Sweat lined the boy's brows as he walked out of the forest he was just at. Tsuneo wiped away the sweat as he let out a deep sigh of relief. Finally he could relax, he didn't have to worry about climbing a mountain or doing some mission. He made a bet with himself that if he had climbed the mountain then he would get himself some ice cream and so that's what he was here for. Relaxing and ice cream, however, came with the hustle and bustle of Konohagakure's Market District. To anyone that was from here knows that this place is wild, to say the least. The Market District was always busy with people with bags of cash going to get groceries or ninja tools for the random shinobi that were out and about for various reasons. Tsuneo finally came across a small stand with wheels on it, metal coating around it and the boy could see other people crowding around it with cones full of ice cream. Tsuneo made his way to the crowded mobile ice cream shop and waited in line for his turn to order his ice cream.

Mmmm, Reeces fudge swirl

Tsuneo's mouth began to water at the thought matching almost the sweat pouring from his forehead. The sweat began to slow down as his body was starting to equalize from the rigorous training he had put himself through earlier with the mountain. Why the hell would someone with Supernatural Walking Technique choose to manually scale a mountain? Like, that makes no sense. But Tsuneo was one to challenge himself and when he made it a bet, there was no turning around. Nonetheless, the young man awaited his turn patiently in line for his ice cream. A fine young woman seemingly around Tsuneo's age stood in front of him. A civilian by the casual look of her clothing. The boy admired her from behind in the most gentlemanly way a young teenage boy could possibly do so. The boy just then reminded himself to check his back pocket for his ryo for the ice cream. The emptiness he felt where his wallet would normally occupy would drop the boy's heart. Where is his wallet? He must have dropped it when he scaled the mountain.

Shit I should have just walked up the damn mountain. What to do.

Tsuneo weighed his options. He was new to the village, most people wouldn't know him very well if at all. This woman was a civilian and the relation between shinobi and civilian are unknown to Tsuneo. His eyebrow raised at the thought of taking this woman's money wouldn't be the best way to handle this situation but he didn't want to be so embarrassed at the front of the line holding everything up. He let out a deep sigh. Tsuneo tapped on the woman's shoulder and she turned around almost immediately like she was waiting for the young man to interrupt her day or something. Her hair flipped around her body with the motion she had done allowing for a more scenic view of the woman and how beautiful she was. He smiled and talked up the woman, "Hey beautiful, how are you today?" he started and the woman replied stating she was fine with a giggle and brushing back her hair. Tsuneo knew he could get this woman easily with a simple pickpocket method. After a few seconds of smooth and casual conversation, Tsuneo leaned in for a hug and rubbed her back while going in her purse with the other hand grabbing some loose ryo. The sensation of his hand on the small of her back would negate the sensation of his other hand hovering elsewhere making this simple pickpocket technique very effective if the mark is a flirting young woman.

The woman turned back around and they both awaited their turn to order the ice cream.

663 WC

Kashiki had finished his daily training. He was exhausted and drenched in copious amounts of sweat, which was gross. He headed through town, deciding to take a detour through the market district to pick up a few things for his parents before making his way to his home. As Kashiki began making his way towards a small stand selling various vegetables h noticed a grouping of kids towards the middle of the market square. He looked past the bunched up crowd of children and say a small wheeled stand, the metal of it glinting in the sun. He payed for the groceries and made he way over to the crowd of kids, turning down various wares and discount offers all the while. As he approached the crowd he noticed children holding cones topped with various colorful scoops of ice cream. Kashiki looked at the metal stand once more and realized it was an ice cream stand, the children were crowding around it waiting their turn to get their own cone of sugary frozen milk.

Kashiki hopped in line.

I mean, can you blame him? It was one of the hottest days in the past week or so and he had just finished a pretty intense katon training session. Plus he was a kid and what kid can turn down the sugary frozen milk we so happily call ice cream.

As Kashiki waited patiently in line he noticed the man in front of him, or rather boy. The person in front of him was a young man maybe a year older than Kashiki, he had messy hazel hair and was wearing all black which must have been pretty hot during this abnormally hot day.

As Kashiki waited he noticed the boy in front of him reach into his back pocket, only to pull it back out empty handed. 'He must have forgotten his wallet, sucks to be him' Kashiki thought to himself with a soft chuckle. Eventually, Kashiki's kind heart and want to help got the better of him and he went to tap the boy on his shoulder, only to notice him grabbing the girl in front of himself's attention by doing the same as Kashiki was about to. Kashiki retracted his hand as he waited for the boy in front of him to finish talking to the girl.

Kashiki listened in on their conversation, and when he heard the boy compliment the girl and start flirting at her he chuckled. "Nice one Romeo" he said softly as the boy spoke. Kashiki turned to watch the ensuing beating this guy was about to get only so see the girl giggle and flirt back. 'How is it so easy for other people!' Kashiki wondered jealously, his attempts at romance during his time at the academy were all met with slaps and insults, how'd this guy get away with it so easily. Kashiki was almost about to turn away when he noticed the boy slip a hand into the girls pocket, returning with a few ryo. 'Not only is he a player, but he's a dirty thief too!?' Kashiki thought.

The boy stepped up and order his ice cream, and Kashiki followed suit, ordering a cone of two scoops of green tea ice cream. Kashiki payed for the cone and trailed the boy who had been in line in front of him, waiting for the moment to confront him about his thievery.

WC: 570

The woman moved forward, it was her turn to order her ice cream. The woman asked for mint chocolate, the most basic woman at her core it seemed. She looked through her purse calmly at first and then frantically. She exclaimed to the vendor that she had no money to pay for the ice cream and that she could do something like wave signs around to pay for it but the man wasn't having that. He was a traditionalist and if you couldn't pay for something you couldn't get it. She was upset and it was obvious. The woman went off to sit and pout at her inability to pay. Tsuneo had her ryo in his hand ready to pay for the ice cream, rubbing it gently between his fingers, the coins surfaces clinging together as he pondered his actions and how it made her day worse for his own gain. If he had still been in Otogakure the young man wouldn't care at all, he would simply get ice cream and be on his day not thinking twice about it. His teeth gritted at how much he had changed.

Tsuneo was called forward, he asked the man for a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone and he paid for it with a smile. He swiped the cone from the burly man and waltzed to the woman who he had just stolen from. With the cone in hand, the young man stood tall in front of the pouting woman, head in her hand. His shadow cast over the woman and when she looked up to Tsuneo her pouty face became a large smile that encased her entire attitude from before. Her arm leaped forward at the cone and took it from Tsuneo's hands and he chuckled at the woman's eagerness. It was just an ice cream cone right or was this guy selling more than just frozen goodness in his ice cream? Anyways the boy decided to take a seat with the woman across from the table from her. The boy's blue eyes stared into her hazel eyes as they sat and talked for a few minutes. Tsuneo took out his pocketbook and showed the woman little doodles that he'd been doing recently. She gave a sheepish laugh at the boy's elementary drawing skills and he huffed in a childish manner to flirt with her and she understood. When he stood up he would have a new entry in his pocketbook, the woman's address.

Tsuneo made his way out of the crowds breaking free of the grasp they seemingly had on the streets. It was as if they were trying to monopolize the space within the streets. Tsuneo could feel the presence of someone watching him and it reminded him of his past in the Sound Village and it made him a little uneasy. He grabbed his pocketbook from his pocket once more with a pencil and as he walked he could make notes of the surroundings so that he wouldn't get lost. Tsuneo was going to try and lose his tail he had gained. Perhaps they noticed Tsuneo had stolen the money from that woman and are now intrigued at seeing him regret and reverse his decision. That would most certainly pique the interest of Tsuneo if he had been a bystander. Nonetheless, the boy was still etching in his small booklet as he walked marking down street names and stores he passed as he made all kinds of turns around corners and bends that he didn't know were there. Cutting through alleyways and such trying to lose this person if in fact there was a person following him. He was being paranoid thinking back to when he used to have to do stuff like this when he was in The Nin within Otogakure.

647 | 1,310 WC

Kashiki was pissed, not only had this boy stolen, but from a girl no less and that girl liked him. Kashiki watched the boy as he ordered his ice cream, purchasing a mint chocolate chip cone which was the same as the girl in front of him had failed to purchase due to the thievery. Kashiki pondered if he had felt guilty from stealing from the girl and if he as going to make it right. If the boy was feeling guilty why had he done it in the first place.

Kashiki stepped up and ordered his cone, two scoops of green tea ice cream. It was a childhood favorite and an acquired taste and not everyone liked it's taste, but Kashiki loved it. He turned to follow the thief only to notice he had stopped where the girl who was stolen from was sitting. Kashiki stepped away, keeping the two in the corner of his eye as he waited for the right moment to confront the thief. The boy who had stolen from the girl gave her the cone he had bought, the girl eagerly grasping for the cone.

The boy flirted with the girl he had stolen from some more, showing her little doodles and eventually getting her address. "What a dick... Had he stolen from the girl to get her to like him better? I'm pretty sure thievery isn't the way to a girls heart, unless you plan to steal her heart away." Kashiki thought, chuckling at his own horrible joke. Kashiki looked back to see the boy slip the address of the girl into his pocketbook, "well it worked" Kashiki mumbled to himself before taking another lick of his ice cream. Kashiki finished his cone as the boy stood, and followed the thief from a distance through the crowded market square. Kashiki followed the boy as he moved down the alley ways and streets of the Leaf Village. If the thief thought he could lose him by taking back streets and alley ways he was wrong, Kashiki had grown up walking through and playing on these back alleys and streets. He knew these streets like the back of his hand. It would seem the thief didn't know the leaf village that well, seeing as he was carefully writing down and taking note of every street and vendor he pasted, he was either a visitor here or extremely forgetful.

As the two walked down a narrow back street, empty except for the two boys, Kashiki spoke up. "I saw what you did back at the ice cream stand. Y'know stealing isn't good even if you give them back the money." Kashiki said to the boy as his pace picked up, trying to close the distance between the two a little before the boy either turned to confront him or made a break for it.

WC: 1054

A voice broke through the crowd murmurings behind the boy as he made his way to an alleyway without an exit. He looked around him on both sides where buildings were and in front of him was the back of another building. If he wanted to get away he would have to run over top the building and make his escape that way. Tsuneo thought about it for a moment but decided against it, this kid seemed to only want answers, an explanation as to why Tsuneo did what he did to that woman. Maybe he was jealous that he hadn’t thought of it. But in truth Tsuneo had no bad intentions with the woman, he didn’t steal just to impress her by buying her ice cream. In truth, Tsuneo didn’t even buy his own ice cream because he felt bad after taking her money. She seemed so upset at not being able to buy the ice cream on such a hot day that he couldn’t go through with indulging himself at her expense. Tsuneo’s body turned to face the boy who had followed him into this secluded back alleyway. The boy shut his pocketbook and placed it back in his pocket as well as put the pencil back in the crevice between his ear and the side of his head.

Tsuneo sucked his teeth listening to the boy’s pleading about morality as he made his way closer to Tsuneo. “When you come from where I come from, you gotta do what ya gotta do my man. I bought her ice cream, what more do you want from me?” Tsuneo said sucking his teeth before speaking. A gust of wind had blew in the alley kicking up some dust and scattered trash. This boy seemed to be just barely smaller than Tsuneo himself wearing a hoodey with a white t shirt underneath matched with some sweatpants. Tsuneo eyed the boy as he walked closer to him.

“At least you got ice cream.” Tsuneo said, the corner of his mouth straightened out and one of his eyebrows raised at the sight of this kid licking his ice cream as he walked forward. “Tch.” This kid didn’t know where Tsuneo came from or what he had to do to escape that place. It wasn’t pretty. As a young child Tsuneo was forced into a gang within Otogakure, it’s not like he had a choice. He was forced to steal just to eat just as he had done earlier with the woman but he’s changed. If he were still the old him from Otogakure the boy wouldn’t have thought twice about taking his own favorite ice cream and take off on his own to enjoy it somewhere. But that didn’t matter to this kid. The only thing that mattered seemed to be that he stole from the woman, not the redeeming quality. Tsuneo looked away ready and willing to take any punishment this kid decided necessary for his so-called crime. His eyes locked onto bricks that made up one of the walls that surrounded him as he thought back to when he was a young child stealing for adults. His teeth gritted as he braced his body for whatever this kid was going to do.

555 | 1,865 WC

Kashiki stepped forwards, closing the distance between the two as the boy turned to face him. He noticed the boy glance at the walls of the closed up alley, probably debating how he planned to escape. In the end the boy decided against his plans to escape and turned to face Kashiki, one hand slipping the pocketbook back to its place in his pocket and the other hand putting his pencil up behind his ear.

The boy spoke, trying to justify his thieving by referring to a most likely depressing history. "Its fine you gave it back, its just you shouldn't steal y'know there are better ways. I was going to pay for you, back there, but then you started flirting with that girl and then I saw you take the money, I just wanted to say you don't need to do that anymore. It doesn't matter where you once were, you're in konoha now, I'm sure there's someone looking for a nimble guy like you to do some work for them." Kashiki reasoned, not angry at the theft anymore and more worried that these actions might get the boy in trouble and feeling sympathy for the other boy.

Just as Kashiki finished his speech about the opportunities that the leaf village granted independent of your past, the boy fired back a cutting remark, telling Kashiki about how he had gotten ice cream. "I was going to pay for your ice cream I swear, then you started talking to that girl and I wondered if you two were thing or something." Kashiki said, clearly not the most well versed in romance. "Then I saw you steal from her and I had to confront you about it, but you tried to fix your mistakes and I think thats the most important part." Kashiki reassured the boy as he stuck one hand in his pocket and stuck the other out to be shaken. "No hard feelings? I'm Kashiki Hattori and I'm a genin of the leaf village. You?" The younger boy asked, patiently waiting for the other boy's response and potentially his greeting.

WC: +351, 1405

Tsuneo let his guard down when the boy didn’t mean any harm physically. The young man opened his eyes from his previous gaurded looking away position to face the boy who had confronted him. He began speaking about how stealing was wrong, that he was going to pay for Tsuneo’s ice cream and that people are always looking for work. “Heh.” Is all Tsuneo could muster for a response to that. Tsuneo stepped lightly to the side leaning his body on one of the walls on the side, his shoulder keeping his body at a diagonal stance and his legs crossed.

“A thing? Most definitely not, just an easy mark Kashiki. I’m Tsuneo, don’t have a last name or at least if I do I was never told it. I’m from Otogakure nice to meet you.”

Tsuneo would then reciprocate the shaking of hands after standing straight up and moving in close enough proximity to do so. A smile crept across his face showing off his white teeth. Tsuneo could have told Kashiki about his experiences in Otogakure but he didn’t really know this guy yet. All he knew is his name and his rank within the Leaf Village which wasn’t all that important. Well, that and the fact that he is morally correct and works within the confines of the law. He’ll grow out of that as he grows older. They weren’t that far apart in age but Tsuneo has seen older shinobi and how they act as well as what they had to go through to get to where they were at a skill level. He’s met one decent shinobi and all he did was pay for an apple that Tsuneo was going to steal. Everyone is out for themselves in this world and nothing had come along to change his mind.

Tsuneo took his hand from Kashiki after the shake and made his way past him walking back into the street hoping that Kashiki would follow. When reaching the opening into the hustling street Tsuneo looked to both sides looking for some kind of area to sit and talk. There was a small area with chairs, tables and umbrellas to guard from the harmful sun’s rays most likely part of a restaurant of some sort. Tsuneo’s hand grabbed the back of the chair, tilting it onto its back legs and twisted it around before taking his seat. The back of his chair would be a makeshift resting area for his torso as he sat down and crossing his arms resting his chin on his forearm as he looked at Kashiki should he choose to follow Tsuneo’s lead. He thought back to the conversation they had and he remembered how he acted when he thought that the woman and Tsuneo were together, he seemingly wasn’t all that good with the female variety of human. A waitress had come to their table stopping Tsuneo from speaking asking the two if they were ready to order.

One of Tsuneo’s hands rose as he asked for a glass of water from the waitress as he took her hand and looked her in the eyes. “Please get my man Kashiki here whatever he wants.” With a smile he would go back into his resting position with arms crossed resting his chin looking onto Kashiki as he ordered.

Kashiki got riled up at the other boy's uncaring response to his speech, but he calmed himself telling himself that the other boy was probably just amazed that he didn't have to steal anymore. As the other boy denied the minor accusations that he had been flirting with that girl because he liked her Kashiki blushed slightly. He hadn't been very good with the ladies and he thought he could take pointers from that interaction, but it seemed it was all a clever trick to prey on the young girl and her full pockets.After shaking the boy's hand Kashiki pulled his hand back to his pocket. "Sound village eh?" Kashiki said, it wasn't every day you met someone from the sound village.

Kashiki followed Tsuneo, when he say him sit down he began to feel bad, He didn't really have time to hang out. When Tsuneo told the waitress to get Kashiki whatever he wanted Kashiki graciously declined. "Actually should be going. Someone's expecting me. Sorry. Seeyah around?" Kashiki said as he walked away with a quick wave. He was hoping he got to hang out with the street thief again, hopeful not when he was thieving.

WC: +197, 1602

{Exit Thread}

Tsuneo watched Kashiki respectfully decline his offer for food. Which was a good thing, Tsuneo forgot again that he didn't have any ryo to pay for anything. If he had ordered food then Kash would have to have paid for both of them and Tsuneo wouldn't feel too good for that. The waitress took the menus from the two and made her exit to another table. Tsuneo watched the waitress move, swaying her hips with each stride taking the young man's almost full attention. He almost didn't hear when Kash stood up and leave the area. But he did. Tsuneo looked up to his friend as he stood up about to take his leave and Tsuneo raised his hand from his casual resting position. "Seeya later Kash, be safe." Tsuneo said lazily still watching the waitress help the table near to him. His eyebrow rose as he watched her giggle at jokes the people sitting at the table would tell. Probably just trying to get a good tip, she's into you man. Thoughts of slight jealousy came in his mind and left as quick as they came. He sucked his teeth as he thought more about the woman and these people taking her from him.

His jealous thoughts were broken by the deliverance of the glass of water he ordered by another waiter. He looked up to the man that brought him his water and offered a thank you in response. Tsuneo grabbed the water and took a big gulp. He let out a breath after the drink and set the water down. The waitress walked into the restaurant probably to get some food for the people who had ordered. Tsuneo lowered his head and looked around him to the people that were near him. These people seemed to be happy, there wasn't a sulking face in the lot of them and it was a good thing. The bright sun brought a sense of happiness across the area and Tsuneo was no exception. He thought back to the shadowy darkness that was provided to him for most of his life before coming across the Land of the Leaves. These thoughts of comparing the villages brought a smile across his face.

The waitress came back to his table, her bright yellow hair shining from the sun. Her bubbly personality brought happiness to Tsuneo as she asked the young man if he was ready to order. He put his glass of water down and looked up to the beautiful woman. "Oh, no thanks, I'm all out of money." It wasn't like him to just leave a beautiful woman without some form of flirting but he figured there wouldn't be a point in a broke boy flirting with a woman who worked hard for her money. It would normally sadden Tsuneo to have this revelation but instead, it only motivated him to get to work just as Kashiki had said. He didn't need to steal anymore, he was a part of the Konohagakure ranks and he is now able to make money through missions and other various jobs utilizing his skills. He stood up and twisted the chair back around so the legs were under the table before he made his leave.

"Nice to meet you gorgeous." Tsuneo said to the waitress as he turned his back to her leaving the area.

569 | 3,004 WC

---

Ninjutsu: E - D | 1,500 [1,504 Left]
All Stats E-0 - E-2 | 1,125 [379 Left]
Speed E-2 - E-3 | 225 [Not Keeping Leftover WC]