Ramen on My Mind[P; Taro, Saito, Amikiri, Hiroshi]

Otoko leaned back in his seat a little dejected as it seemed there was no evil wizard or sorcerer to take out, as fun as that sounded. He perked back up though when the mangoes came out, “don’t mind if I do Taro. Thank you!” He perked up even further at the mention of sake and nodded his head in approval towards Hitoshi, “ don’t mind if I do again. Thank you to you as well.” The next thing to arrive was Otoko’s food, which he thanked the waiter for emphatically. He grabbed his ramen spoon and chopsticks from the table and almost began digging into his food before remembering that Amikiri had asked a question before Hitoshi arrived at the table.

“Oh Amikiri, to your question!” He turned his attention to the entire group. “I gathered you all here to discuss creating a group for missions. Hiroshi I know I didn’t invite you here, but by the looks of you I would say you’re a more than capable fellow and you seem friendly enough. So what do you all think? We could run missions together as a group and have each other's backs like Hiroshi said!”

Otoko gave the group a moment to consider his offer and began digging into his ramen bowl. The flavors hit Otoko like a freight train as he enjoyed that bite almost like it was his first time eating here. He chose this place for a reason and hoped his new group would find it just as delicious.

[WC: 254]

Taro seemed to brush off Amikiri’s statements, but that Hyuuga was of no great concern to the Hyuuga. He understood that when you had to juggle talking with four other people, it could grow quite difficult.

On the contrary to that though, Saito had extended his hand to meet Amikiri’s outreached hand. Amikiri appreciated his fellow Hyuuga’s respectful nature. Though, Amikiri hoped, as the dinner went longer, Saito wouldn’t be too formal. Amikiri also appreciated a fellow respectable man, but enjoying things is another key part of that.

At this point Taro launched into a discussion about shinobi and their relations to sorcerers. Amikiri wasn’t one for grand metaphors and similes. Oftentimes the best way to communicate was through clear and concise language. But, the dark haired Hyuuga could see the legitimacy in what the Sarutobi said. Even though the Hyuuga was still yet to fully train his power with something like ninjutsu, his Hyuuga DNA had granted him the unique opportunity to channel his chakra into his techniques using extremely precise control of his Tenketsu.

After his first short monologue, Taro Sarutobi launched into another. The Hyuuga was starting to see his opinion of the Sarutobi sour more and more. While this could certainly be inspiring, the volume of his discussion and length of it, in a public restaurant like this, was unnecessary, obnoxious, and excessive.

It also didn’t help that Amikiri disagreed to an extent with Taro’s message. While Amikiri certainly didn’t possess the capabilities of one who could deal damage to things on a massive scale, he wasn’t exactly the stealthiest. Showing up to combat with all his equipment would be quite the sight. He had close to none of it with him right now, but his full armory included many weapons, a fancy automatically reloading crossbow from Lightning Country, his dark gray and black armor with a flowing cape, and to cap it all off, a weapon that was taller than he was.

As Taro’s speech came to an end, the Hyuuga appreciated his choke and gave a light chuckle, a small smile, and a nod. The Hyuuga then politely took one of the offered mango slices. A larger smile across his face, as Amikiri enjoyed the sweet flavor.

Hearing Hiroshi’s offer for sake, the Hyuuga would say, “Thanks for the offer, but I’m good. Not a big fan of drinking.” In Amikiri’s household, drinking was reserved solely for any holidays, and usually in small quantities. The waiter delivered their food and Amikiri happily ate his ramen.

Amikiri instantly perked up at the offer provided by Otoko. While the Hyuuga never had had too much experience working in teams before, it couldn’t be too hard to pick up on and learn. Amikiri would quickly respond with, “You know, I’d love to work in a group. We could accomplish a lot and I think it’d be beneficial for all of us. We all have knowledge and skills to bring to the table and I think working together would let us all prosper.”

WC: 508
TWC: 2152

As Taro dug into his recently delivered large bowl of ramen, he couldn't help but sense a slight tension at the table. His teammates, Saito, Otoko, and Amikiri, seemed unmoved by his silly comparison of ninja and sorcerers. Their chuckles seemingly forced to be polite. However, he knew this about Otoko, most of Taro's tangents fell flat with the guy, but he hoped that his easy going personality would one day rub off on his gloomy big hat friend. Saito, being a Hyuuga, always seemed to be in a state of stress. He wore it on his sleeve wherever he went, and now with Amikiri, there were two of them. "Guess it comes with the territory," He thought.

Taro was used to reading the mood of a crowd, having performed tricks and gimmicks while selling his family's mangos at the market. He could tell when a crowd was and wasn't into his performance. Hopefully with the offer of saki by the friendly Hiroshi his fellow shinobi would open up more. He never did enjoy the poshness of living in the the city, preferring the warmth and bond of hearty laughter and banter after a hard days work in the sun.

But Taro was not one to let anyone's perceived status get in the way of enjoying a good meal. He knocked back a shot of saki, slurped up his noodles with relish, taking pleasure in the warm, savory broth and the tender chunks of meat.

Despite the slight tension, it was a pleasant night, and Taro enjoyed the company. He was grateful for Otoko pulling them all to this place to get to know each other. "...We could run missions together as a group and have each other's backs like Hiroshi said!"
"I'm into it!," Taro responded. Besides being the local mango farmer everyone knew him to be, he was excited to expand his skills as a shinobi. "This is gonna be so cool! Think of all the places we will go, the dangers we will face. The ladys we might meet." He bounced his eyebrows and gave a toothy grin. Deep down he knew he was all talk as he never had a girlfriend much less asked a girl out on a proper date.

As he finished off the last of his ramen, Taro felt a sense of contentment wash over him. His belly was full, face warm from the saki and he had made some new friends. Whatever reservations the others may have had about him, Taro knew that he could win them over with his easygoing nature and his willingness to work hard. And he was looking forward to the adventures and challenges that lay ahead.

WC:434

Saito listened, to everyone talk. The idea of being on a team excited him, he was already having thoughts of planning out training times and how many different tactics he could write down and talk about with them. This was kind of right up Saito's wheel house. Even if he neve got to plan anything and put it on paper the idea made him excited.

When Sake was brought up Saito was going to have some but then started to feel ill, "No thank you. Another time hopefully!" Saito hoped another time would actually happen and hoped that is was obvious this was an actual offer rather than what you say when you see someone you used to know and awkwardly make small talk then say something like we should meet up as everyone says their goodbyes. Saito had lived a pretty solitary life and while it had its perks he did enjoy company and being around people.

Saito started feeling more ill but hoped the ramen would help, unlike the sake. At least that is what he was thinking, that actual food would be beneficial no matter if it was true or not. Once his food got there he took a bite and it did not taste as good as normal, he looked up at the others to see that it seemed everyone else was enjoying it. It did not take a genius to realize his did not taste as good not because of the food but because he was coming down with something, and fast. Saito hated being sick and had a secret family technique to minimize the length of time he would be sick and how bad of the symptoms. But he had to get home to start the family technique the longer he waited the less effective it would be.

He also realized he could be contagious right then and the thought of getting his new friends sick worried him greatly. How rude would that be?! It for sure would not be respectful. Saito stood up and covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve. While in a respectful tone there was a slight bit of anxiousness in his voice "I fear I am coming down with something and must leave at once. I really hope in the future we can do this again and can go on grand adventures but for now I must get home before I bring shame to myself and get everyone sick. Thank you for the invite" Saito placed money down and a little extra, he was not focused on counting it fully. He gave a bow a quickly left the shop.

On the way home he hoped him leaving suddenly would not affect his relationship with them and was looking forward to future interactions with everyone!

WC: 466

Amikiri strongly enjoyed the conversations of the group. They made plans and ideas as the night went on and talked about their futures. Amikiri tried not to talk about his future too much. To those who did not know that he was trying to help his family, Amikiri’s focus on money might be seen as greed. He kept his points brief but simultaneously tried not to appear as too reserved and not outgoing. As the night progressed, Amikiri grew tired. Maybe it was because of the lack of alcohol in his system, but he felt like the night was coming towards its natural conclusion. At that point Amikiri noticed Saito seemed to be a little sick and shortly thereafter Saito announced that he would be taking his leave so as to not get anyone else sick. Amikiri internally figured that it was simply that Saito had had a little too much to drink. After fifteen or so more minutes, Amikiri decided that it was time for him to leave. Saying his goodbyes, Amikiri said, “Unfortunately, I have to go now. I’ve got work in the morning and I can’t be up too late.” The Hyuuga then walked back to his home and would go to bed.

WC: 206
TWC: 2358

[Exit]

46 Bonus AP (308 > 354)

187 WC to Cutting Board Style (187/187)
187 WC to Swish and Flick (187/187)
375 WC to Shadow Shuriken (375/375)
750 WC to Flying Swallow (750/750)
329 WC to C-Rank Taijutsu Infusion (1125/1125) (past progress here)
530 WC to B-Rank Taijutsu Infusion (1655/1875)

Approved!

Approved