But What About the Wolves? [Hato Sano]

It was another cold and cloudy day in Kumogakure. Big surprise, right? The streets however, were busier than usual for a reason unclear to Ryūka. He, as tasked by a charity (or to be more accurate, forced by a friend of his who’s a member of said charity), handing out fliers and speaking about the wolves of Kumo going extinct to anyone who looked interested enough to listen. Truth is, Ryūka wasn’t really an expert on the area he was speaking about. He didn’t know any of the facts. He didn’t even know for sure that the wolves were going extinct at all. For all he knew, there seemed to be enough dogs and wolves enough as it ever was. Either way, this was his job to do today, so whenever people asked him about something he didn’t know for sure, he tried to come up with the most reasonable answers.

“The wolves of Kumogakure, the faces, symbols of our village are now an endangered species! They are going extinct! They are in danger of extinction! That’s what that word means! Create some awareness? I guess? Possibly donate to the charity?”. Ryūka was sweating. He was aware that he didn’t sound convincing in that last sentence. Luckily, not a single person was paying attention to him, as far as he was aware. He cleaned the sweat off his forehead, pulled the headband tied to his arm a little bit higher so it wouldn’t fall and spoke again. “The wolves…” he mumbled. Nobody seemingly paid any attention. He let all of his fliers fall down to the ground, lied back to the building he was standing in front of, raised his head, closed his eyes, and sighed. “Dammit, Shiro, couldn’t you find anyone else?” he mumbled once again. He looked down at the fliers he threw down. He sat next to them, on top of some, took out his notebook from his jacket, and started writing. And he mumbled to himself once again, “God, it’s impossible to get anyone’s attention here.”.

The day was cold and cloudy, not ideal weather for Hato but something she had to work with living in Kumo. Most of what Hato wore was skin showing and clearly you can't have that on a day like that. But Hato knew what to do, after all she has lived in the Land of Lightning for her entire life. She picked out a black long sleeve shirt that clung to her skin so it was easy to see all her upper body curves. Then, she had a leather crimson jacket that she placed over it, of course not zipping it up, she still wanted her curves to show. Then some simple jean skinny jeans to show off the lower half curves. And, of course, she slipped on her black boot heels. She also started to wear leather gloves for her claws. Simple make up was next and she was done.

Today wasn't really a planned one, once Hato left her apartment, she had nothing to do in mind. Training really wasn't on the list for today because she already was worn out from yesterdays training session with Max. So today was just gonna be about socializing. Most of her personality required social interaction. That meant going into the busiest part of town. 

Luckily it was pretty busy, and that gave Hato a wide variety of 'prey'. Looking around for awhile seem to be helpless because everyone seemed normal and the same. No one really stuck out. The rot soldiers, occasional shinobi on patrol and ordinary citizens. “The wolves of Kumogakure, the faces, symbols of our village are now an endangered species!" A voice shouted from the busy crowd. When Hato looked, it was a man with a shinobi headband on his shoulder. So that sparked her interest a bit, she would have to dig deeper to see something more. 

After awhile, the boy sat on the ground, defeated by the fact that no one was listening and starting writing something. Hato approached the shinobi. "Wolves are endangered, huh? Doesn't look like any cares when predators die, must be the fact that they could die from wolves." She gave a slight laugh. "Even though the whole ecosystem depends on wolves and other predators." Hato knew all the stuff from either other people she talked to or school when she went there. Hato personally didn't care much either but she wanted to dive deep into his life, see if there was something worth while. 

WC: 413

It was a bad day. It already was, even before the village decided not to pay any attention to him. Ryūka was already doing a job he didn't want to do the least bit. He almost felt like a slave. And yes, that probably was offensive, but in his defense, he literally didn't know better. He was born (or to be more precise, 'reborn') 2 years ago after all, when he was found outside of the village of Kumogakure, with a katana and tons of wounds. Ryūka chuckled, thinking of the time. He thought a little bit harder, and realised that that day was in fact exactly 2 years after the day he was found. It was his rebirthday, not that he knew what it meant. (It probably wasn't a holiday celebrated often in the ninja world)

Just when he was sure everyone in the district had surely forgotten that he ever even said a word, a voice talked to him. "Huh?" Ryūka looked up to see the person that was talking to him. "Yeah." he answered, getting up from the ground, "If this was about rabbits, or cats, people would have been losing their minds over it, right?". He smiled, bowing slightly, and offering his hand (not that he knew if that was the proper way to greet someone or not - but he was sure he had seen something like that in one of his books. "Ryūka, at your service.". He would shake the woman's hand if she offered it, then raise up to stand straight regardless. "So I guess you can tell what I'm doing here... What about you? Cloudy day strolling?".

Ryūka was trying to keep his cool, but the truth was that he hadn't talked to a lot of people in the whole 2 years of his life, and out of those few people he has spoken with, barely 3 of them were women (counting that person Ryūka couldn't get the grasp of their gender on, but looked liked they might have been a girl), and out of those 3, 2 were old women. This was pretty much his first time talking to a girl his age. (Though he had the courage he could get out of this situation pretty easily if it got awkward, claiming he had work to get done.) He unintentionally and unconsciously started wondering about the life he had before his memory loss once again. He wondered what kind of person he was. Whether he liked music, writing and singing as much as he did now. He wondered if he liked playing with swords as much as he did now. He just fell into a spiral of questions he knew he probably would never get the answer for. "So, do you need help with anything, by any chance?", he pointed to the headband he was wearing on his right arm, "Like ninja help? Bandits? Giant tigers? A party? Anything to get me out of passing out fliers?".

The man curious for sure, but Hato didn't know that yet, she only had just met him. The same could be the said about Hato, or anyone for that matter. 

Ryuka was formal, a great first impression. It was flattering to say the least. He commented more about how people would pay more attention if it was something cute like a cat or rabbits. Hato had to agree, most people don't care when it does nothing for their well being. The world was cruel like that. Hato knew that all too well. he continued to introduce himself as Ryuka and held out a hand. Hato shook his hand. "Hato Sano," she said in response to his name. He then asked what she was doing out and about. "Well, you could say I'm just strolling, but I'm more socializing." It wasn't a lie, of course, she was socializing with him, even if it was much deeper than that. 

The inexperience didn't quite show in Ryuka, he seemed very well versed in socializing, at least to Hato he seemed like it. He then asked if she needed help with anything, it was kinda out of the blue but then again, so was approaching him. She just laughed, "No, I don't need anything, I'm strong enough to defend myself." He didn't know that she was a shinobi herself as she wasn't even wearing her head band, she thinks it distracts people when she goes out for socializing. She then looked at his fliers and picked them up, "but you might need my help." She then added, noting that she was getting hungry, "if I help you, you take me out for some food." 


If Ryuka agreed to her terms, she would head into the crowd with the fliers. She approached the first man she saw. "Sir, the wolves need our help, please take this." It was pretty obvious he was just staring at her jugs but it still got him to take a flier. "Oh you are a life saver," she added before kissing his cheek, leaving him all red. This started it. A man not far away over heard and saw everything go down, so he approached her and she did the same thing to him. A crowd swarmed her, wanted to get all of her attention, trying everything to impress Hato with their pleges to help the wolves. Hato knew that they wouldn't but it was a pretty good way to get to know the man and get some free food. It had only been half an hour before all the fliers went home and a bunch of wives were mad at their husbands. 

Hato approached Ryuka, "I think you owe me food now." Hato grinned. 

WC: 455
TWC: 868

What was with this person? Ryūka had a hard time reading her. Her eyes looked around like no other person he’s met before. It wasn’t anger, naivety, but not compassion either. What was she thinking about, the young man wondered. Either way, he wouldn’t have gotten an answer from just thinking about it, so he had to let go of that question, at least for a bit. “Hato Sano.” Ryūka repeated in his mind, trying to put that knowledge somewhere into the messy library in his head. “Out for socializing?” the Genin than answered, “Huh. I guess that’s… Fun?”. He smiled.

As soon as Hato told Ryūka she could take care of her own problems, the expression on Ryūka’s face changed. It went from a “Hi, how can I help you, dear helpless citizen?” to a “Oh okay, I get it.” face. It almost looked like Ryūka could offer Hato a fist bump at any second. “I… Guess I might actually…” Ryūka said, following Hato offering her help to him instead, “Though to be honest this isn’t priority nu-” he mumbled, but before he could finish his half-spoken sentence, the woman was already at it. “For food? Sure. Is… Is that like, a regular form of payment in Kumo? I didn’t know…”. By the time Ryūka finished his sentence, Hato was already more successful in his job than the man himself.

After half an hour, Hato looked like the greatest person at people skills, at least to Ryūka. He had no idea how she’d done it, but she had. “How?” Ryūka asked, though he wasn’t even sure if there could be an answer that would have helped him. It looked like pure charisma and people skills to him. “I… I guess I do. Do you mean, like now, or another time? If you want to go now, I like this nice place nearby that I know the owner of - he’d probably let us go off-menu.”. If Hato wanted to get repaid right then, Ryūka would start leading her there, otherwise he’d stay put. Either way, Ryūka kept chatting to her, regardless of if they were stationary or not. “So… You’re not a ninja, I assume? How did you train to defend yourself as you said? Are you from here, or travelling by?”.

Ryuka seemed puzzled by Hato's actions but not uncomfortable. He didn't seem the social type, which could go with being a loner, but there was no certainty, so Hato couldn't assume that he was. Dinner with the young man would be the best way to get a history from him. 

After all the flyers were gone and Hato returned to Ryu, he seemed astonished, even asking how she did it. She laughed and smiled, "Men that are busy in a place like the market, any distraction, like these ones," She motions to her chest, "will easily get them to stop thinking and just do as someone says." That might not be entirely true, everyone had a different story, that was just her best theory. He then mentioned if she'd wanted to go now or later, even added that he knew a person that owed a restaurant that might let them off menu. Hato nodded, "Let's go there." She said with a cheery voice. 

As the blonde hair beauty was being taken to the restaurant, he started asking some more questions about her. "I actually am a genin of Kumo. I'm just not wearing a head band as it annoying to wear 24/7, you know?" She even added, "I'm even registered for the chunin exams." She felt added details about her might open him up some, it was a simple social exchange. "Alright, my turn to ask. What rank are you?" It was a normal question to ask someone just wearing a kumo head band, no one really wears the gear assigned to them at each rank and the head band doesn't show what rank, so he could really be any rank. 

WC: 282
TWC: 1151

“Any distraction, like these ones…”. Ryūka was truly amazed. “Oh.” he thought, “The trick was in… The long sleeve shirt. Noted… I’ll try that too. Oh maybe it also has to be black…”. “Wow.” he just said, “You’re great at… This, whatever this is… Coercion? I’m a Genin too by the way. And I guess carrying the headband around all the time is dumb, but… I don’t know. It kind of fits my look a bit, and also I just got it, so it’s a bit of an issue of pride, I guess.”.  After a few minutes, Ryūka had brought them to a place named “The Purple Oyster.”. As soon as they arrived, Ryūka spoke again, “They don’t serve oyster, by the way. I asked. I have no idea what the name is about.”.

He led them in, if Hato followed. As soon as they did, a waitress approached the two. She had long black hair tied into a ponytail behind her back. “Hi! Do you have a reservation?” the girl asked. She looked like she’d be around Ryūka and Hato’s ages. “Hello!” Ryūka answered, “If you could let Mr. Majima know that Ryūka is here, he should be aware of our arrival. No formal reservation though.”. The girl nodded. “Please follow me.” she said, leading them to a table next to an aquarium. Everything in the interior that wasn’t wood was colored purple. Even the lighting in the aquarium itself, that surrounded all walls in the restaurant, only leaving room for a few windows, that didn’t really help light the place at all. “I will let Mr. Majima know of your arrival shortly.” the girl said, going away. “So…” Ryūka said when the two of them were (probably) sitting at the table. “You’ve been a ninja for a long time? I assume you’re about my age. What do you do, when you’re not out on missions?”.

It was hilarious to think Ryuka was thinking Hato was talking about her black shirt, sadly something Hato couldn't know because it was thoughts in his head. Innocence at it's finest. He then went on saying she was great at coercion, even though she wasn't threatening the men to force them to take the fliers, it was just her sex appeal. Hato wouldn't say anything though. Ryu also added that he liked how the head band fit and it was a pride thing, which she understood. "And it still makes you look cute," Hato added in with a laugh, trying to add some flirt to her phony characteristics. 

They arrive at the restaurant shortly afterwards called The Purple Oyster. Ryu quickly told her that the place doesn't even serve oyster. Truly an odd name choice then. They entered and were met by a hostess with a ponytail asking for a reservation, Hato turned to Ryuka to see what he would tell her. Ryu explained that Mr. Majima, most likely the owner, should be informed of his arrival and that he shouldn't need a reservation. Hato thought something like that would some awesome VIP stuff. What kind of history did the man have with the former Kumo ninja? That seemed to be enough for the woman and she lead them to a nice seat, right next to the aquarium where they could view the tiny fishes. The place was purple, fitting for the name, and wooden. A very classy restaurant destination. It really boosts the mystery of how Ryuka got VIP status. They sit down at the table assigned. Hato continues to look around a bit before focusing on Ryuka after asking his questions. 

He asks if she's been a ninja for a long time and what she does when Hato isn't on missions. She obliges to awnser the questions, after all, she had some questions as well. "I've only been a ninja a bit longer than a few months. And when I'm not on missions, I do a number of things. I train, I party and I go out with cute boys." She winks at Ryuka before giggling. She didn't want anything suspicious added to her name but in retrospect, she wasn't lying. "What about you? How long have you been a ninja? And why even become a ninja?" These were common questions to ask someone of shinobi status, and she liked hearing the answer to most. 

WC: 407
TWC: 1558

Ryūka smiled. "Yeah I've barely been a ninja for a month now. Though, to be honest, it's possible I was one before...". Ryūka hesitated for a second before going on, realising that he had told this to an awful lot of people lately; something he didn't feel comfortable doing before he was a ninja for some reason. "See, I have been conscious for the last 2 years. Apparently I was found outside of Kumo with a... Concussion.". Ryūka was about to explain the wound, but quickly realised that it wasn't an appetizing story. "Memory loss." he continued, "So, that's that. I guess I just became a ninja because I didn't know what else to do, to be honest. There's a certain... Pull I feel, towards using weaponry. What about you, why did you become one?".

A tall man with a ponytail and an eyepatch showed up. He had a thin face but a built body. "Ah, Ryūjin." he said, nodding. Then he greeted Hato, bowing in front of her while saying, "Welcome to the Purple Oyster, our beloved guest.". He raised up. "How can I help you? Anything. You need only name it.". He said all of those words making eye contact with Ryūka and Hato, swapping between them with every word. It was dazing to look at, for Ryūka anyways. Ryūka looked at Hato, waiting for her to order first.

The pink and blue haired boy explained to Hato that he had only been a genin for a month. Inexperience, something to build on off him, Hato thought to herself. He explained more, how he was found outside Kumo with a concussion. Old ninja with memory loss? Or perhaps someone ordinary getting knocked up by some thugs? Hato would question to herself, no way she could just out right tell him her thoughts. Then he tells the konochi that he doesn't even know why he became a ninja, he just did. It was all very interesting to say the least, and she was about to ask more questions until she was interrupted by the presumed owner of this restaurant. 

The man darted his eyes at the two after asking what they would like. Hato looked at Ryuka once he asked. But Ryu was looking at her for an answer. "Oh, I would like some curry please." She gave her sweet smile towards the man. 

After Ryuka ordered his meal and the waiter left to get there orders, Hato asked. "What did you do to get into this guys favorite customer list? Did you marry his daughter or something?" Hato said half joking, he might as well might have. But she would doubt it if he has only been with memory for 2 years. Poor guy might not know what a lot of the Kumo world is like. Prefect for Hato. 

WC: 240
TWC: 1798