Mokuzai was seating among the hundreds of people watching the other genin completing their third trial, he had made it out by using the beast's own nature against it but there were more trouble's to come as he was now going all the way to the tournament. He was able to enjoy the rest of trial three thought as it was also more thrilling to watch then trial one and two now that only the really qualified genin were still in the running,had dropped down so more attention could be focused on the more skilled genin. Mokuzai had come to regret not training more before the exams but he would just have to continue trying his best for the tournament.

After a half a hour trial three was over and only the one's who would move on remained, Mokuzai would eye his competition for the finals before his stomach suddenly growled in anger,causing him to do a light grunting sound from the gnawing feeling of it before thinking he better eat. He then got up and proceeded to make his way thorough the crowd and out the arena and decided to go into Kumogakure's wild to hunt some food as he didn't want to pay and needed to do some training anyway,he would then travel about half a mile into the wild before encountering a bear.

Mokuzai was quite not causing attention to himself as he silently pulled out one his kunai out of the pouch attached to his left leg, he then would jump up quietly into the tree and move tree to tree until he was right above the bear. It was now sleeping and didn't notice his presence yet so he gripped his kunai tight and pointed at a angle, he would then take a deep breath in before jumping down onto the bear and latching his free arm around his neck before quickly piercing it into the bears neck and and kept on moving it until it's throat was slashed open causing the bear to slowly bleed out while choking on the blood escaping from it's throat.

He would then let go of the bear once it stopped struggling as he stood up wiping the sweat away from his forehead, he would then pull out his kunai before flicking the bear's blood off and putting it back into his pouch. He then proceeded to make a camp fire using the nearby wood he could find, it was tough work to hunt on his own but it would serve him well to learn how to hunt just encase he ran out of food provisions at one point during his missions.

Almost a hour later Mokuzai had eaten quite a bit and relaxed up against a tree near his campfire, he had a piece of wood in his hand and would use his kunai as he attempted to carve out a rose. After his stomach had digested some amount of food he would start to walk around Kirigakure's forest area seeing the nature that surrounded their village.

WC:522/2000

After taking care of most of her schoolwork for the month within the Academy, Aura was excited to know that she would be taken on a field trip to a completely new area of the world, that being near the great village of Kumogakure. From what she had learned from her dotted books, it was also known as "The Village Hidden in the Clouds", and many from the area were known for their prowess with Lightning Release. This factor would not be major, however, as not only was the majority of most entering the fabled Chuunin Exams from her own village, Kirigakure, but she would be meeting other Shinobi from all around the world, who would have techniques and special abilities she could have never even fathomed before truly getting into the midst of the action. It was on one of her days visiting this new place in her rather small world, that she would be able to meet with a young man that may or may not become important later in her life. It was a Senju named Mokuzai, and although at the time she would have no idea about the Senju, not Moku himself, Aura did feel as though this day was going to be interesting to say the least.

Aura had been frolicking within the wilderness after the intermission for the Exam Duels had been called, simply to get a feel for its nature. She could feel as though it was somewhat dangerous, but compared to Kirigakure's more hostile atmosphere, it was nothing to this dauntless maiden. Not only that, but she felt confident against the wildlife here after getting so far with her Academy studies, and unlocking the first steps of her Kekkei Genkai, Ice Release. Thankfully, the girl had no use for her chakra today, as not a single fight seemed to present itself. No, instead she would meet a new person, who had been sitting near a campfire and eating the remains of a bear he had killed an hour prior. Not that she would know this, nor see it; but her ears allowed her to notice the sound of munching from afar, and the crackling of tamed flames. It naturally drew her to the site, much like a moth, wishing to interact with whom may be there.

"...Hello? Is there someone there? I think I can hear you eating...can you guide me to you? I can't see.
And I wanna talk with you...it's kinda lonely out here."

Her smile beamed as she continued to approach, not making notice that she was about to walk right into a root and trip. If the one she spoke of had enough wits about him, he'd be able to see she was close to an untimely embarrassment, and he had at least a little time to stop it before this beautiful, white-haired girl fell flat on her face. It wouldn't kill her, obviously, but it would make a good first impression, no? Or he could just leave her to her fate for a good laugh.

[WC: 516]

Mokuzai had not finished his meal more than six minutes ago before he started to use a good sized piece of tree bark with slight trace's of mold growth on it's surface to use as material to carve out a wooden rose, he would carefully begin to carve out the outer layer with his kunai stroke after stroke until the outer layer of the tree bark was now just a piece of clean wood. He would continue to carve the wood out further from the bottom until it looked like a stem of a flower, now that the easy part was done he would focus more on developing the upper layer of the actual rose but this part was tricky do to the many folds of a rose similar to the design of a spiral so he would have to be extra careful in it's creation process.

He then proceeded by cutting most of the stem off making the rose smaller and then started carving the wood all around into thin half open petals curved away from the flower until a total of four were done, he would then use his fingers to open up the petals further until they were completely pointing in four different directions. Now that the outer layer of the rose was done he would then carve out the middle section of the front and back of the rose completely, he had completed the two hardest parts of the rose now it was a easy process as he just made small curve designs at the center of the rose easily.

It was then a feminine voice brought him out of his creative focus giving him a slight startle as he didn't sense her approaching "...Hello? Is there someone there? I think I can hear you eating...can you guide me to you? I can't see. And I wanna talk with you...it's kinda lonely out here." He was about to answer before he noticed she was walking straight towards a tree root clumsily, he quickly got up and was making his way towards her as she was about to fall and he yelled out "Wait, dont move!" based on his position she would either not fall at all or she would fall against his body as he caught her.

He would then ask her "Hey are you alright? Im surprised you were-" Mokuzai then stopped talking as he noticed her eyes were a shiny, cloudy-baby blue color, but he also noticed how she wasn't looking straight at him but out towards the distance. He was not willing to open up such a topic so instead he decided a introduction was in order "My name is Mokuzai Senju of Konahagakure, whats your name ?" Mokuzai would keep close to her but stay half a meter away as to give the stranger her personal space but kept up a warm smile.

He would take notice of her attire that consisted of a white and blue kimono with a giant red ribbon holding it together, she was rather thin but he would keep the topic of a ladies weight to himself as past conversations with his mother would reveal it was a landmine waiting to blow.


WC:556/2000

Total WC:1,078/2000

As though the gods themselves pushed her into the young Senju's grasp, Aura tumbled into the boy rather abruptly, as she hadn't been able to catch herself before it happened. With that, her face had been directly put against his chest, though Aura didn't consider this a misfortune. In fact, her cheeks became a deep crimson red with blood rushing up to those normally pale, bittercold cheeks. On further inspection, it was clear to Moku that their temperature ranges were drastically different, so it must have to do with her Kekkei Genkai. After the little debacle, the young genin girl moved off of him, brushing her self off out of instinct, and eventually bowing before him, both in greeting and thanks, for keeping her from face planting the ground.

"I-I'm so sorry Mister! I can't really see that well...o-or at all. Thank you for helping me not hurt myself! Your name is...Mokuzai Senju? From Konoha? So you come from another Village...so do I, if it isn't obvious; I'm Aura Yukimenoko, from Kirigakure. I'm just out here to pass the time before we go back to the Village from our field trip. I'm only an Academy Student...for now!"

That cute cherry blush was nearly stapled onto her by now, flustered at many ends, her hands fidgeting behind her back and her legs shaking a little. The condensate vapor from her breath was coming out rather fast due to her increased pace of breath, feeling a lot colder than a normal human's would, like an icy wind passing by. The only real question now was exactly what did cause the source of her embarrassment. In this case, asides being ashamed of herself, it was because a boy helped her; that childish way of thinking when it came to men still tainted her thoughts, after all, despite having forgone puberty a long time ago.

Trying to relieve some of the pressure of the conversation on herself, Aura quickly came up with a new topic to discuss right out of the blue. Her best idea came in the form of discussing his home village with her; surely having new knowledge of such a thing would benefit her in the long run, barring the fact she wanted to know more about it. After all, her favorite ninja in history served the Village Hidden in the Leaves, so it made sense.

"H-hey, why don't you tell me about your home, Moku-kun? Konoha, I mean...I've never been there before, and I've always heard good stuff about it! You'll tell me, right? Pretty please?

[WC: 449 + 516 = 965]

As the young Senju helped the pale thin girl from falling on her face due to her non-existent eye sight he would notice the spot where she connected was way colder then the area they were currently in, he assumed it was a special trait belonging to her family but didn't have the time to ask as once she was on his chest they had both seemed to move back away from each other, he would notice that the pale cheeks of the girl became a deep crimson red color that was clear as day due to the paleness of her skin. Following the blush the girl seemed to start brushing her self off and even begun to bow to Mokuzai making him feel a bit embarrassed by the showy display of thankfulness causing a slight hue of red to appear on his cheek's as well, "I-I'm so sorry Mister! I can't really see that well...o-or at all. Thank you for helping me not hurt myself! Your name is...Mokuzai Senju? From Konoha? So you come from another Village...so do I, if it isn't obvious; I'm Aura Yukimenoko, from Kirigakure. I'm just out here to pass the time before we go back to the Village from our field trip. I'm only an Academy Student...for now!"

The girl seemed to be flustered as she said her name was Aura Yukimenoko that was evident by a persistent blush on her pale skin, he could feel and see a condensed breath of cold air emanating from her breathing that seemed to happen at a higher pace than the average human shinobi. Mokuzai could not tell if it was having a effect on her or not but she did seem to have something troubling her as her legs were shaking slightly and he could not determine if Aura was cold or if something else was going on with her, "H-hey, why don't you tell me about your home, Moku-kun? Konoha, I mean...I've never been there before, and I've always heard good stuff about it! You'll tell me, right? Pretty please?" The question was quick and sudden, He gave a slight chuckle at the sudden eagerness she displayed about his village and decided to answer her questions.

"Nice too meet you Aura, yes you heard correctly i am from the village of Konahagakure. Glad you show interest in our history, now lets see..." He started talking fondly of his village as he explained the mass array of tree's surrounding his home and the constant warm and bright presence of the sun and the fresh air that ran thought his village as he recalled some of his memories of his home and spoke even more fondly of the people in his village describing that as bright and cheerful. "How about you? whats your story?"


WC:502/2000


Total WC:1,580/2000

The history of Moku's village, Konohagakure, was fascinating to little Aura, to say the least. Compared to her own home's past, it had a nice curve of reform to it that Kirigakure only seemed to start grasping once Ayakashi had taken the helm of the Mizukage. Sun always shining, the people always fair and warm; it was a stark contrast to everyone's past, in all honesty, while a big chunk of Kiri clinged to its bloody parts despite the work from their Mizukage to fix it. Evident it was, when she was kidnapped from slavers hired by her own foster parents. This was of her own opinion, anyway - God knows what happened with some parts of past recollection she might have forgotten about. But as far as she knew, the closest resemblance this Village Hidden in the Leaves had to hers was their uncharacteristic, attempted genocide of the Uchiha clan.

While Moku hadn't told her about this, that was one unfortunate fact she had learned in her time within the Academy. While they, obviously, focused more on her village's history more than Konoha, they were close allies. It made sense that they both knew quite a bit about each other lorewise. As such, she learned of the Uchiha Clan's massacre, back before Naruto's time. While the truth of it was revealed sometime after the Fourth Great Ninja War's end, it was still a complete and utter travesty, that led many astray afterwards. Regardless of that, the blatant disregard for life at that point in time saddened her, as did anything else that reminded her of the darker side of her own home. Shaking that thought out of the way, Aura decided to give him the rundown of what it was like to be in the Village Hidden in the Mist.

“It’s...not as well off as it could be, I’ll tell you that. Whoever the Mizukage is, has taken a great deal in order to fix its issues, from what I can tell...but it’s still rampant with mean, disgusting people that just want to hurt others. Our village gets the nickname “Blood Mist” for a reason, after all...our history is full of it. There’s not too much in the ways of warmth and comfort, so I was lucky to find it myself, with my own clan, the Yuki. We have powers that allow us to use ice...it’s called Ice Release. So, we’re able to manipulate Water and Wind in order to create it. I don’t know why others can’t do it, though...maybe it’s because their bodies aren’t able to handle it. If you couldn’t notice, I’m really cold compared to other people, and everyone in my clan is like that...anyway, that’s just on my people. In short, just like the fishermen that make a living in Kirigakure, you have to search for the right catch in order to survive, thrive, and like, to be there...that being said...it’s still my home. I love it there, and I know that someday, there won’t be so much killing anymore, especially there. I’ll make sure of it...and make my momma proud. Though, if you ever want to visit, you could come back with us on our field trip right now...I’m sure the teachers won’t mind!”

After getting all of this out, it felt good to talk about her village, when all was said and done. It had its downsides, but it was still a beautiful place, and had the best type of atmosphere, with its constant, cool mist, and a chance for rain and snow all the time. When the sun occasionally came out, clouds would accompany it, allowing comfort among its harsh waves. Aura would always prefer this, no matter where she went, even knowing that she had lived in a place where being killed was common. Ryome would always protect her, and even then, she was beginning to become stronger herself. She could have dodged the tree branch earlier, but she just wasn’t thinking in a way suited for battle. Had she been in such a situation, she wasn’t sure even this boy she first met could stop her, as they had to have been both Genin. They seemed small compared to Chuunin and Jounin, after all, Moku. With a resigned shrug, she rested on the ground, waiting for the boy’s response, all the while enjoying his company. She had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other.

[Final WC: 965 + 779 = 1744]

[EXIT THREAD]

As Mokuzai explained the history and lifestyle of his village Aura would listen carefully in fascination but at the same time he could sense she was deep in though but he could not tell what it was, he then asked her about her own village and she would begin to explain. "It’s...not as well off as it could be, I’ll tell you that. Whoever the Mizukage is, has taken a great deal in order to fix its issues, from what I can tell...but it’s still rampant with mean, disgusting people that just want to hurt others. Our village gets the nickname “Blood Mist” for a reason, after all...our history is full of it. There’s not too much in the ways of warmth and comfort, so I was lucky to find it myself, with my own clan, the Yuki. We have powers that allow us to use ice...it’s called Ice Release. So, we’re able to manipulate Water and Wind in order to create it. I don’t know why others can’t do it, though...maybe it’s because their bodies aren’t able to handle it. If you couldn’t notice, I’m really cold compared to other people, and everyone in my clan is like that...anyway, that’s just on my people. In short, just like the fishermen that make a living in Kirigakure, you have to search for the right catch in order to survive, thrive, and like, to be there...that being said...it’s still my home. I love it there, and I know that someday, there won’t be so much killing anymore, especially there. I’ll make sure of it...and make my momma proud. Though, if you ever want to visit, you could come back with us on our field trip right now...I’m sure the teachers won’t mind!”

Once she finished he whistled in surprise involuntary, he know the basic history of Kirigakure and it's bloody past but what he didn't know that the current Mizukage was looking for reform which delighted him in a way he could not currently express. Aura even seemed to explain that her body temperature was due to her clan's special ability to create and control ice which acted much as the same as his ability to control and make wood, she had asked him if he would like to visit Kirigakure and he simply smiled and said "Maybe ill move there" as he gave her a chuckle being half serious in his words.

Looking at the sky he saw it was changing color's meaning sometime had passed since they begun speaking to each other and he would face her and give a apologetic smile, "Sorry i must be going now, but this will not be the last time we meet Aura Yukimenoko" Mokuzai then stood on his feet and he would grab the wooden flower he made with his right hand and use his left to open Yuki's hands slightly just enough to slide the flower he made into it before leaving her in the woods.



-Exit Thread-

WC:535

Total WC:2,115


Element:

Water D-rank to C-rank:1500/1500 (615 words wasted)