Making Friends, a book by Goro, Moeri, and Nero

If you could minmax stats, Goro would probably be the embodiment of dumping every stat in INT, resulting in negative modifiers for WIS and CHA. His social skills and common sense were concerning at best, which was perhaps why he was using his free time on this… Odd summons to socialiaze.

The tavern in this area of the Peppermint Town was mostly frequented by Kumogakure shinobi, and given the positive relationship between their village and Kiri, it seemed like a decent place to make friends.

Unfortunately for him, though, Goro didn’t actually have anything to prove he was a ninja. Indeed, he was summoned in his pajamas and house sandals, with no kunai or headband to prove his residence.

Either way, though, this was his first time out of the village in a very long time, and his first time out of Island Country at all. The bartender slid him a glass of orange juice, having taken one look at his face and immediately refused to serve him any spirits.

Did he really look like someone who’d cause trouble?...

… Don’t answer that.

Either way, the new environment was time to interact with new peers who didn’t have an immediately negative perception of him. That was something he highly looked forward to, so he wanted to put his best foot forward, pajamas notwithstanding.

At least he still had candy in his pockets, though. He’d been planning to eat it before getting summoned, but maybe they’d make a good friendship bribe…

[WC: 250]
[Total WC: 250]

In theory, Chakra Sensory allowed him to tell that someone new had entered the tavern, but, well. There were a ton of people here, and it was hard to distinguish between individuals. It was just- all noise. Sensory overload, you know? How could you pick a needle from a haystack?

Anyways.

At the words ‘aren’t you a little young to be in a bar’, Goro’s shoulders clenched in near comical offense as he whipped around (Well, turned around, but he was kinda slow and whipped sounds SO much cooler, don’t you agree?) to bite out a retort.

“Am not, lady! I’m fifteen, that’s totally old enough!”

It was around then that he realized that A) this was not a lady, and B) the bartender was snickering to himself. He flushed, turning his gaze to the floor as his posture slowly relaxed. As much as it could in this unfamiliar environment, anyway.

“...’s not like anyone else wants to hang out, anyway.” his pajamas felt like they were made of lead: a brand of his uselessness for all to witness.

In true Goro fashion, he was only… Not awful on paper. He’d TOTALLY be a necessity for any team worth their salt if someone needed an ion chromatography, or if someone wanted to know how to cite lab reports in a dissertation. But with Itazura’s missions, he was completely out of his comfort zone.

It was an unpleasant feeling. He scratched his neck a little harder than he needed to in an attempt to pull himself out of the slump.

“...So, like.” he swallowed, not sure how to proceed in this conversation. How do you talk to someone who you called a lady real loudly in the middle of a crowded tavern? “Is this an intervention? I’m not interested. Or, uh...”

[WC: 300]
[Total WC: 550]

“Tanbogakure?” he questioned. Hidden in… paddies? Rice? “I haven’t heard of it, sorry. But! Yeah. I’m sure it’s pretty!” his demeanor notably perked up at the prospect of new information, no matter how important or innocuous it may be. At heart, he was and would always be a student.

“I’m Goro,” he acquiesced after a moment. It might have been a mistake to give away his name, but an equal exchange seemed important. “I’m… a ninja by technicality.” he scratched his nose, flicking the glass of orange juice with his index finger and definitively not wincing. “Just have the rank so I can do paperwork and clean up normally off limits. Not, uhh…” he paused lamely. “...Anything interesting.”

He sunk lower into his slouch as Yamato continued. “Yeah, I get you,” he answered. He swallowed heavily, response falling into place perfectly in his mind but struggling to be voiced. “I’m the optimist, I guess. Try to stay upbeat when other people get stressed- anything to help, you know? I just- sometimes want a lonely place to sort through my own baggage. Even if I’m not actually a ninja, it’s…” he exhaled through his nose. “...You know.”

“I’ll try and keep an eye open.” he agreed, swirling the glass. He didn’t feel very thirsty any more.

He’d let the silence hang heavily between them like a curtain- or perhaps a warm blanket. He wanted to change the subject- show Yamato who he could have been, that he wasn’t always this mopey- but nothing came to mind.

“Did you know that pygmy white saxifrage is the furthest north growing angiosperm?” Goro blurted. “It’s native to the tundra of Snow Country. The leaves and stems can be brewed as tea, and although it’s thought to break down kidney stones, it doesn’t actually have much medicinal value.”


[WC: 303]
[Total WC: 853]

Goro listened attentively to Yamato’s responses, brain letting out nearly visible plumes of smoke as he attempted to formulate a response. “I, well,” a pause, “don’t know if I should say?” his voice heightened in pitch slightly at the end. “Nothing against you, or anything, but you literally just told me to be careful, so-” he waved his hands, as if they could provide the words that he often couldn’t find.

He nodded. “Yeah, I understand what you’re saying. It’s less about the role itself, and more about having a choice. Sure, I do fun stuff here and there, but… People just sorta assumed I’d be good with paper stuff without bothering to wonder if I’d ever be good at anything else.” he finished his orange juice, using the rim of the cup to scrape off the droplets left on his upper lip.

“...” a pause. He wasn’t entirely sure why he chose that subject, either. “I just think it’s neat.” if he had more orange juice he was going to lose his shit. “I do a lot of ecology work-” which was a drastic overstatement, but he wasn’t going to lay out the precise details- “and you pick up fun things here and there. There’s a lot more to the world than flashy jutsu and blowing up villages, after all.” he quietened at that statement, sliding the glass away from him and shaking his head at the prospect of a refill.

“I just wish more people would get the memo.”

[WC: 250]
[Total WC: 1,103]

It seemed the conversation was fated to be cut short, as the Shinobi's time in the Moon Country came to an end.

[EXIT, WC: 1654+, Claiming B-Rank Minus Field with 1500WC.]

Goro flushed hotly, crossing his arms in a pout that was difficult to ascertain as exaggerated. “Goro’s a plenty common name! I know at least one other Goro.” The Kirigakure researcher carefully didn’t mention that the other ‘Goro’ he knew was actually one of the escaped lab monkeys. What Yamato didn’t know couldn’t hurt him, right? Right. He paused as he took in the stranger’s next words.

“...Well, you-” another breath. He knew what he wanted to say, but the words struggled to leave his throat. “It’s not about paperwork or not. It’s about getting to choose.” there were many things he could’ve added or clarified, but clearly his brain had decided to halt the conversation there. It wasn’t his choice to become a ninja. It wasn’t his choice to be a researcher. It wasn’t his choice to be relegated to support- a glorified busybody for people too important to care about lesser things.

Sure, being a ninja wasn’t awful, and learning was his life’s true purpose- but those things would be a lot more meaningful if he could have decided them on his own. Goro tilted his head politely as he listened to Yamato’s next interjection. He wouldn’t notice the dig for information until a few hours later, when he was already back at his home. Whoops.

“Yeah. It’s- you know. Lots of political upheaval, strong eat the weak. I managed to scrape through by virtue of not being important enough to care about, and not being- well. Strong or anything.” a pause. “I’m not sure what it’s about right now. There’s a lot of imported foods, but it’s tricky to grow stuff- the storm circle’s really affected the island ecosystem in ways we haven’t fully seen the implications of yet, so some people are working to collect data on local wildlife and population trends to make sure nothing goes extinct.”

Yamato’d almost certainly be able to place him as a Kirigakure (Shimagakure?) native at this point. Naturally, he continued rambling incoherently. “I’ve done a lot of work with that. Well, not a lot. Mostly I measure chemicals in the soil and water, but those really super affect plant, bacteria, and animal life. Did you know that the inner channels have seen a small incline in acidity? The pH has dropped a marginal amount. I think it’s from decomposition, but there hasn’t been a funded study yet so it’s mostly guesswork.” he drummed his fingers against the table. Maybe he could do something with that when he got home…?

“It’ll massively fuck up- stuff- yeah.” was his conclusion to the one sided debate about ecology in Island country. “You’re pretty chill though, I think,” he added after a moment. “Maybe when this whole thing blows over I can send you a souvenir. I hope you like gross candy, because you would not believe the amount of salt people add to their licorice. It’s disgusting!”

The night continued back and forward until Yamato sharply vanished- evidently summoned home. Perhaps he should make his exit as well.

[WC: 506]
[Total WC: 1,609]

(Exit)

Claiming:
+16 points into chakra stat
+Yamato's chakra signature (rest is in here)
+507 words to finish Genjutsu Binding (rest is either bank wc from event or from here)
+1,000 words to learn Summoning Technique
+102 words into Miracle Wrinkle Cure