Around(Open)

Age : 29 Posts : 766

Kuro hadn't been excited lately. He hadn't been placed on a team, or found time to train new jutsus. He hadn't much to do, so he was running errands for his mother. Today, like any other day in Kirigakure, it was dark and foggy. Kuro didn't mind that, even of the fact that it was raining, too. His hair and clothes may have been soaked, but he didn't care about that right now. This is a nice day. he thought.

Kuro sighed. He wished for something exciting to happen. The village seemed to fall very peaceful, and nothing was going on. At least kiri's not in the middle of a shinobi war, he thought. The idea made him laugh. He didn't have a hard time seeing though something he was used to being in. He knew Kiri's layout because it was his home. He still hadn't found what his mother asked him too find. And since he didn't have to go home, he decided to hang out. He thought back to that day, on this exact street that he was almost kidnapped.

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my mouth is frozen so i can't even speak
MAKESHI SUZU
KOORI KURO
what a disappointment, i had it perfectly
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It had been a refreshing fifteen minutes since Suzu had stepped outside, and just as she started to head home, the rain began to pour. Instantly. Kiri's weather was not one of Suzu's favourites, as it had a tendency to act out on random occassions. At least it's not hail.. she thought, avoiding stepping into a puddle. Her mind guided herself back to her apartment, but her feet were set on going the other way, further into the heart of Kiri. She let her feet guide her to the marketplace, and her mind, being the disarray of feelings it was, didn't object to it.

She couldn't tell if the rain had sped up, or slowed down. All that was evident was her current wet state and the creation of new and practically unavoidable puddles on the ground. Suzu half hoped that the rain would cease, but another part of her mind thanked the heavens, as rain had always been a personal favourite of Suzu's. It had a special way of calming her, and the effects were soothing and gentle. It wasn't something that could be explained, it had to be experienced hands-on to undertstand.

It brought back memories of the day Suzu had been left alone by her adoptive parents. First her mother, and then strangers who had decided to take her in. It rained that day as well, but she couldn't say her emotions were sad or any form of negative. The rain had worked its magic there as well.

She stopped as she reached the threshold of the old orphanage. It was a simple, cozy building with its cracks near the edges. A dimly lit light was visible near the eastern wing of the building, which Suzu familiarly recognized as the dining room. She now noted how late it was. Kiri's permanent darkness didn't help much in determind the time; seldom did the clouds show mercy to the sun and let its rays peek through.

From a distance, she saw a shadowy silhouette. Her feet moved forward and the area between the two decreased, allowing Suzu to make out the image before her. He had her back to her, and she guessed it was just a child, taking a walk and basking in the glory of the rain. But, as innocent as that seemed in her mind, she couldn't help but to notice that not many people were around about in the streets. Perhaps it was because of the current weather and time, but usually, Kiri had its fair share of shoppers during this time of day. The boy's alone state wasn't helping to reassure her, either.

"Hey, kid!" Suzu said, "Are you lost?"

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THE MISTY MARKET
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Age : 29 Posts : 766

Kuro never heard anyone approch him over the sound of the rain. Or maybe it was the hurry he seen from the few people still about. No matter, the voice he heard scared him, causing him to flinch and quickly turn around. He noticed someone. The rain had begun to drip into his eye's causing his sight to be a little blurry. But he still seen that it was another person. "I'm not lost..", he said. He wasn't used to people actually talking to him. "I was just out trying to find something for my mother, but it's not here.", he said. He scratched the back of his head. "My name's Kuro Koori, and you'd be?", he asked her.

It's still raining, he thought as he flipped his hair away from his eyes. It seemed for just a moment, that it was going to stop. But it didn't. Kuro smiled as he looked up at the sky, waiting for a reply.

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my mouth is frozen so i can't even speak
MAKESHI SUZU
KOORI KURO
what a disappointment, i had it perfectly
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His voice wavered as he spoke, possibly from the scare she'd given him. He didn't sound pretty sure of himself until he spoke about his mother. What mother sends her child to the marketplace this late in this kind of weather? She half wondered why he hadn't returned home when it started to rain, or even when he realized the item he was looking for was no longer in stock. She slowly stepped closer, trying to get a better look at the kid.

To his luck, he was just a young boy, and judging by the headband around his waist, he had graduated from the ninja Academy and was a Genin. He was too young to manipulate, and besides, Suzu wasn't looking for a fun night tonight. "What are you looking for?" Suzu asked, guessing it would just be a piece of fruit or something close to that. "I could probably help, though it wouldn't be much use, seeing as most of the shops are closed. The weather doesn't really help either; shopkeepers don't usually like to open their shops on rainy days."

He looked to be a kind soul, a rare find in the bloodthirsty mist. Soon enough, he'd be qualified to participate in the Chuunin exams, and life for him would completely change. The best he'll achieve would be coming out from there alive, but even that would put a scar to his memories. Spilling his teammates blood and killing random strangers he'll never befriend will do wonders.

So there are more.. she thought upon hearing his name. Not many used the real name for the Koori clan, but she found pleasure in knowing the clan was still being continued. She knew little of other Koori members residing in other places, such as the Land of Lightning, or even Konoha, but the thought of living anywhere else than Kiri left her cold. "I'm Suzu, Suzu Makeshi. But from the same clan of yours."

She thought of it unnecessary to demonstrate; she'd do so when he starts doubting and asks. "Your mother should be waiting for you at home, and since the weather is just crap, she'll be more worried." she began. Her voice grew louder to compete with the annoying sounds of the rain. "Tell you what, I'll take you back to your house in case some trouble comes up." Elaboration wasn't needed there, everyone knew Kiri was the land full of bandits and criminals. "You could come to the marketplace with your mother tomorrow once the weather clears up." Suzu suggested.

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Age : 29 Posts : 766

He listened as she said she would help him find it, but then said mostof the stores are closed. He was most surprised when she said she was from the same clan. Wow, I didn't know people from my clan would still be here, he thought. But when she mentioned taking him back, his smile faded. "I don't need to go back yet.", he said. He looked at Suzu, and had an annoyed look on his face.

"I know the risks of being in out alone, and I'm not totally defenseless either.", he said. His smile returned, and his attitude changed into a calm drop. He looked down at a puddle. He quickly wanted to change the topic. "So, do you like living in Kirigakure?", he asked her.

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my mouth is frozen so i can't even speak
MAKESHI SUZU
KOORI KURO
what a disappointment, i had it perfectly
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It seemed the boy was equipped with an attitude. But everyone was, and no one liked a killjoy watching over them. "No need to be so defensive, you can do whatever you want. I just don't want you to be in danger. But seeing as you know the consequences, I guess the decision is yours." She didn't know what would be considered more heinous; dying from a street fight, or dying from the Chuunin exam. They were both equal in terms of brutality.

"Well, at least you know how to defend yourself. But you should know that danger comes in all kinds of forms. One might even be stronger than you can handle. But, you should be fine." Suzu quickly finished off. She didn't need to scare him more than she needed to. At least they're actually teaching something in the Academy.. Looking forward now, she could see a feint glimpse of the Academy building. Memories flodded back in her head, those that weren't too enjoyable.

He then changed the subject, to the village. Did she like Kiri? "Of course I like Kiri, it is my hometown after all. I've never really been a traveller, and my parents only took me to places within the village. But I'm sure there's no place better than here." It was a lie, Suzu believed there were better places than Kiri. More magical and more interesting. However, she liked to consider the village as an historical artifact, one that couldn't be changed.

"I love the waters, and the rain has always been my favourite part of living in Kiri. Anywhere we turn, we're surrounded by water, and the water has its way of cleansing us." She figured she was sounding like a preacher more than anything, so she moved on. "Have you ever been to any other place than Kiri? I can't imagine anywhere else with so much water than here. Suna sounds pretty nice, I heard it got an upgrade, and Konoha doesn't have enough water for my liking."

The socialization continued, as Suzu waited for a response. She wondered how long it'd be until the rain stopped; it'd been going at it for a while.

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Age : 29 Posts : 766

He thought hard when he heard about being someplace else. "Yes, I've been someplace faraway, it was very snowy and shinobi used ice techniques.", he replied. "I trained my skills there." "But it wasn't anything like Kiri, and i missed the rain and constant dodging of the puddles." He begin see a ray of light shine through another dark cloud, only to fade away, silently. "I feel like I'm a whole different person anywhere but Kiri, so I perfere staying here.", he muttered quietly.

He begin fooling around, manipulating water, and then sent some towards Suzu in a playful manner. He smiled as the water soared at her.

Posts : 423

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my mouth is frozen so i can't even speak
MAKESHI SUZU
KOORI KURO
what a disappointment, i had it perfectly
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Sounds a lot like the snowy village to me, Suzu thought. It apparently, constantly snowed there and light barely saw the earth. "Yeah. Lots of places have snow, or water, or just constant fog. But wherever it is, it's nothing compared to Kiri. Here, is second to none. Showing nothing short of phenomenal." Looking ahead, the rain had seemingly cut through most of the humid mist, slightly lowering the weather. It was a nice change, and Suzu appreciated the cool breeze against her skin.

It was true that place and time could affect the mood of a person, as well as the outcome of events. "Whatever you may be doing, it doesn't matter, as the setting has its own power when deciding the next steps. You should've learned that the power of placings in the Academy. Battles, missions and pretty much everything else are all affected by wherever the heck you are." she informed him, brushing a wet lock of hair from her eyes. They grazed over to the other side of town; adjacent to the marketplace and saw the lamplight from a ower building near the popular tea shop. Naomi's probably up reading, or getting some last minute cleaning done, she guessed, thinking of her neighbour who lived a story below her.

Suzu could hear some shuffling from Kuro and following, the noise of the water being tossed and turned was too farmiliar to her. Just as she turned to see what he had planned, a small, tightly packed package of water flew at her face. It collapsed into hundreds of water molecules before the drops hit her face, making her wince.

Although she couldn't remember her Genin days, his abilities were impressive. Manipulating water was at its own level of difficulty, but controlling its movements to shoot at someone, more or less as a weapon, required skill and hours of training. Of course, people generally thought that control and accuracy came with the kekki genkai to Koori clan members, but in all honesty, the training to perfect the skill was endless. It was evident that this boy was definitely in tune with his abilities, and if he kept up his training, the Chuunin exams should hopefully come slightly easier. But hey, what did she know about the exams..

"Impressive," Suzu admitted, wiping water off her face with the back of her hand, though slightly annoyed by the pointless attack. "With some more training and determination, you could be the next Koori prodigy." It may not have sounded like it, but Suzu did honestly have some faith in this kid.

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THE MISTY MARKET
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Age : 29 Posts : 766

Kuro had listened to her, even though it sounded like she was rabbling on about something he didn't care about. But he listened anyways, showing signs of boredom on his face. He had noticed she looked over at one of the buildings located in the market. She must know the person who owns that place, he thought. But he kept his eyes on the ball of water he sent towards her. He put his hand over his mouth when it hit her face. But it didn't stop him from sending his head foward in laughter. Looking up at her, he was still laughing.

She thinks I'm impressive, he thought. He stopped laughing and smiling, and began to ponder. Kuro knew he was getting ready to train sometime soon, but he hadn't. A prodigy..seems like a lot of work to be one, he thought. He never heard the word before, as it rang through his head. he still didn't know what rank she was. "Hey, Suzu, do you know what the Chunnin Exams are about?", he asked he quietly. Kuro knew exactly what happened during Kiri's exam. He was too kind to even think about killing his fellow genin, but would rather defend himself from them. He looked at her, awaiting another 'Long-Winded' response.

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my mouth is frozen so i can't even speak
MAKESHI SUZU
KOORI KURO
what a disappointment, i had it perfectly
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Not knowing what to make of the laughter, Suzu regained her composure and listened as he spoke. Of course, you couldn't help but to be somewhat curious as to how the Chuunin exams went. Although, everyone knew it was a bloodbath, some details could be left out pertaining to where it was, or how many people, or what weapons you could use. Asking those questions meant that the person was anxious for the event, which was never a good thing. Calm and collected always wins the race.

"The Chuunin exams aren't like the ninja Academy exams you did before graduating to a Genin, where your job was to create successful clones and have them last through whatever they threw at you." Suzu began, trying to start from where she saw best. "The Academy exam tests the fundamentals, and in a way, they prepare you for the Chuunin exams. While you're a Genin, you get put into a team of three with a sensei, and your job from there on in, is to train hard." she wondered if Kuro was under a good authority, and nothing compared to her old sensei.

"Lots of people assigned many different names for the Chuunin exams. Bloodbath. Hide and go die. Survival of the fittest. So you get the idea." Suzu said, her voice wavering. "And you should know that your main goal is to kill. Whether it be your teammates or some other Genin you don't even know." she paused. "You should also know that there are different ways of deciding on a winner. Sometimes, they'll stop when only one Genin is left alive. But note that he, or she, may have been hiding the whole time, and didn't kill anyone. Making him or herself unworthy of being a Genin."

"Other times, they might wait until they see enough Genin had died, and the few Genin that are left alone standing get to graduate and become Chuunin." This is the gist of what she had heard from her teammates who were lucky enough to survive. "And if you had been listening carefully to the village news, you should've heard that I didn't participate in the Chuunin exams. I was made a Chuunin by the Mizukage. You could say that it was a special promotion."

She wondered if that was enough to literally scare Kuro out of his socks. For her, it was just something she was lucky to avoid, and hearing about it didn't make much of a difference to her. But she knew that saying it to someone was completely different than actually participating in it.

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THE MISTY MARKET
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Age : 29 Posts : 766

Kuro acted interrested in the Exams. He now knew why Kiri was known as the bloody mist. But yet it somehow felt imposssible. The people in Kiri didn't seem violent or prone to kill each other. Maybe Kiri had different teachings from other villages. The Cunnin Exams must be to seperate younger shinobi, like me, from feelings, he thought. Quietly, he began fiddling around with his fingers. It was still raining, and Kuro was becoming slightly annoyed by it. He smiled. "I guess the Exams are tough."

"Hey, wait.", he said with a funny grin on his face. "Why didn't you have to do the exams?" "Did you do something with the...uh I mean for the Mizukage?", he asked. He meant it in a bad way, just to make her mad. Looking at the sky, it was hard to tell where the sun was. He would need to go soon, and come back to the market another day.

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my mouth is frozen so i can't even speak
MAKESHI SUZU
KOORI KURO
what a disappointment, i had it perfectly
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He took that rather well, I would've probably freaked out or something, she thought, trying to remember her days as a little girl. It brought a small smile to her face, and the same feeling of reassurance that she'd felt many times a while back was also present as well. "I can't even begin to imagine my feelings if I've participated in that exam. All I like to remember is the moment when I got dragged away from the field by ANBU shinobi." Suzu figured details weren't needed, she didn't want him to depend on slying out of the exams also. She was just the one and final special case that Kiri would see.

"Tough? I guess that's one word for it. What it really is, is brutal. Haven't you always wondered why Kiri had gone with this type of exam? Why so many lives had to be sacrificed for the graduation for a few number of Genin? Even with that, Kiri has the smallest amount of shinobi. So to the high ranking shinobi, the villagers put their faith in them to protect this small island. It puts a lot of pressure on them, thus explaining their rare presense in the village. Most are all probably hidden in the Administration building somewhere." she sighed, taking a deep breath.

She was quite annoyed with his question. It seemed that he did hear the news, and the crazy assumptions other graduates had made. Now, of all times, she regretted ever making the secrecy deal with the Mizukage. The real reason why she was promoted was kept a secret, in order to make sure special cases such as Suzu would be further prevented. "Sorry to say, but the reason as to my promotion isn't supposed to be spoken aloud with other people."

A lot of people had been spreading the rumour pertaining to her "relationship" with the Mizukage. It bothered her quite a bit, as she didn't even know who the man really was. She hadn't even seen his face, and only a few words were spoken between the two. "What the Mizukage and I spoke of isn't considered very important to anyone else but us. It bothers me to no ends that people keep spreading those lies even after it has passed. The best they could do is accept it, and move on. You should know better than to believe in ridiculous rumours like that." She case him a stern look, hoping to get her irritation across.

"Now, enough with this, you should make your way back home. Your mother must be worried."

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Age : 29 Posts : 766

"So, Kiri wants quality over quantity..", he said before stopping. He continued listening to her. He knew it was only a rumour, he just wanted to be sure it was. He looked at her face, viewing a stern look and laughed. "I don't care what you and the Mizukage talked about.", he said while laughing. "I just wanted to know if it was a rumour or not.", he said, his laughter stopping momentarily. He began running away, but stopped and turned around. "I'll see you some other time.", he said, waving his hand in the air. He began picking up speed once again, running back to his home.

Occ - Topic done, maybe I'll do a mission now.....and I should try to find willing shinobi to come with me...

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my mouth is frozen so i can't even speak
MAKESHI SUZU
KOORI KURO
what a disappointment, i had it perfectly
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Status: Finished.

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