The Child Of Flames. (Private, pm if joining)

[Ketsueki Satou]

The streets were bustling, that was good. He found it rather easy to slip in an out of crowds better when lots of tall people joined closer together. His short height was his curse and gift as being a child of the streets. The boy moved quickly, his hand flickering from his pocket. If close glance, one would notice him grabbing smaller pieces of food from stalls and from people. He even went as far as to falsely bump into someone, grab for a loaf of bread or packaged meat. Hey, how else was a homeless child to survive? Well. Thievery was'nt his forte at first, he felt horrible for committing a crime. But the need to survive outweighed the cost. So he became rather skilled when thinking of options. Most the time, he stole cooling food by the windowsills of some restaurants. Of course it didn't last long when they either guarded the food with shinobi or kept the food to cool indoors.

So eventually he stepped up to pick pocketing. And even misdirecting people when bumping into them to lift wallets,bracelets,rings and even earrings and necklaces. He was quite the little Rouge, a nimble handed young man who lived life on the streets, stealing food and items to buy himself food and his own little home in the lower districts. He only had to pay a little bit for it. Stealing a few trinkets paid for the home and food he merely picks what he can find opportune. Some days going without food and ending up passing from starvation in an alleyway in the darkest part of town. He was a survivor. And today, he was well rewarded with easy targets to pick.

But he just felt happy to be sitting down and eating, pulling a few pieces of the roast beef he lifted from some giant old man. It was amazing, he thought he couldn't get close enough to grab the pack from the rest of the mountain of food her carried on him. Every pocket and arm and even on his back the giant was hefting the food for what seemed like a wealthy party. So, whats it to miss a few slices of beef,bread and a nice chunk of cheese. Mashing it all somewhat into a delicious sandwich. He sat and at in peace. Looking amongst the crowd. Wondering which would be his next target. Or perhaps he would try and hang out with other kids.

But with how he dressed, how he looked. He was rather odd to them. He was in garbs rotted and torn, grayed and tattered. Dirt and dust ever clinging even when washed. His eyes had a strange glow to them, like as if embers ablaze in a dieing fire. His hair was a deep lush red. Dirtied and tampered by lessened washes. If showered it was a bright fiery red. But he would rub dirt in his hair and hide most of it with a gray wool cap and hood. His skin had a natural tan hue that worked well with his warming eyes and soft smile. He was innocent looking, it made easy facades and getting out of situations.

But he had no real friends, he tried getting a pet. But all of them ran away back to their real homes. He was alone, eating his sandwich looking up and the sky now and then. Looking to the faces around him, wondering many things. Theirs names, what they were going to be doing today, how they were feeling. He wondered about people he would never talk to. Never get to know. Because, no one looks at the kid sitting on a bench eating alone. He's invisible, its how he survived. How he hides. Just one day at a time.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Her stomach rumbled with hunger as she wandered about the streets of Cloud, Tama's reputation for being a whirlwind of destruction of people's personal property had preceded her throughout most of the dining establishments around Cloud. Ad the one place she had found that she wasn't barred from, or owed reparation work to, was closed.

She sighed heavily and her stomach growled in return, as if agreeing with the fact that food was nowhere to be found. So when she passed the boy who was enjoying his ill-begotten sandwich (not that Tama would know exactly how it was obtained, nor would she be judgmental about the methods by which the boy obtained his sandwich, Tama having obtained some sandwiches in a similar manner in the past), her first thought was to make the boy's sandwich her sandwich.

The next thought was exactly how to accomplish this. Tama, ever the performer, would not be satisfied with merely snatching the sandwich, no, the event would have to be a spectacle. To dazzle and amaze even the boy himself, after the sandwich was taken from him. So she started to run towards the boy with chakra-boosted speed. Next she altered the flow of wind around her with a few quick handseals. The boy would feel the light breeze around him die leaving an unnatural calm, but if he moved too far from his current position he would be swept up in swirling vortexes that would place him back in his original position. Her next move would be to leap high into the air and then dive towards the ground, at the last second releasing all of the wind she had condensed around the boy. The sudden squall would slow Tama's descent, possibly jostle the boy a good deal, and hopefully (if the plan worked as Tama intended) tug the sandwich out of the hands of the boy and into the hands of Tama.

If it worked, Tama would happily take a bite out of the sandwich which was now hers, if it didn't work she would still want to see if she had surprised the boy at all, so she would stick around, stomach rumbling.

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

Something was different. He was'nt invisible, He was a target. his head shot up. His mouth encased around his sandwich, biting down as he saw the girl running at him at rather intense speed for someone so young. Just in enough time to see her hands moving in an odd way. His eyes widened. Not even thinking, he repeated the hand seals he saw in his head. Not even noticing he let his sandwich go after taking a bite from it.

His hands moved in the same pattern, fingers twisting and forming hand gestures. But, of course he didn't know how to muster up chakra. He was just some street kid. And sad to say when she reached him, paying attention only to how the hand seals were formed. Lost his sandwich as the girl landed closely by him in such a rather 'to dazzle' manner. But as he was playing hand signals. smiling as he kept on doing the pattern, he pulled the piece of cheese from his sleeve he snuck out from the sandwich. Biting down on it smiling at the girl a bit, but getting bright red face. No one ever paid any attention to him. It made him rather overjoyed, he pulled his hood over his face as he at his cheese.

"That was cool..." He mumbled as he ate his cheese. Some people were looking at them. It was weird, drawing attention never gave him good situations. But it seemed a rather norm. He looked up from under his dirty hood at her. "Are you a Ninja?" He asked. His questioning eyes, wanting to know more.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Tama chest, however small it was, puffed up with pride. Finally, someone who acted in the appropriate manner upon seeing her stunt had appeared. It was about damn time she had thought. The sandwich was good too, although it was lacking something. Cheese, perhaps? Strange, she had thought she had seen some cheese on the sandwich before she had gone through with her elaborate sandwich-procuring maneuvers.

She turned and saw the boy happily chewing the said cheese while mimicking her handseals for the wind jutsu she had used. When did he--? Sometimes a life on the street beats even shinobi training, especially when the shinobi never considers the possibility of someone being her equal let alone superior, unless she sees it herself.

Inwardly, she argued with herself as to exactly why she didn’t take the sandwich and the cheese. On the one hand, he could actually be better than her, but that was impossible only a select few were better than Mochizuki Tama, and they were only better by a little bit. At least in her way of thinking. But that meant that she had to have screwed up somehow, and Mochizuki Tama never does anything than a perfect performance. Failures were only practices, so it was okay. So that left only one way to explain this with minimal damage to her pride, she meant for that to happen. At least that’s what she would say if anyone questioned her about the event, which she would try to avoid.

She was interrupted from her internal justification of her failure to obtain the entire sandwich by the boy’s next question.

“Are you a Ninja?”

The question actually made Tama think for a moment. What am I exactly? Her first thought was to say “Ninja? No nothing so mainstream, I am the star performer of the Mochizuki Performance Troupe, Mochizuki Tama!” like she usually did when introducing herself. But recently she had been doing less and less shows with the troupe, partly because she was becoming busier and busier with tasks and responsibilities assigned by the new Sennin of the Main Branch, Takaki Masao. And there was always Kazuhiko, hounding her to get to work for the village. How should she introduce herself? What was her motivation? The motivation of this “ninja” character she was becoming. Tama was comfortable being a performer, it was a trade she grew up with, performing death-defying feats, taking on differing personas to put on a show, it came easily to her. And it was fun! These same skills had easily been transferred over into her shinobi life, and for awhile that had given the same kind of enjoyment that performing with the troupe always had. But that was because she had seen the shinobi life as a performance, a fabricated reality that brought enjoyment to an audience. It wasn’t, though. Real people, real lives were risked in each “performance” she participated in, that had become clear to her. She struggled to accept that reality though, because in a performance, she was the main character, the hero, the one who won’t lose, the one who can’t lose. In reality, she would be just another person who could die just as easily as the rest. She craved that spotlight, that attention; she wanted to bask in it. But the real world wouldn’t give it as easily as her imagined audience would.

Not exactly a performer anymore, not exactly a ninja either, at least at heart. On paper she was identified as a shinobi of the Main Branch of Kumogakure. So for a response, she simply said, “I don’t really know.”

[MFT]
[WC: 603]

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

The boy's eyes were alight with the flame of interest, he looked upon this girl. Wondering what she was thinking,what her next responses were and how she would react to the sandwich without cheese. He couldn't tell of course if she thought of it, but he had conjectures. He loved playing this little game. He knew of other Shinobi who tried this with him as well. A stranger once taught him the trick, a foreigner. He never took the mans name, nor gave his own. Just a simple game of follow a marble under three cups. Moving them about, his hands moved rapidly and fluently, the gestures needed were simple to take the marble without the naked eye noticing.

A thief's trick, shinobi slight of hand. He had the cheese in his possession. He was calculated. So he had extra just encase he would ever meet a fellow thief on the streets. People out on their own either look after themselves, or they help one another. Yet this girl looked like she was handling herself rather well. If she could do some strange feats then she must be well paid for her work. But, what was he, a poor boy. His needs would be easily fulfilled if he needed but get off the bench, take a few steps through the crowd and have another meal in his hands.

He ate the rest of his cheese and went into his clothing, pulling out a small wheel covered in cheese cloth he nabbed as well. Taking out the clean knife which was conveniently stuck in it, slicing the girl a rather moderate amount for her sandwich. Handing it over with a warm smile, taking some for himself and putting whats left back in his robe. "Kaiji....My name. I've seen some stuff like that before. It was pretty cool, how do you...." He made the hand seals immediately, exactly like she did. Perfect form, same speed. Though, nothing happened. He didn't really know how to use jutsu, he never went to the school. Never bothered with such a life. But he always saw books and people gesturing in such ways and while some people meditate outside their homes in the early mornings.

Though his eyes now focused on the crowd, nibbling at his sliced cheese. He was studying, it was his way of learning. Patterns,numbers. Formation of crowds, directions. He's just watched people. Learning of words and languages from the marketplace. Going to public libraries and "Borrowing" some books. He's mostly self taught, some tricks learned from veterans who lived more then twenty years in poverty.

"So, do you want anything else...I think I can scrounge something warm to eat." His hands were somewhat cold, and he was'nt in all good health. He'd been weak from starvation, dehydration and also physical trauma, fighting off wild animals or other scum in the slums. He leaned back into the bench, his hood pulled back revealing his face and his hair more. He would prefer someplace else, maybe a change of scenery.

 

[Matsuno Hama]

[Alright, first things first: I'm assuming you guys are still out in public unless I missed something(Kind of sped through your posts) so if you see something in my post that doesnt work, please pm me and I'll edit it.

Second things second: Text in blue are his internal monologue being spoken out loud though its in a way that its obvious he's not really speaking to anyone in particular. Its meant to be reacted to in a "Oh, this guys crazy" kind of way versus any real antagonistic way. Also:

The mule.]

Sounds of hooves clopping against the cobblestone.. or well, whatever stone streets of the village, accompanied his arrival. Well, that, and a lot of talking.

"You're going the wrong way again, Mule. Stupid animal, I don't know why I ride you anymore, always going the wrong way. I'll never get to work at this rate." The staff-wielding sunglasses-wearing old man said to the beast beneath him, thwacking it with the aforementioned staff. The mule ignored him, one ear flicking being its only reaction as it continue to plod its current course; towards the hospital Meo was accusing it of not going to. Then again, he was sitting on it backwards.

"Dammit, Mule, what now?" He asked as the mule stopped, and he proceeded to smack its rump a few more times. Suddenly, he fell off the mule, though for those watching it sure did look as if he was flung, body launched to the ground in an all-too unwilling fashion, landing with an audible 'oof!'

The angry old man got up, patting the dust off his robes and stomping towards the animal, wagging an accusatory finger at the animal which only blinked once in reaction.

"I told you we're going the wrong way, and now you bring me here! I don't know why I bother with you anymore! Stupid, stupid animal, I should cook you when we get to the hospital, I forgot to bring a lunch and none of the bodies at the morgue are in any condition to be cooked. Hehe, last time I tried the pretty little secretary turned green in the face! Oh, I don't regret animating the cooked body at all for her." He grinned and cackled to himself, then whacked the mule on the head, only to lurch backwards a few feet as if punched.

"Alright, alright, you can rest here. Go ahead and eat. Stupid anim- Ow!" Again, the what-seemed-to-be invisible attack occured, this time seeming to be focused on his shoulder.

Spotting the two.. ninja? People? One kid and a ninja people? They hadn't even decided themselves, anyway, spotting them and their cheesey situation he approached with a cocky strut, hands holding onto the two sides of his parted robe, chest puffed out as if he were twenty years younger(And let's be honest, at 73 he looked like a sexy 60).

"Hello there, peons! What brings you out and about in the village today? And what's with all the cheese and cheese related accessories? Children these days and their eccentricities. Not everyone can be as stable and normal as I am! Hah, ah. I need to get their names just in case they're ever a dead body that I need to handle. Allow me to introduce yourselves!" He held his hand out, palm up, as if presenting Tama to.. well, himself, it seemed. "And you are?" After she replied he would do the same for Satou-not-Satou.

[Also, feel free to give me feedback on the character. He's brand new so I'm still working him out.]

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Producing more cheese seemingly from nothing, the boy handed Tama a slice and Tama eagerly added it to her sandwich. That was it, the missing ingredient. A look of pure, unadulterated bliss came over the young chuunin's face. Best. Sandwich. Ever. The fact that she was basking in the undivided attention of the boy also contributed to the deliciousness of the sandwich.

"Kaiji, huh?" The girl said, without a thought for the formalities that normally would come with a first meeting. Instead, she watched as he flipped through handseals with precision and speed. The same handseals that she herself had used just moments earlier. "That was good!" (Which came out more like "Fhat waff fuud!" since she was talking with her mouth full of food) She hurriedly swallowed and repeated herself, albeit more clearly before continuing. "You almost could be a cast member. As for how to do it....well you would have to decide if you want to be a part of the show first. Only performers are taught the tricks of the trade," she said sagely (as sagely as a fifteen-year old girl with Tama's mindset could say anyway). Although the shinobi life was extremely different from that of a performer, it was the only way Tama could explain it to herself that didn't require justifying her actions, battling her conscience, or coming to terms with the things she had done. But if the kid was smart he would probably see through the euphemisms that Tama used to fool herself.

"You can get more food!" Tama exclaimed, "For free!" Her mouth watered, not having eaten all day had really left her hungrier than ever before. Granted, she could have just as easily gone home and enjoyed a meal, but going home meant confronting her parents and changing identity as both a shinobi and performer. Also, people weren't too happy with her skipping practice as of late.

The arrival of the old man immediately ended Tama's questioning of her identity and self. If there was one ting she was sure of, she was NOT a peon.

"Audience members like yourself should never address a star so impudently," she spouted arrogantly. "Peon!," she scoffed, the indignant tone in her voice clear, "The great Mochizuki Tama, star performer of the Mochizuki Performance Troupe is most definitely not a peon!" With the tail end of her retort, the winds around her momentarily picked up, swirling around her angrily, reflecting her injured pride. The winds caused her skirt to flutter about wildly, but a pair of shorts underneath prevented anything from being seen by either the boy or the crazy old man.

"However, a star performer is always magnanimous towards her audience," she continued trying to regain her composure, "So If you apologize now, your misunderstanding can be forgiven." The winds swirling around still revealed the irritation she was feeling at the moment, although she had managed to get her emotions back in check...somewhat.

WC: 490
[MFT]

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

Today was such a lovely day, the birds were singing, and the sun was shinning ever so brightly through the thick clouds in the sky. Noise was abundance. Lively bantering here and there. To listen to it, to see it. Takes time, oh so lots of time. Taking in every detail of every second passing. Your eyes like a camera flashing, a hundred frames per second. Your ears recording every word you've come in contact with, even other languages.

You may think that to be amazing, but rather. Its terrifying. It never stops, and its always there, he only needs to close his eyes and pull it back out. Like a photo album, running the images back in his head. He's able to rewind a few steps, for now. The rest gets blurry and hard to focus afterwards. He was still young, still out of touch. But he's taking the time to keep calm to solidify himself out of any situation. But this girl, something was different about her. Even though he completely scanned her. Her frame, eyes,hair,clothing,voice. Completely in his mind, yet she was so abundance of energy. That he had to make notes in the back of his head. Be careful.

Though this would never show in his face. He would rather look amused, happy and interested as his eyes watched hers. look at her lips move, remembering ever single word she spoke with pure interest. But his attention was soon caught up in something else. And elderly man approached them, it was odd. Very odd. How many people would be speaking to him today? It was very rare to have even one individual openly converse with him. But now, a small trio was formed. It did make him smile a bit. His eyes having already scanned about. His body suddenly moved. He was drawn to something else for a quick moment.

A creature, an animal of medium frame. A Mule. Kaiji loved animals, he adored them so. Living out on the streets, he made friends with many felines and an occasional dog that didn't want to steal his food. This goat, well. It seemed rather out of place. The boys eyes looked about the creature. It's eyes never stay focused on one place. It's stamping about, wondering what to do. Sniffing at the air confirmed it. And as the boy stood but a good foot in front of the goat. One side was visible, the other the two couldn't see the trick he pulled. Though, maybe the goat did. Maybe.

His hand flicked out, strait and true. Opening his hand wide and lifting index finger the highest to pull the stringed trigger, the dart shot out far and with a quick thick tug when it hit the soft flesh of its target and pulled back to his hand a fresh big apple. He pulled it off the dart and sat it down on the ground in front of the goat as he walked back to the bench winding up the device to store the dart rope. Of course this was a rather interesting display, maybe even more people then he intended would see it. But it didn't matter. In a ninja town, ninja tools aren't unfamiliar to the populace. But the tool he used. Was made by his hands.

Well, by his plans and ingenuity. A kind blacksmith made it possible for the boy. Kaiji would take scrap metals off the street and sell them to the Blacksmith. But it was'nt for money, no, it was for the man to forge the boy his creation. So, the story goes. A young kid on the street was climbing buildings with high tension grappling hook mounted to a wrist gauntlet. Pretty neat tale. Well, that was just one trick he had.

The boy went back to the bench, he heard the whole conversation. And the boy was to return a gesture. Hmm. An outstretched hand.

His hand went forward, the one free of any contraption or sorts the old man could notice with the naked eye. He opened his hand out. Yet it was'nt to shake, the boy poked every finger with coordination and began doing weird gestures with both their hands. Sometimes even forcing fingers into signs much like the animals from basic hand seals. "Well, I don't mind being a Peon. It means I have a position to work past. Once you're a peon...You have a ladder to climb." He then stopped making signs and sat back, talking to them both as he looked around a bit.

"Being a peon, as a human being means something. A title, what do humans do best? We evolve. We learn, we grow stronger. We are Peons now, great Mochizuki Tama, star performer of the Mochizuki Performance Troupe. But, If we work harder then others. One day, The world will cheer your name." The boy then made cheering noises of her name, then suddenly thrown sprinkling confetti and sort as he cheered. Hopefully calming the girl and cheering her up a bit. He then turned his attention to the elderly Sunglasses. "I don't understand it, why do people shake hands. Why has it become so natural for us, as humans to stay shaking hands. Why not some other form of gesture? We can look past that. As names are given, I'm Kaiji..." He shook the old mans hand naturally. It was a firm, strong handshake. The elder could feel it, the boy had nothing but muscle through his arm as it flexed in the grip of his hand. "I'm the Peon." He smiled as he let go and went back to his scattered look about self.

Interesting day indeed...

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

The young boy seemed to be a natural politician, knowing how to defuse potentially explosive situations with a few well-placed phrases. Tama hated being belittled, but if it was a character role, she would play that role to the end. The boy’s words seemed to convey that they were currently peons, in this man’s story. Their characters were of little significance to the crazy old man. But the boy had said that eventually, they would one day climb out of that low position.

It was a typical setting, one that Tama had played through multiple times onstage. People seemed to connect with the characters that worked their way from peon to overlord; Tama didn’t quite get the appeal. She wasn’t a peon, but she acted as one onstage. So she supposed she could play the part for the old man’s story. At least the plot of the rags-to-riches, weak-to-powerful story was simple enough. And at the end she would be considered to have ‘grown’ somehow. Tama thought it was silly, the entire plot was based around the character growing in power, so if they remain static then they were lying. Power changes character, immensely. Tama herself was beginning to realize that.

Still, Tama wasn't going to go out of her way to make this crazy old man respect her. If he saw her as a peon, then he was simply a blind crazy old man. She couldn't change that, but even Tama saw the uselessness in arguing with crazy, not to mention blind. I’m not a peon! she thought angrily to herself.

Still, despite being somewhat talked out of a fighting mood, Tama wasn't about to give the old man the satisfaction of admitting to her “peon” status. So she remained where she was and waited for the old man to respond to anything, anything at all. If he was as senile as he seemed, he could have just forgotten why he was here, or maybe he was waiting for a specific response. These unpredictable types are so troublesome. Doing and saying things with no thought to the people he’s interacting with. Tama thought this without realizing that she too, behaved in this manner and had caused quite a few people grief with her own whimsical actions. She even had stolen Kaiji’s sandwich on a whim not five minutes ago, surely that had caused a minor inconvenience for the boy’s lunch. But this revelation never came to Tama as she inwardly expressed her irritation with the old man.

 

[Matsuno Hama]

Apologize?

Hah. He sniffed as he imperiously observed the two before him, taking on the role as that of overlord in Tama's little mental orchestration of life. Magnanimously, he listened to the boy describe what he thought was a peon. "Oh, no, he's wrong, but, ah, to let stupidity slide, it is a kind gesture, isn't it? Ah, yes child, one must have jope to move up in life.Hah, stupid peons always thinking with brains that don't belong to them. No, no, they all belong to me when they die." From his hands a whisper of shadow, extending outwards horizontally until it solidified and took the shape of his Staff, with which he would tap ever so ungently upon Tama's head, "Ah, majestic peopn, would you do the honors of telling this boy he's wrong for me, please? What do you mean he's not wrong?" He turned towards the mule, and would throw his staff at the creature only to watch as it burst into its shadowy origins moments bvefore striking the thing.

Mule, kid, not goat.

As he turned towards the duo, he would yelp, that staff returning from amidst nothing but shadow made smoke, colliding with his back and bouncing off once more only to poof away. Ruefully he shook a fist in the mules direction, and as the staff appeared once again he would catch it with a triumphant, "Ha!" and turn, this time with finality, towards the two before him.

He cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"Hmng. I feel one of you has yet to have a check up at the hospital." A gleam in his eyes as he looked at each of them, "Which one of you would like to di..rect themselves towards my office for treatment? Aye, treatment for the beating heart you both seem to be afflicted with. Oh, but, it would be too soon for the little one, he hasn't yet incubated his to its full potential for my children." He stroked his chin some more, pausing as he pulled a mite from his beard and flicked it ruefully at the mule.

[Really sorry about how long it took to post guys.]

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

(No worries, It takes me some time to get things together myself I always get animals mixed up....*sigh,face palm*)


Eye's, upon him. Watching his movements. Examining him. His appearance of a normal street urchin. But he seemed more "different" then the other kids on the street. He wanted to leave these streets of course, his mind swimming with ideas. Formulas and words, numbers and patterns. Movements of the body played in the back of his head. It was a past time when alone, mimicking them. looking at the girl sitting next to him, and on his other side an elderly man who spoke oddly to himself. Then to the mule. The sad creature, standing alone. He almost felt like waving it over. To pet it's mane, to praise the insignificant animal.

He paused in between the thought of stabbing the old man with a fork, and getting a good meal for Tama-chan when he blanked out, his eyes glanced upward, he was'nt just enjoying the sky. He peered the rooftops, glancing about. Blocking out the world around him. His eyes darting to and fro. He stood, almost at alert, some people in the crowd glanced at the old mans performance and now the boy was acting odd, it was'nt those eyes he was worried about. He only caught a quick glimpse. "@!#$ He got away...." Mumbled the young boy. Whom then went behind the bench and sat down. Pulling out a small book. A journal of some sort, in the journal were his designs and notes, sometimes even entries of his life.

Flipping the pages, he wrote one page in particular. Taring it and folding it rather neatly. Quickly stood up and handed a not to Tama. "For you." He disappeared back behind the bench. Writing in his little booklet. Whispering under his breath. "I don't care what I am now, nor what I will become. If I care for technicalities then there is too many outcomes, and problems will worsen. So live life carefully, learn to eat proper portions and types of food, gather what you can. Learn how to survive, to get your next meal. To learn how to hide in darkness against the terrors in the night. Learn to gather information and knowledge quickly. There is so much more for me to find out. I must know more, I must keep on learning...." He breathed. Paused in writing while talking. He wrote this before. His fingers gripping the small already worn down pencil.

I need to calm down.

'Day 18 of spotting 'The Demon'. Area: Market Place. Where seen: Rooftops, unknown direction after flitting away. Need to train eyesight more. Gonna try spying on the Academy later. Maybe write down some things to learn. Might get new design idea.'

The boy closed his book as he stood and hopped back on the bench, looking between the two. Then sitting down, his attention was on Tama but Kaiji glanced about. "...I think I have enough Yen for two meals from exchanging metals." He put his book away and had been fishing for his purse, putting the pouch with a bit of yen in it, into Tama's hands. Of course, he needed the money. But doing this could land him a chance to improve himself more. Even in small ways it'll help him win his goal. "You can buy a warm meal, and the other half will be my investment into the Mochizuki Performance Troupe." He smiled as he sat back watching the Mule. Hoping he would like the apple.
"Oh and I need to mention....A Demon wants to kill me. Just letting you know." He just blurted.

His attention kept to the circus performer. "I'd like to see the Troupe. Would be nice." He seemed rather calm for someone who mentioned a Demon wishes for his death. He seemed eager to leave, adding in to mention to the Elderly weird guy. "Whats your name and that of your pet?" He was really blunt. But he didn't care, if the old weirdo kept on rambling he would just take Tama-chan somewhere else or escape with her into the crowd. Meo an estranged ranting old man. The situation was uncomfortable, the obvious delusions of this man almost made the boy wish to call out for help or just simply leave. But he was more worried for Tama-chans safety. He offered the old man some sliced cheese. His hand slicing a good chunk and tossing it to the old man.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

“No thanks, Jii-san. I already spent enough time at the hospital,” Tama repsonded glibly. She remembered her time spent with the Medical Sennin after insulting him in front of a large crowd. Apologising to him had not been fun, and on the whole had soured her perception of hospitals with fear. Also, the old man himself didn’t seem to be the epitome of safety and Tama was more than hesitant of going within ten paces of the man.

However, the note handed to her by Kaiji, while not entirely succeeding in it’s intent, at least staved off the inevitable for the moment. To be sure Tama now was not going to be near the old man without having prepared first.

“He’s not wrong! You seem to be the one with an oversized sense of self-importance,” Tama responded to the old man’s entreaty to tell Kaiji that his sense of growth and evolution were the traits of the human race was incorrect. Besides, he was just one of the hospital staff, nothing special. There were a bunch of medical shinobi, so it’s not like he was special. Crazy definitely, but special, no way. Of course, Tama had only just met the man and had now way of knowing anything about him. And during that class about famous personages in Cloud, she was forced to take during her Academy days, she sorta half-sleepwalked through it anyway. History she wasn’t a part of bored her anyway. Because of the three of them, the only person Tama knew had been a part of something important, not to mention being a star beforehand, was her.

But then Kaiji started acting odd, eyes darting around the place, scanning for something, or someone. Then he started scribbling stuff in a notebook. This instantly became more interesting than arguing with a crazy old man, so she attempted to peer over Kaiji’s shoulder and see what he was writing about.

WC: 321

[MFT]

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

It was time to move. He was drawing too much attention. Putting his book away and standing he only took a brief moment to look at Tama and speak before rushing off down the right side of the square. "I'd like to show you this really nice restaurant that has this amazing roasted beef kebabs and rice. It's to die for..Common!" He had run off for a few seconds, then came rushing back, grabbing hold of the girls hand and putting it into full gear sprinting as he hefted her over his back to carry.

As he ran with great ease, Tama could feel through the layers of clothing a sturdy body. He was'nt the slightest overweight. He was incredibly thin. His leg muscles weren't amazing. He was used to giving sandbags piggy back rides up houses and running down streets. He trained his body for survival. Not only that, but his mind as well. His ingenuity found ways of getting what he needed. Ninja tools. They boy dropped small pellet smoke bombs. Their expansive wafts of smoke would confuse the crowd and make it harder to follow the two kids out of the crowd. Of course Kaiji had scanned the area just enough times to map escape paths and methods in his head before entering the market area. It was no more then a few moments till they were trotting down several alleyways and ended up behind a restaurant.

"Here we are...Sorry, I had to do that to hide myself. I'm being followed. I don't know why. But I have almost caught the individual before. It was almost impossible. And i'm really good at thinking things through! My plans failed one after another, i'm still very weak. Yet I have so much I want to do...I'm limited, my hands are not big enough to craft on their own yet...." He sighed and peeked in the back room. Waving her inside. They had taken a small detour from the kitchen, grabbing a small basket of bread to sneak on by into their own booth on the floor.

"You can have whatever you want." He smiled while munching on the bread. "I've eaten enough to be ok with this." He chuckled a bit more as he started his routine scans and checks. Trying to remember familiar faces and situations. "So, tell me more bout the Troupe?" He asked.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

More about the troupe, huh? Well, what does he want to know? Tama wondered. "Well, the troupe itself hasn't been part of Kumogakure for very long," she began, "In fact, I think we became a part of the village when my mom married my dad. My dad, Ryoji, is not a ninja. But he can run and jump and flip just as good as any ninja can. He's an acrobat in the troupe. Mom's a ninja, that's Minako, and the story is that my dad fell in love with her after she beat him in an obstacle course race. It was one of the acts my dad would do, challenge audience members to race with him." Tama puffed up proudly as she talked about her family.

"But there are more people in the troupe besides my family. We sometimes do talent scouting, if someone has ability we try to bring them into the group. Kinda like Kumogakure, except people can leave without getting killed." Tama wondered about that for a bit, why would someone try to leave? Especially because of the fact that it could get you killed. But wondering about the pressures of the shinobi world wasn't one of Tama's favorite pastimes. She found it rather boring to hear anyone whine and moan about the reasons for leaving. If you want to go then go, was her thought on the matter. Reasons aside, if you were powerful enough, you could do pretty much anything. So whoever was the strongest was right. Tama liked that thought, and so she needed to become stronger, so she too, could be always right. "My dad's in charge now, and he's training my twin to succeed him. Some of the elders don't like the fact that we are now a part of Kumogakure, and they also don't like the changes my dad has been making to family traditions. But they're all a bunch of sticks in the mud, so I don't really pay that much attention to them."

"Is there anything specific you want to know about the troupe in particular?" she asked, returning to the topic at hand, she had realized that she was rambling and not really answering Kaiji's question. Tama didn't mind going through the list of everybody in the troupe, what they did, and how they were related. But she wasn't sure if that was something the boy really wanted to hear.


[Sorry for the short post, I need to organize all the info Tomo and I createdon the Mochizuki troupe]

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

(No worries, my life sucks. Writing has stabbed me for awhile. I'm sorry for the wait.)

He walked with her, listened to her, smiled with her when thinking of her parents meeting. The flare of her mother, the cockiness of her father. Their voices almost became tangible to him in his mind. Picking apart her facial structure he mentally tried to picture their faces. Her mother was beautiful, yet had this flare in her eyes. She challenged as much as her father, his thick brows and earth colored eyes yet a big goofy smug grin. He wondered, was it really her parents he imagined, or his own. "You're parents meeting sounds like a fairy tale. So magical in its own way, yet so happenstance its something many would yearn for." His smile was weak, but soon hidden as he pulled his hood back over his head and a scarf to wrap round his face. His voice slightly muffled but still able to hear him clear enough.

"I don't think traditions will last forever, because things will always age and change with the times. One can not live in the past forever." His thin smile showed a bit of his stained teeth. His eyes a bit more heavy. Tireless nights were his worse enemy, sleep had not taken him in the past couple nights. Keeping his face from peoples view. He didn't like showing weakness, fear made him hide it from many. Fear gives other strength over you, you become the prey. When you want nothing more then to be a hunter. To become a true monster someday, to become truly strong in his own right. This boy dreamed big, as wistful words still chimed in his mind.

"I don't remember much bout my parents. They left me in a home for children. I escaped a few years back, I couldn't live in that place any longer. I want to see this world. Even if we're stuck here..." He glanced to the roofs, maybe looking past them somewhat. "I want knowledge, to become stronger, smarter then others. I study many things to do with engineering and mechanisms. I someday wish to create things that could better our world. To put us forward amongst other villages." The boy gleamed. Holding out his wrist gadget. " It's mostly spring loaded at the moment, high tension, very scary sometimes fidgeting and miss fires happen. But It's pretty much set for an upgrade. I'm thinking something more innovative, yet simple for people to reach to heights they normally can't achieve." He spoke so enthusiastically bout his ambition. "I can fix almost anything with the right tools and a quick read. I can also do a bit of rope works and jumping around. I like scaling the walls with my grappling hook and running along the roofs from place to place to avoid people bellow. Sorta like ninja's in this town." He chuckled a bit at the last part, knowing he was more alike to shinobi then most.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

(Don't worry about it. Job-hunting has left me lacking motivation recently.)

A fairy tale, huh? Tama thought. Then she laughed aloud, drawing more attention to herself. "Yeah, I guess it was. I've never thought about it like that." He then went on to describe what he was good at, "Woah! You trying to sell yourself to me or something? This is a conversation, not a job interview," she replied jokingly. "But still, you and Nii-nii would get along swimmingly. He's always playing with gears and springs and stuff like that, maybe he could help you with perfecting that gizmo of yours. You'd definitely be welcome to visit, if you like." They walked on and Kaiji continued to talk about his invention, and how he was similar to shinobi in his desire to run on rooftops, walk on walls, etc. "Yeah, it's a lot of fun, isn't it? Exhilarating!"

While she was listening to the boy talk, she wondered exactly how fast the boy could go? He wasn't a shinobi, even if he could instantly copy the handseals she had used, and he wasn't able to use chakra, as far as she could tell anyway. So would he really be able to traverse rooftops like a shinobi? It was interesting, and Tama couldn't get the thought out of her head. Eventually, regardless of the boy's answer to her question about meeting her brother she would say the following, "Hey, how fast can you move with that thing? As fast as a shinobi? Wanna race? From here to the Mochizuki Compound. Oh wait you don't know where it is, do you? Umm....look that way," Tama pointed down the street in the direction they had been walking. When Kaiji was looking in that direction she would grab him by the collar and attempt to throw him into the air, if she succeeded he would be thrown high into the sky and would be able to see the tents of the Mochizuki Troupe on the outskirts of the residential area. Tama would be standing ready to catch him as he fell back to earth.

Tama wasn't trying to harm the boy, she just felt this was easier than giving directions by word of mouth. And all that talk of not remembering parents had been too depressing for her tastes. And this was her method of trying to cheer the boy up. She would make sure he didn't come to any harm from her actions, right now he was her responsibility. It felt like she was with her little brothers, and so Tama was treating him exactly like she would treat her family.

MFT

WC: 428

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

He was interested that someone was as obsessed with gadgets as he was. "Awesome, can't wait to meet this, Nii-nii?" He was kind of embarrassed of how he went on. "Sorry. I'm kind of proud of all my inventions." He smirked. He was proud, ingenuity brought him to this point. And his drive to go even further will open more doors for him.


"Well I'm not one to bra-" He was cut off, he felt levitated for a second. Like stopping for a moments breath. Then suddenly you feel acceleration. The propulsion was rough so he kick a second while in the air. Glancing only a mere seconds in the direction of the circus tents. Think quicker. Every second counted as he felt the wind took him a bit and changed his ratio of falling when he kicked. That was the error, His falling rate was very heavy as he dropped like a sack right back down to her, but he was off balance. All he could do is tuck himself inward. He was just a few inches from clipping a building on the way down. He wondered if he'll survive the fall. Putting his trust in his friend to catch him.

(Sorry for short post XD)

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Maybe, I should have said something, Tama wondered to herself as she watched he ascend, and begin to descend. Then Tama noticed that he had attempted to change his trajectory mid-fall, coming dangerously close to hitting a building. "Not good," Tama said springing into action. She quickly ran up another building and started forcing as much wind into a ball behind as possible, compressing it more and more until she could barely maintain the density of the sphere. Then she waited, plotting her trajectory, gauging where she would need to be, and when she would need to be there in order to prevent serious injury to Kaiji. Injury to herself didn't matter so much, she healed quickly anyway.

As Kaiji neared the edge of the building , Tama let the winds loose, rocketing her at a slightly upward angle. She was aiming for a spot some feet below Kaiji, just above the edge of its roof. The acceleration was something she was not used to, as going this fast sometimes led to blackouts. Tama usually didn't risk such things, but she had put Kaiji in this situation, so she had to get him out of it.

The two neared each other, and Tama caught him just in the nick of time. However, the resulting high-speed collision between two objects with differing vectors meant that Tama and Kaiji were both sent crashing into the roof of the building. Tama twisted herself to ensure that she would take the brunt of the impact, but the descent was so fast that Kaiji wasn't going to escape without a bruise of some kind. Tama had made sure to protect Kaiji's head and torso, as she didn't know how to deal with medical trauma in those important areas. She did know a bit of first aid, but that was limited to burns and scrapes, bruises and small cuts. She could make a splint for a broken bone, but couldn't set it. And she knew she would be in a lot of trouble if her antics caused another person to have suffered a sever injury. Hopefully, Kaiji made it through with little to no injury. Tama, on the other hand, knew she had injured her right shoulder pretty badly, and thought she may have suffered a slight concussion from the impact. Her parents were probably going to send her to see Creepy-sennin again. Tama wasn't going to be looking forward to it.

(Sorry for he slow response, my internet has been down all week, and I just got it back yesterday)

 

[Ketsueki Satou]

(No worries, My writers block enjoys kicking me in the brain lately. XD )

Not something he'd enjoy to do again, but while the whole actions transpired to save him. Kaiji was postulating if he could ever be more capable to stop this from happening again. He knew he could have used the grappling hook to try and grip something before the fall, yet he didn't expect Tama to act so heroically by leaping bounds to save him. When he hit the roof, what transpired was almost too quick for him to catch when falling. In mind, he wanted to see what she did, to think on it. To formulate better was of preceding with things, he was a threat. Not of danger to her from himself, but because he was'nt good enough to save himself out of a situation he could have diminished if he had more time to think.

Laying there, he didn't move for a few seconds. He simply closed his eyes, and began to twitch certain parts of his body, finding out what might be damaged. moving shoulders slightly as well as neck. Nothing. A sigh of relief. Chest felt a bit sore. Bruised, nothing broken. But when he moved his leg, he felt the heat of the scrapes, the bits of bleeding. No gashes, thank the gods. But moving his left leg felt like a jolting stab in his heel that shot up through the ankle. He must of pull or twisted something. He felt otherwise fine, he slowly lurched upwards. Breathing just fine as he looked over to see Tama. At first he didn't know what to say or do.

Standing he walked over. "Stay lying down." He mumbled flatly as he knelt down Touching her neck. His eyes seemed more narrowed and focused. His tone of voice was more serious, as if losing the luster of joy in it. "I felt you hit you're head. So I need to check before you move anything." He had his books, his books taught him many things. He raised himself around reading material. He studied Medical books, biology, sociology and even loved getting into Psychology. " You're necks not broken, though you may have a concussion or skull damage." He gently moved her head from side to side. "Sorry, I'm being invasive on your personal space. But I need to be certain." He noticed slight scraping on her head, tender skin, bleeding. "Yup, you bonked you're head good you did." He sighed, removing a piece of cloth from his clothing. "Don't worry, it's clean. I wash my clothing." He laughed as he placed it like a pillow behind her head and to apply pressure the wound. "Ok, so...How many fingers?" Holding up four with his pinky down. If she couldn't see what fingers there were. Then she needed to stay laying down for awhile.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

I am not going to move for awhile, just lay right here and relax, Tama thought to herself. The pain was immense, not as sharp as it was the instant she hit the roof, but it was still there. "Ooowwww," she moaned. She felt Kaiji twitching on top of her, and then felt him get off without any incident. Good, he didn't get hurt, she thought to herself, I won't get into trouble for that now, haha. She tried to move as well, but at Kaiji's words remained still. He was right, since she had taken the brunt of the impact, she needed to be looked over before she started moving recklessly.

She felt his fingers on her neck, her pulse was very erratic and accelerated, which was to be expected after the speed at which Tama had been moving. Her eyes flitted open, and she could see the serious face Kaiji had on as he checked for injuries. When she heard that he neck wasn't broken she spoke, "Well, that's good to hear. Being paralyzed wouldn't be much fun now would it." A smart remark to ease the tension, although it didn't do anything to ease the pain. He seemed quite knowledgeable about medical subjects, for a street urchin. In response to his quip about personal space Tama said, "A star like myself has no personal space, Kaiji. So don't worry about it."

The scrap of cloth didn't really make the roof any more comfortable, but then again, it didn't make it any less comfortable either. Tama smiled as he worked fervently to tend to her injuries, "I think I would notice if you smelled bad Kaiji." She used to do things like this with her siblings too, although usually it was Tomo who told her what to do. "Well I would think so, never let it be said that Mochizuki Tama ever bonks her head bad!" she said cheerily, cringing a bit at the throbbing in her head. It took a minute for her to focus on the fingers Kaiji was holding, "Three. You're not trying to trick me by saying that one's a thumb are you?" she asked in an accusatory manner.

She had given her answer, would "Dr." Kaiji give her the okay to start moving? Or was Tama to be confined to "roof-rest" for a few more minutes.

MFT
WC: 438

[OOC: Again, sorry for the wait.]