The Importance Of Being Earnest (Hoda & Strawberry) [C]

Age : 39 Posts : 122

It was rather unusual for Hodaka to have free time but on this day he found himself with an abundance of it. He had been in his room trying to jot down an idea, but the hustle and noise of the house pulled at his senses until the idea slipped through his fingers. Staying in one place had never really been his strong suit in the first place and with his current aimlessness he found himself fidgety yet stagnate. The white eyed boy leaned back fully in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling trying to recover the train of thought he had lost.

The sound of a shattering china cut through the dull roar of activity in the house and Hoda’s momentary silence and peace of mind. The shock caused him to lean to far back in his chair and he fell flatly against the floor, and there he stayed his body sprawled out in a mixture of hair, his robes and a broken arm from said chair. He paused momentarily to soak in the moment, which made his frustration with his current surroundings boil, an agitated growl rolled from his throat as he rose from the floor. He kneaded his left eye brow as he looked down at the chair, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, He made a decision right then and there.

“I have got to get out of here before I really actually do lose my mind.” he stated to the empty room. He got dressed quickly, throwing on a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt with his favorite watch, and headed out the door. The day was fairly mild for this time of season, and it was a welcome change when compared to the blistering heat they had been suffering as of late. The sun wasn’t quite at its mid-day peak, however its light beamed pleasantly upon the village, the smell of vegetation and warm earth hung in the air and lightened Hoda’s mood. Lifting his face towards the sky, he let sun bathe his face while his senses took in the beauty of the day.

He wandered through the village with no particular destination, through the streets filled with merchants, purveyors and families all enjoying the fullness of the season. A soft smile came across his face as he heard children playing tag in an alley way as he passed, two of them debating if he had actually been tagged by the other. He paused for a moment and had a small chuckle as he continued on, eventually coming upon the gates of the village.

White eyes looked towards the chuunin guard at the registration desk, he gave a simple nod to the man before speaking.

“No worries…just out for a stroll” the young man spoke politely and clearly. The guard nodded in acknowledgement.

“Just don’t wander to far Hodaka-san.”

Hoda gave a simple wave to let him know that the request was understood and continued out of the gateway. The scents here were heavier with wood, grass and flowers and animals being the most pungent of them. Hodaka continued to walk until the gates were just out of sight and the noise of the village had dissipated, it was here that he gave pause and took in a deep breath, letting all of his agitation of the day’s beginning expel with it.

He didn't move for a minute or so, choosing instead to bask in the relative silence of the forest with his eyes closed, while a bead of sweat began to form on his forehead. Thankfully mother nature decided to shoot him a favor by providing a slow and steady breeze that cooled his skin with its delicate kiss and made his hair flutter just enough so he could feel the relief on the back of his neck. As he enjoyed this moment, his nose caught a hold of something sweet in the air, normally this would go unnoticed but this scent was strong, not something produced by a flower, but with a perfume or soap. Opening his eyes, Hoda started to scan his surrounding to see what the source of the fragrance was.

“I know it can’t be a flower becau…” his voice trailed off quietly as his ice white eyes found the source of his conundrum.

Just a shade shorter than himself, with flowing hair that defied his standing logic on how vivid hair could look, warm honey toned skin that seemed to glowed; stood a young woman whom he had never seen before.

His eye brow rose slightly as he realized he was wrong about his assumption.

“I guess it is a flower after all…” the boy spoke to himself quietly as before he realized that he was on the verge of crossing the line between a look, and ogling. It was one of the few times that he was grateful for not having pupils.
Blinking a few times to break his own focus, Hoda addressed the young woman.

“Excuse my look, I just… I thought I was alone. Not many wander outside the walls these days…” his voice sounded genuine as he explained himself.

Age : 28 Posts : 488

Lying on the grass, Uzumaki Ophelia was sleeping, or so it seemed. In fact she was relaxing and enjoying the few minutes that were granted to her by the Konoha Jounin that had brought her there. Being in the Land of Fire was sure a welcoming change, especially in means of weather since Kirigakure was known for its dull and cold days. The sunray shone on Ophelia’s already darker skin, for she had tanned some days ago in the Hot Springs country where she had also met Kaguya Yoroi, the Jounin that brought her to Konoha. She didn’t really know where he had gone now and left her outside the village; she figured that he was going to prepare some papers so he could enter. Meanwhile, she was lying on the comfortable green grass of a meadow just outside Konoha, thoughts flying around from here and there.

Suddenly she heard voices. It was the village guards talking to a boy exiting the gates. Ophelia stood up and walked behind a tree. She wasn’t really trusting now that she was in a different country with enemy Ninja around her. Actually, the idea crossed her mind that coming to Konoha might not have been such a good idea after all since her neck could be snapped in less than a second should anyone find out who she truly was. But then again, should that somebody find out that she was in fact, a Jinchuuriki, she might end up caged forever inside a cave or something like that. Swallowing heavily down these disturbing thoughts, Ophelia hid behind the tree trunk trying not to get detected by the boy. She eyed him closely as he stood there taking in the silence. He reminded her of herself; for Ophelia loved Nature and its silence. She liked lying on grass thinking about stuff, or just relaxing and emptying her mind. If that was ever possible with this busy mind of hers. She noticed his pale eyes and the absence of a pupil which rather intrigued her. He did look kind of scary and without a soul, but Ophelia was very much interested in this young man. Disregarding Yoroi’s warning that she should stay away from other people, Ophelia stepped outside in front of the boy. He gazed at her and made a remark about her scent as he apologized for staring at her.

Ophelia just looked at him and smiled, stretching out her tanned arm in an attempt to shake it. “Yeah, I was told to wait here until I could enter the village.” She said as she pulled away her hand again, after shaking. “Can I ask you something really weird?” she said, her face taking on an expression that was rather embarrassed but intrigued at the same time. The faces Ophelia took on were so many that even she couldn’t count them. And they were always the strangest of mixtures of emotions. “Why are your eyes so pale?” she asked with all the innocence of a little child asking why it couldn’t have another cookie. It was obvious that Ophelia wasn’t from around the Fire Country, for she would have heard of the famous Hyuuga clan and its weird pale eyes which served as a trademark. Even though there were Hyuuga in Kirigakure, she had never seen one before, not even in her academy years, so it was a rather strange thing to see at her first visit in Konoha. Ophelia hoped that she wasn’t stepping too close to the stranger, asking him questions like that that were so personal. What if he had a disease that made his eyes look like that? What if he was blind? Ophelia had never met a blind person but she was sure that their eyes looked like the boy’s. She felt bad if only for a little while, but then her scientific nature kicked in which as curious as to why this boy had no pupils. But from the medical point of view, having no pupils was impossible. How could he see if he didn’t have pupils? Even blind people had pupils, she figured. So reached a different conclusion; his pupils were pale too and thus couldn’t be seen.

OOC; Her skin is tanned, because she was in the Hot Springs, sunbathing.^^"

Age : 39 Posts : 122

He smiled warmly as he accepted her greeting and listened intently as she spoke, revealing she was waiting to gain entrance to the village. As soon as she spoke, the silence and stillness that had occupied Hodaka’s mind only moments earlier was shattered by the ever present conflict of his two inner voices; however despite this blur of thought his face remained warm, smiling and open towards the young woman.

Inside Hodaka’s mind

Where in the hell do they make women like that?! Do you see those eyes, that hair and… well… the rest of her…fall on your knees and pledge our undying love to this goddess FOREVER!

BAKA! We don’t even know her name, or why the hell she is waiting to get into the village, besides she could be a vampire or something…what woman is that pretty in real life. Maybe she is a wood spirit and if we fall for her she will lead us away and eat our soul... Everyone knows that the spirit of the woods survives on the souls of those she enchants. It’s in all the books you should look it up…

To hell with that book, we should look up her …

Wow, were you actually going to say that…? That is low, even for you…

… What? I was going to say residence… why do you always think the worst of me?

Because every single time we do something your way it always bites us in the ass, all because you have NO foresight. You just want to do things on impulse and you never think about what will happen afterwards.

Name one time when something I have suggested has gone wrong…?

You’re the one that suggested that we just sprint from the bedroom to the bathroom after showering. And why was that an even an option? Because SOMEBODY didn’t want to give the maids the dirty linens, we didn’t have any towels.

Well we made it to the room didn’t we?

Yes…but we also made that poor housekeeper fall down the stairs because of a naked man running through the house.

Jeez, you should really learn to let things go… that was such a long time ago man… forget the past.

That was this morning…

Back in reality

He was pulled out of his inward argument by the change of the woman’s face expressions which took on a light red color is the cheeks and her eyes sparkled with a profound curiosity as she requested to ask him a question. The combination made for quite the sight, and Hoda was suddenly aware of a physical phenomenon occurring within his body. He felt unnaturally warm and there was a slow pressure that started from his chest and began to build in his face. Despite his usually collected demeanor, the genin found himself blushing and shifting nervously underneath the inquisitive gaze of this girl.

I changed my mind…you should fall on your knees and pledge yourself to her…

HA! I was right after all.

Her question made him realize that he had actually never thought about what the Hyuuga clans eyes were usually all white. Much of the lore surrounding their clan was focused on the abilities of the eyes, not how they came to be. However he would try and answer the girls question to the best of his abilities.

"In the world as it is today, there are two great ocular techniques that are coveted by many men and all nations, they known as the Byakugan and the Sharigan. This is the Byakugan..." he said pointing towards his own eyes. "I can't give you the full discolsure, but for the basis of information I can tell you that I can see over a great distance, and more importantly I can see chakra and its flow in relation to the the body."

The boys white eyes were still holding her gaze as he spoke to her, then shifted towards the sky slightly and a small smile slowly etched itself across his features. "We have the same parts as a normal eye, its just the proportions are on different scale I assume. Though some of my friends think that I personally lack eye color and pupils because I can't focus on anything." his tone of voice was light and fun. But sunddenly his smile faded into a half frown before he spoke again. "However I think its because I see more than most people have the capacity to..."

"My name is Hodaka Hyuuga, it is a pleasure to meet you.", he said bowing slightly towards the girl.

Age : 28 Posts : 488

Hopeless Wanderer

I wrestled long with my youth
We tried so hard to live in the truth
But do not tell me all is fine
When I lose my head, I lose my spine

Having posed a rather personal question, Ophelia noticed a time gap between the question and his answer. It was not much of a gap and Ophelia dismissed it as a sign that the boy standing much taller than her was just gathering his thoughts to answer her question. The Uzumaki took a close look at him, noticing his eyes, hair and hands. They were all so delicate and noble looking; definitely pale and pure. Her skin used to be like that, too, though she always preferred tanned skin to a pale one. Her own skin colour gave her the impression that she was sick, even though she wasn’t. She carefully listened to the boy’s reply, looking gently into his pupil-less eyes that intrigued her so much. Never before had she seen such a thing. “Byakugan...” she thought as her eyes looked sideways at the name of the ability that was owned by the Hyuuga clan. She mentally made a note to research it further once she would have enough time, for Ophelia loved researching and finding out new things and secrets.

Ophelia slightly chuckled at his joke that he couldn’t focus on anything only to look at him with big eyes when he said that he saw more than most people did. A deep person she got there, obviously. It was apparent that this boy wasn’t superficial and Ophelia just had started scratching the surface of his sea deep persona. She liked that. After all, people with depth were the most interesting ones, even if they were often sad and melancholic, like she was often was as well. But one thing was sure; deep people weren’t whiny. It was a thing Ophelia couldn’t stand, someone being whiny. She just put up with it for a while until she abandoned the whiny people, because she only wanted positive people in her life that pushed her forward, and didn’t pull her back like all the whiny and negative people do.

The boy, whose name was revealed at last, bowed in front of her as a mean to greet her. Ophelia smiled and bowed in return as a matter of respect. “My name is Ophelia Uzumaki!” she said, her surname escaping her lips and along with it, her identity. But a name said nothing about her, in reality. She mentally slapped herself for saying her surname so easily but then regained her thoughts as she realized that it actually didn’t really matter at all. "I'm a wanderer, kind of. Seeing new places, people, cultures." She straightened her back and looked back into Hodaka’s pale eyes, met with kindness. Why was every Konoha person so nice? First Yoroi, and now him. Everyone she had met from Konoha, and that was just two people, were extraordinarily kind to her and that was something that surprised Ophelia, for she was used to the harsh ways and treatment of Kirigakure people. It seemed Konoha was a friendly village, both weather and people wise.

Ophelia noticed his forehead protector and a shock went through her spine. Her hand shot towards her chest only to find it empty; she had left her necklace with the Kirigakure symbol on it back home. She sighed, mentally; relieved that she wasn’t wearing it, for the last thing she needed now was people knowing that she was a Kirigakure Shinobi. Especially some other Ninja in whose vicinity his village was. “So, you’re a Shinobi?” she said, pointing at his forehead protector with a leaf on it, symbolizing the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The name was justified, for around Konoha were only trees. “What rank are you?” she kindly asked. “The guy that invited me here, Kaguya Yoroi he's – do you know him?” she said, pausing mid sentence after Yoroi’s name to pose a question instead of saying what she had intended to say. Ophelia’s thoughts were trailing off very often because she was always thinking many things at once, forgetting quickly that other people could actually not read her mind and thus didn’t know what was going on inside her. For the girl however, the sudden change of topic was as logical as saying 2 plus 3 makes 5. She often ignored the fact that other people got lost in her train of thought because it was too fast for most people, and of course it was incomplete in their eyes, for she never voiced all of her thoughts.

Age : 39 Posts : 122

The Importance Of Being Earnest (Hoda & Strawberry) [C] 1b399b8b-1a5b-4f83-b74f-b24dd1456010_zpse9fd5c69

An Uzumaki…

Hoda’s mind whirled through the information that he had on the clan, he had come across more than a few text about the clan. They originated from the Village Hidden In Whirlpools, and were distant relatives of Senju clan, it is their combined strength with helped found Konoha. The lasting bond between them would forever be honored due to the fact that the very center of Konoha’s emblem was in fact the emblem for this clan. His mind begged to bring up more information; however Hoda did his best to remain present in the moment and ignored the small voice that quietly rattled off information in his mind.

Hoda smiled and nodded in understanding when she told him she was just simply wandering, he liked that idea very much, nothing but new information constantly being obtained and your own perspectives and beliefs being test and redefined; exploring not only a place and different people but yourself as well.

“I admire your boldness and hunger for something outside of the norm. Many people never travel outside of their villages anymore, for fear of losing the comfort of home, not realizing that life becomes so much more when you dare to venture outside of it. You have my admiration and respect Ms. Uzumaki.”

It was as he finished speaking that the breeze picked up again and brought on a new batch of scents, which for all intents and purposes was unremarkable save for one. It was a scent he knew well; the teahouse where he frequented often put slightly bruised petals from a hibiscus plant in his teas when Hoda would begin to ramble due to overstimulation from caffeine. As the subtle scent pierced his sentences his mind relaxed and became still once more, making him close his eyes for just a moment causing him to miss Ophelia’s hand checking for her necklace.

His eyes opened and looked at her when she asked if he was a shinobi and what rank he was; Hoda nodded proudly as he responded, “I am indeed a shinobi of Konoha, I am a genin as of right now.” He spoke confidently, he knowing that his rank would not be as such for much longer.

As he watched her intently, a slight wave of motion just outside of his focus drew his attention; his gaze picked up the rather erratic flight pattern of a cobalt blue butterfly, it wavered just behind the girl’s head. Ophelia began to ask him a question, but he was literally held speechless by the events that unfolded before him; the butterfly landed gently on the left side of the girl’s vibrant red hair. The contrast was truly something to behold, Hodaka felt like he was once again seeing something that very few would ever get the opportunity to witness. A soul could spend eons searching for beauty in its various forms; music, paintings, poetry, meditation, tea, sake; but none would compare to what he was being graced with now.

The boy’s entire face lit up with a slow spreading smile as he tried his best to burn the image in his memory while keeping his eyes focused on the two before him.

“…Absouletly beautiful…” his voice was soft but clear enough to be heard.

His hand moved towards the butterfly with a single finger extended so that the creature could climb on, unaware that from her perspective it would look like he was reaching for her and not the butterfly. The finger was met with trepidation at first, but was soon underneath the small dancing feet of the butterfly. Slowly he brought the beautiful wings closer so he could he inspect them further, until his hand stopped just a few inches from his face. His mind registered that the woman was asking him a question, causing his eyes to blink slowly as he came back from where ever world he resided in when he came across these moments. He dropped the butterfly to her level of vision and held out his finger as its wings beat slightly, he was smiling like a child as he spoke. Completely abandoning the conversation in hopes that Ophelia could further immerse her senses in Konoha, and due to his not hearing exactly what she had said at the end.

“Here…put your finger against mine.” He said in a rather hushed tone trying not to scare off the naturally shy creature.

Age : 39 Posts : 122

((OOC: Unless you have a desire to finish this, I am gonna close and submit it.))