Learning Something New

[Tanatsu Neko]

Neko slurped down some ramen as she went over her study notes, her hands still throbbing from the training earlier today. As she ate, she circled things that she thought would be useful to come back to when she had more time. Genjutsu was getting easier and easier to understand, if she could work out her Ninjutsu to the same level she knew that would make her an easy pick for whatever path she decided.
The shop keep looked over to her and her notes, he slid some more fried pork belly into her bowl with a smirk.

"On me kid, you clearly need it."

"Oh thanks, I don't... okay" She smiled and started to dig back in excitedly. She was not about to turn down free food after all.

"So, have you put any thought into what branch you'll take Neko? just want to know if I'm gonna be serving a member of the ANBU soon."

She tilted her head with a mouth full of food, "Amboo?" The words jumbled by the pork that she was eating.

"You know, the masked shinobi that do the covert operations? Your notes have Genjustu all over them I just assumed that's where you were heading. I'm just a ramen guy I don't know much about it"

Neko looked up with a nod of understanding, "Well tell you what Mr. Tsuno, when I join them I'll let you in on all the secret I'm allowed to share then." She smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright kid, eat up then.. you'll need to be in tip top shape if that's the case."

Neko nodded and continued eating while writing in her journal. She wrote down Anbu in big bold letters before circling it and underlining it several times over. Maybe, just maybe, that was what she was missing this whole time, her path.

 

[Kureji]

Kureji has had a drove of fans following him throughout the day as he has been playing his own music. It didn't really bother him all that much as he is the leader of the Devil's Advocates band. He would sit down with a couple of his fans sitting at other tables as more business came in, the shop keep would realize that he now has a lot of orders to give.

Kureji only heard a small amount of what was said. "Hmph." He scoffed at the idea of going into the anbu branch, the very same branch that could track him down if he isn't careful enough. But then again, he lives for the thrills and the adrenaline. "Anbu eh? Met some ex anbu members. Kids forces to sever their own emotions. Barely even making them human for the sake of their village." He would wait as the man would come over to give his order. "Word of advice. Being an anbu means that you are just a machine in a meat body. They are above all the most boring people to try and get along with and are predictable. One just has to think like them to know how they operate."

He would lazily look over at the whole amount of people who are walking by, totally oblivious to a missing ninja amongst them. And even then, how he had left this boring place was without a trace. And the same for how he got back in. The real question is, will someone try to instigate him to show how he can be if he isn't relaxed?

(Mft)

 

[Tanatsu Neko]

Neko would look up at the man with curiosity, the playful smile she had before he had arrived had entirely faded from her face. "You know Anbu folks? or did?" She tilted her head slightly as she spoke. "So are you a shinobi then?" Her eyes examined the many people placing orders now and it left her a bit nervous. She never did well in big crowds, it made her feel too seen.

She would close her notebook and place her pen away as she turned to face the man who had entered into her conversation. She was curious as to why he had such a disdain for those so willing to give their all for the village, and more so on who he was to have such a following. It wasn't like she knew many folks outside of the academy or orphanages in the village, so as far as she knew he could be anyone.

 

[Kureji]

"Both" He would reply. "One turned into a tyrannical psychopath with no regard for anyone who share her line of thoughts, and the other, well. They wanted to be free from that type of toxicity."

He was talking about Shinjo and Monika, his teammates versus their Anbu Sennin leader, whom he has heard nothing but negativity about. He would play with his guitar pic, flipping it through his fingers as she had asked him if he was a Shinobi. Shaking his head, he would say, "I'm just a rocker who knows a thing or two of the ninja arts enough to defend myself if the need arises."He would nod his head over to his guitar that was laid carefully by him.

He would look through the menu to see what he could get. "You know how the steak is?"He would gesture to the menu, where it showed a picture of a steak.

 

[Tanatsu Neko]

Neko would nod at his statements, though she thought it a little odd he had such opinions of something he claimed to not be apart of. At his question however she would shake her head slowly, "Uh.. no that's out of my budget. I usually just get the ramen with egg and if I'm lucky Mr. Tsuno throws in some pork."

She looked at the picture for a minute and then spoke as if thinking out loud, "So then that person is tyrannical, probably a missing ninja then?" She didn't look at him as if asking him just spoke as if used to being in a place where no one would hear her if she said her thoughts out loud. She took a spoon full of her broth and once she swallowed she continued with her original thought, "I'd assume it's good though given how tasty the pork belly is."

 

[Kureji]

He looked her over as she made the comment of how the tyrannical person must be a missing ninja. Was she not listening to a single word he had said? "Heh." He would smile, showing his near perfect teeth as he let out a loud laughter. He went on for about thirty seconds before he eventually stopped and looked over at her. "OH! You're serious!" He would shake his head. "Another word of advice. A missing ain't gonna go out of their way just to turn into a tyrannical leader. What they do and their motives move more deeper than that of idiotic domination. Anyone with power can take over a place and be an absolute a..." He paused since she was just a little kid, yeah, he may be a big bad missing, but he does have his moments, "Manipulator. Nah, and there would be no reason to try and take over a place that you just left from. Don't they teach you kids anything about psychology or is it just throw this kunai, or make some handseals?"


Mr Tsuno would make his way over to Kureji as the rocker would say, "give me and the girl a steak. I'll take mine medium." He said, sliding the proper amount of yen to the shop owner. He would look over at the girl, "Surprised. A kid going out to do work for the village and they won't pay you enough to eat good."

 

[Tanatsu Neko]

Neko's eyes went wide as can be at the concept of food being bought for her, once again not refusing a free meal. This was probably the best she had eaten in months, and half of it was not on her tab. "No, I just started at the academy.. I haven't really learned much I just.. Read a lot. So.. Wait.. If missing ninja aren't like that.. Then why are they bad at all? I don't understand why we wouldn't want more people like that if that's true." She placed her hand to her chin before eyeing the steak on the grill.

She was far too curious at the description he provided, it went against everything she had read.. but was it true? Was it more likely that the bias was on those who wrote the stories, rather than those who chose to leave the villages? Her mind was racing and it was pretty clear on her face that it was.

"As for money, they do pay me a little.. but I'm not going out anywhere yet and besides I have to pay for my apartment, my food, my clothes, bandages.." She droned on for a minute the way kids who've never had the opportunity to speak freely do before coming back around, "So you play music? have you been to other villages?"

 

[Kureji]

He would study her face as she asked that question, knowing that is a fine line of do not walk, that she is walking on. He has to remind himself that this girl is probably just a victim to the Village life, one of which will turn her into a child soldier ready for battle to be thrown at the nearest threat. It disgusted him. Knowing that this girl will most likely become a full blown ninja later in her life maybe even to hunt him down, he can't help but feel pity for her. The village, just like they did to him, just like Cloud did to Shinjo, took advantage of the vulnerability of a kid to make them an obedient weapon for their use.

"To put it simply, there will always be people who don't see eye to eye on things. For the complex version. Some people aren't as easily manipulated as others. They would rather live by their own codes and do as they please. Because of that, they are branded as traitors from the very same system that sought to control them." Would it start to dawn on her that this rockstar was in fact a missing nin? Even so, Kureji will start to dig into his steak as he listened to her ask if he has been to any other Villages. He would nod, "Yeah, I'm the leader of the Devil's Advocates rock band. And I've been to Leaf, Moon, Tea, and now recently here in Sand"

 

[Tanatsu Neko]

Neko was cutting her steak as he spoke, none of it made much sense to her but at the same time she had only ever known her village. "So then," she started in a much softer voice, "you.. you aren't exactly just.. a rocker right? You look it, but you talk like someone who's speaking from experience not.. not books like me.."

She took a bite and looked up at him, her face was soft and expressionless. She didn't want to point out the obvious, but also didn't think it would be any more beneficial to leave it as a vague nothing. She knew deep down, that this man was in fact speaking from experience, no one would say the exact chosen words he had without reason to do so. But, she didn't care if he was. For one thing she didn't know enough to feel heavily on the matter and for another she owed him for the meal, the least she could do is listen to him.

"You don't have to tell me.. but.. I'm not naive.. I can put things together."

 

[Kureji]

"You've got enough information to call in some back up if you feel like it." He would take a toothpick and get some meat that was stuck in his teeth out before setting it down on the empty plate. "However you'll just prove me right by the fact that you are just another Village shinobi looking to get good with the graces of the Village by turning in a big bad like myself. You should count yourself lucky. I'm not too keen on picking fights with kids or those who seem weaker than me. I might not be good by Village standards, but I'm not an ass hole."

He would pause to let that sink in. If they had encountered each other when she was a seasoned ninja, and perhaps she has been fully in with the whole mind control thing the Villages do by taking in the vulnerable, that in of itself, would have been a different outcome. "Tell me. Why is it that you want to be a ninja? Is it because you feel indebted to the Village? Lemme guess. They took you in while you were orphaned, when you are the most vulnerable and most trusting." There was venom in his words, but it wasn't exactly meant for her, but rather his distaste for the Village system.

 

[Tanatsu Neko]

She paused looking at the man as he spoke, while it wasn't untrue that she was in the situation described she also did not feel a sense of loyalty to her village for that reason. She thought for a minute while staring into her meal, slowly and quietly she let out "No, I want to be a Ninja to help people like me.. to help people all over. Not just here in this village, but everywhere. I want to make this world better and safer, so no one has to feel how I do."

She looked up to him and let her smile return, "Besides, if you were actually trouble you'd be trying to be trouble. but instead, you're buying me food and sitting talking.. I've met worse people." She took a bite of steak, and a sip of her water. She wasn't about to judge someone she didn't know, especially someone so willing to sit with her on a random evening. There were worse people she had met, that much was true, and if he was trying to make himself out to be such a 'big bad guy' he was doing a really bad job at it.
(MFT - 198)

 

[Kureji]

Kureji would laugh at her comment that she has met worse people. Once he settled down, he would say, "I would doubt that. I am only tame right now because even bad people need to rest every now and then. I've got a lot of blood on my hands, but today, I'm not in the mood for all that. Plus senseless killing is off the table for me, since there's no meaning behind it other to instill fear. I call that boring and someone being lazy."

He would get up, toss her a huge amount of yen that was bundled up nicely, and then turn away and started walking. "Hopefully, you keep with that attitude and don't get too self-righteous. And hopefully, this is the last you'll see of me for your sake." He would wave goodbye without looking back at her. Some of his fans, which were waiting for him to move, got up and followed him, while others, were to focused on their food.

(topic left unless stopped)

 

[Tanatsu Neko]

Neko picked up the bundle with a small look of confusion, a man tried to convince her he was a 'bad guy' then paid for her to eat and threw yen her way.. This was absolutely a first for her. She looked to Mr. Tsuno with a smile and pulled out a few to hand him as a tip. "Thanks for all the extra pork belly this year, I appreciate it"

"Be smart kid.. you are too smart for your own good, see you tomorrow?"

"Always!" She yelled out as she jumped off the booth and waved goodbye.

(Topic left)