Sugimoto Tamaki's start in Kumo

It was a day like any other, Max finding himself wandering around the village finding things to amuse himself. The morning sky wasn’t bright, the dull grey hue permeating the land of Kumogakure, the colors of the land not as vibrant as they typically were. The boy would find his way through the town, gathering chocolate, pretzels, and other such treats in a large bag on his back. He had a pleasant surprise for the people he was going to meet.
 
It had been a while since young Maximillian had been to the orphanage, and he was wondering how it was holding up. The children used to be able to regularly put a smile on his face, but that was what felt like an eternity ago. So much has happened in the past few years, most of which has been rather taxing on the boy. But that was all past him now. He had to harden himself and look forwards to the next steps. He had a way to make everything better. Yes, everything will be better…
 
The young blonde would walk into the orphanage, a place that had regularly fed him despite his never truly living there. The building was as run down as ever, and while Max wanted to help fix it, he had more shinobi responsibilities now along with constant researching into the medical arts. He was close, much closer than he had ever been to recreating life. And if he could recreate life, perhaps just maybe he could bring back those he lost.
 
Stepping inside, Max would close the door to not allow the draft from outside to chill the building too much, as they were already having troubles keeping everything warm for the kids. Several of the kids that were probably around seven and eight rushed over to Max, greeting him warmly. It may have been a long while since Max was around here, but the children still held on to fond memories with the young puppeteer.
 
“I’ve brought you all some treats. Take whatever you’d like,” Max would say as he gazed around the room housing the children. There were more than he remembered, but the wars of Kumo had likely led to a surge of children without parents. It was a grim reality to the life their village led. Luckily, Max had tended to go overboard and bought far more sweets than he needed. It was a rare treat for the children of the orphanage, and the least Max could do to help give their lives just a bit more joy.
 
There was a newer face as well, an older boy speaking with a caretaker. “Hey, if you’d like a treat you can have some too.” Max would say, his tone friendly and welcoming. Should the boy turn to look at him, he would find a young blonde child, around eleven years of age. Max is wearing a simple white shirt with long, baggy pants. He has a blue cloak wrapped around him as well, keeping the chill of of him. 
 
WC: 508

Max would hear the older boy speak, addressing himself as Sugimoto Tamaki. It was an unfamiliar name, but such was simply the norm now, as Max was seeing more and more new faces. This boy seemed out of place here, a light in his eyes that showed Max that his will hadn’t been broken over years of serving Lord Mortarion like the rest of the civilians.
 
“I’m Maxamillian Yamaguchi, but my friends all call me Max. It is a pleasure to meet you Sugimoto.” The boy would offer a handshake, his metallic hand outstretched to meet the hand of Sugimoto. It was just one of Max’s many scars, and honestly the one he was most able to deal with. The other scars ran much deeper and weren’t simply damages to his body.
 
“Were you displaced here because of the war?” The young boy would inquire, hoping to learn a little bit about the boy standing before him. If he didn’t want to talk about it, Max would understand. It was hard to talk about great loss. The boy would grab a chocolate bar and take a large bite, chewing the sweet substance and savoring the sugary goodness before gobbling up yet another bite. It was honestly a surprise how he managed to stay in such good shape all things considered.
 
“Were your parents shinobi from Kumo, or one of the colonies?” He would ask, attempting to glean what information he could out of Sugimoto. The he realized his insensitivity and quickly tried to recover, “Or were they just civilians caught up in a mess too big to handle by the common people?” Honestly, that might not have completely remedied the sting of his words, as even if it was the latter Max had in a roundabout way called them out on being unable to protect themselves and their family in this dangerous world we live in.

WC: 316
TWC: 824

The questions Max asked brought back the vividly fresh memories of his dead parents. The scene of his family's bodies brutally murdered was as if sealed into his mind, whenever he closed his eyes that scene was etched into his perception with crystal clear detail.  Sugimoto tried to push down the pain that flooded his mind, he did not want to let his overwhelming emotions cloud his thoughts. With much strain and a few seconds to focus, Sugimoto managed to put aside his feeling and get back to conversing with Max.

Sugimoto studied Max for the few moments it took him to put his words together in well thought out response. Max did not seem to be as threatening as Sugimoto’s justifiable paranoia initially lead him to believe. Max seemed to be genuinely good intentioned, Sugimoto noticed a few times while he talked a deep sadness would sometimes quickly flash across his face. That sadness was something Sugimoto could forge into a connection with Max that he could exploit to his advantage. With Sugimoto's thoughts collected and assessment of the kid ninja complete he was ready to interact with Max.

“I’m from one of the far off colonies, my Parents and I lived isolated from the other people, so one day some bandits came and killed my parents. I only managed to escape with my life by hiding like my father told me too”  responded Sugimoto. While saying this the emotions Sugimoto managed to push down before found a crack to spill out from, leading to a few tears rolling down his face. Sugimoto quickly wipes his eyes and takes a deep calming breath, he had a goal to achieve and him losing a grip on his feeling here would do him no good.  

Now being a little more collected Sugimoto continued his response, “my father knew some low skill ninja techniques that he taught me, but my family was nothing special when it came to fighting. Altho my father was a blacksmith and he did pass on some skills onto me.” A small flicker of pride flashed across Sugimoto’s face as he talked of fathers craft. “ But now that I have made it here alive, I will need to find work so I can support myself.” “I was hoping to train in the ninja arts and practice my blacksmithing to make some side income.” Sugimoto said as if it was just a thought spoken out loud.

    Sugimoto’s mind focus back on Max, he tries to muster an eager expression and ask Max a question “would you be willing to help me get set up in the ninja academy so I can start training? Also any information on if any blacksmiths in the village need an apprentice? Anything you could do would be highly appreciated”   

Word Count 466

Total Word Count 1554

Max would listen to the newcomer, accepting his story with little reason not to. Kumo had various colonies all throughout the shinobi lands due to their various wars. Plus, this boy had almost no chakra presence to him, meaning that unless he was hiding it, he was relatively harmless.
 
“Okay, I can take you to the academy. We can always use new shinobi, and if you already know some techniques you may be able to advance at an accelerated rate. And don’t worry, we will craft you into a true shinobi yet.” Max would finish off his chocolate, grab a couple more bars and leave the rest for the orphans. “Follow me, I’ll show you to the academy.”
 
Max knew the village of Kumo inside and out, each and every inch of the place. This was his home, and being what many would consider a “street urchin” of sorts, he had spent a very large amount of time just wandering through the village. So he would take Sugimoto on a more scenic route, allowing them to take in all of the sites. “There is a nice soup place near here, and it is pretty cheap too!” Max would say, fondly recalling the time he “poisoned” the soup to pass one of his Chuunin exams. Good times.
 
He would pass by the pretzel shop and pick up another, realizing that he left all of his back at the orphanage and he didn’t know if there would actually be any left by the time he returned.
 
“So, the Academy is right down here,” he would say as they turned a corner and a large building was in sight, “But you’ll have to do all the paperwork and stuff yourself because… well I just don’t feel like doing it.” Max would take a large bite out of the delicious, salty, soft pretzel. He would normally offer some to Sugimoto, but he only got one without thinking of sharing.

WC: 324

As Max guided him on the scenic route that leads to the Ninja Academy, Sugimoto felt a sense of relief washover him. The fact that Sugimoto's story was not exposed right from the get go was a blessing for his nerves, even tho there could still be a slight chance that Max is currently leading him into an ambush! Sugimoto chuckled quietly under his breath at his reflexive paranoia. He already placed his bet, to believe in Max. Today Sugimoto was was going to take his first step on the path to getting revenge against the people who killed his parents and hunted down his clan.

The route Max decided take through Kumo showed Sugimoto a large amount of the city. All the while Max seemed to be giving his best impression of a tour guide by giving a bit of history, lore and or interesting and unknown facts about local landmarks. Max lead Sugimoto to some of the more Interesting places throughout Kumo village. Such as the trade market, food stands and restaurants of notable quality, Max pointing out a particular ramen stand that he enjoys from time to time. Altho during this tour Sugimoto did noticed something far less apparent as he traversed the streets of Kumo with Max, he noticed that Kumo seemed to be healing from old wounds. Buildings that look to have been run down and derelict now shows sign of scaffolding and people taking the beginning steps to rebuild.

   The sun traverses over head hidden by the clouds as the tour was nearing its destination, Max decided to stop at a pretzel shop and grab a snack. During this time just as Sugimoto has been doing the entire tour, he was keeping an eye on the crowds around him. Half his mind paying attention to Max and the information he was freely giving, the other half was focused on the surrounding people. Sugimoto was looking to see if he can notice someone in the crowd multiple times over the long trip, this would indicate someone could be potentially following him. It was a technique his mother taught him about, used to find out if you are being tailed in a village or crowded other locations.  As it turned out it seemed no one was following him or their ability to hide far exceeded his ability to perceive them, either way there was nothing he could do.

Max voice is what brought back Sugimoto’s attention from his surrounding to the tour. Max  came back with a pretzel still steaming with heat, he held it aloft while gesturing with his free hand that it was time to continue the tour. We continued on our way but in little time we made it to the Ninja Academy. The Building was more impressive than most of the others he has seen while traveling, as Max and Sugimoto headed to the school Max said  as we turned the corner. Max continued  
 
“Thank you for showing me around the Kumo” Sugimoto said genuinely thankful for a day not full of harrowing ordeals or grotesk sights.  “Would you mind sticking around for a little bit? I am still not fully comfortable that I know how to navigate through the village.” He asked Max as he headed into the Ninja Academy to sign up.

Sugimoto got into the building ware he could see some man sitting at a desk, he's nose buried in a book penned by an author named Jiraiya. The weird look that the man's face contorted into was all Sugimoto needed to understand that is not a book that should be read at a school. So Sugimoto walked up to the desk and cleared his throat and said “hello, are you who I need to talk to about getting signed up as a ninja of Kumo?”  The man startled, quickly closed and placed his book in a pocket with one fluid motion. The man looked Sugimoto up and down, analyzing him before addressing the question. “Yes I am the ninja you would need to talk to.” A slight sarcastic tone tinged his voice. Sugimoto decided to ignore the rude behavior and continue. “I am looking to be tested to see if I qualify to become a ninja for Kuma.” The man then sighs and says “Ok, we can test you.” “Also if you happen to know a Ninja of Chuunin or higher rank that can witness this test, that will speed the acceptance process.” Sugimoto says “I think that I may know someone.”     

Word count 800
Total Word count 2334

“Yeah, I don’t have much to do today.” Max would reply when asked to stick around. It probably wasn’t going to be for a huge amount of time, but Max would pull out what looked to be a textbook of medicine and begin reading it while scarfing down another bite of his pretzel with the other hand.
 
Max was literally still just outside, chomping away at his food. It would be but a brief moment before Sugimoto made his way back out, “That was quick,” Max would mutter, wondering if he really signed up for the academy already.  There was a speedy determination in his steps, almost as if he was trying to quickly get back to where Max was as to not lose him. Max
 
“That look on your face… you are gonna ask me to do something, aren’t you?” Max would ask, pondering just what this guy might need from him. He just signed up for the academy. He wasn’t already ready to take his Genin Exam was he? He did say that his father taught him some stuff, so maybe.
 
“What do you need?” The boy would say, continuing to read over his book.

WC: 197

As he walked towards Max he could see him still eating the same pretzel and reading a book. “Is that a Medicine textbook?” Sugimoto would think to himself, impressed that someone so young seems to be a ninja on top of studying medicine is no small feat. “What do you need?”   Max will call out as he approached.  

Sugimoto would waste no time and come right out with it and ask “If your Chuunin would you be willing to come with me and witness my ninja examination?”
 

Word count 84
Total Word count 2418

(EXIT)
Claims 
Clone Technique (Ninjutsu) 500/500
Transformation Technique (Ninjutsu) 500/500 
Genjutsu Release (Mastered; No Hand Seals) (Ninjutsu) 500/500 500/500
Wind Style: Quiet Footsteps 418/500
12 stats

Max would hear him address his needs, and close up his book. "Yeah, I am a Chuunin. I guess you need a proctor?" Max would scratch his head and walk with the older boy to the Academy, wondering how advanced this Sugimoto was to completely skip the academy. The boy would stop in front, allowing the student to be the first into the building. 
 
This should be really interesting.


WC: 69
TWC: 1414

WC Split between Max and Napa (707 each)

Max's Claims:
6 AP
500 wc towards Mark Seal (500/500)
104 WC towards finishing Hidden Mist Technique (currently 896/1000 -> 1000/1000)

Napa's Claims:
3 Stats
500 wc towards Mark Seal (500/500)
207 wc towards Body Flicker (207/1000)