[Open to any and all] Casual

Then the sun hung low, a quiet wind blew across the streets of the village and of course, there was a distinct sense of ease which the old man felt. The air was humid and because of the rising temperatures at this time of the year, it was rather unpleasant for some while others did not mind it. In the later hours of the day fog would take command of the village and its surroundings quite easily because of the humidity, but it was a gentle fog that still allowed for a hardly obstructed view at what before and besides oneself, unlike the fog that buries the land of the mist at times which is known for causing the loss of a whole generation of genin and academy students so far. Yes, quite unlike that, the fog that was present in Takigakure served for a distinct amount of moisture in the air and perhaps eased the evening hours. Then again during the nights the temperature took a comfortable middle ground due to the village being located at a waterfall after all.

These days the degraded and retired man had taken it upon himself to take himself out on a walk during the evening hours. Perhaps it was simply due to not having anything to do, or perhaps it was because of the patrolling duty which was within his wide variety of tasks in younger, in better days. Whatever the cause was, the old man was out on a walk and was enjoying the mild evening hours. Eventually he would stumble upon people he had gotten to know over the last two years in which he was no longer an active shinobi, such as the young woman Hitomi that lived just a rough fifteen meters from him away. Her family owned a flower shop and from time to time the old man would get a bouquet of flowers to take towards the monuments for those shinobi lost in past wars, on past missions and the like. It was a matter of honor to him nowadays to do so, simply because he could not even remember the sheer number of people he had sacrificed to grant him the privilege of victory. It was thanks to those tactics of his where he would light-heartedly sacrifice a whole unit just to create a diversion and take out the head of the enemy operations, on his own. Sadly such tactics were most likely born out of his desire to have tough and challenging fights rather than his task to complete a mission with as few casualties as possible.

But today was not one of the days he would visit such a monument – of course those who had fallen were honored through monuments and not through graves because a dead shinobi’s body usually was left to rot wherever the shinobi had fallen. No, today the retired Shinobi was simply ‘patrolling’, no rather he was strolling. Every odd step he had to burden his weight onto his cane which he required because of the severe damage he had taken in that one special battle he had lost. His greyish hair was simply flowing around, it was rather long after all, but then again what reason did he have to shorten it? Not like he would ever return to former glory since his right leg can’t even begin to function even remotely properly anymore. It did not matter to him anymore though, as he had come to terms with his retirement and perhaps he felt a bit saddened by the fact that he was not handled as hero of Takigakure after all the battles he had fought and all the victories he had claimed. Then again, he was at ease because he was not handled as some sort of devilish myth that should never have existed either after all the men and women he had granted an early grave – friends and foes alike. Perhaps everything turned out for the better after all.

He kept on thinking as he arrived at a circular fountain with a few benches placed around it. Arashi tasked himself with taking a break. His leg was aching even though he could not even feel it half of the time, but he could feel the pain at this moment then and there and decided that a break was coincidentally a nice idea. He was thinking about his past a little and from time to time lost himself within thought only to then forget what he was actually just remembering. After all, a lot of things were simply a blur after so many years and remembering everything was hard on his old brain. So he was simply humming a little tune his mother always hummed when she was preparing dinner for when the father would return after a long day of instructing academy students. ’I wonder why I never thought about teaching at the academy… perhaps for the better. Haha.’

And though Rizumu is only a few months out of the Academy, he knows that sometimes the best teachers don't actually vision themselves as suitable teachers at all.  He sees these kind of things in the friends he's made; some of the more awkward folk are the friendliest, and some of the crueler folk have saved his butt more than a couple times.  Ehh, maybe he's just feeling sanguine, sitting peacefully at one of the mentioned benches.  He's just a kid; what the heck does he know about leadership.

But he doesn't sit for long, noticing the man closer to the fountain-- noticing his leg really before the person himself.  His pale pupils are made for picking up detail, though, this time, inactive and relaxing, it's honestly mere luck they catch such a thing.

The teen dressed in a worn green suit-jacket politely over to Arashi, his hands resting nonchalantly in his pant-pockets.  Rizumu doesn't want to make any assumptions (perhaps the man had just stopped by the fountain without much cause, and Rizumu would just look like some nosy kid that asks random questions), but feels compelled to say *something.*  He's already walked over to him, anyhow.

"Hey-- you all right there, old-timer?" the Genin asks, his very northern-American accent suggesting his youth and cavalier chivalry.  He turns his head slightly with a simple, reserved smile.

Naturally the kid was not hard to notice for a veteran shinobi such as Arashi, but on the other hand did the eyes and sense, the instinct of the olden shinobi numb down rather unpleasantly so perhaps, just for a little while the kiddo was not exactly noticeable to him. Of course as the kid arose from his seated position to take a posture of neutral friendliness mixed with a tea spoon of reserved comfort, it was no hassle to notice the striking gestures a shinobi instinctively makes even if still young beyond acknowledgement, but perhaps in this day and age the young boy was more acknowledged as a shinobi than the old and achieved ninja. As if not having noticed the boy though, the old man hummed his tune to the end rather coincidentally timed with the question that the boy had posed: "Hey-- you all right there, old-timer?"

The old veteran glanced at the young boy. A smile covered the retired shinobi’s face. He welcomed the young ones, but he knew full well that oftentimes they had no interest in his past achievements and were inclined to not belief the old man when he speaks of the battles he has fought and claiming that he has ever only lost a single battle and that in turn rendered him in a less atrociously weak state than he is in now. A moment would pass until the old Arashi finally replied to the young one. ”Good day young Shinobi. Old timer is the term befitting for a fifty year old now huh? Haha. Of course, with those few years you carry around you are most welcome to call me so. All that is wrong with me are wounds aching of times that have passed for me.”

Perhaps for a moment, there was a quantum of grief, of longing for those times, visible in the eyes of the ‘old-timer’. Perhaps that moment was enough for the young’un to notice, but to dwell on such times. No, the veteran should not do such. It was not good for him as longing easily led to desire to relive those days. ”But tell me, young shinobi. Do you not have duties to attend to, or could it be that you are simply leisurely enough to grant yourself a tee of free time?” A slight grin, not in a malicious one, but rather a intriguing one. The sort of grin that was a bit more edgy than a smile as it showed the teeth in a more animalistic way than a teethful smile would, yet it was not meant to cause discomfort, but it should rather show that the old timer could certainly still remember him having done similar things during his younger years.

The slight chill in the air caused the air on Moji's bare arm to raise just so. He rubbed his arm with his other hand so that the little bit of friction caused might warm him just a little. If asked, he would have to admit that taking a stroll in the chill evening hours, just after the fog had rolled through, was not his best of ideas. But he would also have to admit that he enjoyed being outside, in nature, no matter what the weather. He guessed that was what was expected from someone who was so close to nature itself. After all, nature was one of the only things that he was fully able to trust. Nature had never betrayed him, or hurt him. Nature had done nothing to lose his trust and love.

His stroll brought him down a path that he traveled almost daily and his favorite part of the walk was coming up. The large fountain surrounded by some benches. Moji always enjoyed this place; it was good for a walk and then to sit and relax some if one were to become tired. But this time was different. Instead of seeing the fountain standing solo embraced in all its glory, Moji found it to have two companions.

The two figures became clearer through the mist as Moji made his approach. One was sitting on a bench, the other standing before the former. As he walked closer, Moji was able to make out the two figures faces. The man sitting on the bench Moji never remembered encountering before. But the one standing he had. He had recently completed a mission with the boy, Rizumu, if he remembered correctly.

"Well look who it is," Moji said in Rizumu's direction as he approached. To imagine running into the genin here, and now. "How goes it?" The question was directed to both men.

An eyebrow raises.  "Hmm.  Is this guy ex-military or something?" the Genin wonders to himself.  He's too young to understand the demeanor of a shinobi just by stance and mannerism alone, though it's easy enough to tell by how close they hit their mark during target-practice.  Rizumu doesn't get the man's drift right away, but he considers asking about it later.

Shinobi or not, this man is certainly steadfast in representing his age.  He speaks in a contently cryptic way, typical of an older gentleman of history.  It is ambiguous, but therefore interesting, so Rizumu continues to listen to the man's sagelike speech whose appreciation is not lost on the youthful teen.  The man also seems to critique the Genin's fondness of leisure.  Yes.  Rizumu confirms it with that; this man is *certainly* an elder.

Rizumu turns and leans his bottom against his fountain.  He tries to sport a faux-guilty face, turning his eyes to the ground, but he can't keep it, and a smile from a pleasant conversation resurfaces on his face.  So, he looks back to Arashi and says:
"Ehhhh.  I guess I've got a few things I could be doing.  But, I'm not one to waste a nice afternoon of relaxing between missions.  I don't work well under too much stress."  He moves his hands out of his pockets with this, locking his fingers behind his head in that token anime-casual-guy way.  Then, he realizes he *does* look like that token anime-casual-guy and adjusts himself to look more proper, correcting his posture and the rest of it.
"Heh, I guess I must sound like the typical lazy youngster to you, huh mister?" he jokes.  or, atleast, he hopes he's just joking.

AND THEN SNEAK-POSTED!  But Rizumu knows how to deal with this, and that's by making a last-second edit at the end of the post.
"Oh, hey there, Moji.  Just resting up for the next mission." He's glad enough to see him; Moji's one of the more competent Genin of their class, though "competence" isn't something Rizumu judges on too often.

Twilight was lying in a tree resting not far from a fountain. It was her favorite spot to go to. It had a wonderful view and was close enough to the fountain that Twilight could eaves drop into any conversations. She would sit or lie down on this particular tree thinking deeply and when people happen to walk by who were having a conversation that sounded interesting she would halt her thought process and listen in. Twilight wasn't good at making friends but enjoyed peoples company non the less which led her to this behavior.

Twilight had been thinking about possibly making more of an effort to help out her village. She was conflicted on her position when it came to her village. It had done a lot of trauma to her but after that trauma the village did a lot of things to make Twilight's life much better than it was. She supposed she should be more grateful.

Twilight's train of thought came to a stop when she heard speech. There was an old man and a young boy talking to each other. It was kinda cute. Twilight smirked when the boy talked about his lazy impression. There wasn't anyone in this village more lazy than Twilight.

Another boy approached, this one rather chubby. Twilight wouldn't have normally payed him any mind since he wasn't doing any talking, but he had brought snacks with him which Twilight was jealous of. She hadn't brought any snacks and she was craving some. Remembering her family's want for Twilight to make more friends Twilight decided to do something uncharacteristic for her. Despite her trepidation she continued on ward jumping out of the tree and headed for the bench the snack man was sitting on. Sitting down Twilight looked at the old man and the young boy. Feeling awkward Twilight felt she had to say something. "That's not something you see everyday. They don't look like relatives." Twilight said and looked at the boy sitting next to her expecting some sort of verbal response.

Another boy arrived at the fountain. Obvious to the eyes of the ‘old timer’ this newly arrived one had a different approach to life than the one which had donned the title of old timer to Arashi. This new one in all his posture appeared to Arashi as though the boy was less of a slacker than the one that had so generously entitled the retired shinobi to be an old timer. A smirk was placed on the old man’s face at their interaction the boy that had arrived only now was apparently called Moji, yet the one that had already interacted with Arashi was still lacking an introduction, but then again Arashi did also not introduce himself. Nonetheless the boy of whom the retired shinobi did not know the name yet had posed the rather rhetorical question of whether he was just a lazy young one to the retired shinobi and this caused the old timer to chuckle softly. Oh the youth.

Of course, the Akimichi boy who avoided the confrontation with the old timer and the two young genin did not go by unnoticed, at least not unnoticed by Arashi despite being positioned with his back towards the boy that was having a snack after all. Simply the food was enough to make his presence known. The girl that had positioned herself in such a supposedly hidden place was hardly a problem to be noticed, but she also did not display any interest in interaction with the old timer and who would the retired shinobi be to force such young people to even speak a word with an old man such as himself? Perhaps it would cause them to age dramatically and lose all interest in a future, especially a future as shinobi. Naturally the retired man so far only had very few years of experience of social interaction with shinobis, as he had spent most of his life giving orders and moving out and about. He was simply not used to having people around him that were not likely to die within the next few moments, if they even lived that long.

”Haha. Young boy, treasure the times when you can be at ease as much as you are now. I did never tend to such moments during my active shinobi life and as such I am now left to wasting my days with taking walks or buying groceries. Most of all, if you were to life a shinobi life as I did, you would one day find yourself retired with no one even knowing your name because most of the people you ever knew are dead.” The retired shinobi insisted on a small pause and then he laughed? Yes, he laughed. ”Haha. Of course, you would first have to survive long enough to become useless. Hahaha.” The retired shinobi then turned his head towards the boy named Moji. Good day to you, Moji. It is a wonderful day, so naturally one must be content to be as free as to take a stroll. How goes it for you?” The retired man had a smile on his face. It was just a simple one, but it displayed his honest feeling of being content with his situation and with the situation he finds himself in now in which he is able to have a simple chatter with the new generation.

Moji wasn't quite sure what Rizumu had meant, "resting up for the next mission". The previous mission hadn't been much of a hassle, or at least not to Moji. Maybe Rizumu had a difficult time, or maybe he had performed another mission since then. Or maybe he was just expecting his next mission to be a big one that required resting for. Either way, it was sort of odd. Moji thought he would have to keep an eye on Rizumu. He did seem to be acting a bit suspicious. "Ah, yeah. Gotta be ready for the next one," he said hiding his thoughts.

Just as he was finishing his words, another boy showed up; unannounced by words of presence, but the smell of his snack was all that was needed. The boy appeared to be somewhat larger than Moji or Rizumu and Moji knew that there was a clan who favored larger complexions - he just couldn't remember the name of the clan.

Shortly after him, a girl joined him. Shinobi by the looks of it, yet still unannounced. The only reason that Moji knew they were there was because he was facing the bench in which they were sitting on. He did find it strange that they sat so close and said nothing to the group of them that were already there. He continued to watch them out of the corner of his eye, even as the older shinobi spoke to him.

"It goes fairly well. A shame all this fog came in and ruined the views."

Rizumu isn't really sure if he should comment on the slightly somber account of the older gentleman. "So he *was* a shinobi...." the Genin confirms. He isn't certain what this confirmation means for him, though, making a slightly saddened face that both pities Arashi and humanity as a whole. Should he, a new shinobi, readily expect the future death of his friends? Should he expect for war to tear his body and mind apart, rising from the ashes as a mere shadow of who he is today? Rizumu hopes not. He settles the matter in his mind: "I'm going to make sure me and my friends are strong enough to never die." Of course, by the time he decides this, the conversation has turned merry again, and the rekindled spirit of his expression is coincidentally appropriate.

"Oh right!" the green-suited lad says suddenly. He forgot himself for a moment. "I should probably say: I'm Rizumu, by the way, and this here's Moji." It is when Rizumu casts his hand in Moji's direction to introduce him that he notices the other to onlookers. Huh. They look familiar to him. Perhaps from his days at the Academy?

Oh well. Time doesn't allow the Genin to stay for them. He's sure to meet them more officially at some point. Takigakure's a small place. "Well, 'fate frowns at the sloth.' I should probably be headed to the Mission Office," announces Rizumu as he turns towards a nearby path. "It was nice meeting you, old-timer. I--" "-- hope we meet again" is what Rizumu wants to say. But, he doesn't, feeling certain the man has better things to do than dabble along with the whims of a kid. Still, interrupting himself, the boy smiles and submits to a mere wave as he takes steps away. He does want to invest more time thinking about his future as a shinobi, and the man seems a great catalyst for that. Too bad the present keeps getting in the way.

[OOC: Twilight, we're on the opposite side of the fountain but I'm just gonna put u there with me so to avoid confusion.]

Then the quietness of the wind blowing and the peaceful chatter of the villagers amongst themselves had ceased to be, for the sound of a pair of feet clamping onto the ground sounding as if from a higher height than a normal jump would be. A tree perhaps. The stomping of the feet would pull Chotaro's attention from the people constantly passing by on his side of the fountain going so far as to pull the ball of food out of his mouth as he jerked his head toward the sound. His eyebrows raised as the girl came to his side of the fountain. This girl that stepped to Chotaro's plate seemed a little familiar. The face was something out of memory but with no name to match she was just a blur from the past for now.

"Why is she coming to talk to me? I gotta say something..."

This was his thought as the girl made her merry stroll to Chotaro, his mind was racing because of what? Nervousness? Probably, this girl is the epitome of beauty in Chotaro's mind. The young sixteen year old can't help but to be captivated in her ocean blue eyes. Her dressing style was superb, just what Chotaro likes and it looks like she is coming to talk to Chotaro! What will he do? ... Moments go by as she sits up on the fountain, Chotaro leaning against it. She speaks with such a soft voice, she was starting to make her memory more apparent. Chotaro's hand went inside his flak jacket where his kunai are meant to be and pulls out a wrapped snowball candy and offers it to the girl, "You want some?" He asks, not listening to what she says at first. He was moving too fast for his brain to catch up. "I mean... yeah. That guy looks way too old, maybe his grandpa." He laughed a little.

Then Chotaro overheard the old man speaking to the young man with the silver hair. Chotaro sees them because when he spoke to the girl, he turned to look at the pair of shinobi conversing. Chotaro takes another bite of his ball of food, devouring it in one big gulp. He throws the stick in a nearby garbage basket that put him in half the distance he was before moving to it and he caught some of what he said. "Hey man!" Chotaro made himself known to the old shinobi and the young alike, "Why you so glum about what we do? We protect the village!" Chotaro laughed for making conversation, talking to his fellow shinobi is bringing joy into the day that was once gloomy with the early morning fog. He was hoping the girl would follow him at this point but if not, he looked back and waved for the girl to come join. Chotaro walked closer to engage the two in further conversation that they might bring.

[OOC: Brain fart lol]

Twilight's eyes lit up as the boy next to her offered her some food. "Sure, thanks!" Twilight exclaimed. She hadn't come over here for the purpose of swiping some food but it was a wonderful bonus. Twilight grabbed the candy from his hand and ploped it in her mouth. Her lips subconsciously formed a smile as she enjoyed the taste. The way the boy answered her question sounded like he hadn't been totally listening. This thought drove Twilight to space out thinking. "Did he feel as awkward as I did? How many people were effected like this because of her presence. Was it something she did?" Twilight though to herself.

Twilight was snapped out of la la land when she saw the boy who Twilight could have sworn was just sitting next to her and now wasn't; motion for her to come over to where he was which was by the old man. The young boy who was with the old man earlier seemed to have disappeared. Twilight got up and walked over to the two. Not knowing what to say and the idea of introducing herself as a good way to start off not being something she would think about, Twilight decided to stay silent. Things only seemed to be getting more awkward for Twilight.

The boy named Moji had glanced at the other two genin, or at least Arashi assumed those other two at the opposite side of the fountain to be genin, even as Arashi was as kind as to answer his question and even return the favor. Anyway there was not much point to greatly extend that simple chit chat. The other boy who only then introduced himself as Rizumu had seemed somewhat as if he had taken the words of Arashi to his heart, perhaps he thought that he simply had to get powerful enough to save everyone and all from dying, to protect those he holds dear. Naturally such a thought carries much truth, but it is a long and steep road, that much Arashi knew for certain. Yet, he would not go ahead to destroy that sort of hope or to try and keep the boy from such a direction. It was a good hearted one and if the boy would not lose himself, he would certainly be able to progress a good deal down that path and just might be successful to one day be able to sit around at the village’s fountain with a friend from his younger days, unlike Arashi. Rizumu then stated that he would head off to the mission office now and he stopped midway his second sentence. Amusingly Arashi knew enough about social interaction that in such situations one would often times state the wish to meet again, or rather the hope of such, but why would Rizumu not speak such? Either he did not hope for such, but then even starting such a phrase would be unnecessary, or the boy thought that a retired shinobi had something better to do than to hang around with the new generation – which he did not. As such, the retired shinobi would finish the sentence. I am Arashi, by the way, and I do hope that we meet again. Perhaps when you have already progressed in your career, or at least gained some power. Haha.”

It was then that the boy who had revealed himself by carrying snacks exclaimed a ‘Hey man!’ to then approach the old timer and the silver haired boy Moji, Rizumu already having left by then, and continuing by investing why the retired shinobi would talk the way he does when ‘they’ are protecting the village. He would also motion the other girl which had appeared from a tree and got some candy from the snack boy to approach as well. She abided the motion which the snack boy did to call her over, but unlike the snack boy, the girl that got some candy from the snack boy merely chose to stay silent. Something about the girl intrigued the retired shinobi, but he could not pinpoint it at that moment. It was nothing of a perverse nature as such young girls simply were of no interest to the retired shinobi in that sort of thing. No, it was something different. Perhaps he would find out in a conversation, though he already assumed that talking to that girl could prove somewhat bothersome, but that was just a sort of intuition he had.

The old man turned his face towards the snack boy who claimed that ‘they’ protect the village and he spoke in his nowadays commonly used comforting tone. ”Of course you do. Well, perhaps not as much yet, but you will one day, just like I did. So I assume that it is I who is granted the right to speak openly. Then again, you young ones don’t even know my name even if I told it to you – It is Arashi by the way – so perhaps I don’t have as much of a right to speak openly about the way the real shinobi life is as I would wish for. Haha. Of course, I doubt that the Takikage even remembers me, must have been two years already since we … ‘reached’ a consensus about my future position within the village.” A the memories, the old man’s right leg would ache and he would use his right arm to position it slightly differently to give himself a bit of relief of the pain, his cane resting calmly next to him as it was leaned against the bench on which he was sitting. ”So do tell me, am I incorrect if I assume you all to be genin?” A smile was placed on his face as he inquired that information. Of course, they all could lie to him now, but what point would there be?

Moji gave a slight nod as Rizumu introduced him to the old shinobi. Shortly after Rizumu wandered off to the mission board. Moji slightly wondered if Rizumu was going to find a mission for himself or if Moji was included in the partaking of the mission. Either way, Moji figured that he would need to get a mission himself at some point in time, he didn't want to become too inactive and lose skills. Besides, he had just gotten into the sing of things, it would be a shame to have to try to get back into them.

Soon after Rizumu had taken his leave, the larger boy, who had shared a bit of his snack with the girl that had just arrived, spoke in response to the older man, who had introduced himself as Arashi. Both Arashi and snack boy were correct though. It was true that the moments of relaxation and fun should be cherished. Moji would surely know that. He missed the moments he had with his family. He cherished those moments; the moments of training with his family, of playing with his sister, watching his father train in the training yard. But those moments were over now and they weren't coming back. The thought made Moji sad, but his face didn't show any sign of it.

He listened to Arashi talk about how things would change. That the things they would be doing for the nation would be on a greater scale than they were now. Moji had almost forgotten about the scale of it all. It had been a while since anyone close to him had been called on a mission. He was drifting again.

Then Arashi said something that caught Moji's attention. "... since we … ‘reached’ a consensus about my future position within the village." What did he mean about his "future" position in the village? Was he to become somebody important, or was he already someone important? He had said that the younger kids had probably not heard his name before, and they should know all of the important people in the village now. So what did he mean? Moji would have to remember to ask him.

"I am," he said, responding to Arashi's assumption that they were all genin. "Not too sure about... Uh... What are your names? Mine's Moji." He directed his question to the other two shinobi there since he had already found out Arashi's name.

Chotaro stood next to the fountain with a grin before the man known as Arashi started speaking, his hands on his hips and awaiting some kind of answer from the old man. It was when Arashi started speaking that Chotaro crossed his arms in the fashion that he did.

"Reached an agreement on the man's role to the village? What does that even mean?"

The boy's childish thoughts were fluttering through his mind so softly like bubbles with questions to what was happening. Sadly he did not possess the social skills with which to bring up such questions. For one, why was this seemingly useless man just sitting around at the fountain after a strange fog had strolled through the village. Why did the other kid leave before Chotaro could make howdy-do's? Why in fact, is this man so negative on the life of a shinobi? But these questions would never see the light of day, just stuck within the confides of Chotaro's mind. The boy kept silent as he listened to the old-timer speak. He was right, he did have the right to speak as does everyone with a mouth, but opinions are also something everyone has the right to have. Chotaro's was just one of childish origins and would not mature on the road from his mind to his mouth so it comes out blunt sometimes. Although, Chotaro wasn't being rude with what he was saying of course, that is just mean.

"Oh man! I'm Chotaro from the Akimich clan!" Chotaro unlocked his arms from the crossed position to point at himself with his thumb in the token naruto stance. Chotaro was replying to the silver haired boy probably the same age as him but nothing was set in stone on appearance alone. Chotaro then looked at the girl that followed him and moved aside so the girl could speak and be heard. "I don't know who this is, but she's pretty right?" Chotaro laughed whilst putting his hands behind his back and stretching out his back by pushing on the lower portion of it. Exhaling, he would listen to what the girl said, explaining exactly who she is. Finally the clouds of the unknown travel with the information of this girl. She seems familiar but Chotaro can't put his finger on it, as stated before she may have been in his academy class. Who knows.

Twilight was now interested in the old man. He had obviously been a ninja before but was retired now. Twilight knew his purpose had been very similar to all other ninja but that wasn't a purpose Twilight was interested in. Twilight wanted to know what was his purpose now, now that he wasn't a ninja. Did he have one or was he in the same boat as Twilight and still searching for a new purpose.

Twilight also wondered what he meant by position in the village. Was he to become a village elder? If so he would probably be told about Twilight's uniqueness. Only the important people in the village knew she was a jinchuuriki. The elders and Twilight's parents told her it was a secret because if people knew outside of the village it would put her in danger, but Twilight wondered if it was more than that. Every time someone spoke about the tailed beasts they spoke as though it was some really terrible monster. She still had yet to look into it.

A newcomer introduced himself as Moji and the snack man introduced himself as Chotaro and Twilight remembered the old man introducing himself as Arashi. Arashi asked if they were all genin. Next thing Twilight knew Chotaro had stuck her in the spot light. Twilight looked like a deer caught in a headlight and she was also blushing from the compliment Chotaro had given her. "Myyyy," Twilight drew out trying to gather her thoughts. "Names Twilight." She said changing her expression to a smile. "And yes I am a genin."

The silver haired boy, Moji, had declared that he was indeed a Genin, though Arashi was most uncertain about him. The way he handled himself, his posture and the way he talks had a slight bit of someone who had progressed further. Then again, it should be noted that Arashi’s senses had dulled as his body had deteriorated throughout his life and mostly in his retirement. Oh my, if he was still in his old form he could clear these three genin in a heart beat, but now he probably would be unable to even put up a reasonable fight… against three Genin. Such moments in which his newfound weakness is revealed so blatantly obvious to himself are moment when he longs for days that have passed. The days that he was known throughout the village and throughout the ninja world as a sort of demon, were the toughest and most gruesome of his life, but they never appeared as such to him. Perhaps that was because he lived through them and was simply living from one moment to the other.

The other boy, the snack boy introduced himself as Chotaro of the Akimichi clan. Naturally Arashi could still remember a few facts he had gathered throughout his life about the Akimichi clan. They were originally from the area where Konohagakure was founded and most of the clan eventually was incorporated into the village, though there were always remnants of a clan, even if only single families, that strived to find a different place for themselves. It was likely that such was the case with the family of Chotaro, but that was a mere assumption, as it was also possible that they simply migrated from Konohagakure to Takigakure. Chotaro then placed all of the light on the girl that he had motioned at to come over and join the group, commenting on how he did not know who she was, but stating that she was pretty and ending it with a rhetorical question, at least to Arashi it seemed like it. The girl was obviously pretty with great facial features and a body form that was befitting for a shinobi. The girl blushed at the comment of the snack boy and stated that her name was Twilight and that she was indeed a genin.

After having heard the ranks and the verification of Arashi’s assumption that they were all genin, he somewhat felt an obligation to also introduce himself properly. They were all Takigakure Ninja after all, so there should be no problem if he were to reveal more of himself. Then again he was hardly an enemy anymore for even a genin, if the genin had a distinct amount of actual battle experience, and as such whoever would hear about Arashi now would have to have some sort of personal vendetta against him if he was to attack the old timer. ”Thank you for verifying my assumption. I guess that I should perhaps also introduce myself fully. My name is Arashi and I am a retired Shinobi. I am not a member of any clan, but just of a family that has brought forth average shinobi for a while – though I am the last of my family. Officially I am ranked as a Tokubetsu Jounin, though I was a Jounin for most of my life.” The old timer put on a smile, though it was burdened obviously, somewhat his face seeming to remember the respect he was victim to in days passed. Well the retired shinobi by all means was really fond of nostalgia which is even the reason why he would state something as obsolete as him having been a Jounin. At least Arashi thought that such information was likely lacking importance to these young ones.

Moji listened to everything that everyone had said. Closely listening for anything that seemed to be off about them. That's just what he did. He was somewhat skeptical to new comers, especially people that he had literally just met. It had been that way for a while and for now, there was no getting over it. He watched each of them as they talked, looking at their eyes, their body language.

The candy boy introduced himself as Chotaro Akimichi. He knew that he had heard that name before. The Akimichi and the Senju had both originated in Konohagakure; it was strange that both members of these clans had found their way to a fountain in the middle of Takigakure. It left sort of a dry feeling in Moji's mouth, but he soon shrugged it off as his body's way of telling him that he was thirsty. Now that he thought about it, the sun had begun to dip below the horizon, or that of it they could see through the dense fog that hung low over Taki. Moji had been out longer than he had wanted, but he was too intrigued to leave now. Chotaro motioned to the girl next to him, stating that she was pretty while also looking for an agreement. Moji felt himself subconsciously nod.

The girl shyly introduced herself as Twilight. Just Twilight. Was that because that was all there was to her name? Or was there more behind it? Perhaps she was hiding something from them that she didn't want them to find out. Either way, the answer would come out eventually; it always did. She seemed shy, or reserved. It was too hard to tell with the little introduction that she had granted. There seemed to be something about her that was different than the snack boy next to her. Yes, she was a little less outgoing, but the way that she held herself. She seemed nice enough. Moji wasn't sure what was different about this Twilight girl. Heck, he could even be mistaken.

Arashi also had only given a single name. There had to be a reason behind this, but Moji was unsure about that as well. Moji also found it odd that Arashi would have been demoted to Tokubetsu after being a Jounin. But maybe that was what happened to everyone that was no longer able to perform in the field. He hadn't really learned about that sort of stuff; politics weren't especially important to him.

"Um... excuse me for asking, but what did you mean about reaching a consensus about your future position within the village?" he asked Arashi. Nobody else had bothered asking the question, and it was heavy on Moji's mind just like it was probably heavy one everyone else's mind. That was one of those statements that was hard to forget.

Twilight suddenly realized there was something she needed to do for her parents before the sun went down. Twilight quickly excused herself from the group and left.
[exit]

The gentle breeze that once was is now blowing a tad more fiercely making the cold air that much colder, not enough to make much of a difference but enough to make one wonder where the sun had gone. Twilight introduced herself, Arashi introduced himself and Moji just sat there listening to everyone with some kind of really interested face but not really interacting with conversation, only what Chotaro could assume as mental notes on them all. Chotaro would keep his eye on this one, "He might go far..." he thought as he just stood keeping his arms at his sides.

"Wow, a retired shinobi? I've never talked to one of those before! Maybe we could learn some things from you"

Chotaro spoke before his mind could think of revisions of the sentence so it came out raw and uncut. Not that it was rude in any way, Arashi more than likely wouldn't take it that way. Chotaro took notice of the man's smile, his smile says he was content with how things are in the village and how everything turned out for him but his tone couldn't help but bring Chotaro to an assumption of the man's dark past. Chotaro is outgoing enough to be able to talk to enough people to know when people were hiding something, though this man is a special jounin, he was also retired and maybe able to shed some light on how the actual shinobi life is instead of taking some silly D-rank missions. Still though, the name Twilight had brought to the conversation couldn't help but give way to possible memories of the girl and where the memories of her originated. maybe she had been there at Chotaro's academy class, maybe they have talked before.

"Twilight... Twilight..."

The name kept ringing in his mind as the girl suddenly excused herself. Chotaro watched the girl walk away. Untapped beauty making her way away from the site that the three were conversing in out of what? Boredom? Did she want to go do missions and get some moneyz for weapons? Maybe she just wanted to train? Who knows, the girl wouldn't escape his mind however, he still might think of where she comes from. Chotaro's attention span then caught on to what Moji asked Arashi and his head went back to Arashi's tired body when he answers the question but before he could do that, Chotaro spoke up before so to not interupt the man, "Yeah what does that even mean?" Chotaro would take out another snowball candy and offer one to each of the men before Arashi answered any questions.

The snack boy amused Arashi with the part where he stated that he had never talked to a retired shinobi before and also noting how they could probably learn something from him. Yes, there certainly was a lot of things that the retired shinobi could teach them, especially if it was about battlefield things. Haha. Oh my, it would be devastating if the old man was to retell the stories he had amounted throughout his shinobi life. The girl called Twilight excused herself and then hurried away. Naturally, Arashi had bid her a good bye and a until we meet again, since that was just the way it should be and he was a nice guy after all. It was then that Moji asked what Arashi had meant with a previous statement of his which he did not elaborate at all and as such sounded just elliptically cryptic. Of course, the snack boy asked as well, emphasising on Moji’s curiosity and then proceeded to offer each of them a snowball candy.

”No thank you Chotaro, I am not fond of sweets.” He declined like a friendly old man which he is after all and naturally with a smile, before sighing deeply. ”To answer your question, Moji, I must elaborate a bit about myself. I am now fifty years old and I was degraded to Tokubetsu Jounin when my leg finally lost all its’ feeling and when it finally stopped to bide my commands and I could no longer fight against the wounds that I now carry with me for twenty-five years now. It was two years ago when that day came and the Takikage asked me to meet up with him. Of course I did not decline and we had an intense … conversation about my deeds, my orders and my future. Had I been judged then I would have gotten the death sentence for my work as shinobi and after all I claimed victory after victory for Takigakure for well over thirty years – with only a single exception. However, I was anything but a good guy back in the day. Hahaha.” The old man would laugh thinking about himself in his younger days and he found it especially funny that he was actually scared of himself there for a moment. ”Back in the day none of you here would even have gotten within my taijutsu radius before a genjutsu would have deteriorated your mind. Oh my, oh my. I was quite the devil I must say. But back to the point I was trying to make. The Takikage was generous to me and reached a conclusion. His conclusion was that because of this right leg of mine I am no longer a threat and he prohibited me of performing any ninja arts. Of course, he knew that such a sentence was worse than dying because one’s skills deteriorate and one becomes dull if one does not hone one’s skills. And my future of course was to continue living, knowing full well that I am not allowed to use the power I had amassed throughout the forty-eight years back then. And it also meant that I would fade into obscurity. Simply being gone and no trace ever pointing into my direction. Perhaps it was simply the idea of the Takikage that the war machine of Takigakure should just be forgotten and I must say that it obviously worked pretty well.”

Eventually there were a few bursts within that monologue that seemed angry and that is what they were. There are simply parts that when Arashi talks about them, he gets angry and annoyed by such. But as he finished he had a desolate smile on his face again, not showing any trace of anger or hatred. Just a simple smile that seemed slightly saddened by the way things went.

The girl, Twilight, quickly excused herself. Moji hadn't known if it was something one of them had said, or if it was the direction of the conversation. Or perhaps she had other things to attend to. Now that he thought about it, Moji had things he needed to attend to also. But the conversation was just now getting to an interesting part. Things were just picking up and gathering his attention. But at the same time, the girl who was just about to walk away also brought some sort of interest to Moji. She had barely said anything the whole time the group was gathered, much like Moji himself. Perhaps she preferred to listen and gather information instead of put it out there. Either way, Moji was sure that they would bump into each other somewhere or another, and he could attend to what was needed at a later date. So Moji turned his attention back to the two that remained.

Just as Moji was tuning back in, Chotaro was offering some of his candy. "No thanks, Chotaro," Moji said holding up his hand. Afterwards, Arashi would speak, declining Chotaro's offer and responding to Moji's question.

Moji listened with intense interest. The man known as Arashi seemed to have gone through a lot in his lifetime. And most importantly, in the past couple of years. Moji hadn't been an actual shinobi for long, and he sure hadn't seen the battles that Arashi most likely witnessed; but he couldn't decide whether or not the life as the shinobi or the life after losing the privilege to act as a shinobi would be harsher. He could hear the anger and sadness in Arashi's voice. From the sound of it, the later was the more difficult.

"Wow," Moji said. "That sounds like a harsh treatment for someone who had done so much for the village." But perhaps he had earned the punishment of losing his privileges. In the middle of his dialogue, Arashi had said "with only a single exception." That one phrase must hold some meaning.

The young silver haired shinobi passed on the young Akimichi's offer, swaying it to Arashi offering the same thing went unappreciated. Chotaro began unwrapping his pink snowball and devoured it in seconds before Arashi began talking. He would open another piece of snowball candy, unwrap it and take small bites this time. Patience is the best virtue, make things last and all that jazz. Reasons.

Arashi's speech just began when Chotaro put his hands in his pockets but not in uninterest. In fact, Chotaro leaned in a bit because what this conversation turned into was everything but uninteresting, in fact this conversation is just about on Chotaro's taste. The sun going down quicker than normal as it always seemed to do when it got as low as it did before this whole social topic got started. The sun dipped below the trees off in the distance and the natural light went out just as Arashi's laugh was over. Intensifying the conversation that much more by only being lighted by a nearby light pole. Chotaro's eyebrows arced multiple times during the speech. Though Chotaro's feet only glided on the surface on this man's past, he could feel the intensity in Arashi's tone as he continued talking and could somewhat respect the man's past and what he's done.

"Fading is not what you're doing old man..." Chotaro mustered up after what was the most intense lecture he's ever received. Chotaro's feet took him to sit next to the Arashi man on the fountain, he put his hand on the man's shoulders. Chotaro looked at him with eyes deeper than space, deep with the look of concern and understanding. Get nothing confused, this look was nothing of pity or concern for the man's life, rather the look Chotaro gives the man is one of pure respect. The young genin didn't know much of war, no one wants to learn of such a gruesome deed. One so young shouldn't know of such a thing either, although in the world of the shinobi this happens daily and horrors of young deaths are very prevalent at the time of the shinobi. Chotaro smiled at the man with that large face of his sporting a grin from ear to ear. "We're living..." Chotaro looked in front of the fountain at the forest in front of the three, leaving the ending of that sentence to interpretation. The two could think a multitude of things, maybe Chotaro didn't know what he thought he was saying. The young boy doesn't have such a way with words, expressing himself properly is not what the boy is good at but talking with people is how one gets better.

"You know..." Chotaro started talking while still looking off into the distance, then beaming his line of sight to the street light that began flickering with a slight buzzing sound, "I wasn't born here." He finished. Not as big of a confession as one would hope, but it was one nonetheless and it was a step in the right direction. Chotaro swallowed back some pride and began speaking once more, "It's true. I come from the leaf village. We left because of... can you believe it? Bullies. I'm a shinobi and I run away from my problems like a little bitch." His speech became vulgar for no reason, one could clearly hear the anger in his voice but he didn't care, "We're opening up right? What's your story, Moji?" The boy took the attention from him keeping up the light-hearted smile he had before, trying to keep his cool in front of the two. He didn't want to upset the veteran shinobi by exposing feelings.

Arashi was glad that the two young boys listened so intensively to an old man as him rambling on and on about his past and about the solitude he was going having now. Gleefully he eased up again. After all, it was never within his interests to make the children feel bad for him, pity him perhaps or carry any concern for him. He was an old man in the end and being retired he simply had nothing better to do than to dwell on his memories for he is not exactly in a position to make worthwhile memories every day – though this evening certainly would stay in his memories for a long time because it eased his old age.

Moji seemed amazed about the treatment which Arashi received from the Takikage, after all Arashi had supposedly done for the village. Well, it wasn’t exactly wrong, but it wasn’t exactly right after all. Perhaps Arashi should confess about what he had really done and what he was like in his younger days though then, and of that he was certain, he would be brandished as a devil which he was and word would spread easily in the small village that is Takigakure. The consequence could be that he would become an exile within a community, a renegade, an unwelcome existence.

Chotaro proclaimed his respect for Arashi as well though less verbally, but rather with his eyes and his general posture along with his actions. He would then continue to speak of his past, stating how he was not born in Takigakure, but rather had fled from Konohagakure because of bullies. Of course, if it was Arashi then no bully would ever have been able to stand against him and if he would have had to sacrifice a whole generation to annihilate the enemy… Ah well, but that would have been back in the day anyway… so perhaps it was better that there was no Arashi around to take care of bullies. Haha. Furthermore Chotaro asked Moji to share his past, but before that Arashi felt the need to unveil a bit more about his past.

”I must thank you both for making me feel almost as if I deserved your respect, but you only know half the truth.” Arashi would sigh for a moment. Yes, he would reveal the true Arashi of the past. The truth about me. It will not be easy for you both to swallow, but only then can you speak truthfully about me.” The old man would pause for a moment and take a deep breath. It was perhaps the first time he would talk with someone about his true past. ”I was a true devil. I became a Jounin at the age of fifteen and I was generally a front row fighter. I simply annihilated my enemies and because I started off pretty well, I was soon given command over platoons of other Jounin, Chuunin and Genin. However, I became thirsty for battle and due to my, well… sense for strategy and because of evaluations I made, I sent far too many people into their certain death. At first only because there was no other way than to send in a suicide squad while an elite squad with me as their head was to take out the headquarters and high ranking officials of the enemy side, but later on it became easier to send my men into their death. Do not get me wrong, I always intended to keep casualties as low as possible, but throughout my time I perhaps sent about two hundred men and women alike of all ranks into their deaths – though it is impossible to remember all of them. All this was only necessary because of my thirst for battle and because of the extreme situations of being outnumbered by a dozen times given the size of Takigakure. However, that was a big fault of mine, but after crossing blades with a man of the Uchiha clan twenty five years ago, my leg became crippled and I lost a lot of power and only through consecutive usage of a genjutsu that completely numbed my pain I was able to continue. I was then no more than a machinery for war and I was sent on solo missions, assassinations and especially large number enemy suppression missions. Being in the ANBU at that time it was quite easily the most likely way to get rid of me. Unluckily for the village council I survived everything and that way, by being an absolute devil, by not caring in the least about subordinates, enemies, casualties for almost thirty years, that way I was deemed an unnecessary remainder from days passed.”

Yes, now the boys had a more honest, almost a too honest view, or at least now they could properly have an opinion about the old man that sits on the bench in front of the fountain so carelessly, so seemingly unburdened, almost helpless with his cane and unable to even walk properly. Such is the way a shinobi can end up, though naturally that was in no way a condition anyone would end up in. No there were examples of others, such as village elders who had a few years more on their backs than Arashi now, but also did never fight in a way he did. So it all depends on how you live your life and Arashi was an example of a brutish, selfish and battle hungry path.

It was far from settled. Moji was still unsure whether Arashi's career or lack now there of was a worse punishment. He listened to everything that the elder shinobi had said. Every little thing that he said he said with a flat tone. Moji was amazed by what he had told them, he listened with a slightly open mouth. Was this what was expected of every shinobi, or was Arashi just a special case? He never remembered his parents talking about these sort of things. But then again, he didn't remember much of his parents.

Moji felt like he didn't belong in the conversations that were happening. Each of the shinobi were so easy to converse, but he just listened. He took in all the imformation.

Moji forgot about Chotaro's question during Arashi's speech. And before he could remember to address the question, he noticed how dark it was now. Since they had been next to the fountain, the sun had fallen below the horizon, drenching the area in the blackness of night. It was then that Moji knew that he had other things that needed to be done.

"I'm... sorry to rush off," he said quizzically, "but I have things that need to be attended to."

[Exit]