I Snuck In Your House For The Books, Sensei! [Yen]

If it weren't for one more uneventful day that Suzume watched both the sun rise and then soon enough fall into the horizon without ever leaving the piles of blankets and pillows she made into a bed. Though with a full moon up above, it made for a serene walk into the night. Scampering in between the residential areas of the village, soon enough Suzume would accidentally spot through someone's window a particular collection of some rather interesting information. It was just laying there...calling her to sneak through their door and just read it all. They wouldn't notice! It was one of those moments where if she didn't take up the opportunity now, she might not ever get her hands on it again...so that's what Suzume did. 

Her hand ever so carefully on the door knob, she twisted it so slightly. It made some noise of course, but not enough to stir anyone, at least in her hopes. Swiftly she had the door opened, and in her luck without any creaking. And so, she of course shut it just as quick, not to welcome and drafts of air in. The room she entered in first was empty, free for her to to take in all that delicious writing. She cautiously closed the door, with as minimal sound possible. Soon enough, there Suzume was, opening up to the introduction about some rather advanced techniques of sorts.

It only made half sense to her, but she kept reading it anyway. Just to see what would be expected to accomplish such devastating techniques on her future endeavors. She was so absorbed by what she was reading she almost forgot she was in someone else's home. It was a decent enough place, she couldn't complain. Although, the person who occupied it very well could have been in it as she sat there, trying to decipher the meaning in what she was studying. 

[WC: 314]

A cool breeze  draftedcthrough the house. The scent of tea, and the a sweet scent of a pie being baked filled the house as yen was comfy sipping a nice decorative mug.  The aburame was tracing the rim of the cup as he read over the lininng of documents before him. 

As deputy kage he made a habit of keeping work both at home, and well at an eye glance away while on the move. His single eye quietly marking the writing of the shinobi in question. It had been a few days since he sent  the notice among genin, and chunin to submit applications. So he has been actively keeping an eye on pairing the applicants that braved the entry.

Now he had a few over to a pile as the fire crackled before him. He quietly observed their notes of aspiration. An considerate ammount had many traits and well the questions awnsered were well done. So he was curious as some had not yet applied, but he was certain that there will be more to join.

So with the stranger comming into the home a secomd breeze would pop behind him. The door was opened as the pappers rustled a littled  under his cup. prompting yen  to stop reading for a moment. Yet he did catch the slight foot steps heading up the stairs to his study.

Ah a visitor.

Yen thought as the oven smelled ready for the pie to be delivered from the oven. With bare hands he simply took out the hot pie and well due to his duribility this was like opening a knob. Which he heard up the stairs. Still yen set to work. Sprinkling a little sugar, and then  a little fresh aburame orchard syrup. With a hint of honey. Yen began to cut into the pie.

The contents made yen smile as any guest would love a slice of pie and thankfully he would'nt now need to eat it alone. It was a good long while since he cooked. But well it was needed. Eating out was a money waster. Still he had begun to cut into the pie and carried 2 plates with as he rested one on the table before his chair.

Then carried the other plate up the stairs quietly as he entered his study and spotted the girl suzume glancing through one of the simple scrolls he borrowed from the library.  Of course gauging from her perplexed expression yen smiled as he was in his night robes and his black shoulder length hair rested in on his shoulders. He was amused slightly.

"Well looks like curiousity got your toungh."

Yen stated as he offered the girl thevplate of pie and gestered down the stairs.

"Come have a bite to eat i made more downstairs."

Yen stated as he headed down the stairs and sat in his chair. In the room there was an asortment of books, and scrolls. Ranging from genjutsu mostly, and medical stuff. To also various other ninja?arts and philosophies as well.

When the girl came down the stairs yen sat back and considered her for a moment as he waited for her to take a bite.

"So how is it?"

The house she just recently entered at first seem to have not even dust stirring. But, as Suzume would later notice, there was a pretty prominent hint that someone had indeed been active. Currently active, in fact, from the scent of fresh bakery. Her focus was so set on those scrolls she missed it. Only a fool such as herself could make such a massive mistake, but it was best to make these mistakes now and learn from them for later when it would count for real. She had no clue what trials laid ahead of her, and so maybe these adventures would become a more regular thing. What's the worse that would happen? So long as she stayed within the village, it couldn't get too bad. Maybe a misdemeanor or two, but so what? Suzume was well aware that she could use the whole 'young, dumb, and stupid' trope. 

Keeping her nose stuck in what she was immersed in, it wouldn't be long before she realized a pie smell was wafting towards her. For a mere second, she thought it was coming from her own imagination. Some kind of subconscious desire for a sweet treat. But, it didn't take much to look up at see none other than Yen, with a pie, and a smile. A dumbfounded expression sinking in on her face, she hadn't a clue on how she should react in being discovered. Although, the jounin didn't seem upset in the slightest. The door wasn't locked, and she just crept in. It was as if he had been waiting for company. Was he? Suzume didn't consider any of that before entering his humble abode. Nor did she realize this was his house. What a coincidence, to have just struck a deal with him to seek his guidance, but then to have sneaked into his own home!

Having no idea in what to say, and struggling to come up with anything to say, the genin girl easily followed what Yen told her. A few stair's length behind, she went down with him. She took a seat across from him, taking a bite of that pie. Once her taste buds had the time to properly absorb the flavor, the jounin wanted to know what she thought of it. "It...tastes home made..." she commented. Definitely not some store bought pastry. Must have been what was in the oven from the start, Suzume assumed. There was plenty more books around, and she scanned the whole room to see what Yen kept in collection. 


[WC: 422]

Not the awnser the aburame head expected. A small guilty hobby of the man himself. While many would cringe at the thought of a frame chefs. Few dare realize it was due to aburame handiwork that their hard earned crops and materials were best in shape. Wheat in fields full of ever improving fertilizer. No pests in orchards for fresh apples, even grass assisted in vital nutrients and honey agreed to be improved by bees and the likes. All by the fine handy work of aburame in kindness and love.

"I hope it meets a good standard. I rarely get a chance to enjoy making the food enough.... Perhaps I should request the bee's in the immediate area to apply a bit more sweet enzymes to the honey, and see what I can do to improve the apple orchards a bit more. Just want to see how good a pie I can make.... If you do not like it suzume you can leave it be." 

Yen was a bit saddend as he hoped his one guest would enjoy the effort. Still he took a bite and the doubt filled the man as he loved the taste. Delicious, but it was not drop dead delicious to others. It all but made him wonder what he could do further.

"Anything I could do to improve the pie suzume?"

Yen asked as he pondered the many ways to fix the pie even at home. Perhaps an ontray could've fixed it. The addition of a neat like beef or a pork stew to ease the taste buds into the desert. As of opposed to serving it alone. His eye lit up as he smiled.

"Perhaps a beverage should fit here for you... Some tea or apple juice suzume? Also I did not forget you snuck in here. So you will have to awnser to this simply by helping me finish this pie. This we will talk too. Come along let me get you some juice or tea?"

Yen offered as should she accept of decline he would gesture her to follow him into the kitchen

If there was something Suzume was not aware of, it was her lack of manners. She wasn't hosted very often, and the last time she was hosted had been some classmate's birthday celebration at the academy who she couldn't remember. So it wasn't anything too formal. Yen's house didn't require any fancy demeanor from her, though. But given his response, the girl chimed in a bit more. "It's great pie! I'll eat the whole thing!" She sliced up a bigger slab than what she had taken before to be more convincing, taking a longer time to chew it up so that the tastes would stay. 

Yen wanted her to tell him of some critique, and once again it just wasn't her forte. She tried to come up with anything to have an answer for him, although she honestly never had a pie better. "Keep it the way it is," she said. Swallowing the last part, she got more right after. She was finally learning to appreciate it. The crust wasn't too thick or too dry, as same with the filling. Every aspect that made this pie a pie had proven to be quite even. If there were another to better it, Suzume would not have known. Although, it was in this moment that the realm of pies had been opened up to her. 

"I'll have some tea," she responded to Yen's suggestions. "And I only came in here because I wanted to read what I saw from outside your window!" Suzume admitted. Yeah, it was weird that she was looking through his window. But there wasn't much on the window to obscure a passerby's view. And then she was enticed, not expecting the house to be his. In hindsight, she was lucky this was his house. Had she been caught in another's, it might not have gone so well as to be served a good pie and now apparently tea. Suzume followed his gestures into his kitchen, which had the atmosphere of a well experienced chef. 

[WC: 336]

Yen smiled slightly as feza followed him into the kitchen. The cookware was still in need of cleaning as do all previously used things do. The whistling of the pot on the furnace was filling the room with a sweet scent.

The fragrance of the fresh tea was of a citris nature, but also a few other things. As yen shifted towards the furnace and turned off the mechanism. Also extinguishing the flame as he took a pinch of sugar, and sprinkled it into the pot. With that he carefully tossed a few tea leaves and then some cinnimon. 

"It is fortunate you are curious. But also one should realize that curiousity. Will be fatal in our line of work suzume. Granted i am kind, but others. May not be so reasonable."

Yen stated as he carried the steami g pot to the table and poured  the contents. As he placed a warm cup before suzume and sat down taking a bite of the pie. 

"It is easy to get lost in our duty suzume. So you must always find a way to keep yourself happy. What are some activities outside of shinobi work do you do suzume?"

Suzume noticed Yen's collection of dirty dishes. "You oughta have a wife to clean up after you..." she told him. If it weren't for the tea kettle spewing a citrus aroma combined with things Suzume wasn't familiar with being paired together, she'd probably scowl at the scent of rotting residue from the meals Yen ate from potentially weeks ago. While he made the last finishing touches to his home made tea, she took the initiative to wash them from him. She figured it would work as a way to make up for sneaking into his house. 

She was already aware of what the elder shinobi was lecturing her about, so she shrugged it off continuing to make a pile of freshly shined plates and silverware. She chuckled when Yen asked what she does outside of shinobi work, for she barely did any work at all. Sometimes she trained, but usually she was off wandering around to see what trouble she could get herself into. "I hang out with my horse," she answered. Suzume didn't have any set idea what to do with herself now that she had graduated from the academy, and more often than not the girl would fool around out of boredom in hopes it would lead to something worth while. 

[WC: 213]

The girl's remark was snarky to say the least, but observing her work brought the sensation of an painful memory. Contrary to the girls belief he was indeed a father.. well past tense, and had a wife. Although the fallacy of youth was an grim teacher.

There as he was yen recalled the cleaner kitchen. It however now was'a ghost of it-'s former glory. The house he made sure to keep up, but perhaps yen did lack the self love he once posessed. The girl working on the dishes said enough to that. Still these phantom of these old emotions of joy and peace barely bliped. Causing the aburame's single eye to show a slighter warmer glow. As if somewhere in the depths of his mind, and soul. That genuine man was there. Now remaining as not a front, but as an conscious guide of sorts as yen would contend to doing things for the greater good.

Instead of cooking he spent his days alone in the grave yard. Marking each day. Imagining his children walking again. Imagining his deceased wife. Even amid his work as deputy kage he still showed the grief. A silent storm on the horizon building up towards something. Still it is because he cared for his home he refused to turn it against his home.... unless it dared to turn on him.

there i go again slipping into the past.... the pain we must just go and let it go and focus all the rage to the outside world. Not home. Not here.... not yet.... not yet.

Yen thought as he closed his single eye and smiled slightly regaining composure in a way.

"Well i did indeed have a wife and two children, but no more"

Yen answered his voice hand an unusual soft note to it as opposed to his sharper quip. He continued pouring the tea overflowing the cups by accident as he focused on burying the emotions. He would vent out in his own way in due time. All in due time.

As they returned to the table the girl remarked she loved her horses electing to spend more time among them, but granted her activity in shinobi duties lacked she seemed more content to do that more often. This prompting the aburame to lean back slightly in his chair. As he took a moment of thought. Taking a sip of tea and placing it on the table softly.

"There are many things i do suzume. I offer assistance at the hospital provide financial assistance to the construction groups in konoha, but i mostly study. Improving my knowledge of the ninjutsu arts."

"No wonder your place is a mess. With no more wife and your children gone, you're just too busy with everything you do..." she ignorantly stated, unaware of what exactly Yen meant. "Well, at least you had me to clean up today!" she tried to be more cheerful. Suzume did note the gloom that swept over Yen, but just wasn't able to understand it. After finishing the tea and pie, she thanked him for letting her have a bit - even stating now that she thought it was the best, contrary to how her initial response to their quality was. "I hope I can see you again soon, Yen!" she said, before taking off. 

[EXIT]                                          
[TWC: 1,402; claiming 7 stats and Level 2 Medical Ninjutsu...might use the remaining wc for another claim later]

An immature blurt of speech was spoken by the young lady. Her nature as a shinobi puzzled him mentally for a split second. Some people it took time to grow with the role. But well suzume was young. It became more apparent yet the slight innocence the girl posessed was admirably understandable.




She had an grasp of the pain, but unlike yen she never knew the devistating reprocutions it holds besides the lack of fath in shinobi, and humanity as a whole, but the identity questioni g and self worth degrading it held. He could for worse say he actually came face to face with his demons and they still mock him in the depths of his being. They reached deep within him, and changed what was to be into an unkown path. Altering his destiny as the kind father. Into the man that he stared in in the mirror at dawn, or the face of the man that looked in a puddle each rainy day. 




An defeated man by all but life. Grasping at the empty straws before him. Now more alone then before. Like wise his spirit did not faulter even though grief rackled his heart. An reminder resounding from the girl's words. That what was precious to himself was now gone. Beyond his reach, and hand despite his power.




Chakra cannot solve everything for certain, but if it could solve this pain. I would take a chance. It would be better then having to know moving forward. To have it gnaw at my back and ankles. Still this girl is the future...




Yen thought as he gave a small nodd his features did gloom yes, but they were thankful as the girl gave her thanks. The aburame shrugged a bit and smiled.




"Just dont break into stuff you do not own suzume. It is dangerous. Ylu have been warned, next time i will be more strict."




Yen stated behind the girl and thus she left. Yen quietly picked at some of his pie. Brooding in the loneliness and glanced at tge spot feza sat in. It had been two years since he had proper company. And he felt its niceness ebbing away like a fleeting warmth giving way to the oncomming cold. The likes which left yen wanting more and more another beside him. 




Sighing yen glanced at the papers on the table nearby. Files which made him wonder why it was shinobi had to wander such an painful road. It was a road in life but he only knew it had more pain at times then imaginable. 




why must shinobi bear the pain of the lost? I belive because a shinobi is supposed to show strength, but not represent strength, but effectiveness and tolerance.. i suppose that is all it means to bear the pain for the past, but we all have limits...


Yen thought as he gathered the plates and tea. Storing it for later in the week for use, as for the pie. He ate alot more on off days leading to him wondering what he could have for breakfast. Before eventually falling asleep in his arm chair.

(Exit)

Twc: 2,035

Claims:

-1 health
+1 speed

(Maintaining max stats)

2k words to yin release sensory dampening mist