Sarutobi Mitsuo decided that he needed to get his mind off of the events that had transpired at his fight. Although he had been promoted to Chuunin for "Showing all of the qualities needed from a Chuunin" he still was a bit upset about his loss. Against any other foe he would have won and moved on to the next round, but with that damned Masanori... He shouldn't have been so upset anyway, and he knew it. He had done very well and now everyone would probably know his name. He had made the Sarutobi clan proud in his fight, though it stung him anyway.

He sighed and took a last drag of his cigarette, taking the smoke deep into his lungs and holding it there. His toned body was still rather tanned from the sun, though he was sweating less now due to being more used to the heat. His fishnet shirt was on, along with his travelling cloak and his Konoha forehead protector (which he wore around his neck.) He looked down at the rip in his pants where he had been slashed and shook his head. The smoke escaped his nose and he put the cigarette out on the bottom of his sandal.

It was evening and the sun was much less hot, the beautiful desert area looking most stunning as night began to fall and Mitsuo thought he would enjoy the views of the people walking down the streets, though he hadn't counted on the fact that his slight depression might not subside as quickly as he had thought. He sighed, the beauty of the place not being able to lift his spirits at the moment.

Mitsuo was standing outside of the Glass Museum of Sunagakure, which was supposed to be quite impressive. He thought it was a very interesting concept, to immortalize the deeds of the villages past heroes in glass. He wasn't too sure if he wanted to go in just yet though, not necessarily wanting to run into anyone from Konoha who may be in there and want to talk about his fight. He was already feeling down and just fixed his glasses, ran his hand through his hair, and decided to wait...

Skye was in a rather good mood this particular day. It might have been the excitement of seeing his old village again, or even that one of his students became a Chuunin. Whatever the reason may be, he was still going to be in a good mood throughout the day. Skye had a plan to see what had changed around his old village since he left so many years ago. One would think after six whole years of leaving, some things would have been changed. He had already seen a few new buildings that had gone up, but his memory of his village was a bit off considering he lived in such a different environment from this. The hot weather didn’t bother him much though. He guessed that once you’ve dealt with Suna’s blazing hot desert environment for so long, you’ll always be used to it.

Continuing along Suna’s streets he passed a few shops before being face to face with the Glass Museum. He thought for a moment about heading inside and seeing anything new that might have been added, but quickly stopped when he noticed a man who seemed a bit depressed. Turning his head back and forth from the Museum and the man, he decided to see what was wrong. Skye was in such a good mood, so why not let it affect the people around him.

Looking a little closer at the man, he could see the forehead protector around his neck. Immediately recognizing Konoha’s symbol on the front, he deduced that this was most likely a Genin that had come for the Chuunin Exams; unless of course he had already gone through and was officially marked a Chuunin. Walking a bit closer to the man, he tilted his head to get a better look at the guy’s face. Snapping his head back to normal, he stopped right in front of the man and started talking to him. “Hey buddy, you alright? You look kind of down.”

Mitsuo saw the ninja approaching him and smiled softly. He knew he was probably giving off an aura that was a little more depressing than he would have liked. He shook his head and looked into the approaching nin's eyes, noticing them to be a stunningly beautiful light blue. They reminded him of his mother's eyes, something that could always comfort him.

“Hey buddy, you alright? You look kind of down.” The man was radiating happiness, as though he was the exact opposite of what Mitsuo was currently feeling. Mitsuo really couldn't help but smile at the man, who was infectiously happy. He put his hands in his pockets, adjusting his sloppy posture so he was standing at his full stature and looking more himself.

"Oh hey there, I'm sorry I had sort of a bad day...Lost in the first round of the Chuunin Exams to...Masanori...and I just haven't felt myself since..." He pulled out a small coin and flipped it a few times chuckling as he did. "I probably should be happy I'm still alive and uninjured though...I'm Sarutobi, Mitsuo by the way." He extended his hand to the man infront of him, his other hand fixing his glasses back in place so he could see him more easily and his eyes completely locked onto the other man's light blue orbs...

He seems like a nice man, eh nii-san? I wonder why he's here, he doesn't look like one of the locals. Probably here for the tournament as well.

It seemed as if Skye’s first guess about him being in Suna for the Exams was correct. Though the man was a little down because of his recent loss to another competitor, he started to become a bit happier now that Skye was there. With a smile, he listened to the young man talk about a few little things; mainly involving why he was feeling depressed. Watching as the man put his hand out to shake, Skye quickly greeted it with a likewise manner. Grabbing Mitsuo’s hand and giving him a firm handshake, Skye started to talk with a cheery tone. “Skye Nekito, nice to meet you.”

Skye tilted his head very slightly when noticing the man was staring him directly in the eyes. He knew that it was normally good to maintain eye contact during a conversation, but this guy seemed a bit more interested in his eyes than most others would be. Releasing the other’s hand and bringing his own to his side, he cleared his throat and began to talk again. “You were here for the Exams eh? I actually came to Suna to my students didn’t go ahead and injure themselves. So far, only one of them has made it through the first round, the other lost, but got out unharmed.”

Mitsuo blushed slightly, realizing that staring into someone's eyes the way he had been doing was probably considered a little odd. He looked away briefly and adjusted his glasses again, looking back at Skye and smiling once more. He felt soothed by the soft voice of the shinobi in front of him and it helped him to feel better still. “You were here for the Exams eh? I actually came to Suna to my students didn’t go ahead and injure themselves. So far, only one of them has made it through the first round, the other lost, but got out unharmed.”

Mitsuo ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out which matches were done so far. Masanori, Kichirou, Hanbei, Ukiyo.. He knew this wasn't Kichirou or Ukiyo's sensei as they were both Konoha nin like himself and as far as he knew Masanori had no sensei, prefering to act alone.. By process of elimination that left....

"So that makes you Hanbei's sensei then? He truly is a skilled shinobi, I imagine he will have no issue becoming Chuunin after these exams." Mitsuo chuckled softly to himself. "Though I suppose you don't need to win to get promoted...I'm living proof of that." His smile was back to it's normal width, happy to be having this chat with Skye. His happiness truly was infectious...

Skye was a bit impressed by how quickly Mitsuo was able to guess who he was a Sensei to. Nodding to acknowledge that his guess was correct, he grinned a bit when hearing the compliments Mitsuo was giving his student. “Hanbei is definitely working his way up pretty quickly. My guess is that he’ll reach a higher rank in no time.” Pausing for a second to listen to his new companion, he tilted his head in concern when the young man mentioned that he was promoted even though he didn’t win. “Well, you got promoted, didn’t you? They must’ve seen something that impressed them.”

“Let me let you in on something. About five years ago, I took the Chuunin Exams just like you. The first round, I tied and got a broken rib in the process. They still promoted me for reasons I still don’t know today. If they promoted you, there has to be a good reason to back it up.” With a smile, he patted Mitsuo on the back and crossed his arms right afterward. Looking around him, he started to think of what he should do next. He had currently been seeing what was new with Suna, but had only seen half of the village. “Say Mitsuo… Mind walking around with me? I’ve been going around trying to see what new buildings had come up in my old village.” It might not have been wise to tell the man that Suna was once his old home, but he was in such a good mood, he didn’t even realize it came out.

Mitsuo could tell that Skye was proud of his student, and he was glad. He deserved to be. "A student's ability is a reflection of his sensei. You must be a great shinobi yourself. I know that I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for Takeshi-sensei, and I hope that I have made him proud." Mitsuo stopped his leaning on the building and stood up straight, his hands hooking into his sash as he chuckled softly once more. When Skye told Mitsuo his story, he couldn't help but feel a little more proud of himself. He wasn't entirely sure of why he had been promoted, but he was glad to know that someone had gone through the same situation as he did.

“Say Mitsuo… Mind walking around with me? I’ve been going around trying to see what new buildings had come up in my old village.” Mitsuo smiled once again, his trademark smile restored to its rightful position and he looked at the busy streets of Sunagakure.

"I would love to join you, Skye. It would be nice to get a proper tour of this beautiful village. It is certainly much different from what I am used to back home."

This man is so kind, eh nii-san? I never knew of the kindness of shinobi from other villages...

A big grin appeared on Skye’s face when Mitsuo mentioned that a student’s ability reflected their Sensei’s. To Skye, it didn’t really come off to him like that at first but thinking more on it made it a little clearer for him. After listening to his question, it seemed as though Mitsuo was going to be coming along with him. It was nice to know he would now have a bit of company while walking around. Skye was happy to see his good mood had rubbed off on the young man. There was really no reason for him to be depressed or sad. He had only met a few Konoha ninja in his lifetime, but this was really the first time he had a full conversation with one. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on his walkthrough of Suna.

Skye seemed to talk out loud as he walked through the streets with Mitsuo. “I used to live here you know… I remembered how much trouble I would get in on a daily basis. Pulling pranks, pretending I was one of the top shinobi, running on some of the wires above the village… I think seeing the shinobi head off to go do missions every day is what inspired me to become one myself…” He paused for a moment to laugh. “Thing is, I always thought I would join the ranks of shinobi here… not in Kumo.” His voice sounded a bit light and happy how things had turned out for him.

Mitsuo was quite impressed as he walked through the village of Sunagakure no Kato, having never really been able to take the time to sightsee. He quite enjoyed how the buildings were made and decided that this was probably the most easily defensible of all of the hidden villages, if he had to guess anyway. He listened as Skye told him about his youth in this village, which Mitsuo had to admit was much different from his constant training in his childhood. He had often imagined if his life would have been different had his mother and brother not been killed...

He smiled as he looked to his guide. "I wish I could have had the experiences you have had. I've never really left Konohagakure so this is very big for me. My father was very strict and didn't want my siblings or I to risk unnecessary dangers after my mother was killed on a mission protecting a Hyuga of the Byakugan. When my sister became a Chuunin he decided we could step out a bit and my brother was killed shortly after by kiri-nin on a mission...I spent most of my youth training so that one day I could get to this exact spot and have this exact conversation."

“Sounds pretty rough man… Though I guess they’d be plenty proud wherever they are now. You’ve made it here; all you have to really do now is follow what you believe in.” It was somewhat odd hearing himself give a small encouraging phrase or two. Guess he was used to death due to some of his closer clan mates dying from missions or other ninja. It was mainly because of this he knew the exact words to use when someone else talked about the deceased.

Looking around at the surrounding buildings, he noticed one that had a rather large clock in front. As soon as he read the time he jumped and quickly turned to Mitsuo. “Oh crap! I’m sorry for cutting this short, but I have to go meet up with one of my students. It was nice to meet you Mitsuo. I hope I see you again sometime.” With a few final words, Skye pivoted to his right and started to run. He had almost forgotten that his student had asked him to help her train using Suna’s desert and rocky landscape to assist in the process. Looking back at Mitsuo, he gave one final wave as he ran out of sight.

-=Exit Thread=-

((Sorry if I cut it off here... I have a crapload of school stuff that's going to be popping up this week and really need to focus on it...))