Visiting the Library [Open, NK]

Page and Sheffield would start their sightseeing journey of Hoshi with one of the biggest and most renown locations, the Haven National Archives. Arriving at the doors first Page would tell Sheffield to stay outside the door and wander around, just in case they didn't allow pets and animals into the library proper. Apparently Page had been misinformed as when he entered he realized the name of the place had been changed to the "Kozai Yuki National Archives," a name he hadn't heard, but he figured it was someone important, after all they had a whole library named after him so he must be some sort of bigshot.

Looking around he soon found a clerk, and approaching them asked what selection was available to visitors of the village, and he was pointed to a section of the library that, while rather small, had a nice table with multiple chairs set up. Page scoured the books until he eventually found one designed for normal citizens on how to farm in the local arid environment, took it to the table, cracked out some of Raleth's tea he had packaged up and began to read, open to anyone else joining him at the table.

WC:206

Kouma had got the news that he had passed the first round of the chuunin exams, and he even got first place. Kouma was extremely excited, and he was heading over to the library currently, as when the proctors of the exam handed out the grades, they also handed out some information about the second round, and it seemed like it was some sort of exercise where a random two of the genin that passed the first round would be teamed up with each other to go against a jounin. The jounin were going to have some bells, and the objective was to get the bells away from them. This might be different for each jounin, because they had differing styles of how to prevent the genin from getting the bells. While Kouma was indeed looking forward to that, he was more excited to find and talk to the person from the Sand Village that he was paired up with. He wanted to go and discuss battle strategy with the person, as well as just say hello. He had yet to meet anyone from the other villages, but there were quite a few of them. It seemed that there was a rather tense undercurrent in the village, as obviously there was a large exam going on, and most of these people were not here for vacation. Kouma was not able to meet with any of these people so far, and now he had a wonderful excuse to go and do so. Kouma was heading towards the library, because he had got a very brief description of the person he was going to be matched with, and it was very glaring, as the man named Page had a cute dog with him, which seemed to be a fairly medium sized dog, like a golden retriever or a shepherd dog. Kouma was interested to ask if he actually used the dog in combat, or if it was simply a companion, Kouma would not fault him for either take.

Because the Suna nija had a fairly unique set up, having a ninja hound with him was pretty glaring, so it was easy to walk around and ask about the man named Page. The people that he was talking to essentially led him through the city streets and towards the library. The library was a good place, as Kouma thought that anyone who would come here knowing that they could not get the higher tiered knowledge from it probably just liked learning and the library. Kouma liked to go here and study the basic composition of mechanisms, which were not quite secretive knowledge, with a large majority of his free time. Kouma thought that anyone that wanted to be in the library just to be in the library was someone that Kouma wanted to interact with, and as he thought of this, he hurried his steps. Kouma entered the library respectfully, and headed to the clerk at the front desk, showing her the ninja headband that he was currently using as a belt buckle of sorts, and the clerk nodded at him. He then walked over to her and then asked her if she had seen anyone with a dog from the Sand Village, and she responded fairly quickly with simply pointing towards the visitor area off to the side with the small table. Kouma then saw that there was a man sitting there, but there were no dogs in sight, and he wondered if the animal was left outside, as Kouma did not see a dog before he came in here.

Regardless, Kouma would go over to side of the table and politely speak to the man from the Sand Village. "Hello, I am Yamaguchi Kouma, is your name Page, or do you know a ninja from your village with that name?" Kouma was always very respectful to adults, especially those that are ninjas, as they had much more life experiences than he did, and so he loved hearing their stories from when they were younger, or their other experiences. Kouma wanted to talk to the man even if he was a genin like him, even more so in fact, as he could give Kouma some advice on some things.
-----------------
WC: 707

OOC: Edited, getting rid of knowledge that was not public

"Oh hey, thats me!" Page would respond, looking up from his book before standing up from his seat, the elder of the two genin would stick out a hand as if to invite a handshake before opening up again, "Name's Page, nice to meet you, should I call you Yamaguchi, Kouma, or are you one of those both names kinda folks, not that there is anything wrong with that. I hear we are gonna be working together in the exams so I'm glad we got a chance to meet up, kinda sense each others vibrations and size each other up, maybe even discus strategy if you are down for that, hell I'm just kinda around here to meet people so if you just want to chat and build up chemistry that would be great!" Page would keep his right hand out until it was met, scratching the back of his head with his left. 

Page always felt a tad insecure around the much younger genin of his village, and the fact he was standing across from a foreign shinobi half his age that did better than him on the first part of the exam did not exactly build his confidence, not that he held it against him. Although he was towering over the younger of the two, the former farmer tried to make it so Kouma felt open to respond, as at the end of the day Page's trip to Hoshi was less so about getting a promotion, and more in line with meeting new people. 

"Say, you want to talk over tea? I have a friend over in the land of Wind, taught me a lot, cooks up a mighty fine tea and I brought some with me in a thermos, he goes by Raleth if you see him around, he's actually good friends with the proctor we'll be facing, Zaine, so if you got any questions about him, I can answer them to the best of my ability as a sort of friend of a friend. Done a bit of work with him so I have seen him in action physically speaking, but not really in terms of combat more in terms of moving large rocks," Page would offer.

Should Kouma take Page up on the offer of tea, he would pull out a chair for him before sitting down in his original seat, pouring out two cups of tea and distributing them between the two genin. He did not know where this conversation would lead, but Page hoped it would end with a victorious attempt at the second round of the chuunin exams.

WC: 436, TWC: 642

As Kouma asked the man sitting there reading a book if he was the person that Kouma was looking for, the man seemed a bit boisterous in his actions, immediately standing up and putting his hand out so that Kouma could shake it. The man started speaking almost as soon as Kouma reciprocated the hand shake, so he did not quite get to say nice to meet you or any of the other things that he wanted to say, as the man talked quite a bit. He introduced himself as Page, and asked what Kouma wished to be called, and Kouma never really thought of that, as he had always been to more formal gatherings, or his mentors calling him brat. The person continued on with talking while Kouma was thinking about what he would like to be called, and since this meeting was fairly informal and the man seemed really nice, Kouma responded, “You can call me how you will, but I suppose Kouma is better for casually chatting about strategy and getting to know one another.” Kouma made sure that he was still very respectful to the man whose hand he had just shaken. It was very difficult to curb that side to him because of his upbringing. Kouma silently wondered if this man had a surname, or some sort of clan, but maybe he was being cautious with giving out that information to people, so Kouma paid it no heed as the conversation went on.

Kouma was too busy talking to the person and getting inside of his own head, but now that he had a chance to speak and respond through the man’s fairly long winded speech, Kouma noticed that the man was very very tall. Kouma was average for his age, or at least in the same ball park. Still, with Kouma used to interacting with people that were elder to him, he felt a bit more comfortable talking to Page, although he would still be extremely polite and probably too formal for the seemingly laid back Page. Page then asked Kouma if he would like to have some special tea that he had brought, before going on to speak about their proctor, and it seemed like he knew a bit about the proctor, so this would probably be very good information. “Yes, I would like that very much, thank you.” Kouma would say before sitting down opposite of Page. Kouma would sit very traditionally, with his feet under his butt pointed to the back of the chair, and his arms resting on his knees, palms facing down. It looked as if Kouma was in some sort of formal meeting, as this was a similar posture and seating as one would do if they were enjoying tea ceremony, which was sort of what was happening.

Page poured a cup of tea for Kouma while he also kept continuing his speech about how he did not quite know how Zaine was in combat, but he at least knew how Zaine could move large rocks around. This was something that Kouma was familiar with, he had trained in a similar way to increase his strength. As soon as the cup of tea was placed in front of him, Kouma nodded quite deeply before carefully grabbing the cup with both of his hands, slowly brought it to his lips, and then drank the whole cup in a few gulps before wiping off the cup and carefully placing it back on the table, pushing it towards Page. The tea was quite hot, but Kouma was used to this, so it did not bother him much. Now Kouma was ready to get onto the topic at hand, and started to speak his own piece. “I would like to know what sort of combat style you have, and if you know anything about the jounin Zaine you mentioned that would relate to getting the bells. I’ll go first. I am a puppeteer, so most of the time I will be far away from the actual battle while I control puppets. I have a few tools I can use close ranged, but I would prefer keeping my distance. I can be either offensive, defensive, or support oriented in combat, whatever you think would compliment your style.”

It was now Kouma’s turn to go on a rather long speech, detailing his overall combat ability and what roles he could fill in a combat situation, and the beautiful thing about puppetry was that the puppets could fill the gaps in what the team was missing. It was a great supporting specialty that not a lot of people did anymore, most likely due to the fact that most people simply targeted the puppeteer. Kouma had ways of dealing with this of course, so there were low concerns in that area. Kouma would politely sit and wait for Page to answer, returning his hands to rest on his thighs. To other people, it would seem as if Kouma was extremely nervous, as he had a serious look on his face and he was extremely formal, like a young man about to be scolded by his father for doing something wrong, but this was just how Kouma was when he interacted with people significantly older than he was.
-------------
WC: 881

"Well in combat I am pretty simple, I hit hard and I hit fast, although that said I do have quite a bit of utility in my disposal as I am quite adept with medical ninjutsu. From what I know about Zaine, he is mighty fast and wields a mighty sharp blade. If you want my advice from my limited contact with him, its find a way to shut down his options for movement, that way he has to deal with whatever attack you send out. Again talking about myself, I work really well at short to medium range considering my proficiency with thrown weapons, and while not quite as versatile as yourself I think I can maintain offensive and support roles pretty well in combat, might be best for a simple offensive maneuver at first to lull the opponent into thinking we are simple folk from myself, if you can provide good support. That way if my offensive move fails, we can always change up our roles to keep Zaine guessing. I find it interesting that you are a puppeteer, don't get to meet to many of those wandering about the place, but from the sounds of it those few and far between are far and above skilled in their field." Page would respond, letting out another long winded speech while reclining and taking the occasional gap in speaking to gulp tea, a sharp contrast from Kouma's sipping.

 This difference would prove a microcosm of the total differences of the two similar but different shinobi. While Kouma sat attentively and politely, Page lounged in a more comfortable and casual position, and while Kouma spoke with much respect, Page refrained from thinking before he spoke in present company, letting out a stream of consciousness. Page did feel slightly uncomfortable with this at first, but as he noticed Kouma act more and more like this was a natural talk, the former farmer's anxiety about putting pressure on the kid faded. "Oh and one last thing, if it comes down to it and only one of us can gnab that bell, I think you should take it, after all you are a young star, you got the chance to be very successful very early and as far as I go, if I don't make it to that final round its not going to be a big deal, what's one more year to someone like me after all," Page would state, his diction maintaining his peaceable and casual tone but his face holding an intense seriousness.

WC: 423, TWC: 1065

Kouma sat there in the decent chair in the library area, and was having a good conversation with Page across from him. Page was still a bit long winded in his conversation and explanation of how he described himself in terms of combat role and potential, and Kouma was greatly interested on how a more experienced genin thought about his own combat abilities. He liked that Page seemed to be flexible with his role and uses in combat, so Kouma thought that it meshed quite well with his own combat style, which was currently scattered and not well defined yet. Kouma sat through the explanation very calmly and with great concentration. Kouma loved to learn, and this was almost like a small lesson for him as he sat there contemplating the man's words. Kouma decided that he was going to try very hard during the chuunin exams, even if it was just so that he would not let Page down. After Page's first explanation, Kouma decided to state his own piece to the man, before letting him continue.

"It's great that you can be offensive, as I'm not quite experienced in hat department, I sort of just use my mechanisms off of instinct." Kouma would say, scratching the back of his head with his right hand. What Kouma was not sure of yet, so of course Page would not be aware of this, but Kouma passive channeled the muscle memory of his ancestors, so he was fairly competent in combat, even if he does not know it when he does so. As he was essentially a fledgling, more and more techniques and muscle memory would be unlocked as he used more and more abilities that his clan provided to him. Then, suddenly Page started talking again, saying that if only one of them could get the bell, Kouma should be the one who takes it in the end, which greatly surprised Kouma, and he was immediately against the prospect.

"No no no, I couldn't possibly take it, I'm just a kid. I think that someone that has seniority should have it. I still need quite of bit of experience before I'm ready for chuunin, I think." Kouma was not just being humble, he had a very objective view about his own abilities, and he was unsure if he deserved the rank of chuunin currently. As he said that, he was actually just hoping that Page across from him would be a little greedy and simply say that he was going to take the bell if it came down to it.
------
WC: 430

Page would hear Kouma and begin to chuckle as he shook his head, "That's where your youth has you wrong, for me adding another year to my time is nothing, year to year matters for you and I can tell just from the fact that someone sponsored you at this young age you are talented, whether you're going to accept it or not, you're getting one of those bells, trust me if someone in a high up didn't know you were ready, you wouldn't be in this position, hell if you weren't ready you wouldn't have performed the best on the written exam." The former farmer could see the confidence lacking in the younger of the two genin, smell it in a sense, and tried to be motivational in what he was saying even if he didn't know the best way how to. "I would say that you can only win if you believe in yourself," Page would start again, "But I'm pretty sure you could have the confidence of your average cat and still pull out of this thing with a promotion."

Page would of course allow Kouma to interject but after discussing for some time would eventually try to draw the conversation to a close as he was getting the sense Sheffield wasn't a fan of being left alone too long, "I suppose might be best for us to part ways for the exam, spend a little time to train by ourselves, got a meeting with my mentor Raleth later today and pretty sure he's going to put me to work. Been great talking with you Kouma, and I hope we can do it again sometime soon, hopefully before I leave to go back to Suna, hell hopefully before that third part of the exams." 


Page would stand up from the table, closing his thermos and packing it back up before turning back to Kouma, a thought coming to his mind, "Oh and one more thing," he would say, "If we meet up in the final contest, I just want to let you know I won't hold anything back, and I expect the same from you. If we have to fight, no handouts for either of us, the victory has to be earned." This said Page would hear Kouma out before leaving the library, meeting up with Sheffield before progressing with his plans for the day, heading towards the Lake before getting ready to get blasted at the Bloody Unicorn later in the day after hearing of their free drink deal going on, a deal he was sad didn't extend to people like Kouma, although he could see why a bunch of drunk minors could become a problem.

WC: 450, TWC: 1515

Kouma was listening intently to the man across the table from him when he was speaking, the only time he really interrupted was to say that he probably did not deserve chuunin yet, but Page was quick to share his thoughts on the matter with Kouma, essentially correcting him by saying that it did not matter if Page himself had to take a year or two more to get to chuunin, as he was already old for it, so it did not matter to him. Kouma thought that this was a strange perspective to have on something that could dictate your level of prestige and authority in your life, as well as you getting more money from the village weekly and for doing missions, not to mention higher tier missions than what they could currently take on at the time, but he simply chalked this up to him being young and being unable to see the big picture about the matter. The man then  went on to say there must have been some reason that someone sponsored him for the chuunin exams, and Kouma thought back on the woman that was in the kage's office that said that he was allowed to go through with the exams. She must have been someone of importance if she could just casually be walking aorund in the Kage's office and not be escorted out, and Kouma regretted not getting her title or rank ion the village before leaving.

Still, Kouma could see that Page was giving him a kind gesture by saying this, so Kouma simply bowed lightly to the man after bringing his palm and closed fist together in a symbolic gesture. "Thank you very much, senior. I need to think more critically about the people that are counting on me, it seems." Kouma was really wondering if he was just too immature or if the person was complimenting him and trying to inspire confidence, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he did not want to zone out while thinking that thought as he often did and miss the other things that Page was going to say. Page them came to the conclusion that they should part ways and do some individual training before the actual day of the exam, and Kouma agreed, nodding his head towards Page as he stood up from the table. Kouma respectfully handed Page back the now empty tea cup that he had given him, before also standing up. "Yes, individual training is a good idea, I'll be sure to train hard." Kouma sincerely stated while looking towards Page. Kouma was about to leave as well, when Page turned back and started to speak.

Page wanted to make sure that Keita did not do anything like throwing the fight if they ended up in the final round together, and that such a victory needed to be earned, and not given by the other person. Page had already guessed Kouma's nature and intentions, and it seemed like he wanted to make sure nothing like that happened. Kouma bashfully nodded, as if he had been seen through by the man and he was embarrassed to say that the idea was exactly what Kouma was thinking of doing in the exams, as he was a bit too humble and thinking that he was undeserving. As Page started to leave, Kouma made sure to say to him, "Alright, you better make it to the finals with me." Kouma had to muster up a bit of... well you would not call it courage, just a harsh left turn on his usual subservient attitude when it came to his elders, so that he could actually say that. Kouma was excited to have a rival as a team mate in the first round with actual action, and hoped that Page would make it all the way to the finals with him. Kouma then parted with Page, waving at him as they walked their separate ways.
------
EXIT
------
WC: 667
Total WC: 2685
Using 1875 words to get A ranked Unburial Rite with 25% max stat discount
Using 810 towards Unburial: Screecher with discount 810/1125

Approved