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Light blue were the skies and white its clouds; the sun shimmered brightly, emanating its warmth to the land below. An occasional breeze passed by, contrasting together with the warmth to create a sensation of comfort. It was the first weekend since the young man’s return to Konoha and it had been largely spent acclimating himself, once more, to the life of a shinobi. Though he was eager to return to his duties, the first week of his return had been largely vexing. Whilst he had grown in both skill and experience since the five years he had been away, his shinobi rank had remained very much the same, and so with the rank of a genin came the tasks of one; mostly assigned grunt work easily accomplished by the everyday man, Enlil was thrust into what felt like glorified child labor. Needless to say, it wasn’t what he had in mind when he finally decided to face his duties and return home. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. For today he was granted a moment of rest and relaxation and while he had already spent the entire morning refining his skill in taijutsu, which was the exact opposite of resting, he was dead set on taking it easy for the rest of the day.

And so here he was, armed with a six foot long fishing rod hoisted on his broad shoulder. He wore a black, buttoned, long sleeve shirt that opened to his chest, underneath the sleeves hid his red fighting gloves that could be seen on his hands and on his lower body he wore a black pants with red boots. The tall young shinobi made his way to a lake within one of Konoha’s many parks. Upon reaching his destination he paused briefly, taking in his surroundings. Although he had lived within the walls Konohagakure no sato for ten years of his life, he had never had the luxury of time to actually live in the city, instead spending hours upon hours trained to become a shinobi. Like all the lands and countries he had explored in the past few years, Konoha— in its entirety— was foreign to him. While it could have been sad to most something within him jolted with excitement whenever he would discover something new. Looking around, it was beautiful, a small retreat where nature remained within the ever growing metropolis and save for the duo of a musician and a girl that seemed to exchange menacing glances, the park was peaceful.

His brown eyes, upon scanning its surroundings, eventually made their way to the shinobi’s purpose for today. The lake was just as he had expected... clear as crystal reflecting the zima blue sky. Without further a adieu, he walked towards the small pier that extended into the pool of water. Sitting behind its wooden edge with crossed legs, he whipped out his his fishing rod and attached a small— four inch— plastic lure to the hook. Designed to mimic a small fish, the lure was made in mind of capturing the biggest fish within the lake. And so he cast his lure; flinging his arms, he sent the line forward a good fifteen meters and immediately an unlucky fish fell victim to his bait. Just then a sharp sound pierced his eardrums causing him to instinctively reel in his lure before the hook had dug into the fish’s scales. Immediately frustrated, he turned his eye to the musician. Just from the corner of his eyes he gave away an intense gaze, though it would be unseen from the distance where he sat. From the look of things, the flute player seemed to have bewitched an unwilling girl in a genjutsu, a crime punishable by the law, the law in which he was— as a registered shinobi— required to uphold. A reluctant sigh escaped his lips and he set down his fishing rod.

Rising from his wooden seat he began walking to the now shaking girl underneath the shade of a cherry blossom tree. He stopped right in front of her and offered a helping hand, it was unneeded though as the girl would get up on her own just as the shaking had stopped. Most likely still dazed by the genjutsu, she hadn’t yet noticed his presence. “Hey...” He greeted. “Are you alright?”

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“I’m quite alright,” The girl replied, seemingly bearing no ill will towards the man that had cast a genjutsu on her; had it been him in her situation forgiveness would have been the last thing on his mind, but from the look of things he wouldn’t need to enforce any laws today. Perhaps the two were friends… or at least acquaintances, if not then he would have to admire her understanding nature, though he didn’t have much to understand as he was still completely unaware about the details of what had just transpired. A faint smile crept on her face, and though still shaken by what had just happened, it appeared as if she was none the worse for wear. “Thank you for checking up on me. I take it you’re a fisherman?” Immediately he looked to his hands, inspecting what had lead to her assumptions, to his surprise he had brought along his fishing rod all the way to where he now stood. Though it was something he had initially left behind the pier, it was perhaps instinctively grabbed by his body out of the fear of losing his personal belongings. “Unfortunately, no I’m not.” He joked, as the girl began to look him up and down. “You don’t mind if I watch you fish for a bit do you? I want to take my mind off of what just happened.” Although he had planned on spending the rest of the day getting lost in his hobbies alone, he wasn’t someone opposed to a sudden change of plans… and besides, who could say no to a lady in need? “That’s fine by me.” He would say, nodding along with his words.

His hand gestured towards the pier where he had come from. “This way.” He lead. Had she followed the young man, Enlil would match his pace with hers, allowing for the two to walk together and make small talk. “I’m Enlil by the way, I’m a shinobi..” He paused, just recently she had assumed what his occupation was and now it was his turn. Already the competitive gears present in his brain began to turn like clockwork, a part within him that was obsessed with achieving victory at all cost activate and he became obsessed with guessing correctly. Just as she had done to him, his eyes lingered to her body, though only for the briefest of moments. Upon realizing how his actions would have looked to others the young man set his eyes forward, not wanting to be labelled as a pervert. Such were the double standards of men and women. Instead, he thought back to the recent events that had just transpired, hoping to prod for clues in his memories. “If I’m not mistaken, then I’m guessing you are a shinobi too?” Now having introduced himself, he took a glance at her, gauging her reaction to see if he had been mistaken in his assumptions. “I don’t think I’ve met any regular civilian that could take a genjutsu of any level and still be conscious.” ‘Checkmate’, he would think. Proud of the insignificant victory he had already achieved in his mind.

Upon reaching the end of the small pier and breaking the ice with his newly met acquaintance, he would sit once more on the wooden boards. Hooking the artificial bait tightly, he whipped his arm forward and cast his line as he had before.

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“I’m Hina, I’m a Genin so you are not mistaken” Upon hearing her words the young man couldn’t help but to feel pride within himself. No matter how little a victory it was a victory nonetheless, such were the values imprinted within him by his family. “That’s a keen eye you’ve got, at least now I have you to keep those meanies away!” Suddenly the young shinobi felt a soft and plump sensation on his arm. The warm body that had pressed against his own had nearly frozen Enlil stiff. ‘Begone thought.’ he would think to himself, attempting to cleanse his mind and body of the hormone driven impulses that plagued those of his age. While he had only known Hina for a short amount, it was clear that she was a dangerous woman that knew exactly what she was doing… or at least that was what the young shinobi’s gut told him, the way the girl spoke and timed her actions along with her words had only helped him make sure of that. He needed to be careful around her.

The recent events would seemingly be forgotten as the young man slowly lost himself in his hobby. Though there was no immediate fish that showed itself, it was in that exact anticipation that he grew to love fishing. “So tell me about yourself. What are your goals as a shinobi? I just wanted to help people when I started. I don’t think I’ll make much of a shinobi myself...” The young man turned his gaze towards the girl’s face, watching her expressions as she seemingly opened up to him. “I think that’s all you need to become a shinobi… a desire to help others.” Her sincere words reminded him of his mother, a woman who had dedicated her life to serving the village and its people, yet eventually died doing so. Unlike Hina or his mother, Enlil wasn’t interested in helping anyone nor saving the world. Becoming a shinobi wasn’t a choice he made willingly, it was something that was drilled into him over and over again until he no longer had a choice. “My goals as a shinobi?” His brown eyes searched the body of water in front of him, as if it would give him the answer he had been searching for his entire life. “I don’t have any. Becoming a shinobi... serving Konohagakure and its people is my duty.” He said half heartedly. A duty that he had spent the past five years running away from.

He looked to the girl at his side who had now lay herself down. As he had predicted, she had seemingly gotten bored of watching someone fish. After all, watching someone sit and wait wasn’t exactly the most exciting thing to bare witness to. He had seen the girl beside him stare almost obsessively as he had previously cast his fishing rod, a mix of naivete and passion for his hobby gave him the wrong idea of what had been running through Hina’s mind. Enlil inched himself towards the girl, closing whatever little gap remained between the two. He would gesture for her to take the fishing rod and had she done so he would take her hand and guide her fingers towards the reel. “When you feel something tugging at the string, just wind the reel.”

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A bit of time would pass since he had given Hina the fishing rod and little to nothing would occur. Enlil’s mind would linger to the words he had said earlier. He asked himself what his truest desires were and just as he had asked himself a hundred times before, it was always the same. As a shinobi he aimed only to live up to his mother’s legacy and live the life that she had wanted for him, but as Enlil Hatake he wanted more than that. He wanted a carefree life of adventure, one that allowed him to be where he pleased and never look back. In some ways he had already been living the life he desired for the past five years, now simply was a return to reality. He turned his eye to the girl beside him and easily made out the look of boredom on her face. Such was the hobby known as fishing. Frankly he, himself, had surprisingly begane to grow impatient. The young shinobi was almost amazed at the lack of fish that showed its presence, when he had arrived earlier ago he had seen a myriad of different species through the clear lake and had gotten one to nibble at his bait almost immediately. For some unknown reason they had all disappeared.

Enlil harkened back to his many experiences in fishing and he could only recall undergoing a similar drought only once in his life. That day eerily mimicked the fishing events of today; at the beginning Enlil saw multiple success with only a short waiting time in-between fishes popping up, though eventually as time passed the fishes began to disappear until none dared to show itself. That day the cause for the sudden disappearance of fishes eventually revealed itself, apparently the fish had been sent fleeing by the gigantic King Bass; a fish so rare that most fishermen have never even seen one in their lives and in spite refuse to add the King Bass to the list of known aquatic species. Enlil scoffed, it was perhaps almost as a way to cope with the fishing drought he was experiencing that he fantasized about the illustrious King Bass showing its magnificent self to the young shinobi.

Almost ironically the girl beside him was sent jutting forwards and face planting to the grass. It took Enlil a few seconds to completely process what had just occurred, he had never seen anyone be dragged so effortlessly by a fish so he had initially thought she was playing a joke on him. “Help me!” The girl yelled. It wasn’t until her cry for help that he would rush to Hina. Nearing the shore he grabbed on to the girl from behind exactly as a wave of saltwater crashed into the two. Luckily he had managed to plant his feet on the sand and the two avoided an unplanned swimming session. First he pulled her back closer to the grass and when he felt her finally safe, he switched both his hands to the fishing rod and was nearly dragged forward himself. He pulled the rod back just barely; the fish was nearly too heavy for him, he estimated it to be around 200 lbs as he could just barely hold on. He gestured the fishing rod upwards, tossing the fish into the air. Finally it showed itself, the gigantic King Bass. Whilst in mid air, Enlil began to reel it in creating a momentum that would be hard to resist even once the fish returned to the water. Inch by inch the fish grew closer to shore, though refusing to give up it resisted once more but it was already too late. Enlil again forced his rod upwards, once more tossing the fish mid air. This time though, it would land on the shore. Before anything Enlil would tend to his companion. “Are you alright?” He would ask, checking up on her yet again.

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Checking up on the girl, it seemed as though she wasn’t injured in anyway. He was somewhat relieved, not wanting to be the cause of someone else’s accidental injuries. Aside from the swollen face likely sustained from unexpectedly face planting on the grass, the girl was none the worse for wear and it showed. For a brief moment— just before the adrenaline had worn off and she realized that a nice long bath would be needed— he saw a genuine look of enjoyment that resonated on her face. It was almost refreshing, seeing someone enjoy his hobby for the first time. Obviously though, fishing was rarely this exciting. Saying she had been lucky with her first experience would have been an incredibly sinful understatement… most likely this event would subvert her expectations for the next time she ever went fishing and completely ruin fishing for her entirely. The young man sighed at his thought. As easily as they come, just as easily do they go. He shrugged it off, at the very least he got a good story out of it.

“Thank you for saving me,” Hina spoke, finally seeming to come to her senses. Slowly she stood herself up and continued what she wanted to say. “I’m glad I got to catch my first fish… well I guess you were the one that actually caught it,” Enlil shook his head, if it wasn’t for her then the vision wouldn’t have bitten the hook in the first place. As she winked though, it seemed like she was only flattering the young man. “I should probably go clean up. It was nice meeting you, hopefully we’ll meet again!” The Hatake gestured his hand up, waving goodbye to his newly met acquaintance as she walked further and further away from his field of vision. “It was nice meeting you too Hina.” He said to himself.

Now it was time to get back to the fish. The behemot of a sea creature flopped around on the sand, still somewhat alive. The Hatake contemplated on releasing it back to the lake like he did to most smaller fishes, but on situations like this where the fish had already been damaged severely only one option presented itself. He lifted the giant and carefully hoisted it upon his right shoulder. A fresh fish would make the best dish and with the small bits of knowledge he had gained in the culinary arts throughout his five years of travel, there was no doubt in his mind that he had to cook and eat the giant. Encumbered by the tremendous weight on his shoulders, he began fumbling his way back to his house drawing estranged and amazed stares on the streets. In his mind a question and two answers rang back and forth repeatedly. Sushi? Or steak?

-Exit-

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