It was deathly quiet as Yoshi walked down the streets of Konohagakure. The sounds of the festival goers has all but since vanished, replaced by the eerie and out of place silence that had seemingly consumed the village's streets. The light of the fires that the lanterns gave left shadows on the walls and pavement that looked more like strange creatures than the flickering flames. It was pretty spooky. Yoshi couldn't quite place his finger why it was though however. Instead, all he could do was keep walking along, his bag of supplies slung up and over his shoulder as he kept walking, occasionally looking back to make sure he wasn't being followed. There were an awful lot of foreigners around after all, and unless he was being careful, he might very well find himself going missing by tussling with the wrong sorts of people. Vigilant as ever, he hoped to simply walk back to his meager apartment in peace. He was tired, ready to collapse into bed after a long day of training for his upcoming second match.

"Hello?" Yoshi asked, swearing he saw something dash across the road on the far end of the street. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of the eyes or if it might've been a cat wandering about. Either way, it kept him on guard. Surely the shinobi of the village would make sure nothing unsavory happened to the villagers, right? It would be catastrophic to think what kind of a diplomatic incident that would cause. That line of thinking kept him at ease, if only a bit more than before. His curious brown eyes wandered along the street as his tired legs carried him away to what he hoped would be a warm bed and a good night of sleep. He still had plenty on his mind following his first match against Yasubei, the technical tie that had gone to the judges for a final verdict. It had left him in remarkably good shape, but it was dampened by the death of his good friend Xiao. With something as unthinkable as that occuring, he wondered who else may be accidentally killed, especially during something as seemingly benign and innocent as walking home in the middle of the night...

There was a sound! A snapping branch that took the boy by surprise, freezing up again. The bush near him rustled with activity, causing the Genin to stare intently at it in focused alarm. A hand lowered down to a kunai. The foe emerged, leaping forth! Yoshi opened his mouth to call something out, but upon seeing the modest black cat rubbing up against his legs, he let out a small sigh of relief. All this anxiety he was having with the exams wasn't the healthiest thing in the world, now was it? A part of him almost wished he could just lose once he got high enough into the quarter-finals, just to be rid of the pressure of preparing for the next, harder, competition that would await him. Still, he had to rally and push those thoughts away. He was here to reach his absolute limit, and to become a Chuunin! Anything less than that would be an insult to the people he had sworn to face in the tournament, as well as those who had been defeated. He gave a small nod to the cat before moving on down the street once again, feeling a bit more confident than before in the wake of his long day.

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He felt the feeling of black fur pressing up and against his legs, accompanied by the content purring of a familiar feline. It was rather endearing all things considered. Joe looked down at the cat as it fought for the Genin's affection, something that was easy for him to surrender. Slowly, the on-edge shinobi leaned over and stroked his hand gently along the creature's black fur. That seemed to endear it to the boy even further. The cat didn't seem to have a name tag, nor did it have any markings to show that it was a ninnekin, one of the animal familiars of a shinobi. For all intents and purposes, it was a stray like him, skulking about the darkness of the nighttime air. A pang of sympathy struck a chord within Joe as he realized that strange connection, causing him to lower his defenses a tad. "You need a hug too, don't you?" the boy softly said, his hand slowly stroking along the body of the black cat as it weaved inbetween his legs lazily. He had always wanted a pet, but being an orphan with little to no income as a Genin, he never had the means to do so.

Suddenly, there was another sound! Joe let out a surprised, "EEP!" as he lept up to look from the bushes where the cat had come from. Whatever was coming certainly was larger than a modest housepet, a fact that made the Genin rather unnerved. His body was tense as he saw the figure emerge from the bushes rather unceremoniously. S-she seemed so calm even though there were branches and twigs caught in her flowing purple hair, it was a tad surreal. The gentle smile that she gave as she spoke of their shared companion was enough for the boy to lower his guard, watching as the cat slowly sauntered over to where the woman was, rubbing its head and nose against her legs in an affectionate manner. Its secret plan to bring these two humans together so that it could get more hugs was going along nicely. Whilst the creature endeared itself to the two, Yoshi would look over the person who had suddenly walked out of the bushes and greeted him. She was shorter than him by maybe half a foot, her skin was pale, her body posessing a feminine figure, and her eyes posessing a sense of calm that felt rather unnerving to the Genin.

Joe looked at the leg that the cat rubbed up against, it was made of wood. It was a prosthetic. More importantly, he could see the a headplate wrapped around its kneecap that bore the lost emblem of sunagakure. Joe never knew much about the Hidden Wind Village, nor anything about his people, only a sympathy for their scattered people. He tried not to stare too much, instead looking back to the older girl, "N-no, he's not mine. I've never had a pet. They cost too much to keep happy, I barely have enough of that for myself as it is" the boy replied somewhat sheepishly, trying to feel out the stranger he was now meeting. The cat decided to saunter back over to where Joe was, getting more pets from the boy as he stood their idly before the suna-nin. "You're from Sunagakure... I've never met anyone from there before" he admitted, somehow feeling guilty because of that fact. What could he say? He had grown up in a sheltered environment all his life, heck, only last moth had he ever left Konohagakure before! "What was it like?" he asked, looking her over and taking her in again. With a tilt of his head he bluntly asked, "Are you my mom?" he asked, letting that subconscious need to find himself seep through to the surface as he saw the comforting and calm female figure.

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