Beyond the Walls

[OOC: for those responding, skip to past the dashed line]

The Yuki awoke. His eyes opened, briefly wincing at the bright sunlight. It was 10 in the morning. He got into his Light-Weight Bodysuit He knew what today was. Today was the day, that he, well, left. The Yuki walked downstairs and opened up the refrigerator. He got out a loaf of bread and some deli meat. He prepared two sandwiches. One, for now, one for later. The Yuki made sure he had everything he needed. The Yuki, before he left, had to run a quick errand. The Yuki knew of a certain family tradition. When one left the country in his family, they had to cut themselves and drop blood on their most recent dead relative's grave. It was a long-standing tradition, one that the Yuki found very weird. The logic behind it was that you cut yourself, and tied yourself to the most recent familial loss you know of. It was weird, to say the least, but the spiritualism tied to the clan together. The Yuki left his house, walking down to the Konoha graveyard. The Yuki, taking out a kunai, made a small incision on the tip of his finger, letting a drop of blood land in his mother's grave, just a few inches shy of the tombstone. The Yuki quickly healed his wound, and a small tear rolled down his cheek. Not in pain, but because he missed his mother. The Yuki made his way to the gates. He let go of the sadness and smiled, happy. He wasn't leaving Konoha. He would come back, he was sure of that. But, he was temporary leaving to go to Kiri for a better future.

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The Yuki stood at the gates. It was about 10 in the morning. The Yuki smiled, however, internally he was a little nervous. The last time he exited the country, things hadn't gone too well for him. But this was different. He was a stronger shinobi now. He was prepared to leave. However, he still figured he would wait a few minutes before leaving.

WC: 342

From Hokage to glorified gate guard. Just the way Kinzoku wanted it. It was something he had not put much focus on when he was leading this village. A major aspect of the village defenses, and he had all but ignored it. So instead of going to see the Hokage about the problem, he simply took it upon himself to do the job. Not only would it allow him to monitor those who entered or attempted to enter, it would also allow him to monitor those leaving the village. Standing atop the wall at one of the towers posted at the gate, the Nazar was leaning against the railing on both his arms with an ever dwindling cigar hanging from his lips. He had been here for a couple of hours now. In the morning it was mostly people coming in with supplies, food, and goods to sell in the markets that would be opening up any moment. There were very few people leaving the village this early in the morning. Though the closer it got to noon, the more people could be seen leaving the village. He paid more attention to those leaving the village, wanting to know where they were headed and mostly for how long they'd be gone. Especially their shinobi. So when he felt the chakra of another shinobi coming to the gates from within the village, he would check it out.

Coming down from the top of the wall, Kinzoku met the Genin waiting at the gates. It was non other than Yoi Yuki, the runner up to the Chuunin exams. "Howdy" Kinzoku said greeting the Genin with the tipping of his hat while removing the cigar from his mouth so he could speak clearer. He wasn't going to bore the kid with useless conversation. If he was standing here it was likely because he had some place to be so the Nazar would get straight to the point. Although he couldn't help but remember what had happened to him and his friends the last time they left the village. "Where will you be heading on this pleasant morning?"

Drenched in sweat Asahi woke up at twenty-five to ten in the morning. Another nightmare so it seemed. Being haunted in his dreams had become a regular thing for the fire Meijin. More often than not did it happen that the scarred teenager awakens with his heart beating fast and having trouble breathing. By now he had gotten already used to it. Every night before he went to sleep he was expecting the same thing over and over. It was almost as if he knew what would take place during his sleep. In its own weird way it became a routine. It didn't scare him anymore, it even got to the point where he found it weird if it didn't happen. Indeed, his dreams got to such an extent.

Asahi would get out of bed as he walked to the bathroom where he would refresh himself before putting on a clean and dry shirt. Staring at himself in the mirror after he just splashed his face with water, the cold drops running down his scar. Finishing his usual morning routine before he would take off as he prepared to go outside. It was still early in the morning, about ten o'clock, when he left his house so he didn't expect there to be that many people outside. The scarred Meijin, now walking through the streets of Konoha, started thinking about his friend Snow and how he was doing in Volcano. It hadn't been that long since the Yuki had left the village on his missions but things already seemed different.

Wandering through the village and pondering about his friend led him to the place where he had last seen him as he made his way over to the village gates. This early in the day it would mostly be merchants looking to make some money who could be found trying to enter or leave the village. With each step he got closer to the gates Asahi started to wonder how it would feel to travel outside the walls of Konoha. More and more did he get the feeling of being stuck, in need of a fresh start. So lately his thoughts were occupied by the idea of seeing the outside world. But the Meijin was aware that he wasn't strong enough yet to do the same as his Yuki friend who received permission to travel to Volcano Country.

Speaking of Yuki, when he arrived at the gates he would walk in on a conversation taking place between the boy with a scar similar to his and a man who looked exactly like the previous Hokage. Trying his best to remember the boy's name he would say hello. "Good morning Yoi, leaving as well?" The only logical explanation for him being there could only be that he was about to take part in a mission just like Snow. Asahi would then direct his attention towards the Cowboy and formally introduce himself. "Hello sir, my name is Asahi Meijin, nice to meet you" he said while giving a slight bow to the former Hokage. 

(WC: 512)

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As Yoi stood at the gates, he was approached by a gate guard. This gate guard also happened to be former Hokage, Kinzoku. Yoi said, "Hello sir. I'll be heading to Kirigakure." The Yuki then reached into Storage Displacement and withdrew his passport, signed by none other than Yensung Aburame. He handed it to Kinzoku. Yoi, felt a little nostalgic, standing at these gates. The last time he was here was after Calin. But before that, life had been so simple. Training and internal missions. Now, the world was complicated. High-level missions. Ethical dilemmas. The Yuki used to think the world was black and white. But no. It was gray. So, so gray.

The Yuki then noticed Asahi approach. Yoi said, "Hey Asahi. Yeah, I'm about to head off. We really have a habit of meeting at the gates." The Yuki slightly chuckled. He hoped Snow would be home soon and safely. The Frost Monarch missed his fellow Yuki. Now Yoi's training had become more lonely.

Anyways, Tadashi was approaching, and to answer Tadashi's questions, Yoi said, "I'm doing, how about you? Well, I'm off to Kirigakure. Got some business to attend to there." Yoi had received a few questions about why he was going to Kirigakure by other people, so he had settled upon the story that he was visiting family there. Because, well he was. His brother lived there, and Yoi planned on visiting him.

Hanabi was about to exit when she seemed to notice the group of shinobi. Yoi said, "Hey Hanabi. I wouldn't exactly call it an adventure. Just visiting family. Are you heading anywhere?"

WC: 269
TWC: 611

Were the Konoha gates a common area for social gatherings and Kinzoku simply didn't know? Or was it mere coincidence that everyone was gathering here? Before everyone arrived, Yoi managed to tell the Nazar what it was he was doing. Going to Kirigakure apparently. He pulled out his passport and kindly handed it over to the Nazar. Kinzoku took it from the Yuki and observed the page signed  the Hokage. His first question would have been, why was he being sent to Kirigakure? Whether this was his own doing, he knew Yensung likely had some sort of plan behind this. Before he had time to ask, the social gather began. First it was Asahi who greeted the Nazar with a slight bow. In return, Kinzoku tipped his hat after placing the cigar back into his mouth. Next to join the party was the reigning Chuunin Exams winner, Tadashi. "Mornin'" Kinzoku replied with his accent as he greeted the young shinobi. Next , and hopefully lastly to arrive was the child prodigy Hanabi. She seemed like she was in a hurry, about to bolt right through the gates. Luckily she saw some people she knew and stopped to greet them.

During the brief conversations with this young group of shinobi, it was revealed that Yoi was going to visit family, and Hanabi was leaving for some sort of "adventure". He kindly handed Yoi back his passport before addressing the group. "Since you're all here, may as well let y'all know. Things are going to work a little differently now. All shinobi who leave the village get marked by me. If we don't hear from you and you've been gone for an extended period of time, i'll be coming to get you myself. So best keep the Hokage updated. When you return home, i'll remove the seals." With that he placed two fingers on Yoi's upper back hidden beneath his clothing. One finger placing a Flying Thuder God seal on it, the other a Mark Seal. He looked over to Hanabi, waiting for her to provide a safe and unseen area for him to place the two seals, seeing as how she was fully decked out in her armor. When done, he would place the two same seals he had given to Yoi. "And where will you be going?" he muttered with the cigar hanging from his mouth, waiting for the young kunochi to answer him.

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FTG and mark seal placed on Yoi and Hanabi.

Asahi listened to Yoi as he explained that his adventure would be leading him to Kirigakure on some family business. The scarred Meijin had caught wind of the upcoming Blood Games taking place in the Mist so maybe the Yuki decided to see for himself how the event would go. "I hope you're not afraid of the many dangers lurking in every corner once you leave the village." He wasn't trying to scare his fellow shinobi, it was more of a warning to always be careful. Even though the two of them didn't know each other that well Asahi still cared about other people's safety. 

Soon after they had engaged in some small talk they were joined by Tadashi, the ginger who recently won the Chuunin Exams. "Good morning Tadashi, nice to see you." Once the fire Meijin was done greeting him another individual had decided to show up. This time it was an unfamiliar face, unknown to the scarred teenager. The young kunoichi seemed to be rather in a hurry as she didn't really take the time to greet everyone. Nevertheless he would give her a slight bow out of politeness. Contrary to him it seemed like the others already knew the female shinobi as they addressed her as Hanabi. 

Now that everyone was present and it didn't look like they could be expecting someone else to show up it was time for the former Hokage to explain the new procedure when people leave the village. Kinzoku would inform them about how every shinobi that leaves Konoha would get marked by him and if they failed to report back in time they would be brought back by the Cowboy. "Seems like the higher ups caught wind of people trying to leave." Asahi could understand the reason behind all this, but it also meant it made things more difficult for him if he ever tried to leave as well. 

(WC: 319, TWC: 831)

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