"What a tedious day", sighed Akimoto, sparing a vacant glance into the empty cup of sake in front of him. The young shinobi has been sitting in the club for hours, contemplating the infinite boredom of human existence and the like. "What a tedious day indeed... I just hope they won't make me pay for my drink soon..."  
"Hey, kid! Ar'ya gon'a pay or what?", asked the ruffy voice behind the bar. "We ain't like no freebies, ya know?"
"Snap. Here we go again..."
"Listen, if ya ain't up for da trouble, ya gotta pay or..."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever", Akimoto waved his hand dismissively. "I've heard all of that bullcrap before. You know, perhaps I am looking for trouble. Or is that just a pile of rubbish?"
"What wuz dat?"
"I said, give me a break, you filthy coward! Either fight me or get the f..."
"Woah, woah, woah! Ain't ya a hothead! You know who are sponsor is, right, brat? And if you all dat tough, why don't ya explain to da authorities what you've been drinkin' eh?
"And why don't you explain to your boss that I AM SICK OF NOT ACTING! YEAH, IT'S TRUE, I'VE FAILED A COUPLE OF MISSIONS, AND YEAH, IT'S TRUE THAT I'VE OVERREACTED A COUPLE OF TIMES, BUT MY SWORD IS ALMOST COMPLETE AND I FEEL MORE THAN READY TO SERVE KIRIGAKURE TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY! NO, IT WASN'T MY FAULT, WELL, PERHAPS IT WAS, BUT WHO CARES?! DO YOU EVEN..."
"Hold up, hold up, hold up! Sheesh, man, chill! Here, it's on the house", the barkeep skilfully opened a brown glass bottle, pouring some liquid into the cup before walking away. "Genin these days...weird as..."
Another sigh had escaped Akimoto's dry lips in the meantime. The boy was growing anxious, he needed something to work on, something to happen, and fast...or else, he was going to lose it.
"Please...whoever you may be...deliver me from stagnation..."

---
WC: 346

Yuudai would enter The Siren's Den; a club that accepted Shinobi of all ages of the village, one of which had many pleasures for those looking, but for him, someone that holds no attraction for someone in that way, and as someone that never even really had alcohol in his life, it was more or less a new experience, one of which he had been curious to try lately, but never had the opportunity to. Between his guardian passing on and his getting involved in an attempted kidnapping, he was already ready for a break, at least for now.

To top it off, it seems the prices for swords are too steep for him, leaving him with little more than a kunai for protection of himself. He needed something better, something with range that can more easily allow him to face off against thugs like those ones, not a thicker metallic version of a toothpick! Perhaps it was time to visit his master again for a refresher and to see if he had any weapons that he could give the young Genin, perhaps. He didn't really wish to rely on that though, especially with how he was previously kicked out. It would be awkward for him and any that are there at the time.

As he got his drink; a glass of water, a bland drink for sure, but refreshing nonetheless, he would sit down in a seat close enough to the bar by himself, where he would begin to clear his thoughts. Running a left hand through his black and red hair, following it up by rubbing his own black eyes, he considered taking a small nap right then and there. He paid for a drink, not to mention there are plenty of other seats, so surely there wouldn't be much of an issue with doing just that. Honestly, he could use one. He wasn't ready to head back home fully yet, not until he could get used to the emptiness of it, so he had been spending his time sleeping on the boat, only heading home to get ready for the next day and the like.

Before he could flip his red hood over his head and begin to take a nap, however, he would hear the rough voice of the one working behind the bar ring out, calling out for someone to pay and reminding them that they don't like freebies. He would decide to let whoever it was argue with the worker. It wasn't his problem, at least not yet. It's just a typical argument, something commonplace among people, so why would it be any different for a club, a place that makes people all the more bold and ready to fight?

Soon enough, it became something that wasn't exactly easily ignored, as whoever the worker was talking to would explain of how sick he is of not acting, of how he failed a couple of missions and if how he overreacts. This person was clearly someone that was annoyed at the world, and the fact that he has most likely been drinking would have made those feelings become dangerous. He ranted on about his sword nearly being complete and he himself feeling more than ready to serve the village to the best of his ability, and then he began to ramble about something that Yuudai couldn't exactly make out in a way that he understood. There was certainly some context missing.

It would be then that Yuudai decided to see what exactly was up. It seemed like this person was someone that was clearly troubled by something to the point where it almost seemed like he was about to get into a fight, and it didn't help that fact that some other patrons began to give him weird looks as well. Getting up from his seat, Yuudai would find the source of the yelling and ranting and sit next to him. "Are you okay? You seem like you're angry about a whole lot more than your drink there, buddy.." He would begin, though didn't know how to follow up on that exactly. This was someone that seemed aggressive for sure, for all he knew he was getting into a nasty fight.

Wc 718

"Hmph!", puffed the Kiri genin, surprised by the timely intervention of the unknown boy, yet still angry at the world. His silent prayer, the one that was just thrown into the bottomless pit of his own mind, was somehow answered and as a result a conversation was about to happen. Sadly, Akimoto was in no position to appreciate the chance that was offered to him, instead he gave in to the emotions that were clouding his ambiguous sense of judgement. "Who does he think he is, talking to me all of a sudden? What does he want? I am going to make sure he realizes how wrong that decision, the decision to step out of the blue and come near me, was..."
"You talkin' to me, punk?! What do you want? Why do you stare? I am fine! Lookin' for problems?!
What happened next was curious even for the shark-man. Being oppressed for so long, his wounded pride crawled out from its shelter once again, morphing into a horrible consecutive outburst.
"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY, DON'T YOU? WELL, THINK AGAIN! I AM MORE THAN CAPABLE TO CARRY OUT MY DUTIES! SWORD OR NO SWORD, THE REQUIREMENTS WEREN'T EXACTLY..."
This lousy rambling, filled with uncontextualized pain and trauma, was about to go on and on for hours if it wasn't for the sharp female scream that cut the atmosphere in half from the corner of the pub. Apparently, a patron had choked on something and was now thrusting his arms wildly, desperately gasping for help. Being in a state of peculiar shock, he had dragged a great part of the table linen, spilling a lot of alcoholic beverages from the now flipped mugs and broken glasses.
"Holy f...! We've got to do something!", said Akimoto, quickly jumping from his seat. The shinobi had completely forgotten about the verbal fragments he was about to spit. "Find a medic or something!"

---
WC: 324
TWC: 670

The drunk guy seemingly didn't like Yuudai's attempt to talk to him, as he would immediately snap back with calling him a punk, asking him what he wanted and why he stared before telling him that he's fine and asking if he's looking for problems. He was already caught off guard by the immediately aggressive attitude the guy had, but then again, he had been drinking. Still though, it annoyed Yuudai that this guy was acting like this, especially when he didn't do much but sit next to him and talk to him. Why does he stare? The heck? Is this guy scared of being looked at or something? "So what if I am looking for trouble? What're you gonna do about it?" The young Uchiha would ask as his right hand began to slide out of sight, the fingers curling, turning his hand into a fist.

There would be another loud outburst, where the guy would go off about whether or not they think this is funny, about how he's more than capable of carrying out his duties, sword or no sword, and something about requirements. Before he could continue, and before the annoyed Uchiha would actually make a mistake that he may regret soon enough, a sharp female scream ring out, immediately interrupting them both. From what he could see, a patron began choking on something, thrusting his arms wildly and gasping desperately. It was clear he was choking, and that appeared to be exactly what would snap shark boy out of his rant as well.

The guy would jump out of his seat, exclaiming that they have to do something, to find a medic or something. "Find a medic? In a bar?!" Yuudai would ask in an almost scoffing manner as he jumped out of his seat as well, looking at the choking guy before looking around as well, seeing the shocked and frozen faces of the other patrons. Good luck finding a medic in this club, Yuudai certainly wasn't one. He could beat on the guy's chest and see if anything comes out, but that's pretty much it. Instead, he would begin running outside, feet smacking hard against the ground as he shoved through the other patrons in order to reach the doors, where he would swing them open and enter the area outside, looking around.

"We need help! A guy is choking!" He would yell out, waving wildly for anyone else to see, though after a few moments, no one would come. 'Shit, shit!' He would think to himself as he would run back inside, shoving through the patrons again. 'Damn, I know we learned this in the academy, upper abdomen, below ribcage, but was it below or above the navel?' He would continue to think to himself as he rushed to the choking patron's aid. Getting behind them, he would wrap his arms around their upper abdomen, putting a closed fist below their ribcage and grabbing it with his other hand, and taking a guess and positioning it above the navel, where he would begin offer short, quick upward thrusts into the guy's upper abdomen.

Wc 532

Twc 1250

"Find a medic? In a bar?!", would scoff the unknown boy before leaving his seat, running out of the room in hopes of stumbling onto some proper help outside. Carving a way through the patrons didn't seem like an easy job since everybody have gathered in tight circles around the room to witness the inspiring scene of a guy choking to his own death. Short-lived whispers of excitement could be heard, supplementing the air with unnecessary tension.
"This can cost us a fortune", mumbled the barkeep, giving a final touch to this notion. "The boss won't be happy."
"He has a point", thought Akimoto, although the alcohol was really pulling the strings on that one. "I need more sake before they close shop. Jeez, wonder if I can afford some? Perhaps being rude to the fella' wasn't really a smart move...I mean...he looked like someone who has cash and can pay for my..."
"Please save him!!!", screamed the woman, cutting sharky's attention in half once again. The first half was calculating money, struggling to fill the gap left by the lack of missions lately, and the second half was witnessing Yuudai's heroic attempt to fix destiny's sense of humor...by the hand! Unfortunately, the Hoshigaki representative couldn't really comprehend the noble naivety behind his interlocutor's desperate actions. Instead, he quickly changed teams, overdosed by the sudden urge of nihilistic inconsistency, bred within the beverage's character.
"Why do you bother, man?", he yelled in displeasure. "Stop pushing fatso's chest! I mean...we looked, didn't we?". Nobody cared to give a definitive answer. "Leave him! He's a goner already!"
Time happened to be relative enough to escape the Kiri rascal's senses, therefore he couldn't assimilate how long the Uchiha tried to bring the patron back to life, nor could he even learn about the achieved results. In other words, Akimoto's head was so heavy and was spinning so hard that he had to close his eyes and hold in a puke...for a very long, long while...

---
WC: 352
TWC: 1022

"My head...what happened to my head", muttered the shinobi to the complete darkness that surrounded him. "Where...where am I? Is that...am I...wet?".
As he slowly opened his eyes, Akimoto found himself lying on the pavement outside the Siren's den. His shirt was soaked due to the heavy downpour, his trousers too, and a nearby stench was probing the functionality of his brain.
"Gosh...I can't remember a thing..."
The rascal tried to stand up, leaning his shoulder against the wall. It wasn't safe and it wasn't easy for it took him a couple of tries to fully succeed.
"There was...this guy...and...the other guy who almost died...fuck! My head's going to burst...and I feel so...dizzy."
Deep breath.
"I wonder how it all ended. Though it's not really my business, I mean...can't take responsibility for the whole thing now, can I?"
The grey clouds overhead muffled a quiet roar. The weather was cool and breezy, so Akimoto thanked whatever Divine power was responsible for taking such good care of his tedious hangover.


The boy stood there for minutes, inhaling and exhaling slowly, his chest weighing like a boulder tied around his neck. After 15 minutes (that felt like 15 years) Sharky gathered his remaining will and made a loose step towards the river, gesturing like an insane acrobat in the middle of a difficult ring performance. He surprisingly managed to stay put that way. "Alright! I'm going home and I am never coming back here again. Ever! Even when I feel like an utter disappointment, a mess in the eyes of others and all that..."
His promise was followed by another step.
And another.
And another...

It was going to be a difficult ride, but at least the shinobi had learned a valuable lesson - to never drink as much alcohol as he did last night. Especially when around other people.

---
WC: 327
TWC: 1349

[Exit]

Training:

1. Strength from E-1 to D-0 (1349 - 670 = 679 words left)
2. Speed from E-1 to D-0 (679 - 670 = 9 words left)