Nagare passed through the empty streets of Kiri. Another quiet day, with the fog residing peacefully over the silence. It was calming and unsettling at the same time; the wind that spun the fog into shapes gave the illusions of shapes. Gakuto seemed to walk with them in the form of a misty silhouette, smiling intangibly at both Naga and Horui. Horui didn't notice these illusions, so Nagare thought that they were maybe in his head, and ignored them. On the other hand, Horui was focused on the towers and castles rising around them, giving him flashbacks to the battle with Gakuto. It seemed since after the fight, everything reminded them of him.

"I want to stay for longer, because it's a good experience and it's beautiful, but I can't stop thinking about Gakuto. We need something to take our minds off of it..."

Horui gave Naga a crooked smile and agreed, just as they noticed a figure wrapped in mist approaching them...

The bald Shinobi rubbed his eyes, for the past three weeks he had exclusively worked at the Kirigakure hospital within the ER. Over his time he had lost a total of two patients, both from battle wounds, one had been stabbed twenty plus times in the chest, the other had his throat slashed. Nothing could be done for either, allowing him solace that it was not he who had not done enough, or anything of that sort. Digging through his pockets he retrieved a crumpled pack of cigarettes, patting the bottom of the pack he removed a single smoke pressing it to his lips. His mind reverberated to the picture of the latter of the two passing on, his last gurlge, a futile attempt to draw in oxygen before the cold darkness of death overtook him. Sighing, he pushed the image from his mind.

It seemed that there was someone in the distance, someone foreign, speaking on how Rudie's country was beautiful. He also said something about a, Gatuko, a name he knew nothing of, shrugging he walked toward the silhouette. Removing the cigarette from between his lips and exhaling a fair amount of smoke from his nostrils he stared at the figure, a teenager around the age of eighteen were his first thoughts. Squinting his eyes he then noticed another boy, who looked exactly alike the first, flicking the cigarette away he rubbed his eyes to ensure he wasn't seeing double from sleep deprivation. Afterward the second boy still appeared there, apparently he wasn't seeing double. " Enjoying the country, then? I like it quite a bit, myself.", He couldn't help but crack an amorous smile as he thought of his beautiful country.

A bald man wearing a Hitai-ate emblazoned with the Kirigakure no Sato emblem appeared from the mist, apparently having overheard Nagare's comment. "Yes, Horui here and I are originally from Kumogakure, so we are quite a ways from home. Not to be rude, but you look very tired, sir. Are you alright?" asked Naga in a kind tone. Horui looked at Nagare, surprised that he wasn't as grumpy as he had been earlier. Honestly, with the week they had had, Horui would've still been grumpy himself if he wasn't such a calm person. Shit, some other Kiri genin had tried to punch Naga in the face the day before. Who wouldn't be grumpy having to go through that just after murdering someone close to them?

The smile remained upon his face as the boy explained he was from Kumogakure, a ninja village located within the clouds, he wondered if their beauty was equal to that of Kirigakure. It seemed unlikely. Still he wasn't going to chance offending a foreign emissary by stating that his village was superior, besides the boy seemed nice enough asking Rudie if he was alright. Allowing a yawn to escape from his lips he explained his situation, along with chatting with him about what brought him to this fine country, "I am a bit tired, I've been working at our fine hospital for the past while. Tiring job, but I'm quite fine. I appreciate the concern." his gaze transferred to the man's apparent twin who had yet to say anything, assuming he was mute or something of that nature his gaze returned to man, noticing that he had yet introduced himself "I'm Boruda, Rudie for short." quietly he awaited the talkative boy's name, aware of Horui's from his earlier statement. His questioning on why he was in the Mizu no Kuni area would come after a proper introduction.

"Nice to meet you, Boruda. This is Horui, and I'm Nagare, of the main branch of the Sōseiji clan. There are a few members that I know of here..." his mind wandered off, back to Gakuto, who was the only other Sōseiji from Kirigakure. He shook his head a bit, and looked back to Rudie. "So are you a medical ninja, then?"

"A Soseji? I've met but one, well two technically, outside of yourself, a drinking compatriot. He and his clone, or twin as he prefers, gets quite the good bit of action. Dynamic duo, those two." Oh how a drink sounded wonderous at that point, still he wasn't going to barge off in the middle of a conversation to have a sip of the intoxicating liquid. Boruda watched in slight confusion as Nagare shook his head, most likely he was having an internal conversation with his twin that warranted the action. His smile brightened as Nagare asked if he was a medical ninja, he was going to get to speak on one of his great passions "Yes, I'm a field medic and surgeon extraordinaire.", he did enjoy tooting his own horn every once in a while, and 'surgeon extraordinaire' rang quite nicely in his ears.

Nagare's thoughts flashed to the puppet arm in his house for a moment. "That's great. I respect you a lot for a profession as necessary as that. I might even need your services sometime." Horui began to examine Rudie with his watchful eyes; he seemed quite ordinary. In his 20s, tall, bald, with a surprisingly sincere grin. It was refreshing to see the ninja of Kirigakure, and how happy they were compared to those of Kumogakure. Nagare continued speaking. "So how long have you lived here in Kirigakure no Sato? And can you point me to some interesting places? I'm stuck here until the end of the week, when I'm scheduled to report back to the Raikage."

"Indeed, everyone needs a good patching up every once in a while." There was no shortage in the need for medical ninja, the nature of the rests' profession made it impossible for him to lose his job. Folks were always getting stabbed, burned, cut, or something of that sort. Work related injury, we'll say. As to how long he'd been in Kirigakure, Boruda couldn't help but chuckle a little, as he was roughly a sixth or seventh generation Kirigakurian, " All my life, through the burnings and all that nonsense." as to pointing out the sights, the one he found most interesting was the local bar, but Nagare didn't seem to be a drinking man. "Well, that all depends on what you want to see. If you're a history buff, I'd recommend checking out the Kaguya temple. I hear that they accept visitors now and again, other than that we have a famous steam bath within the village, a brilliant market place, and so forth. Quite a bit one can do in a week." The thought of asking the man what he had been sent to do in Kirigakure had passed through Rudie's mind, but he wasn't one to pry, and if he were causing trouble someone would've caught and killed him by that time. Besides, he didn't seem to be much of a threat.

Still, he did wonder of what Nagare's homeland was like, verbalizing his wonderment Rudie asked him "So, what's Kumogakure like? Heard it's cloudy and cold, can't say I know much more about it than that." he thought it most odd that someone would wish to live in the mountains, but then again most would think it odd to live somewhere where it habitually rained.

"Kumogakure is a bit of a sanctuary in the sky. It can be cold, snowy, and dark, but once in a while, you have a day where the clouds break as the sun rises, and the rays surround the village like a barrier protecting us from the dark. The scenery is jagged, yet majestic; the steep slopes and high peaks and hills blanketed in white, as well as the manmade towers and mansions and city streets. I honestly couldn't live anywhere else. Kumogakure has been my home for my whole life." Nagare realized he was rambling on, and stopped himself there.

"I think I'll make a trip to the steam bath here, then. Care to accompany me?" Horui's ears perked up, and he gained an excited smile as he imagined himself floating about in the warm waters.

Kumogakure, as Nagare described it, was what he had imagined. Having painted such a beautiful mental picture Rudie couldn't help but have the urge to journey there and see its beauty first hand, "Sounds wondrous, I'll have to make a pilgrimage there one day." such a day wouldn't come any time soon, the restrictions and impositions of being a Shinobi were quite annoying most days.

It seemed Nagare fancied a trip to the Steambaths, and had been nice enough to invite Rudie, your favorite bald Shinobi, who was quite thrilled at the proposition. Nothing like a little detoxification before, well, intoxication "Certainly, didn't have anything else to do today, anyway." and with that he began to walk off toward their famous Steambaths.


[Exit...To be continued...Immediately]

"Let's get to it, then."

And the three of them set off walking through the streets, toward the steam baths, and they disappeared into the fog.

{Exit, Thread Closed, Continued in the Steam Baths}