The sound of drums could be heard within the village hidden in the clouds, each fall of the sticks knocking into the leather skins rung thoughout the village signaling the end of the Chuunin Exams. Soon all those who had travelled to the hidden cloud village to watch or compete in the exams will be returning home to the own country, and the hidden cloud will become calm and peaceful at last. However first there must be a celebration, in honor of the winner of the exam a giant festival celebration would begin. With the setting of the sun the night sky would shortly be ignited with flashes of fireworks, as they exploded with the sound of cannons in the sky. Raphael sat atop the roof of his apartment building watching as the night progressed, a parade with floats honoring each of the contestants before the final and biggest float of all of them, Nova inside her Spider Puppet, the Winner of the Exams. "Here's to you Nova," the boy said before taking a sip of his tea. The young shinobi watched from his perch as those below took part in the celebration, friends one and all as he sat there alone in the shadows. Raphael did not do well in crowds, despite the overcoming his uncomfortableness with even talking with people in recent days, he was not yet ready for large crowds. Doorstep came from behind the boy, causing him to quickly turn to find their source while grabbing a Kunai from his pouch.

"Mister Kozai?" Came a small yet familiar voice, causing the young shinobi to quickly stow his Kunai as he turned to meet the little girl from his apartment building. "Aki what are you doing up here?" The boy asked as he knelt down to the girls level, "because you are up here Mister Kozai." "Aki I told you my name is Raphael you dont have to call me Mister Kozai." "Yeah and my name is Akira, and you call me Aki even though you know I hate that, so.." The girl would finish her sentence by sticking out her tongue at the boy, who couldn't help but smile. "Why are you not in bed, Aki?" The girl shrugged before asking the boy, "Why are you not down at the party with everyone else, Mister Kozai?" Raphael looked down to the street below full of people before turning back to the girl, "I don't do well with crowds Aki, they make me uncomfortable." "Why?" "I don't know they just do," "why?" "Aki that's enough." "why?" "Aki I'm not playing anymore stop it." "Why?" "That's it!" The boy proclaimed before letting out a roar and began tickling the girl causing her to get out in a storm of laughter. After a few minutes the boy would stop and with a serious look on his face he held out his hand, "come along Aki it is time you get home." "But I don't wanna," the girl stated stomping her foot down. "Aki," the boy said in the most serious tone he could manage, "ugh. Ok." The girl said reluctantly taking the boy's hand.

Upon reaching the girl's apartment the girl turned to Raphael, "Mister Kozai can I ask you a question?" "As long as it isn't why," the boy answered with a chuckle. The girl looked down at her feet before looking back to the boy, "How will you get over your problem with crowds if you don't go into them?" The question completely caught Raphael off guard, he was not expecting such perception for such a young girl. The boy let out a chuckle, "to be honest Aki, I never thought of it that way," "well maybe you should," the girl answered before closing the door leaving the boy standing alone in the hallway is shock. Raphael had planned to go back to his own apartment for the rest of the night, but the girl's words rang in his head.

Raphael's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of more fireworks and cheers from the people outside, 'maybe she is right' he thought to himself heading to the door outside. The street looked far more extravagant from the street itself opposed to his spot on the roof, the Raikage went all out for the celebration from the looks of it. The street was more lit up now than it had been during the tournament itself and that was saying something, it seemed to Raphael as though the Raikage had bottomless pockets to be able to afford such an amazing display just for something as small as a competition of genin fighting. The street was full of benders selling merchandise from the exams, little slushies of the competitors, shirts, flags, souvenir water packs and more. The Raikage must of pulled out all the stops as Raphael watched the entertainers, of all backgrounds, fire dancers, jugglers, high flying performers, the list went on every form of entertainment Raphael could think of was there all around him in the streets of his village. Raphael would walk around in a daze at everything he saw, he moved through the crowd doing his best to avoid bumping into anyone.

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880

It happen while Raphael was distracted, a flash and a bang drew the young shinobi's attention to the sky, and then suddenly he felt as though he had been hit with a water balloon. Raphael looked to where he was walking to see a boy around his age on the ground in front of him, covered in what looked to be a slushy. Feeling the dampness on himself, the young boy looked down at his own shirt to see if it was the slushy that spilled on him as well. Though it was hard to tell considering the fact that he was wearing a black shirt, it did not appear to be the same red liquid that covered the boy at his feet. Another flash and another bang brightened the night sky and revealed the boy's face, eyes that seemed squeezed so tightly that it was as if the boy expected that Raphael would hit him. That was not all the flash of the firework also brought to light the boy's features, though Raphael could not place the name at first he knew he recognized the face and began quickly searching his memory to find the boy's name. The boy opened his eyes and almost immediately the boy's expression seemed to display recognition. Raphael would twitch slightly when the boy mispronounced his name while speaking of them doing a mission together, it was something that had bugged him for as long as he could remember,. The young shinobi hated when people pronounced his name wrong, his upbringing being so strict and precise it was viewed as an insult among the Kozai that almost always would result in a fight, to mispronounced the name of someone else. However the mention of a mission together sparked the memory of the boy's name that Raphael was searching for, it was Chigetsu of the hidden mist village, he remember the mission he had with the boy and the mispronouning of his name faded from thought. Chigetsu quickly apologized for walking into him as he moved to stand, but seemed to flinch as he did so, Raphael could only assume that the slushy must of been really cold and the cold night air probably did not help matters. Once the boy made it to his feet he asked if the slushy got on Raphael, as he looked him over. "It is ok Chigetsu no slushy on me, and the fault was my own I was distracted by the fireworks and was not watching where I was going." Raphael replied with a friendly smile, though he did notice that the boy was now shivering and his white shirt was now stained red from the slushy. "I am really sorry about that, please allow me to buy you another one." He said pointing to the now empty cup on the ground where the boy had fallen, "I will even buy you some new clothes so that you can get out of the soaked ones, that should help right?" Raphael did not know what he was talking about, he had never been in a situation where he apologized for something nor had he been in a situation where he actually cared. He hoped the boy would not be upset about his drink and accept his apology, and if the boy accepted the offer of new clothes he would quickly walk to the nearby souvenir shop and get the boy some new clothes before returning to him. "My apartment is just around the corner if you want we can go there and you can change and clean up."

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1485

Raphael could not help but smile when the boy apologized for causing trouble and offered to repay his kindness, "No worries my friend, I do not do this thinking of how you will repay me. I do this because it is the right thing to do, if you really wish to pay me back then all you must do is pass along this kindness. Should you find someone else in need of help or something, I only hope that you will show them the same kindness I have shown to you." With that said Raphael would lead the boy to his apartment, it would be a short trup as his apartment was just a few blocks away from where he had bumped into the boy. Once they got to the third floor of the building Raphael would show the boy inside, "Welcome to my humble abode, the bathroom is down the hall to the left, there should be a bag in there that you can put your wet clothes in until they can get washed." Raphael's apartment was for the most part bare, holding only the essentials such as furniture, and very few decorations but it was just the way he liked it. He had been letting another friend of his stay during the Chuunin Exams, but with the festival going on Raphael assumed that Tenjin was out celebrating like everyone else. While the boy was getting cleaned up Raphael made his way to the kitchen and put some water on to boil to make some tea, although he was not sure that the boy drank tea he would still be able to offer it.

Once the boy had finished and returned from down the hall Raphael would offer Chigetsu a cup of tea as he sat down on the couch and offered the boy a seat as well. "We did not get to talk much after our mission, but at least we ran into each other again." Raphael stated then realizing how they actually ran into each other he let out a small chuckle, "although I did not mean for it to be literal of course." Raphael would smile at the boy as he sat his tea down on the table in front of the couch, "so tell me how have you enjoyed your stay here in the hidden cloud? You have not run into any problems with anyone or anything have you?" Raphael asked as he knew from his talks with some of the higher ranking shinobi's that under a formwe Raikage there was tension between the two village's. Something he had seen himself the day he first met Chigetsu with the proctor being so rude to him for no reason other than him being a mist shinobi.

The fireworks and celebrations continued on outside as the boy's sat in the warmth of Raphael's apartment, although should the boy wish to return to the celebration rather than sip tea Raphael would understand and accompany him, asking the question above though slightly louder due to having to speak over all of the noise.

---

2004

Raphael understood all too well what the boy meant about the higher altitude of the mountain, he had a similar experience himself when he first arrived in the cloud villages. Though if he was being honest with himself he had not connected the high altitude with why he had been queasy, as he thought it had been from his injuries and travelling so far. When the boy asked about whether or not he had been to Kirigakure, Raphael would shake his head. "Alas no I have not, however I have read about it and I do plan to make a trip in the future just so I can say I have been there. Maybe when that day come you could show me around, introduce me to the seven Swordsmen and everything." Raphael winked at the part of the seven Swordsmen, though he did not know if the boy knew them or not he just assumed that since he was from there he knew them.

If the boy were to say something that contradicted this assumption Raphael would quickly apologize for jumping to conclusions and being so rude, before trying to change the subject to something else. However if the boy confirmed the assumption that he did truly know even just one of the swordsman Raphael would spend the rest of the night asking him as much as he could about what they were like and if the rumors about them were true.

No matter which way the conversation went after a few hours or so, Raphael would yawn as he realized how tired he actually was when he saw that it was already four in the morning. "Oh man is it late, I am sorry Chigetsu I did not mean to keep you up so late. You are more than welcome to crash here if you like, as it appears the one that has been staying here is not coming back tonight. Get some rest and we can talk more in the morning." Raphael said with a stretch as he got up and headed towards the linen closet to grab some sheets for the boy to use on the couch. "Oh before I forget my neighbor has a little girl, Akira, she has a habit of breaking into my apartment so if you wake up and see her staring at you or anything that's why." Raphael stated coming back with the sheets and a pillow, "she scared the life out of me my first morning here, waking up to this six year old hovering just a few inches from my face," he added with a chuckle. "That girl I swear even when I lock all the windows and doors, she manages to get in and out without making a sound or leaving a trace." He paused again before adding, "she will make one hell of a shinobi one day." With that said and his guest taken care of the boy headed back to the bedroom to get some sleep.

{Exit Thread}

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2504
Speed trained C ~ C-1 =-575
Endurance C ~ C-1 =-575
Perception C~ C-1 =-575
Reaction Time C~ C-1 =-575
Total: 2300
204 words discarded
Ryo Cost: 400 - 5%(Suna Refugee) = 380Ryo