Two Peas in a Pod (Kizmaru)

It was a cool fall day as the wind blew gently and a bustling crowd of people already inhabited the streets of Kirigakure as the snowy haired kunoichi made her from her home near the center of the village to the beach area, wanting to spend some time lost in thought by the shore before she began her summoning training again. A large, midnight colored wolf with crimson eyes walked beside her, his head up to her upper torso area. The canine was her most trusted companion and followed her everywhere, always wanting to protect her as she had done so for him many years ago.

Hikari was able to maneuver flawlessly through the people milling about, avoiding the unnecessary contact of accidentally bumping into someone as she spun around them in her high heeled boots. The last thing she wanted was to collide into another person and have to deal with apologizing and amending any problems they had. It was always a real headache and drag to do so.

Fortunately the kunoichi was able to make it out without any such incidents occurring and could freely move again at the base of the street corner, the crashing waves now in sight and the sound of the faint ocean roar could be heard even from this distance. It didn’t take long for her short, slender legs to make quick word of the gap between the water and her, and soon she was standing at where the road met the sand, feeling the soft breeze dance through her white hair and mist gently hit her face as the tide came in. This was one of the few good things of Kiri that she could find, mostly everything else made her cringe due to how violent and bloody they were. Despite expecting such things when she took Xyxer up on his offer to become his student and join his forces, Hikari was still vastly unprepared for the cruel and unforgiving people that lived there with her. Some were decent people, having similar values to her own even though they were born in the Bloody Mist, and those few were ones she appreciated meeting the most, shedding light on how not everyone needed to be ruthless to be a Kiri shinobi.

Kuro ran slightly ahead of her, sand getting between his toes on his paws but he didn’t care, it was nice to be back near the water. Having grown up in the Konoha forest meant he didn’t get to see such large bodies of water often, so since coming to Kiri it was always a blessing for him to go play in the ocean while he could. One could never tell how long they would be there for, or where they would be sent to next. In the short amount of time since the war they had been all over the world; land of iron, Suna, and land of waterfalls.

The petite woman followed the wolf until they were at the water's edge, using the surface walking technique to walk on top of the water beside Kuro, who was also using the aforementioned jutsu. The veins around her lilac tinted eyes bulged as her Byakugan was activated, allowing her to survey the area as they enjoyed their peaceful time together watching the waves, just in case someone tried to sneak up on them from behind.

(WC: 563)

Feeling the gentle breeze upon his skin and hearing the scutter of the village folk of Kirigakure, Kizmaru was feeling a bit restless as he figured out what he wanted to do with his life. Placing his hands into the pockets of his navy blue pants, he walked around in hopes he find something to do as he thought back on the previous events of his life. He had lived in Konoha for a short period of his life and even forgot he was born there for a time. He felt rather silly thinking of the past at such a time but he didn't really have much else to do at the moment. He remembered he went to the academy for ninja here in the Mist Village and learn how different it's philosophies were from Konoha. What Kizmaru learned, was he was to adapt and change as long as it completed his objective regardless of the task he was sent or forced to do. Chuckling quietly to himself, Kizmaru had been lost in thought for far too long to his liking as he was just standing around there with a gloomy and unnerving demeanor. This seems to have alarmed some people as they started to openly avoid walking in his direction. 

Kizmaru scoffed a bit and started to walk along the pathways as people moved out of his way to let him pass. It wasn't cause they were afraid of Kizmaru that they moved, it was more like he was still mainly an outsides and never really did try to make friends here in Kiri after all those years. He sort of just existed from place to place wherever and whenever the need arises. Walking in a random direction, Kizmaru mind had started to wander to training. Though he was officially known as a Genin on paper he didn't actually keep up with his studies or training to even be considered a shinobi. It was funny and quite disheartening that he was still Genin at the age he was. If he didn't slack off after graduating at the academy, he'd probably be Chuunin or even special Jounin by now. Well, that would all change now, he thought to himself. He figured he wasn't gonna waste anymore time trying to make or take shortcuts in life and attempt to make himself useful to somebody. But first, he thinks he should finish his little stroll.

After walking a completely unknown direction, Kizmaru found himself on a beach that he wasn't familiar with. Maybe he came here as a kid but other than that, he didn't really know points of interest by name. He decided today would be a good day for him to relax and enjoy himself before he got on with any of that training stuff or whatever. Picking a spot on the beach, Kizmaru pulled his hands out of his pockets and planted himself on the sand. It was nice that it wasn't foggy for a change and he could actually see what's in front of him for a majority of the time. As he observed all the beach, he spotted a multi-colored looking canine that he didn't notice when wandering in. Following it was a woman that seems to be the canine's owner, he assumed. It was odd to see a person with a pet in Kiri, especially a canine. Kizmaru just assumed an Inuzuka also lived here in Kiri and kept it pushing. Upon further inspection, Kimaru had jumped up a bit startled at the transformation of the woman's face. It seems she had a doujutsu of some sort resembling one of the clans back in Konoha. He didn't remember the clan name but he was sure he had seen or heard of them once or twice. Getting back up, he placed his hands into his pockets and decided to approach the woman to ask her some questions 

He wasn't sure why but, he was pretty curious as to what one of them was doing in the likes of Kiri. Maybe she had a similar background story to his own after that war, maybe she was taken against her will, who knows? Approaching, he decided to stay one yard away from her and decided to just call out to her in order to get her attention. When he got her attention, Kizmaru had brazenly asked "Hey, what are you doing here in this village? Are you like me or is it something else?" He wasn't sure if she was friendly or not or if the dog itself was trained not to attack other on sit but he could never be too cautious her ein the mist village. It wasn't uncommon that there is casualties, even among the villagers themselves. The fact that Kizmaru was calling out to stranger in itself was quite uncharacteristic but he couldn't help but feel the need to sate his curiosity.

W.C: 817

Not long after they arrived at the beach did another lone figure wander to the sandy area, a blue jacket wrapped around his body with platinum blonde hair poking out from over the top of his forehead protector. He had sunkissed skin and blue eyes, as well as a flak jacket underneath his coat and on top of a yellow button up. Nothing else really stood out about the shinobi, no visible doujutsu or kkg, nor did he seem to be overly hostile. He just seemed like a regular person wanting to get away from the noise of the town and think to themselves, similar to herself. Thus she decided not to worry about him for the time being, although she would keep her clan’s eyes watching in case he wasn’t as harmless as she first expected.

However keeping out of each other’s business didn’t seem to be possible as something about her seemed to pique his interest, causing he to rise from his seated position and make his way towards her, hands casually in his pockets as if he didn’t give a care in the world, and perhaps he truly didn’t. He stopped roughly a yard away from her back, as she had still declined to turn around and greet him. Why meet a stranger face to face when she could see everything they would do anyways? It also gave her a chance to see what he would do if he didn’t think she could see his actions. If one wanted to attack someone, doing so while they seemed unsuspecting and looking away was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Yet instead of trying to harm her, he called out to her instead, reminding her of another young shinobi she had encountered not long before that also yelled at her to receive her attention. What is it with guys and yelling? Do they honestly think that is the safest and most polite way to get someone to notice them?

“My, my…” Her voice was laced with ice as she turned her head to the side, one pupil-less Byakugan looking into his crystalline blue orbs. “Were you never taught any manners? Yelling at a woman you don’t even know and accusing her of not being from her home?” After she finished saying this she spun the rest of her body towards him, now fully facing the stranger before her. When the man had begun to approach them Kuro had trained his scarlet eyes on him, narrowing them as he stopped and started talking, wanting to come off as intimidating in the hopes of keeping the unknown male from moving closer to his best friend. Kuro was like an overprotective parent sometimes. “And what do you mean like you? It sounds to me like you are so brazenly admitting you aren’t from here, a crime worthy of death in the eyes of some. Fortunately for you I have no desire to stain my hands with your blood, but others might not be as kind.”

Hikari wasn’t much of a fan for threatening people, but if that is what it would take to keep her secret safe then by all means she would do it time and time again. She couldn’t risk being killed for having switched villages so easily, or by people who were hardcore loyalists to Kiri wanting to eliminate her before she decided to change sides again, thinking her vows were so whimsical. Although in truth she thought they might be, only following those who are the strongest in order to imitate them rather than out of pride for a village. Her pride had died the second her brother’s life drained from his eyes, and now she did whatever it would take to survive, the two goals in her life keeping her going. Avenging Salzem by murdering the man who led to his death, Yensung, and finding a way to revive him. Nothing else was even remotely close to being of importance as those, and she wouldn’t stand for someone getting in her way. The medic side of her hated how dark her thoughts on the matter could get, but there wasn’t anything she could do about the necessary evil she was willing to commit to achieve her purpose in this life.

(WC: 1,280)

Of course this didn't go as smoothly as Kizmaru wanted it too. Most people, especially other shinobi, were quite secretive about these kinds of things. He didn't really expect a straight answer but it didn't hurt to try either. it was slightly irritating to him that the first thing he heard was about his lack of manners, as if she was trying to avoid the question altogether. That was fine for Kizmaru as he had secrets of his own to keep and if the situation were in reverse, he'd probably lash out venomously too. Still he decided to give a smug grin as a response to her 'manners' question. The woman was now facing him since it seems like she wouldn't normally give a shady person like him the time of day. Now what happens next, truly intrigued Kizmaru, as he noticed his own mistake in outing himself as a foreigner.  Kizmaru did just out himself as being an outsider that has just lived among them for eighteen years. Even though he's lived her a long time, graduated their academy and adapted to their lifestyle, it still wouldn't exempt him from the 'great purge' that Kiri itself was trying to start.

The grin disappeared from Kizmaru's face as he continued to address the woman that was currently speaking to him. "Yeah, i guess you're right there, girly. I did just out myself for being a foreigner to these lands. I was asking if you're an outsider too. Simple question really. Everybody knows those peculiar eyes don't originate here. As for myself, i find ways to blend in, always have, always will. Now, since you guys aren't being straight forward with answers, i'm going to assume you guys are outsiders like me and say, 'Welcome to the club.' Now, let's be friends, shall we? Never know when you're gonna need somebody to cover your back or mine, if you know what i mean. What do ya say?"  Kizmaru snickers, shifting his gaze between the canine and the woman equally. Attempting to come off as shady as possible just to give as little detail as possible about himself now that he's made that mistake of outing himself. One thing, Kizmaru learned is to have insurance. Whether it be through friends, mutual allies or pawns. He wondered which one this would one would fall under in the future, if at all. Well, regardless if they accepted or declined, he wouldn't lose anything out of it but if they did accept, and that was a big if, he'd secretly be overjoyed despite the face and personality he's trying to exude at the moment.  

W.C: 439
T.W.C: 1256

Lashing out and trying to come off as rude doesn’t seem to be working for me, huh. Good to know. Were the thoughts of the petite woman as she noticed the smug look upon the strangers face after she commented on his lack of manners, as if he thought her acting was shitty. Although she couldn’t blame him, it was a new approach to keeping strangers at bay that seemed to be going horribly wrong. Hikari just wasn’t cut out to be a bitch and that was fine, she much preferred to just be cold and numb anyways, at least then she didn’t have to try being witty and charismatic while also insulting them all at the same time. It had honestly been more work than it paid off.

Not too long after the grin appeared on his face did it vanish, his voice breaking through the brief moment of silence to address her. The snowy haired woman mentally braced herself for the vicious retort she expected to receive from him for her venomous words, yet they never truly came. He called her girly but then went on to own his mistake, as if he didn’t care whether the world knew or not about his past, and for a moment she was impressed by that attitude. It was one she herself couldn’t attain, always hiding behind different masks to keep her secret safe. But then his claims made her lose some of her previous amazement, reciting the common claim about her clan being the reason she stood out the most. It almost made her want to wear contact lenses to hide her eyes away so people would finally stop using that as their excuse for believing she was foreign to the Mist.

The blonde surprised her as he ended his little monologue with wanting to be friends, despite how crude she had been moments prior, and snicker as if he was joking. Her eyes narrowed slightly at his proposal and shifting eyes, wondering if he was trying to bait her into accepting just to put a target on her back the moment she turned away. Based on her chakra sensory she could tell he didn’t have much, unless of course he was suppressing it in order to appear harmless and garner her trust that way, but from the way his chakra flared with her Byakugan, it seemed he wasn’t doing anything with a secret agenda either.

“Firstly the heiress of my clan is from here, so the basis that I’m not a born citizen of Kiri due to me being a Hyuuga is preposterous and flawed.” Despite having made up her mind to trust him a little, she still wanted to make sure he knew his facts in case he tried to use that logic against someone with less patience, thinking he may be a useful ally to have in the future, even with his sketchy mannerisms and not thought out plans. “Does your way of blending in always include announcing you aren’t from here? If so you might need to work on that just a bit...” Her shoulders rose and fell softly as she shrugged, having dropped the bite to her bark and going back to her usual indifferent demeanor. “Assume whatever you would like to, it makes no difference to me what you think.” Before she agreed to this friendship she wanted a little bit of suspense with her slight pause, as if to make him believe that she couldn’t care regardless of whether or not they became ‘friends’, which wasn’t a complete lie. “Sure, why not, might be useful as you said. Since we are now friends I guess I might as well introduce ourselves. I’m Hikari and this is Kuro.” The wolf in question stared up at the aquatic orbs of the man, watching his movements just in case, as he hadn’t yet earned the trust of the canine.

(WC: 1,935)

Watching as the woman narrowed her eyes at him, Kizmaru felt bit wary but never changed his demeanor as he didn't really feel the need too. He wasn't sure if she was doing it out of preparation for an attack, trying to read him or if it was something else. Either way, as long as it wasn't a detrimental cause to himself, he didn't really care about it. After he noticed the female was done, Kizmaru decided to observe her a bit longer, waiting for a response. Of course, he got one sooner than he expected but it was not the response he quite expected.It seems the little miss wanted to clarify something about how she was Kiri born or something. Well, where she originated from didn't matter to him in the long run, all he wanted to know was if she felt the same way that most other villagers do about foreigners. If it had gotten ugly, Kizmaru planned to make a run for it. He wasn't normally a coward but he hadn't kept up with his shinobi training in so long so he was quite rusty and didn't really want to fight somebody to the death, especially somebody he just met. Either way, i guess it isn't too common that major clans with rare bloodlines were popping up in other villages not native to their clan's birth lands.

The next comment made Kizmaru laugh a bit nervously in the way he had approached her. He couldn't deny it wasn't a bit mistake to outright claim he didn't actually come from around these parts but he sort of just assumed that she wasn't from here with her set of pupils. He had only seen them long ago in Konoha when he was still just a young kid. He made sure to take note of that for future conversations on what kind of information to withhold. For now, he just wanted to hear the woman's response to his friendship offer. Well, well, well, it seems as if lady luck is smiling. The woman actually decided that they should be friends. It was quite the opposite of what he was expecting but he wouldn't turn this down. She even introduced herself and her pet wolf, to whose name he probably wouldn't bother remembering.But alas, the woman's name was Hikari. Kizmaru assumed that would automatically make her last name, Hyuuga. Well, it's time for him to introduce himself as well, it seems. " Yeah well, normally i don't make novice mistakes like that but you gotta understand is that we don't see your kind around her often so i figured you must not be from around here. The name's Kizmaru. I'll be honest, i didn't expect you to agree so easily but hey, that's what makes this little event great. Now then, new buddy, where should we head off too, or more like, what were you planning on doing here today? I've got no plans, i just wanted to get away from the village for a bit," Kizmaru said a bit more straightforward. He figured there was no need to keep up his distasteful tactic but at the same time, couldn't completely trust a stranger who easily agreed to his absurd proposal. All he could do now was hope she had an activity to do because Kizmaru was bored out of his mind. 

Placing his hands into his pockets and waiting around for a bit, Kizmaru had grown bored of his current encounter with his new friend. He wouldn't however, completely blow her off and was looking forward to another meeting with her if fate allowed it. With a wave towards his friend, he began to walk back the way he came in, a bit lost but eventually he found his way back out. Placing his hands into his pockets, he figured his intentions might have come off a bit too strong and he had made a mistake but alas, he wouldn't worry too much about it. He figured he'd have a lot of chances to rectify it in the future should they meet again. Going with his day, he decided what he want to do next. He figured he'd train up a little bit before heading home so instead of goign back to his place, he decided to head to the training facilities in order to bulk up a little bit.

[Exit.]

W.C: 729
T.W.C: 2014

Claiming 20 speed.
2000 words for Transplant Coinflip.

1 for success, 2 for failure.

The member 'Kutari Uchiha' has done the following action : Roll Dice/Flip Coin

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'Lucky Coin' : 2

Approved