she would sit down, if she did so, "Well, I like that you're thinking ahead, and you're right... for the most part." he leaned forward a bit, grabbing the board and pulling the bottom to drop the pieces down onto the table, revealing all the necessary parts to a chess board. Letting them fall down into a random mess before closing the board and setting it back down next to the parts, white and black painted pieces of wood in all the shapes of each piece. "What I have in mind is still even more different, so... white or black?" he would ask with a smirk, leaving the choice to her and taking the pieces of the opposite color before slowly setting them up on his side. If she had any other questions she could ask, but Karumo would begin ranting after the fact regardless, hoping to explain and clarify a little more.

"You see, this is chess indeed, in a lot of the same ways, we'll treat all the pieces as they can move their normal spaces as in the rules and we'll have our little battle here. So as far as mechanic goes, you can't do anything that you won't be able to do things like move pawns backwards without reaching the far end and such, not a problem at all. However, I've always found that chess doesn't really encompass... a battle, but rather a spar, wouldn't you agree?" he paused for a moment, glancing up as he began to place the back row of his own pieces, seeing if she were keeping up before he would continue on. "In a spar, you can't outright defeat your opponent, check and checkmate, all tools meant not to cause real harm to each other, even though you may take away their tools, the analogy changes. But in a real battle, fighting a real ninja of another land, you learn that you should strike first, quickly, without hesitation. You only win at their surrender or the absolute defeat of their force...."

"So, we're going to treat this game differently, imagine yourself as a general of your army here, or your legion or squad or whatever suits you, and you're going to wage a war or compete in the battle against me." Karumo's lips turned for a moment as he started to feel the excitement of really putting her mind to the test. "Himura, Taeru graduated from within the academy in a years time and has a prowess with genjutsu. You've done several missions already before even being placed in a squad here, but you don't hail from any of the great clans of the village, no KKG, I wonder what really makes you more capable than your peers." Karumo continued on as he set his last piece in order, everything set in an incredibly neat and orderly fashion as he leaned back into his chair again and waited for Taeru to finish if she wouldn't have already.

"There is one more rule to this game you have to observe, and they go hand in hand with some of the battle and initiation tactics that you've learned, and while we're considering this a real battle and all, we're enemies but not at war. You need to decide when or if you're being threatened by my own presence on the board, or if you deem striking first a worthy tactic or waiting to lull me into a trap. It's entirely up to you, but consider the entirety of your strategic and battle analysis totally open at play, this is war in every sense of the word." his smile faded as he exhaled and held a hand out, declining the first move to her, regardless of the color of her piece where traditionally white would have gone first.


[964 words, 2573 words total]

Noting the Tsuchikage's first puff of a short laughter her miss matched hues would raise drawing her gaze up first to rest at his chest and shoulder's then to his lips, watching as a smile danced along them. Her gaze would remain in place reluctant to raise her eyes to meet his as a though crossed her mind in partial 'calm... comfortable... yet..' Her mind would drift slightly only for her attention to shift as he began his stroll to the chairs, though she would remain until seeing his indication to follow, doing so immediately. 'such a mood seems..fleeting … or posed?' She would question as she watched him settle himself into his preference of the chair waiting before partly mimicking the action in a form. As she slid down into the seat she would draw her knee up grazing it along the seat before resting the outer side of her leg against the chairs seat keeping her foot over the edge allowing it to dangle as she drew her other foot up to place its foot down atop her other legs calve muscle. Leaning forwards she would press the flat of her tightly bound chest against her thigh as her right hand shifted to grasp at her shin placing her left hand atop the other as she watched the Tsuchikage move to cause disarray with the board though her attention would remain on his lips as he smirked listening to his words before drawing her gaze to the mess of fallen pieces.  

Her left hand would draw from atop the right grazing the tips of her fingers along the back of her right hand before reaching out as she spoke "Black" though her lightly accented voice would come more of an undertone as her fingers brushed past a white piece taking one of the black pawns between the pinch of her thumb, index and middle finger prying it from the mess. ' White like the Shanobi of the face of the village.. Black like the shanobi of the anbu that work in the shadows...hn..' A simple though, though enough to tug the corner of her lip up a tad more for a brief moment.  

As the Tsuchikage continued to speak her miss matched hues would return her gaze stopping again at his lips just short of his eyes each time slowly rolling the pawn between the fingers that trappen it before placing it onto the board. Her miss matched hues would dart back to the pieces as she set up her side starting with the pawns before going from right to left with the back pieces. Once finished setting up her side her gaze would rest with him once again. As he paused her lips would part as though she were about to speak only to close once more only for her to chew slightly at the inside of part of her bottom lip edging close to the right corner drawing it in a touch. Watching him continue to speak taking in his choice of words and tone of voice, his body language almost as though she were waiting for something. Concentrating on the message he were conveying in his words as her gaze shifted to the pieces 'who do I see my pieces as.. An army.. A squad... no.'  she would lightly shake her head causing her pastel lilac bangs to graze at her pale cheeks as her brows furrowed slightly  ' no... they would be separate parts of me.. If such is considered a spar then there is only myself I can fall back on..for now. Though If I look at it from a squads view... My actions would be different. We will see...'

She would ponder on this only to have her attention flicker back up to the Tsuchikage again not allowing the gaze of her intense miss matched hues to draw level with his own as he spoke her name. Her lips would part slightly again as though she might speak simply to bite down on the soft pale flesh of her bottom lip again giving it a darker shade of pink as she trapped it allowing her attention to return to the board as he paused taking a moment to think before speaking grazing her left hands fingers up along the back of her right hand, her gaze remaining on her neatly set rows of 'soldiers' or rather fragments as he began to speak again. 'When another stands before you is it not war between individuals.. When both want to advance yet none with the desire to step aside... is it not war?' Her mind would drift along his words almost repeating a few within her mind only to have her attention drawn back with a simple yet unexpected gesture as he passed up the chance of going first even with his statement of ' you should strike first, quickly, without hesitation' such words echoing in her mind. Her brow would arch almost wanting to protest against the white set not going first but restrained before allowing her eyes to close as she inhaled deeply allowing the scents around them to fill her lungs.

Exhaling slowly her miss matched orbs would open once more allowing her left hand to leave it partner hovering without a touch about her piece shifting from left to right slowly as she spoke "Tsuchikage Sama, I wouldn’t say it is what you are born with that should make a difference nor do I believe that I am more capable than my peers. We simply approach life in a different way..." She would pause drawing her tongue along her bottom lip slightly mearly to re wet its surface as her fingertips lightly stroked along as pawn taking it into her grasp as she continued "at a different pase... Genjutsu.." She would inhale as though she were about to speak more only to close her mouth relocating the pawn in her grasp shifting it from E-seven to E-six before releasing it. Her hand would return to graze past the back of her hand sliding up to hide within her sleeve as her miss matched hues back to the Tsuchikage.  

She would watch the Tsuchikage intently as her frame remained still though the air about her relaxed a touch as though she had settled into the notion of interrogation. Simply watching for his facial expression noting a somewhat serious turn in a way as his smile faded wondering what were passing through his mind. The fingers and thumb of her left hand would pick at the lining of her jacket absentmindedly. Simply curious.



(Word count:1101)

Taeru chose black as they continued on to set up the board, leaving his own pieces as spotless as he could imagine them to be, making them straight and to the point. The knights faced directly forward and nothing was out of line elsewhere, a small note of his own... drive to have everything even. Not quite obsessive compulsive but enough that he'd be annoyed by it otherwise. Karumo leaned back into his seat a little and watched, she looked at him curiously as he declined the first move to her, and she took without any real protest. Interesting for Karumo to read into, either she hadn't fully heard or understood what he meant in that anything goes within mechanic or she was seizing the opportunity to make a move first. A prudent tactic for sure, but the pawn that opened the king and the queen up... it was, an interesting tactic if she truly understood his intentions here.

Karumo had almost forgotten her words as he took the moment after she released the pawn, his gaze focused on the board and her move like he was staring off in the distance. Birth doesn't make a difference, now his mind was moving in two places, a good trick to throw off a less focused mind perhaps but as he leaned up a bit towards the board, his hand hovered over the pawn at d2 for a moment before he retracted. He spoke up the moment after, "Are you saying that you don't think birth affects your standing or ability?" he paused, his eyes focused on the board in front of him still. He wrote off her own humility in the moment, he knew she was just a kid still but he felt like prodding into her mindset a little bit if he could.

Without leaving much of a pause for her to answer he would continue talking as his hand began to reach forward, "Those with Kekkai Genkai have a huge advantage and it's true in the ninja world that those who know pain excel and understand far more. It's easier to cut someone when you've never been cut yourself, a child who loses both parents in an accident on their vacation grows up knowing that loss, can reflect on it and form ideals but at the same time that child knows rage and anger, can harness it into power and find the outlet to soothe his own inner demons." A small freudian slip, adding the 'he' at the end as he was talking about himself, his own upbringing in a very vague and non-detailed sense. He didn't think Taeru would know anything of it but maybe she would catch his slip up. At the time of his speaking, Karumo would grab the pawn at E-2 and move it up to E-4 and release it to drop just slightly.

With his move done, his purple eyes would roll back up towards hers as he would add in one more comment, "While it's true upbringing plays a lot, those who have money in their childhood tend to excel in school and don't worry while those that are poor are distracted far more, it's easy to choose to work hard, there is no choice in being born poor or without some special abilities. And you... you're ordinary by every mark and yet you excel as it would seem..." his head would stay still as he watched, his tone calm and words chosen carefully, he of course didn't mean to offend by calling her ordinary but in that she didn't have a powerful dojutsu like himself and couldn't wield the unique Kekkai Genkai found within the village. Still, there had to be something unique about her, to move through the academy in a years time at least.


[652 words, 3225 words total]

Observing the Tsuchikage somewhat like a hawk, taking note of his need, or what seemed to be a need for setting his pieces up nice and neatly. Her fingers would flex only gripping back down against her leg as she watched silently as a thought of a possible missed moment to cause and watch a reaction passed in their movements. Though the thought only led to a wonder as to weather the incemetrical colouration of her eyes and paint draw out an irritation of sorts? If so it wouldn’t have been the first time.  

Her miss matches hues gaze remaining on the board as the Tsuchikage spoke almost sinking into the so called game of wit. Her gaze would graze over his hand and wrist as he lent finding his hand hovering over one of the pieces only to move away from it again, was that... indecision... or tact, she had just witnessed..? Listening intently as her head tilted a touch to one side, taking in each of his words down to the structure of his sentence before speaking, her accent slipping in a tad thicker with her words keeping them short and quite to the point, yet in no way using a matter of fact tone simply consisting of her naturally dull toned voice "I see it as dependable, Tsuchikage Sama." Taking the opportunity her gaze would raise up from the board catching that he were watching the board himself raising her gaze only briefly to take in the oddity in colour of the Tsuchikage's eyes before quickly flickering back down to the board once again, knowing better than to look in the eyes of a dojutsu user especially when it were rumored that some such as the  Fantomusodo dojutsu remained active unlike the famous Uchiha's dojutsu. Her teeth would graze along the soft pale pink flesh of her bottom lip before nipping down slowly peeling it away from the teeth again as she imprinted the image she had grasped, burning it into her mind.

Just as quick as he had finished his previous sentence he had began his other, lucky her response had been so brief. Her eyes would fix on the Tsuchikages hand once again as he proceeded to shift it moving it to a different piece as he continued to speak. As he plucked the pawn from its place here eyes would flicker up. Though stopping short of making and form of possible eye contact without force catching something in his words, a double meaning perhaps? Casting her miss matched gaze back down to his hand taking in the pawns short drop to the board taking that as a note to speak herself, again her tone as dull as usual yet her accent seemingly lighter again keeping her words directly to the point of her view, "The advantage is also a disadvantage. An ordinary person, that is willing to put in the time and effort to sharpen not only their skill but their minds as well can be a match against their natural ability, maybe even use it against the welder. A Kekkei Genkai user often relies heavily on their natural ability, if that in some way is taken away from them there in lies a weakness. " As she spoke her left hand would draw from its hiding place against her hand inside its opposite sleeve, to graze her index and middle fingers down the F-8 king side, bishop before pressing her thumb against it pinching it in her grip before plucking it from the board relocating  it diagonally to the position C-5.

Ending her turn without hesitation her left hand would return grazing again, against the back of her right hand slipping it back up the sleeve again listening intently to his words her gave would raise up to him again, stopping short of making eye contact. "I have witness both the rich and poor slack at work yet in turn work hard to achieve. Though in ways I agree with your statement. Things often depend on an individual's mindset. My acceleration come's down, simply to my own mindset and needs, little more and nothing less than such." She couldn’t care for the use of the word ordinary people had often used such term to describe her and had no doubt that it would be used again and again. Even with her young age she were no fool and knew she were in fact quite ordinary, and had long since accepted such, allowing her dull voice to remain calm almost soothing as her accent littered against her words lightly.


(Word count: 765)

Dependable. Were the words she chose, he watched her glance up to his eyes and quickly away, smirking a bit at the notion, a feeling and sentiment he'd received so often and from so many people. Karumo made his move though and reclined back a bit as he left it to her, her response coming as she mused about the lack of effort from those with those advantages he nodded his head, a true sentiment for sure, but did it mean anything?

He let her continue on and watched her move the bishop across the board and place itself in the middle of the battlefield, he leaned in and squinted his eyes towards the board a bit as he thought about what she was planning, where she was going with it all. She continued on, saying she'd seen the extremes of both, still trying to play down her own abilities compared to everyone else, Karumo smirked and glanced from the board up to her then. "Then we know your own kekkai genkai then, your work ethic and determination..." he smiled and paused for a second.

"Think about what a kekkai genkai is, as abstractly as you can. A textbook or manual might define it as 'a unique bloodline trait that one possesses' or something along those lines. Would you not say your mentality is not a prowess only you possess? You're the only one with the influences on your life and motivations to mold yourself into who you are. Still, that can be influenced can't it?" his eyes fell back down to the board as his right hand reached out to his knight at G-1 and picking it up, holding it up and rotating it in his hands. "What makes a knight from a pawn when building your army may be its unique abilities, but a pawn with enough effort can survive, traverse the board and become a knight itself, very true. But do you not think that a knight also doesn't strive to survive and break the enemy line?" he held his gaze and the piece in his hand as if he were admiring its style.

"You say you've seen those without talent work hard towards it and those with talent flounder it, but I'd warn you to never take your own situation and understanding to be equated to the truth to the world. As headmaster, I saw the very same, but we're ninja. I've never seen a ninja who hasn't trained as hard as they can, who hasn't struggled against the odds to survive in battle, whether met with success... or failure." he hesitated a bit, letting the gravity of what failure meant hopefully piercing her ears. He grabbed the knight piece and squeezed it lightly before moving it back to his pointer finger and thumb, reaching to the board and placing it down in the H-3 spot.

"Maybe I'm just posturing too much, but as Tsuchikage it's a sort of job of mine to help everyone grow as quickly as they can to their full potential if possible. But I want to ask you, how would you tell between someone who is putting forth the effort necessary to keep up with the average and those who don't have the stamina? All of it comes down to the limits we have within ourselves, in some way or another. If it's not our own powers, its the maximum that we can push ourselves, and if our mentality doesn't hinder that, maybe I just won't have the stamina to keep up with my enemy. And it's true you can build stamina given a lot of time, but if someone else has more stamina inherently then... what's the fall for that?" he reclined back again, falling into his seat again, his thoughts had run in circles and that filter between his thoughts and mouth had fallen down, letting him rant his tangent out completely. Still, his point was still there, that birth and natural ability was a huge determining factor in how life progresses, whether anyone wanted to accept it or not.


[702 words, 3927 words total]

Her frame would arch forwards a touch more as she shifted her position ever to slightly grazing a little more of her shin against the arm of the seat almost drawing her frame a touch closer to the board, hunkering her head down, just enough to place her chin a top her knee. Noting his smirk out of the corner of her vision, her bottom lip would absentmindedly find itself into the claps of her teeth giving the flesh a light chew creating pressure enough to enhance its colour. Her tongue would glide against the trapped flesh as pins and needles rose awaiting for the flesh to become numb. ' her own kekkei genkai?' She would hold back a small scoff  tilting her head down a  touch pressing her lips to her knee ' if determination can be classed as a kekkei genkai...'  

Still listening intently to his continue speaking nodding along lightly her miss matches hues gaze would slowly travel along the board 'my mentality?' Resisting shaking her head she would for the time being remain quiet waiting simply for him to finish speaking to give her reply not wanting to interrupt and miss something that could very well change her answer even if it were just in the slightest. Observing his movements her miss matched hues would glide along following his hand as he turned the piece in his hand. "I don’t believe I am the only one with my mentality, there are far to many people in this world for me to be the sole holder of such, events and people will always have the ability to sway and influence a mindset and someone's actions. Forever changing yet in a way always the same." Pausing briefly as she would inhale filling er lungs again with the scents to roof had to offer, feeling oddly free yet caged, before continuing, "even a pawn not striving to become a knight is still just as important. All the pieces within the squad or an army are important and can with both their strengths and weaknesses be put to use. If only thought out and positioned correctly, this is my belief Tsuchikage Sama."
 
Listening again to his words her eyes would glaze slightly as the image of his hand faded drawing her gaze back to the board as that too faded giving way to the lips of her mother only for that to fade returning her to the present. She knew full well what he were getting at and knew the cost of failure. Brushing her moment to one side her gaze would return to the Tsuchikage's hand watching him place his piece down taking his move. As he did so she would wonder how many lives he had snuffed out with those hands of his, her gaze would wash over the board calculating alongside her thoughts. Her left hands fingers would curl up causing her sleeve to bump upwards slightly as she grazed her nails over the skin of her right wrist, merely scratching it before slipping her left hand away. She would glance up from the board watching the Tsuchikage as he sat back continuing with his tangent thought, her head would tilt a touch to one side causing her hair to drop against her face as the other side fanned out just a touch drawing her gaze back to the board. Removing her hand from the sleeve completely she would flex her fingers pushing down her other sleeve that had collected up over her hand, placing her ring and pinky finger over the sleeve trapping it against her palm as her middle and index outstretched. Reaching over she would slide her fingers down over the pawn taking up the space of G7 before pressing her thumb against it to trap it in her grasp before plucking it from the board. Pausing in place her head would raise a touch as her back began to straighten a touch. "observation, is usually the way to find out if people are working to the best of their ability or are simply a flaneur with their time. Someone could train hard every day and see little in ways of progression, yet they are pushing and trying. Where others can simply grasp something within a few tries. Each person will have a different take to life, and observing them and their actions is usually, from what I have found, a good way to gauge who is trying and who is not." As she spoke her hand would move along the board carefully placing her pawn down to take up the space G5. Slowly releasing the pawn her hand would retract almost instantly leaving the boards space to find its way back to her other hand. Her chin would lower once again to her knee.


(Word count: 801)

Taeru was certainly perceptive but she doubted her own mentality was unique in the grand scheme of the world. But Karumo couldn't deny the importance of every piece along with it, with a good leader behind them, a force isn't measured in the strength of any one piece but as the army, squad, or force as a whole instead. Karumo nodded along at her belief, certainly it'd be a topic to come up again later on or whenever Karumo decided to press at that issue again.

The next bit of dialogue came as she answered his question, observation. So generic and vague to the reality of it, Karumo knew observation but observing what!? That was the key to understanding a person but Karumo hesitated as he watched her place the pawn two spaces ahead and end her turn. A rather mundane move compared to moving the bishop out into the open as such but Karumo supposed such was the lull of maneuvering. He would smirk and glance back at her, "Observation is so vague..." he took his right hand and moved it to his chin, not to scratch it since he couldn't actually feel anything but to partially cover his mouth and hold his head up as he leaned forward to glance over the board.

Eyes running back and forth between pieces and trying to map out a plan of attack, there was nothing concrete yet, no openings left in the lines of their pieces just yet. Karumo exhaled and spoke again, still passively running over the board, "What I meant more so, was that you should learn to read a person's eyes." his words a bit muffled as his hands pressed his chin up a bit. With his left hand he brought it towards his face and used his pointer finger to tap just below his left eye, bringing her attention in that direction potentially. Though, Karumo's gaze would remain lazily attentive towards the game board. "A person's eyes will give away so much about their intentions and their feelings, though, it's probably something you already know, but anytime you want to really dig into the soul of a person, the eyes are where you should go." Karumo would pause and glance up to look towards Taeru's eyes himself, hesitating for a moment as a lingered right hand would move from his chin to the board.

Moving his hand down and his eyes following it, he would grab the pawn at D-2 and slide it up to spot D-3 then releasing the piece into place before leaning back and looking towards Taeru. "Enough with the hypotheticals though, let me ask you a question directly..." he paused and waited to grab her attention again, "I've posed a bit, but what would you say, yourself, are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?" he left the question of and leaned back a bit again, remembering that he had a cigar in his jacket's left chest-pocket, the temptation began to fill him as he debated grabbing it and lighting it. But perhaps, given Taeru's age, it might be a little inappropriate to begin smoking in her company...


[538 words, 4465 words total]

Taeru's gaze would flicker to the Tsuchikage briefly before returning it to the board before them, catching sight of his smirk as he spoke, yet her gaze would return, simply watching his posture. Each action he took each pause and position would give her cause only to wonder more on her Sensei's mindset and motives. Though he had stated clearly enough his motives for meeting with them individually, still you never did truly know an individuals true motives on word alone, and Taeru knew this well.  

She fully agreed with his next statement, a person's eyes often gave away their thoughts and intentions, betraying them in a matter of a single look. Pulling her part of bottom lip into her mouth, her teeth would clasp down on the soft pale pink flesh. Her miss matched hue's gaze would raise, coming to a holt at the Tsuchikages lip's before slowly raising to the knuckles of his hands before closing her eyes. Her head would tilt downwards at a slight angle before opening her eyes to cast her gaze away, holding back a subtle whine that had almost breached the back of her throat. She would slowly return her gaze to the Tsuchikages lip's as he continued giving a soft nod taking in his words only to be caught off guard slightly as a thought crossed along her mind, 'is he... hesitating... mn..' Her bottom lip would peel away from the grip of her teeth before shifting her gaze immediately back to the board 'Doubtful. It could simply be a ploy... but why...?' As she allowed the thought to linger, the side of her tongue would graze along her bottom lip, coating it lightly with moisture in the process.

Only snapping from her thoughts as she caught sight of the Tsuchikage moving again, this time shifting his hand to the board. She would absentmindedly lean in just a touch, drawing her main focus back to the board as she bared in mind who it was that sat before her. She would track his hand's movement along the board as her lips parted to speak, "a person's eyes are somewhat like a window to the soul, your eyes can easily betray you, if you are not careful to watch what you display, but they can also trap you. A person with a dojutsu, such as yourself Tsuchikage Sama … a single look... you simply could ruin a person with such. It is to be feared. Eye contact isn't always the best way around, there are smaller things you can look for if you are perceptive enough, like an individual's breathing... though as you stated nothing is better than looking a person in the eye." her accent would clip at the end of her words only coating the dull tone of her mundane voice. Her aze would follow his finer's as they moved his pawn along the board.  

Shifting a touch as the Tsuchikage began to speak again, her rump would graze a little more into the seat almost as though she were preparing for a longer game, seeming a little more comfortable as her left hand moved from the back of her right hand to graze the tips of her fingers just under the yellow dots supported atop her unusually high cheekbones, a feature she had not yet grew into, before allowing her fingers to move through her pastel lilac strands, forcing them behind her ear somewhat delicately. Such action exposing her small ear, with a clipit hole missing in it's cartilage, something often seen on animals that had lost their tracking chip, just a small widget of flesh missing but enough to see right the way through. Her attention would shift from the board to the Tsuchikage as he spoke, such a simple and direct question, yet it stumped her. Weaknesses she had plenty but strengths? Could she truly call any part of her a true strength? She would allow her left hand to drop into her lap returning her gaze to the board as she thought on his question.
Slowly her hand would move to the board picking up the pawn from the position G5, using her thumb to draw it up into her palm watching it as her vision glazed as a flickered memory of blood coating her forearm and hand passed through her sight. She would inhale slowly blinking the image away as she spoke " a strength …" she would lean a little closer placing the pawn down on G4, as she slowly moved her hand away continuing to speak "I guess could be my mental state, multitasking help's a great deal when having multiple choices set out in front of me allowing me to push things no matter it nature weather graphic or mundane to a 'back burner' of sorts. A weakness, I have many, from my age, though in specific circumstances can be an advantage overall it is a weakness, to things like my mannerisms or overthinking. I perform no Ninjutsu and I am lacking in strength when it comes to my element's. I have at times be called harsh weather it be to others or about actions unto myself but I mean well... I feel I am hesitant but once my mind is made up I do all that I can to stick by said action, so I could also be classed as stubborn... I can't say that I am all that useful, but I want to be... My apologies Tsuchikage Sama." Her left hand would move to rest in her lap before drawing her gaze upwards towards him slowly closing her lip's as she finished.

The truth of her own words sunk like a rock in the pit of her stomach, leaving an almost bitter taste in her mouth. Inhaling to she would seek out a calm, centering herself as she waited, her seemingly relaxed state faded as her body shifted once more finding its previous position, though this time slightly more ridgid.

(Word count: 999)

Taeru agreed with his sentiment about the eyes but directed it towards the danger of his own dojutsu, confirming a bit of his suspicion that she knew of his eyes. A small smirk cracked his lips as he thought about as she tried to argue that it wasn't the best way, certainly true but it was the easiest, most discerning way.

Karumo continued on though, his first question seemed to catch her a little off guard, a thought ran into his head, perhaps if she were distracted the first mistake would pop up in a game otherwise riddled in stagnation, but he would wait to see what move she would make next. Glancing upward to catch the shift in stature and watching her move to grab the pawn, blinking for a moment with a neutral expression as he watched diligently, her words riddled the air as he listened intently. Hesitation, she was thinking it through as the pawn stayed within her palm. Karumo found it interesting, starting with the strengths and pausing, so many people found their answers riddled in white lies amongst it all. To the Tsuchikage, what could any genin truly call a strength, and concern that anything they would advertise could be considered bragging. There was a line, Karumo had seen so many dance between and over those lines so often, but he was more curious with his students, how they expressed themselves and their answers would tell him a great deal.

Watching her place the pawn down once space ahead, encroaching on his knight he blinked for a second, her words playing the back drop to his thoughts. Mental state and multi-tasking as a strength. She made a move towards the knight, how could I have missed that in defending my own pawn. Lots of weaknesses, typical, but not perhaps of low self confidence. Is there a play with my own bishop? No, not one that saves my knight. Perhaps giving Taeru, her first choice then... Stubborn, and apologizing after. A little ironic... his thoughts ran rampant between the walls as she spoke, as her words ended Karumo's head tilted back up to her from the board in front of them. His eyes directed at her, thinking on her words, 'want to be useful'... so vague and yet so melancholy all the same. It was hope beaten by self doubt. It wouldn't do in the slightest, but perhaps now wasn't the time to drive anything like that out. Not that a single conversation could do such a thing anyways.

Karumo smirked a bit, the right half of his mouth tilting upwards as a small exhale of air through his nose gave a bit of a chuckle. "You want to be useful, but in what way? Useful as a spy, as a warrior, as a student? Or perhaps as a sensei yourself down the line?" he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow and let his eyes fall back down to the board afterward, "Harshness, stubborness, and beaten by your own words so easily..." Karumo chuckled a bit and shook his head lightly from side to side as he reached out and grabbed the pawn of his own at position D-3, lifting it lightly into the air between his thumb and pointer finger and hovering it forward. "There is no need to apologize, I have the utmost faith in all of you. You, your squadmates, the entire village... if there's any doubt or worry about your weaknesses, your training and lessons will address that, since that is my job, or at least what I impose to be my real job as Tsuchikage, and... as your sensei." he let his smirk fade away and set the pawn prominently back down in spot D-4 before withdrawing his hand and leaning back into his chair again, his eyes wandering back towards her for her own move.

Waiting for her response, or thoughts on his words, he would reach into his jacket, to the left interior pocket and pull out a cigar of his own and a black metal lighter along with it. Setting the lighter onto his right thigh for a moment as he cut the end of the cigar away, letting the wrapping and some of the tobacco leaf fall to the rooftop ground at his feet, he blinked and looked back up at Taeru. Holding the cigar up and gulping a bit as he'd forgotten his manners, "You don't mind, do you?" he asked with a furrowed right brow and pausing in his preparation to wait for her answer. Giving up on the facade he'd imposed on himself earlier, it was only a matter of time before his squad were exposed to this, and his smoking habit becoming somewhat of a regular thing anyways.


[806 words, 5271 words total]

Shifting her hand over allowing her fingers to slowly outstretch, pushing their tips through the folds of her baggy black trousers that rest against the thigh of her bent leg, drawing her hand out of view for the time being at it found it's way in between her torso and thigh before gripping at the trouser leg.  Her miss matched gaze would trail along his smirk, remaining there as he spoke before dropping to watch his hand move along to the board, drawing her attention back to the game as her mind scanned through the possibilities that fell within the confines of the game itself as she spoke in return, knowing her answer easily " my answer can only be a vague one Tsuchikage Sama, but..." Her words would fade briefly almost as though she were choosing her wording before continuing " I want to be useful, in whatever way I am needed or wanted. Weather I become and are used as a weapon, a student, an example or teacher. Whatever this village needs I wish to be useful to it. I know that sounds like a child's dream but that is in it's simplest form what I seek." Her words were clear, unbroken and sincere as her accent clipped slightly at the end of each work.  

Watching the Tsuchikage grasp at the pawn, her mind would flicker through what moved were needed to counter the only move his pawn could make, more a less deciding on her move before the Tsuchikage had finished his. Listening to his words 'He has faith in everyone...?' Her brow would furrow slightly half way through his dialogue only to smoothen out as he continued, the prospect of growing and moving closer to her goal of some form always brightened her even if it were just a touch. The knot in her stomach that had formed at the hands of her own words relaxed, being shooed away by an onset of excitement at the thought of progression.  Her head would tilt a touch to the left side allowing one side of her pastel lilac hair to hug to her cheek and jawline as the other side simply fanned out just a tad as she waited for the Tsuchikage to finish his move, running through the possibilities and moves of her own once again only to fall back to her original thoughts.

Tugging her hand from it's nestled place between her torso and thigh she would lean forwards pressing the flat of her tightly bound chest against her thigh and knee a little more as she reached out only to pause curling her fingers back up towards her palm retracting her hand just a though by the bend of her elbow as she caught a familiar scent, such drawing her attention back up to the tsuchikage as she inhaled deeply filling her lungs with what could have been a forgotten scent. Her miss matched orbs would glaze over as her vision grazed over the Tsuchikages hands each little movement snipping her in an out of the present moment, stretching her mind back to another set of hands clipping away the cigars end only to be drew out of the odd state as the Tsuchikage spoke drawing her attention up finding that her pale pink lips had already parted just a slither. Flickering her gaze back to the cigar she would lightly shake her head an indication of her words to follow, dropping her gaze back down to the board "I don’t mind at all Tsuchikage Sama."

Reaching over again her fingers would find their way to her bishop at C5, grazing her middle finger down it forming a small wall consisting of her index, middle and ring fingers, like a shield against the Tsuchikages imposing pawn before pressing the pady of her thumb against the bishop squashing it within her grip yet not lifting it from the board as she scraped it back diagonally just one space. Withdrawing her hand she would leave the bishop positioned at B6. Her hand would find it's way to the top of her knee, resting her palm against it before placing her chin atop it as her gaze moved back to the Tsuchikage, leaving the board again finding her unusually broad shoulders had relaxed some the rest of her frame would follow suit under the familiar scent as she waited.



(Word count: 731.)

Can only be a vague answer... he nodded along as she went on to belittle her approach, writing it off as a potential child's dream. The edge of Karumo's mouth smirked as she belittled it but he held his tongue for the time being, knowing he was going to back around to that point soon. Finishing his move and turning to Taeru for confirmation of his addiction he exhaled and lit the cigar, puffing the smoke out initially in quick and light puffs as he aimed to burn through the end of it evenly. Letting the greyed smoke begin to float upwards and the smell of that oaky burnt leaf began to waft out and fill the air of its scent.

He watched as she backed her bishop away a single space from his pawn, taking note of it all, the underlying tone behind it. Refusing to make the first move, perhaps playing things casually and following the terms of engagement. It was a smart strategy, but perhaps Karumo just hadn't pressed her enough into action, he had a way of fixing that, but it was unfortunate to her that her error led to a major loss. Letting the enemy before her have so long to position at their free will, backing down under threat, all incredibly risky maneuvers as a leader. But perhaps there was something spoken there, to save her own piece immediately and not fall into some petty trap of pick and choose. If only Taeru were looking ahead 3 moves like Karumo were, he'd already set himself up for a heavy blow, and potentially even a checkmate if she weren't careful from this step on-wards.

Karumo smirked, a small ploy as she removed her hand from the piece, in his mind, hoping that it would send the gears of her own mind whirring with question and concern. Well, perhaps calling up to his own checkmate was severely pre-emptive, but Karumo knew he had bought himself superiority in his maneuvering. Karumo leaned forward and grabbed the knight of his at H3 and holding it up as he pulled his cigar away from his lips with his right hand. Exhaling a cloud of the smoke forward and up as he glanced through the board and then slightly up towards Taeru, "You shouldn't think of your dreams as simple childish. Children dream far greater and broader than adults, in content, in granduer and all else... it's certainly nothing to slight yourself over, be confident in it." his eyes flickered back down to the board and he placed his knight back down into the spot G5 and paused, holding the piece down between his thumb and index finger as he looked at Taeru, waiting to see if she would have realized what was happening just yet.

Once he had his reaction, he'd release his piece and lean back, "Maybe it's a little high level for you but I should point out, your choice to retreat and not engage gave me free pass and as a result you saved your bishop true, but failed to take my knight." he pulled quickly from the cigar and held the smoke briefly continuing his talking over slightly strained lungs, "If you are to lead, and even teach shinobi one day, you must learn to see every angle of your maneuvers, the consequences and realities of such all the same. I'm your enemy, you gave me free positioning and backed down in front of my simple challenge for a far greater one in the same move. Perhaps in chess where we can only make one move at a time you can minimize your losses easily but..." Karumo paused and release the cloud of smoke and looked at her back row of pieces from left to right. "Well, I suppose my ploy will unveil itself more clearly in the subsequent moves." he ended his ranting and stayed leaned back, crossing his right leg over his left and holding the cigar silently between his lips as he waited to see what her next move would be.


[691 words, 5962 words total]

Her nose would crinkle at the scent of the cigar's first few puffs before smoothing off as the smoother more familiar sent drifted about in the breeze before being carried off. Her miss matched coloured gaze would travel along him only adding more to her assessment of him as she quietly contemplated, watching his coy smirk, something he had often given throughout the game more often than not before giving comment weather it were a one sided truth or not. However his response to what she wished for were not in any means what she were expecting. Her eyes would flicker down to watch his move, allowing her concentration to shift, yet clear as day she were still listening to the Tsuchikage in taking each and every word he spoke.

As her eyes scanned over the board, planning tracking and seeing each and every move that had been made up to yet over again as though it were on repeat, as she waited for the Tsuchikage to finish his move, maybe preemptively deciding on her move as the Tsuchikage made his. Such a decision made at such a quick pase were of course a quick and easy way for her to make a massive mistake yet it had ever possibility of catching the Tsuchikage off guard maybe ever knock his thought trail along. Either way her mind have been made up on her move as the Tsuchikage removed his hand. Giving just a short window for the Tsuchikage to speak she would make her move at what she assumed to be his midpoint of speaking.
 
Her fingers would graze a few times of the side of her kneecap forcing her nails against it, as though relieving an itch before removing her hand allowing it to sleek towards the board. Her middle and index fingers would slip by her knight positioned at B8, allowing its head to slip between the two fingers before clamping them down against it as her thumb joined to trap it securely in place before lifting it. Her hand would move a short distance placing her knight down beside her bishop, placing it down on C6, only making sure to twist its facing position off to one side, keeping the piece itself slightly over, completely skewif in it's position. As she removed her hand from the piece her gaze would return to him, her expression quite neutral as it had always's been, only for her mind to tick over wading through the thoughts and information the male had displayed. Would the un-uniform look of the piece irritate him? As his own pieces sat like good soldiers facing their correct ways... almost obsessively, a compulsion as he straightened them at the beginning of their game. Only now slowly pushing back seeking out a raise in him, the game whilst totally relevant were in the same breath completely irrelevant, it were simply a tool, like a kuni or shuriken just in a different format. Her actual move being of very little significance as far as the game itself were concerned yet move of the disheveled appearance and un-uniformed stature, quite different to her previous move's that had been straight set enough to be considered somewhat neat in their application.

Looking to the Tsuchikage her gaze would remain at his lip's as he finished speaking before taking her turn to do so after nodding at what advice he gave showing she were in-fact listening quite intently even if she were not acting immediately on the advice in terms of their little game. Parting her lips to speak as her head ever so slightly tilted a touch to one side, returning her hand to the top of her knee, "Tsuchikage Sama, did you ever see yourself becoming a Sensei? The position you hold an aim? Or did things simply fall this way due to your past actions?" Her lightly accented, dull toned voice would take on a light questioning tone showing such questions were asked out of a want to know, simply grasping at any and all slithers of information she could and would gleam from their interaction. Towards the end of her questions her shoulders would hunch forwards and down slightly as her head lowered again to place her chin atop the back of her hand, that rested on her knee. Her miss matched hues of bloody red and striking yellow never leaving the Tsuchikage as she spoke, and then waited for his reply, or move.


(Word count:746.)

Karumo watched as she took hold of her knight and moved it forward next to her bishop, creating a new make-shift line ahead of her pawns. She skewed its head, of course he noticed it, throwing off the alignments of such that he'd been so tediously marking on his own side into perfection, or as close as humanely possible to it. He took his right hand and pulled the cigar from his lips as he watched onwardly, his right leg rested over his left and his foot shook in a sort of nervous twitch as he read through the board again. With his cigar removed, he turned his mouth to the side some, biting softly at the bit of flesh at the left side of his mouth with his incisors, wondering on her move herself and listening into her question as he contemplated his own move all the same, finding his attention being split very quickly.

As for her question, it seemed a bit intuitive, something he'd of course thought of on his journey upward through the ranks of the village, keeping him awake at night on occasion with wonder of why he ever deserved any such prowess or recognition ever. Clearing his quickly drying throat from the cigar he spoke up, holding the stick of tobacco to his right side, "Yes and no really..." he paused and leaned forward slightly over his crossed leg, letting his left arm reach out the distance and grab the knight at B1 and move it forward to the spot C3, pausing and looking down the board to her own knight, before turning his knights head slightly in the same direction. Giving the board some small sense of symmetry before removing his hand from the piece and leaning back again.

"When I first became a ninja, I suppose I didn't really have an explicit drive towards any one path, I had goals and motivations and such but they were selfish." he continued on and began to roll the cigar between his thumb and index finger in his right hand while staring absently at the chess board. "Over time, I came to realize that I had some affinity for leading and teaching others, even if I wasn't all that skilled myself, I had the mindset and intellect to drive others. Though, there are some who would argue I was in the right place at the right time and that was all there was to it, which... isn't untrue in any form." he paused and gave a small chuckle. "Anyways, I shifted my own thought process entirely. If I couldn't become incredibly strong of my own sake to protect the village then my goal would be to train and teach others so that they could have that strength. Of course, I'd die for the village in defense of its people but I'd rather empower everyone else to a level while I have the time."

He slumped further back into his chair, letting his shoulders relax a bit before his eyes rolled up towards her, "So you could say it's a matter of both, I aimed high and fell into the positions I had all in the same breath." he kept his gaze upon her and waited to see how she would react or if there would be any follow up questions to her point, or rather if she would just nod along and go to make her next move.


[583 words, 6545 words total]

Watching the Tsuchikage carefully, almost like a snake would as it waited silently for the prey to move within striking distance, in taking each little shift in his position, the detail of his reaction. Her gaze would quickly taking in the odd twitch like switch in the Tsuchikages position as he shook his foot before shifting up to watch him nip at his own lip, such was not a habit she had noted him doing, there in left few reason's as to why allowing an odd thought to swim freely into her mind, 'Wow how our squad must have made him twitch inside, I wonder if all things, out of line, lopsided or mismatched do this to him?'
 
The answer to her real of questions, short and to the point, quite like she had been on the occasional question was nothing more nor less than what she expected the Tsuchikage to give, he had at time's during their game shown some form of modesty, yet also displayed a stubborn streak almost unflexible, or so it would seem. 'I imagine being wrong would leave quite the bitter taste in the Tsuchikages mouth' her mind would wonder just a tad as she watched him shift to grasp at his knight, repositioning it to a more advanced position, only to come from her thoughts as she observed him adjusting his own piece in what could have been an attempt to find some form of symmetry. Struggling to keep her expression neutral before relaxing a smirk would crawl along her internally, 'So it does get to him.' An odd sense of victory, such being so far from the game before them. This were in fact something deeper, more thrilling. The game were just a vessel, a tool to learn and push more. After all knowledge is power.

Listening to him speak again the word modest would come to mind once more waiting to make her move as she kept her gaze with him for just a little while longer, showing the depth of her attention were in fact with him more so than anything else, such included their game. Peeling her fingers and hand from her knee as she rose her chin, she would reach out her index finger would brush the top of her queen tilting her forwards pausing to cast her gaze up, his words... odd. 'While he has time...' Quickly pushing the thought away she would press her index down further, causing it to bend before pinching just below the queens crown using her middle finger and thumb, shifting the queen from D8 somewhat confidently to F6, encroaching but not yet affecting the Tsuchikage's knight. Shifting it slightly towards the corner of the square closer to the knight before peeling her fingers away, she would look back up to the Tsuchikage ending her turn as she brought her hand up placing the bottom of her palm to her cheekbone  grazing it there as though to remove an itch before placing her hand back to her kneecap, the small action itself smudging the once neat little yellow dots of face paint under her bloody coloured left orb.

Watching him slump back in the seat as he finished his sentence her lip's would part before closing briefly only to peel from one another again as she spoke "I see, so your current position is due to the strive you have and have had mixed with coincidence, the right time and place for lack of a better way of explaining what I mean. I could aim high and possibly achieve what goal's I set yet at the same time it will also take a good deal of luck, for how many others aim for the same? Such is unknown to me and there are a great number of obstacles that may present themselves, blocking the path. I would like to obviate weather other's follow or not, moving forwards is my only choice, if I am to become anything that can be classed as useful, Tsuchikage Sama. I hope this time, I have explained myself better." Lowering her chin back to her knee her miss matched gaze would remain with him, however still averting any eye contact.


(Word count: 702.)

Karumo watched as she reached out and grabbed the knight, he blinked for a second as he wondered if she would really try to take the knight itself in this move, but she didn't, resting just before it. Almost a taunt towards him? He was a bit confused, but bringing her queen out into the board so quickly, it was like she was forcing out her hand for an easy advantage with the most versatile piece that they possessed. He pulled the cigar back up to his lips as thinking on his move a little bit, letting her continue on in response to his own condensed tale.

When she had finished there were two things of which stuck in Karumo's mind, how she had mistaken his own luck as being needed to move up, and her own drive to move forward without others by her side. It was... reminiscent of Karumo's own mindset from his younger years as well. With some labor to his movements, Karumo uncrossed his legs and leaned forward in his chair, letting his elbows rest on his knees, cigar in his right hand while his head and chest hovered in the gap between himself and the table, looking closely over the board now as he spoke a little further on it, "Don't misunderstand, luck isn't a necessity in any of it. I only achieved through luck what I hadn't the will or drive on my own. Someone motivated and more capable could easily do what I've done with far more style and understanding..." he paused again and reached out to the board in front of him.

Letting his right hand slide out and grab his knight at C3, he quickly moved it up without any hesitation and let it sit in the spot B5, just in front of her own bishop now before letting it fall slightly turned in an odd direction and leaving it, letting his own nervous twitch unravel but calmed by his own posture, still chewing at the side of his mouth before continuing on, "I am curious though..." he paused and glanced up towards her, still leaned forward as his purple eyes traced the top of her head and then back down to her eyes whether she would return the glance or not. "Do you really think others following you is an obstacle you need to remove? For the sake of being useful... I find it hard to find any definition of useful that doesn't involve or come around being with other people, your friends and those you look up to and one day even those you'll teach and influence yourself..." he blinked and leaned back again into his chair, leaving his legs separated apart and finding himself in a very comfortable position.

Just relaxed enough that as he brought the cigar to his lips and pulled upon its contents, there was a small moment of calm as he awaited Taeru's answer to his question. However she would respond, knowing it was rather pointed but hoping she wouldn't take too much offense to it, but some offense might be good to see how she'd react to it nonetheless.


[538 words, 7083 words total]

Her gaze would flicker down watching the Tsuchikages labored movement, noting the shift before drawing her eye's back up to his lips, now knowing he would have something to say in return, wondering simply 'will he always have an opinion he feels he must validated by speaking it aloud?' a simple ponder useful at some point more than likely but for the time being irrelevant. 'then he believes no one were more motivated than he, in his ascension through the rank's within this ninja world?' Darting her miss matched hue's back to the chess board, before trailing her gaze over the Tsuchikage's knuckle’s as she pondered, had he always been this way? What changes had occurred within his time? How old were he when introduced to the violence of this world? Like most others she wondered often things that had no relevance to what were actually happening at that moment in time. 

Watching the Tsuchikage grasp at his knight, peering around the position's he could advance or retreat before watching him advance. A very lucrative position, for him. An attack though did he think she wouldn’t see it? Young she were, yet strategy and understanding were what had her survive in the time she had spent alone. She would bite down on the soft pink flesh of her bottom lip, discolouring it. She could see what moves he could make and their threat but she also knew a preemptive move would only make things worse for her, so instead had made up her mind on her move as his hand retreaded. All the while listening carefully to his words, nipping back a smile. 

Had she not spoken clearly enough? Or did her word's not quite string together in the way they had in her mind? Either way she would correct this without hesitation as her hand again drew from the top of her knee, leaning over enough for the strands of pastel lilac hair, that framed her face fanned out just above the board as she peeled her bottom lip from her teeth's grasp, holding onto her composure. Prizing from the board her pawn that had waited patiently at E6 using her index finger and thumb she would begin talking as she placed it back down at E5, "Either I haven't worded my meaning clear enough or... no of course it's my mistake." Pausing for a moment she would raise back up again placing her hand instead against the shin of her flat leg gripping slightly, more out of comfort than anything else as she continued, "I didn’t mean that I wanted to move forwards alone, on the contrary I know full well I need others. I wouldn’t be where I am now if others were not there. I meant that I would clear a path of barriers weather or not people would follow down that path. I would like to clear the way and make the future better for others, Tsuchikage Sama”  her gaze would return to the Tsuchikage properly as she spoke drawing her attention away from the board, watching and simply waiting upon his words and his move. His way of thinking interested her to say the least even if they didn’t see eye to eye on some points, they had after all both, experienced different things. This left her to ponder on what the Tsuchikage might have been like as a child, or what she would be like after the years had aged her. 


(Word count: 577.)

Karumo finished and leaned back as he watched her peel away and reach to the board almost immediately, a very quick decision indeed towards his own maneuver. And what of himself? She began to speak up at the release of the pawn, more speaking to herself than him directly, he ignored the slight bit again as she went to faulting herself. A common theme for Taeru so far, or perhaps it was courtesy really, on the contrary... he'd noticed her little twitch of biting into her lip, maybe this was also of the same class.

Regardless, Karumo's eyes watched the board, widened a bit as he planned out his move, the appearance of the pawn throwing away so many of his maneuvers and attacks immediately. He knew immediately it was beyond dangerous to make a play at the pawn, given the queen nearby and in an optimal position for him to counter off of, giving some new displacement wasn't in his best interest, but there was his own knight on the far side? No... he knew he had to stop thinking, listening to her words again he snapped back into an active thought and caught her words thoroughly from then on. To clear the way and make the future better for others... Karumo smirked in response, so many questions about it rang in his head, what sort of barriers did she anticipate arising in her tenure but still... he respected the notion, being so close to his own motivations.

With his smirk Karumo would speak up simply, "I respect that notion... I think that you think a lot like I do, at least in that regard..." he wondered further, how much she was really thinking about their game too. If she'd moved the pawn there purposefully knowing that it broke down so many elements of his facade? He had two options in his mind here... to either play a game of stalemate and see who would hold out longer in anticipation of the other? Or to make his own move. Thus far, Karumo had been the far more aggressive one in positioning, even if Taeru's queen had left the back row and her own pawn were further across the board, she'd betrayed her early advances to merely counter his own.

Perhaps then, it was time for him to break the short stalemate, running his eyes through the board, doubling over each of her moves and stances, where she could go and at what cost to himself in each response. He knew at the very least, he could deliver several major blows in succession, but the counter from her and her active queen could hurt him in the end. Who was really at a better position here, and would his gain be enough to outweigh any potential sacrifice? No, he'd miscalculated slightly... he was missing something? Taeru's composure didn't seem worried yet or in anticipation of his next move it was more... passive than anything? She seemed to focus on compacting herself but not in a way that would suggest trying to hide away, outside of avoiding eye contact with him.

Maybe then, she was just better at hiding it, still... perhaps a passive response from him would be better? Let her keep playing out her own moves but for every passing turn it put him in greater danger of losing the first initiation. A crucial juncture in acting out, the first move could act like a domino in the fate of their game. Fortification, that was his move for now, reluctant, Karumo let out a heavier exhale in the form of a sigh, reaching out to the board and grabbing his pawn at C2 and moving it up a single space to C3 rather quickly. Leaning back and relaxing again, he took a puff of that cigar, letting the end burn a bright crimson with a heavy pull from it before releasing another thick cloud of smoke into the air, waiting for whatever Taeru's move would be.


[677 words, 7760 words total]

Taeru's miss matched gaze would raise to watch the Tsuchikage, nating the involuntary action of widening his eyes at the makeshift move she had placed, before returning her eye's back to the board once more. Chewing down on the inside of her bottom lip to keep her features neutral rather than to smile at the reaction. Taking in each and every last detail she could from the twitch and obsessive compulsive nature of keeping things straight and if not straight, symmetrical down to the lack of composure he exposed. Were he simply comfortable in his own domain, or were he always this way? Their little game or rather war of chess had become little more than a tool that Taeru would use to push the Tsuchikage that tad bit more. Gleaming every last little piece of information from him she could, almost as though it were a need, to know rather than a want. She would after all, be working under him directly along with the other squad members, in her mind, she needed to know what she were stepping up for.  

Her gaze would flicker back up again having been lost in thought almost as she had  been sorting through that which she had learnt along with watching the board, her attention caught by the tsuchikage's sigh.  Had she herself become too comfortable? Or was this a normal thing? In truth her interaction with other ninja much less someone of the Tsuchikage's calabar had been somewhat... short, to say the least. An odd thought however, crossed her mind as she watched the Tsuchikage make his move, drawing his pawn into an oddly advantageous position, on his part mind you. Her gaze would immediately shift to see what she in turn could play, not so much to 'play the game' more to see the Tsuchikages reaction's, He seemed to have so many to give. Reaching over her hand would hover along the two rowes her pieces hard started off in before grasping her knight, from the position G8 only just lifting it from the board yet keeping the front of it around two millimeters away from the board before drawing it forwards to face the Tsuchikages own knight before shifting it over to the left placing it down in H6, just across from her queen, outright opening up the space, allowing passage for her rook, if she so desired to use it. Her gaze would flicker along her pieces, not lingering for to long on any one of them, save for the king before leaning back once more. Her hand would return to her lap, shifting to grip lightly at her shin once again as she looked to the Tsuchikage to speak, her accent a tad thicker this time around "Tsuchikage Sama, if you don't mind me asking, What made you care so much about the village?"  this time voicing a question that had flittered through her mind briefly, something she wished to know, almost a child like notion with an adult reasoning behind it, along with wanting to keep the Tsuchikage's mind split between the conversation and the game. Killing two bird's with one stone, for a lack of a better phrase.


(word count:533.)
(Total word count:9206.)

Karumo watched patiently, his cigar burned ever further along its base as he watched her move about before making her move. Truthfully, he was less interested in her posture and body language now than he was before. Of course there would be information to glean from it, but he was becoming more enthralled with the game now that their conversation had fallen a bit short and there was silence to separate the two, but a sort of comfortable silence for that brief moment. The Tsuchikage could audibly hear his own breath from his nostrils, inhaling through his mouth to pull further on the cigar, the light tinging noise that the new burning leaf gave off could be heard by him. Releasing the smoke while keeping the cigar between his lips, angling it off to the right, he relaxed a bit, the shaking in his leg stopping as he watched her move her other knight forwards.

Seemingly bringing all of her special units in to play, or a good chunk of them, perhaps she was planning an all out assault soon. It just noted that he needed to break her lines much sooner and give up the stalemate he'd been maintaining so far. Drag out whatever plan she had in the works out into the open? Or force her hand, that was really his plan. Maybe it'd be smarter of him to think and focus on playing the game to checkmate like a normal chess player, but he did put it in the rules that this was no ordinary game, meant to represent a real battle. The loss of ones leader does not always end the battle, no... surrender or absolute defeat were the only real marks. Thinking in terms of the standard game could limit him a bit.

But as Taeru leaned back and returned to her position, her words broke the short silence between them and Karumo's concentration on his musing all the same. A question about why he cared about the village so much... Karumo blinked for a moment and looked to her, his eyes sat normally, just a little curious as to why the question. He'd removed the cigar and exhaled a bit, feeling a bit of weight sink into his chest as some residual smoke lingered from his nostrils. "Well, it's my home." he spoke bluntly, reaching forwards with his right hand, cigar in hand still as he grabbed his bishop at C1 and sliding it up the board towards E3 and leaving it there.

Karumo lingered his hand for a second, blinked a bit with a slight gulp before snapping out of his slow train of thought and retracting his hand and cigar from the table. "It's more than a home even, when I was a child... I lost my family, what I had. I was taken in by my clan and as heir to it, I was very well off, but it was empty. Enrolling in the academy, being a part of the village, and all else. That's where I found myself truly, where I grew and became who I am." he paused and looked absently at the chess board. "I couldn't turn my back on the village, or their people. Each person precious to one another and so intertwined. For every person I consider precious to me, they have other precious to them, and like roots of a tree, they reach out and encompass the village. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't help and protect them all. If I slack off and one person gets hurt, one person dies who didn't need to, it causes pain to others and grief to those beyond them and sorrow further."

"So, I care about the village because it cared about me. I owe it to the village really... to do what I must and make the sacrifices necessary to its well being." he offered a small smile, encompassing really only the right half of his face as he waited to let her move, or respond, really to just take in the words. He didn't mean to push that deeply, even though it was really just superficial, but his words would keep her mind moving still, almost setting their game to the background for a brief moment. At least for Karumo.


[729 words, 8489 words total]

Feeling the Tsuchikages gaze, her own miss matched hues would raise again, slowly enough to come close to making eye contact before falling just shy of the act. She would listen closely to his words, his reason and the way he spoke whilst simultaneously taking in each little action, his reaction from start to finish.  Her gaze would however flicker back to the board as the Tsuchikage reached out for his bishop, following the movement across the board before grazing her gaze further along the board taking in the multiple moves and reactions that very well could be made as she listened to him continue to speak, flickering her gaze back to him as the odd sound of the Tsuchikage gulping caught her attention, splitting her mind quite easily between the analysis of the game and the Tsuchikage himself.

Yet the game itself would begin to fade out from her mind as the Tsuchikage began to explain, a clip it into the Tsuchikage that she hadn't expected, causing her mouth to open slightly, the small shock forcing her lips to form a small 'o' shape. Taking note of his gaze shifting back to the board her gaze though only for a short time would raise past the cheek bones of the Tsuchikage to rest on his eyes, seeking out the truths in his words. It were a striking truth how much you can tell when looking into the eyes of another, the eyes portray so much and in doing so often betray the individual, but as she previously stated some people's eyes were far too dangerous to seek out truths in. Her eyes would lower back to the board continuing to listen to the Tsuchikages words, drawing back the composure she had lost. Her right hand would slowly peel itself away from the position it had held from the beginning of the game, reaching out to the pawn on the far side of the board, scooting it from its starting position at A7 by a simple step forwards to A6 allowing the pawn to encroach on the Tsuchikages knight. As she mulled over the Tsuchikages words her gaze would raise again just in time to catch his smile, giving a moment before replying, "So It's like the village is Your family." Her hand would return to its place as she continued, "Did you ever think that there would be so many people for you to worry and care for?" Though she the question she opted to ask were far from the one she craved to, for now it would do.

Allowing her mind to wonder its way through all that he had said, she hadn't imagined the question itself would have brought the Tsuchikage to speak of his past and now her mind wondered what had happened to the Tsuchikage in his youth, what of his family? Throughout the game to her it seemed they had both become in a way comfortable compared to its beginning, even after her mistake of drawing  a kuni in their first meeting. She had, so far learnt many things about the Tsuchikage in the short time they had been playing and now more would come in the mid's of a clash, such being so very imminent now with the positioning of all the pieces. Her gaze would wonder back to the board as she waited. Had she positioned her pieces enough to find the answered that she seeked?


(Word count:574.)
(Total word count:9780.)

Karumo ended his speech and watched her make her move, bringing her pawn to encroach on his knight, a maneuver to force his hand out maybe? Or to force one of them into acting, his smile would fade as her next comments came, Karumo glancing over the board he would nod along. In most regards, he did think of the village like his family, obviously some closer than others but they were really all he'd had for so long...

Her next question was a little curious, it wasn't far off from their conversation but it struck Karumo in the midst of his thinking, another puff of the cigar as he wondered about how to respond. His immediate answer was obvious, so that's what he went with, "No." he replied plainly, his gaze moving from her back to the board to make his move, some essence of trying to even the risk she'd initiated against him perhaps? He could threaten her own knight, or perhaps it'd be better to simply make his own move and knock the dominoes over that he'd been strategically placing. So many of the paths blocked off though, taken away by her own counter-positioning, it gave him some mental sigh knowing that he'd taken too long but also impressed him greatly. She was clearly thinking at least at and probably beyond his level.

"Not that I mind being over the village, it is a great deal of weight and responsibility no doubt, but the number of people isn't what scares me. I just never thought I'd be in this position, it makes no difference to me whether it's 1 or 1000. Responsibility is responsibility." he chimed up rather quickly after, reaching his hand out lingeringly towards the board and grabbing a pawn of his own to counter hers, shifting the small white piece up from position D4 to D5 and releasing it and shrinking back to his original seated position with a bit of a smirk to accompany the move.

His eyes would roll upwards to her, the small pause left in the trace of his movements, the smirk fading as he pressed a question to break the silence. "And what about you? What does the village mean to you?" he would pose rather blatantly, knowing it wasn't an easy question to answer. He genuinely was curious though, about how she'd answer the question, whether her mind would try to focus on the game or on his question, or if she'd get stuck in the quantum state of trying to do both at once. Still, Karumo would watch patiently and take another inhale of his cigar and wait to see how she would respond to both his question, and to the initiating movement he'd left her with on the board.


[478 words, 8967 words total]