He'd finally made it, he'd reached the village hidden in the leaves at long last! Well, he'd reached it the night before and was waking up from a long fourteen hour sleep. It was already mid-day before Sasijimi's eyes opened to stare at the ceiling of the inn he had taken a bed in the previous night.  The Mitarashi sat up, yawning, trying to stretch out his tired limbs. He'd spent so much time on the journey from Sunagakure no Sato to reach the leaf, and it wasn't without its consequences. Soon he'd be able to relax all he wanted though, and would never have to travel such a way again. At least, that's what he was hoping for. One could never be too sure anymore. Fate was a lie and tomorrow was never guaranteed. Sasijimi stood up, stretching once more, before he went about getting dressed in his normal clothing. He made to grab his Kusarigama and Gunbai, strapping the latter to his back via the rope he had attached to it, made of fine hemp. The kusarigama was clasped to his belt with the chain coiled up. He had no intention of using the weapons, but having them made him feel a bit better, and he might even meet who he would pass them onto!

The Mitarashi left the inn, to be greeted by the warm sun of a Konoha mid-day. The trees around the village blew in the wind, singing the call of nature to those who listened. While the people of the village went about their business as though everything was as it should be in the world, completely ignorant to the destruction of the sand that could very well still be going on. Regardless, Sasijimi made it a point to just keep his head down, making his way to a nice shaded spot beneath a tree near a ramen stand. He wasn't hungry yet, due to only waking up minutes ago, but would be close when he got the need to feed. Still, he'd lean his right shoulder against the tree on its left side, keeping his eyes on the path the citizens of the leaf would walk. His hues searching their faces for signs of promise, of someone to carry on his will so that he could retire.

Having lived between two great villages Michi had two options, either choose the village hidden by sand or the one hidden in the leaves. Both villages had their pro's and con's. But what really made Michi decide the village hidden in the leaves over that of the one hidden by sand is that he didn't enjoy the feeling of sand much. It was course and rough and had a tendency to get everywhere. He'd have to spend hours to get everything clean after every training session, which was just time wasted to him. He could've spend that time on training even more. Polishing his skills that he had been slacking to do so for quite some time now. He had to get better at what he did otherwise he could never get the fame of his clan back. Nor could he prove he was the best there was with his currently skills and abilities.

Training. That's what Michi has been up to ever since he had arrived at the village hidden in the leaves. Day in, day out. Wake up, eat, train, eat some more, even more training, go back 'home' and sleep. Rest up his body so he could rinse and repeat again the next day. Michi had been holding up this routine for a couple of days now, but yesterday was a little bit different. He had pushed himself a little bit further a little bit harder and so overslept today. With the bright early afternoon sun blazing in his face trying with all of its might to wake Michi up. Eventually the light succeeded and Michi shot up straight like one would waking from a nightmare. Looking over at the clock, there was no time to spare, grabbing everything as fast as he could. Stuffing his face with as much food as possible in as little time as possible.

Grabbing his wooden katana on the way out Michi headed back over to the place he had been training the days before. A spot in the woods not far from the village borders probably a 30 minute walk at a normal walking pace. He had chosen this place to train since it was relatively close to the village so he'd spend less time wasting on traveling. With a stern and determined face he rushed out towards his destination.

Upon arrival Michi didn't waste a second and started with his warming up before the training. Although to someone else that hadn't gone through the Hosokawa training, it could hardly be called a warm up, but to Michi it made him barely even break a sweat. Climbing into the trees with a decent size rock strapped onto him with some rope, placing the same rock on his back when doing push-ups. Michi did all of his training with extra weight attached to him hoping it would get him faster and better results.


wc 492

It was taking a while for anyone notable to come within range of his sight, and still none of them were any good if he was any judge of character. He didn't want to give up his last two possessions to just anyone. They had to be strong, or possess at least a strong will. Everyone he saw come and go looked about the average profile for shinobi and civilians. No one really stood out to him. They were all simple people. They had simple lives, lives that he envied them for. The simple lives these folk were living was something that he'd been striving for for quite a while, something he desperately wanted for himself. Soon he would be able to have such a life, as soon as he found the person he was meant to pass his weapons and his will onto, he could rest with these folk. The young Mitarashi was finding no promising looking people just standing around, so he moved his hand to his pocket to pull out a hair tie, pulling his hair back into a long ponytail, with the bangs tucked back behind his ears. Sasijimi sighed to himself, adjusting his school jacket and white collared shirt, wiping off a bit of dirt from his black uniform pants.

Time to continue on.

He hadn't been in Konohagakure no Sato long, and he was already almost certain he wouldn't find the person he was looking for around there. He would need to go elsewhere once more to hunt down someone to carry on his 'legacy.' Who would be up to the task, though? Who could he pass the metaphorical torch down to that would see his weapons taken care of? At this point it was less about his ideals and more about not wanting to see fine weapons he'd grown close to going to waste. Sasijimi made his way out of the village gates, walking towards the way he'd come form the night before, hoping to be at the border of the country of fire within a reasonable amount of time. It didn't take him long before he saw a rather rushed young individual run past him, the male obviously in a hurry to do something. At first he was paid no mind, the long haired ninja simply wanting to reach his next destination without too much wasted time, but after a while he began to think about if this was some sort of providence pointing him towards the person he was seeking. Sasijimi eventually shrugged and went off in the direction the guy had run, doing his best to track and follow him, to see what exactly he was up to. The Mitarashi was taken to a spot in the woods, not far from the border of Hi no Kuni where he stumbled upon the male climbing a tree with a medium to medium-large sized rock tied upon his back. When he finished climbing the tree, he set to doing pushups with the rock tied to him, the Mitarashi raising and eye brow.

"Interesting training method, there. Never seen anyone strap a rock to themselves just to try getting stronger."

In the middle of doing a set of push-ups, Michi heard a voice call out to him. The voice made a remark about his training method. Michi played it off like he didn't hear what the voice had said to him, he was too focused on keeping form during his training to give a reply. This didn't mean that Michi was going to ignore the man however, he had just been raised not to get distracted during training. His father made sure that whenever someone called out to him he wouldn't reply and finish his current wrap of training before replying. Michi recalled how he'd be punished by doing more wraps if he failed to finish his current one and if he complained about it or was unable to finish it up he was forced to do another one. This was the way he was trained and this was the way he would keep it up.

Having finally finished his set of push-ups Michi raised himself to look in the direction of which the sound came. There he found a man standing overlooking his training, if Michi were to guess his age there wouldn't be much of a gap between the two of them. "The rock isn't in particular to get stronger. I mean, sure it makes things heavier but this to me, this is only warming up. I could do it without the rock but that would make the warming up take more time, time that could be better spend honing my skills." Michi replied in a rather monotone voice, no effort wasted on things that weren't training. Speaking of which conversing with a stranger wasn't going to help him out too much either, he better found out what was wanted from him so he can return to training. If the conversation would go on for too long he'd just blow the guy off and continue on, it may be rude, but Michi wasn't here to make acquaintances or friends. "So is there anything particular you want from me or are you just observing my training method? Or are you perhaps surprised by the length a Hosokawa is willing to go with his training?" Having asked that final question an idea sparked in his mind. Perhaps this particular individual had heard of his clan before, it was a nice opportunity to gauge how well known the clan was nowadays. "Actually, have you ever heard of the Hosokawa clan?"

wc 421
twc 913

Sasijimi raised an eyebrow as the male raised himself up just enough to look over at him, answering a question that wasn't intentionally asked. He said that the rock wasn't particularly to get stronger, for him it was something of a warm up. He could do the same exercise without the rock but it would take more time, time he could use to hone his skills. The kid spoke in a monotone voice, as if the very act of talking to Sasijimi was time wasted. Sasijimi sighed and stretched his arms above his head, listening to the man speak, asking if the Mitarashi had anything in particular he wanted, or if he was just observing the strange training method. Honestly, he didn't really have anything that he wanted from this man in particular, but he felt for some reason that the two would be able to help each other out, as if they were connected. He wouldn't say such a thing, obviously, as he didn't want to seem like a crazy man, but it was something he still had in the back of his mind, playing on his thoughts. When the guy asked if he was surprised by the lengths a Hosokawa was willing to go with training, his eyebrow raised again.

When he was asked if he had even ever heard of the Hosokawa clan, Sasijimi reached up and boredly scratched his chin. In truth, he hadn't he had no idea what this guy was on about. He didn't want to seem rude, but he didn't want to lie either. Still, the guy didn't seem to care much about being rude himself so Sasijimi would answer him plainly. "Honestly, no I haven't. I've no idea what you're on about. It's probably how I feel when talking to others about being a Mitarashi. No one knows what I mean, my clan is all but extinct and unheard of. Save for around this place, I suppose. Then again, it's where we've originated from and one could trace our lines all the way back before the fourth great shinobi war, and to Anko Mitarashi. I guess the short answer is: no." The man looked back at the other, trying to gauge how this had affected him and what would be the next thing to be said. Sasijimi wasn't entirely versed in these sorts of conversations and always seemed to put his foot in his mouth. Wanting to move on, he would look around the place before he spoke again.

"As for what I want from you, I don't think there's anything particular I could gain from you. No, I was simply out looking for someone to pass some things down to so I could retire and live my life peacefully. I am much older than I look, I assure you, and it's time for me to say goodbye to the shinobi way and have my calm life. But as far as I can see, there is no one worthy of the weapons I could pass down who wouldn't just melt them down or have them destroyed immediately." The male shrugged to himself, looking back into the eyes of the other. He looked like a stout fellow, maybe one that could handle himself in a fight. The only problem was that he didn't seem to be the type of person to use a Kusarigama or Gunbai. Judging by the wooden katana laying on the ground that Sasijimi could see, he seemed to practice eastern-style swordsmanship more than anything. Why he was using such a dull and ineffective weapon was beyond the Mitarashi's understanding, but he guess that one would have their reasons for doing so. "I don't suppose any members of your clan are well versed in unorthodox weapons? Judging by your wooden katana I can see that you aren't."

The look the guy was giving him, him raising his hand to his chin in a thinking matter was already telling enough for Michi. The man didn't know about his clan, or even if he did, he didn't know the clan enough to the degree that Michi would like. Secretly he was hoping for an instant response of recognition. One that would know about the glory of his clan, but alas it was not meant to be. It was a response still according to expectations. However the words the man spoke to him were somehow strangely comforting. It felt like the man understood the feelings that came with when talking about their clan that no one seemed to really recognize anymore. "It seems like we're the same then in that regard" Michi said with a scuffed short laugh. "I can't say I have heard about your clan either".

The man continued on stating his reason for being where he was. On a quest to find someone to give some of his belongings to he would no longer require. It was a nice gesture of the man but Michi wondered why he wouldn't keep the items for himself. If he was really that much older than himself as he stated the items were to have some sentimental value for him right? This was somewhat made obvious by the fact that he stated to not wanting to sell them to a someone to have them molten down or destroyed. It was somewhat puzzling to him, but perhaps the man just wanted to have his items used by someone else that was able to use them on their path in life. And just like the man had already stated, his weapon of choice were those of the eastern style nothing unorthodox.

"To put it blunt, no, I don't know anyone. In fact I hardly known anyone from my clan and the ones I do know have passed away unfortunately. However that doesn't mean I won't possibly encounter them one day, everyone from our clan is well versed in whatever specializations they pick up. Furthermore it is very much possible that I will one day be able to use those unorthodox weapon you speak off. It's definitely within the realm of possibilities that I will end up learning the required techniques to use those weapons you speak of. So I can take the weapons from you and continue looking for a suitable 'host' so you can enjoy your burden free life or potentially use them myself one day. And the other option, albeit obvious, you yourself continue on searching for someone."

The conversation would normally have already been too much of a drag by this point for Michi, it wasn't really helpful for his immediate training so there was no real benefit to having the conversation. But for some reason he couldn't help but feel drawn towards keeping it going, like it had a bigger purpose down the road. "Regardless of what you choose, why not keep them yourself? You seem to have some sort of emotional connection to the items seeing how you don't want them to be broken."


wc 538
twc 1451

Sasijimi laughed with the young man who let out a great chuckle at the two finding something in common. Sasijimi was slightly disappointed when the young man went on to say that he didn't know anyone who could use the weapons, nor did he know many people from his clan who hadn't passed away. He did say that anyone in his clan was well versed in whatever they set out to do in the way of specializing, so someone, somewhere knew how to use the weapons he had and wanted to give.  Sasijimi's ears perked up when he heard the young man say that he may one day be able to use the weapons the Mitarashi was trying to get rid of, and this didn't occur to him before. He knew that most Bukijutsu practitioners usually dedicated themselves to one style, but there was talk that some even went beyond that and learned multiple styles, to be more versatile. He nodded silently, chewing over the words and mulling them within his mind. There was sure to be some use for the weapons if he left them in the hands of this capable, strapping young man. What did he have to lose at this point.

Sasijimi waved off the suggestions that maybe he should keep the weapons and continue using them for himself. Speaking only a few words in that regard. "Where my journey takes me, I'll need nothing other than basic farm tools." That was that, it was decided. He reached down and unhooked the kusarigama from his belt, while the other hand grabbed onto the hilt of his gunbai, twisting it around his head while he pulled it from his form. After a few more twists, the man stuck the bottom of the handle into the ground, having it stand at the full height of six feet. After which he unclasped part of the chain for the sickle and spun it around his form, as though he was dancing to a tune only he could hear. The methodical and fluid movements brought the weapon to then be swung at the Gunbai, having the weapon twist around it multiple times. The kusarigama's blade came to rest on top of the Gunbai, as though the two were near inseparable, as they had been when he used them. Sasijimi released his hold on the chain, allowing it to drop and hang around his old war fan, swinging from the momentum for a few seconds. With that, he turned his back to the young man with one hand in his pocket, waving as he walked away, leaving parting words. "You seem a worthy enough man. I'm sure if you don't find someone suitable, you can make use of those two. Just take care of them, the worst thing to happen to a weapon is the disuse I put them through." And like that, he was gone, heading for outlying places in the Hi no Kuni wilderness, to start his new life. A ninja no more. If one looked on the ground of the path towards the border, they would find an old Sunagakure no Sato hitai-ate, the metal tarnished and scratched. Truly a sign one left their ninja way behind.

EXIT


OOC: http://www.narutosaga.com/t16303-mitarashi-sasijmilocker#139778 there ya go

It seems that the man was determined to pass on his belongings to someone that could use them better. Michi wasn't going to complain either way, being given free things is always a nice thing to happen, but there was no need for Michi to have them. He had said he'd might end up learning the required techniques to use the weapons offered to him, but the chance of him actually using these particular weapons was next to nil. Because he was certain that by the time he had learned the required techniques his general skill would've advanced so much that using the gifted weapons would be a downgrade. And while normally he would've stated this, not caring about the other persons opinion, for some reason he just didn't seem capable of doing so this time around. Regardless Michi had tried to have the man keep his belongings, but he was determined to find them a better host.

The man put on a short and slight display of skill while he was removing his weapons from his belt. And once he was done with putting on the show the weapons where interlocked, as if it were a symbol of harmony between them. That they had served together well and that they are meant to stay together, they belonged together. With that the man left him some parting words and disappeared just a mysteriously as he had appeared in the first place. With the man gone Michi was quite uncertain on how to move forward. Was he just going to leave the weapons there until he had finished his training, would he pick them up and move them closer to where he was training or just pick them up and bring them to his room only to return once more to the training spot.

It was very unlike Michi to go all the way back to the inn to just bring the weapon back, it was a waste of time. But leaving them at a distance from him wasn't that smart either. He might have been not that far from the villages borders but he wasn't familiar with the area, no clue what kind of people were lurking in the area. Maybe no one would pass by like the other days or maybe another person will, it had just happened, so it could happen again. Having waged his options it was best to just pick the weapons and move them closer to where he was. And so he moved closer to the weapons. He had seen that the one weapon was rather tall but hadn't realized its true length until he had gotten up close. Even with part of it stuck in the ground it was still about an inch taller than him.

Michi carefully grabbed the pair of weapons, not wanting to disturb the symbol that they created and let them lean against a tree whilst he continued his training. But during his training, for some reason, the parting words of the man were stuck with him. He talked about how he hadn't used the weapons enough and that's what's the worst that could happen to a weapon. Michi felt determined to find someone for them, maybe it wasn't the mans intention. But these originated from the Mitarashi clan. A clan just like his, no longer known by the common folk. He was going to make sure they'd help someone become a great person.

[Exit Thread]

wc 587
twc 2038

Ninjutsu D > C 1500 wc
Strength E > E2 225 wc
Speed E > E1 75 wc
Endurance E > E1 75 wc
Perception E > E1 75 wc
Reaction Time E > E1 75 wc

1500 + 225 + 75 + 75 + 75 + 75 = 2025 wc

Discard 13 words.