A New Place to Call Home [Gate/Open]

Leaving the caravan she rode with behind her, Marabelle's journey was about to come to an end, at least the traveling part of the journey ahead of her. She had left her home country of Bean Jam behind her, traveled all the way through to Forest Country and has found herself standing on the path towards the gates of a newly formed, and slowly growing, shinobi village. It had been there as a village for a long time to her recollection but only recently did the shifts in the trees reveal the shinobi that were ever present and now standing forward into the picture.

There wasn't really any direct invitation or letter that brought Marabelle towards Sakarugakure. The rumors and breathes on the wind alluded to the change and Marabelle wanted to be apart of it. Ever wanting to help, she learned small tricks and tips to help medically with cuts, bruises, and other wounds but that's where her knowledge ended. Herbal remedies and other helpful tactics was the extent of her medical knowledge for now. Marabelle decided against go strictly into medicine for she believed there was more she could do if she had the proper training to push towards a different career path, that of the shinobi.

The road from where the caravan diverged and hers was long leading to the village. She had never been this far from home before, let alone by herself. With a relatively large family of siblings, Marabelle's perseverance towards making it this far was truly a surprise for her parents. The youngest by age, she didn't let the availability of a simpler life stop her from dreaming or reaching towards the unknown. None from her family before he have attempted towards something like this, she really took the first foot forward approach to this. The only thing her parents left with her outside of what she wore and her small bag of trinkets was their belief that she would make it as their blessing to her.

Rising on the horizon, the Gates of Sakuragakure stood ever growing before her. Her eyes focused towards the end goal of her first chapter before her, there was plenty more to worry about once settling into the village. Thinking about that more, she realized she didn't have the funds to really settle in the village, Marabelle bargained and utilized her services to pay for transport while also working and her payment wasn't money. She sighs softly as she sees the base of the gate in her vision. She's finally getting to the part where she's less on her on while equally having to be on her own; a new village, a new life, new lessons to learn. While approaching, she was sure whoever was at the gate would be able to spot her amongst the trees, even though her kimono was equally pink, she still was moving and walking compared to the fluttering leave of the tree that litter the ground of the village and its streets.

She gives a slight bow towards the gate guard once she reaches the gate itself. She stands there a bit awkwardly as she holds onto her bag's strap. She wasn't quite sure on best to explain why she had come all this way but she reassured herself that it makes sense and that they would likely be happy to just hear people are interested. Breathing in softly, "Hello, my name is Marabelle Blossom. I am seeking to live here and train to become a shinobi. I hope that is acceptable and if you could point me in the right direction on how to go about that, it would be most appreciated." She kept herself steady with her intent. She was uncertain on the process and hoped that it was simple and easy on what to do, and that they had temporary housing though she could not imagine that being a huge issue. She's not a teenager and likely could find a temporary job in the mean time if it wasn't in the cards to start right away.

WC: 678

Akimitsu had been lounging against the gates, pale blue eyes lazily scanning the area in front of the village countless times. It was not quite his time to switch off with the next guard, so when he saw a figure approaching the gate, he stiffened. The figure was carrying a bag, and seemed rather lost, but looks could be deceiving. He didn’t recognize the woman as any of their trade partners, though she’d arrived with a caravan. He wasn’t sure if he liked that. Chiharu would want to know about this, probably.

“Halt!” the young man called, fingers itching to twitch towards his Kunai pouch. Before he could question her reasons any further, though, she was talking. Shinobi? Wanting to live and train here? It made him feel like laughing. But it wouldn’t do for the gate guard to antagonize the woman. Even if she looked far too easy to actually defeat. This was definitely out of his purview. He really should’ve established a mental link with Chiharu before now, it would make this so much easier.

“Sakuragakure is accepting enough of rogues… but you are a bit of a different case, aren’t you? I can’t let you in just yet, our kage is the one who deals with cases like yours. Please wait while I send him a quick message.” He said, never turning his back on the woman as he reached for a scrap of paper and a pen from the guard station. Luckily enough, there were always messenger birds around to send a message. When Chiharu got here, he was definitely establishing that mental link.

Jotting down a quick note to the pink haired man and releasing the messenger, the blonde settled in to wait. The woman before him was definitely still a threat. He wasn’t going to take his eyes off of her until his kage was here to settle the matter.

Listening to the words to hear more beyond just the face value of conversation, Marabelle nodded at Akimitsu's response. She was in the dark on what to do and if anything meeting the person in charge would probably be best case for her to really understand what all needed to happen. Relaxing a bit, she lets go of her grip on her bag strap. Thinking to what she said she closes her eyes and processes her thoughts putting a single finger on her chin, a thinking position. Nodding to herself she looks towards Akimitsu then towards the village. "I'm not much of a rogue-type, though I believe I need to start learn more before I can make that type of determination about myself." She surmises this was an appropriate response to his earlier question towards her situation.

The village looks as beautiful as she imagined, a small glean in her eyes were probably visible to the man. Waiting was fine by her too, it gave her time to breathe a bit. The journey to here was longer than she anticipated but handling bandits on the route wasn't what she had planned. Rubbing her arm, her vision wanders around, her thoughts all over the place. When her mind wandered from places she realized she introduced herself but didn't really say anything much more. Knowing people usually are tense, Marabelle decided it probably would be best to try to have some conversation over standing there without a word. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't much conversationalist.

She ponders on what a gate guard would talk about and what he would be comfortable with. In her mind, her current objective was to try to ease the tension she felt like she was causing him. She was by herself, alone, dropped off by a caravan that did not stop here too, this had to be concerning to Akimitsu. Sighing lightly to let the anxiety out of her own body, Marabelle returns her focus towards the guard. "I'm from Bean Jam, I imagine you've grown here all your life?" she assumed looking at the man who was respected and trusted enough to stand guard at the entrance to the village.

WC: 366

With the message to Chiharu sent, Akimitsu settled in to wait. He could’ve been a statue for all he moved as he watched the girl. He wasn’t quite adept in hiding his emotions yet, so his tenseness was fairly obvious to anybody watching. He didn’t really expect her to talk, but after looking around to her heart’s content, the woman before him seemed to turn to him directly. Keeping his hand on the Kunai pouch, the man raised an eyebrow at her rather obvious question.

“I wouldn’t come to such a remote village by choice, you know.” he snarked, noting the relatively relaxed posture. It was the truth, too. His ambition was great for a little place, and it was only his hope that Chiharu would be able to grow the village into something to be proud of.

Minutes later, the messenger bird returned, with only a simple understood scrawled down in their leader’s handwriting. Chiharu would be down soon enough, it seemed. In the meantime, it was his responsibility to ensure both the village’s safety and that of their potential guest. He didn’t even know how she’d heard of their village, but it was more than suspicious she had known where to find them. Too odd, to his relatively untrained eyes.

Pondering on the man's response, it was obvious to Marabelle that until things proceeded, she wouldn't get much in the way of a casual conversation. Interlocking her fingers while keeping them extended, her hands rest against her lips forming a light 'x' over her mouth. She was thinking if there was a way for her to proceed behind the superficial problem at hand. The world was ever in turmoil and she knew this even from her journey to her. There seemed to her a point of contention towards decision making, though to her she wasn't sure how best to respond due to just not knowing more about where she decided to start a new life. It was a choice for her and it was not for him, yet the person who chose was not as informed or understanding as the one who did not have a choice.

To her, hearing the emphasis on choice rang in her mind for a while. A thought came through her head as far as determining what kind of person she hoped to be for the world around her. The change and shifts in perspective was something she wanted to work towards, and this was a great opportunity for her to try to see if she could in fact grow as a person who relegated herself to the sideline to someone who stood alongside others. Relaxing her hands from her face, she observed the bird that was sent returned and the guard's positioning and demeanor didn't really shift beyond how he stood already. She kept her hands around her hips, palms outward toward the man as she give a light shrug and smiled confidently towards him.

She took a couple of steps forward from the position she had been stopped at. Marabelle only pushed her presence forward, not intending to aggravate the man any further than disrupting what she assumed was a rather routinely quiet position. "I hope that I can help this village in my own unique way for it to become a village you would choose to stand with more than you already are..." her words trailed briefly before she pressed forward with her thoughts. "I apologize. Although I do not believe referring to you as a Gate Guard is incorrect, I would rather show more respect for someone who has been trusted with such an important task."

Marabelle let her words be vocally more deterministic than her previous introduction and question. Growing in a rather large family hushed her own voice considerably. This was her time to grow, to shine, to expand beyond what she thought she was capable of. Her understanding of what the world was and is were going to shift considerably depending on the answer provided by the kage which she assumed would be arriving momentarily to her excitement. Akimitsu could probably tell, even though her stature was smaller than his, she was excited and put on a braver face than before her introductory remarks. This was a huge life moment for her, and she did not wish to squander the chance. She made a choice and he was right, there are not many who would choose to find an obscure village built upon tiny whispers on the wind on this continent.

But Marabelle did.

WC: 549

Akimitsu did not have to respond to the girl in front of him, because in the next several moments Chiharu was upon them. The blonde visibly relaxed when his kage swept into sight, diminutive height seeming to be more or less neutralized by his stone cold expression and the large Wakizashi he carried. Chiharu may not have been the most imposing man, but he radiated an obvious authority that his subordinate swiftly differed to with no issues.

Raising an eyebrow at Marabelle, the young man hardly even acknowledged the guard’s presence beyond a simple nod. “My guard told me of someone at our gates, but I hardly believed it. It seems Akimitsu was telling the truth, then. Tell me, girl, what is your purpose in my humble village? Do not think of lying, it will not go well for you.” he said, eyes hard and flinty. While Akimitsu had seen a threat, Chiharu didn’t see the girl before him that way, even as he treated her like one regardless.

Just because she seemed harmless didn’t mean she was, or that she would remain so if she actually was harmless. He intended to treat her as such.

WC: 196

Marabelle was expecting more to come from the guard though it really did not seem like he was all that interested in talking to her. The brief moments that lingered between those statements she made to the silence it followed was disheartening. She hyped herself and put on a brave face for a person who did put duty before others. Although she understood that, she still was a foreign individual to the gate guard and a strange one at that. With that moment of anticipation growing in her mind, she didn't seem to falter even though the silence was broken by the arrival of the man that would be the determining factor of where she ended up on this new journey for her. Her breathe released slowly as she took in the appearance of the Hanakage, the governing individual of Sakuragakure.

His stature did have a foreboding presence to her. Comparatively between the two, her small sickle that was in her satchel she brought was a simple garden tool, effective but not against anyone who had someone more standard than a small sword a dagger. When he showed up in his 5'5'' height and wakizashi drawn, Marabelle was towered by the two. At first it was simple just the guard whose name was still given by this point in time. Now that two men stood before her and their heights were ever present against hers. A measly 4'11'' stature, though confident as best as she could considering, compared to the two put a most of a head on her as compared to new arrival though an almost full foot as compared to the guard. Once the man took breathe and spoke, her ears listened, attentive to the message and words he would give.

Akimitsu was the guard's name. At plain name to her but that is likely due to the fact that she was not from the village that stood before her. Her thoughts of Akimitsu were simple and plain but respectable none-the-less. He was doing his duty and his job and her thoughts and opinions reflected the admiration for staying true to that. The man's posture showed respect and reflected the feeling of safety when his leader arrived and more so when he spoke. The words spoken assured Marabelle that procedure was heavily pushed and executed upon within this village. From the guard to the leader, even if posture and appearance showed differently, the words still came out cautious and curious of what was going on for a woman such as her to show up out of the blue, no announcement or letter requesting admission within. Marabelle's situation to them was an oddity, not one they had fully planned for it appeared.

Not letting her thoughts delay her response beyond a few fleeting moments, Marabelle spoke up, maintaining that assertiveness she used with Akimitsu prior to the arrival of another. "My name is Marabelle Blossom, I hail from Bean Jam Country. I wish to seek entrance to this growing village and learn from those within. My goal is to help and be of assistance to others. From my understanding the start of a shinobi village has started to become a rumor in these lands though there is another rumor of one much larger village farther to the edge of our little island. I seek to reside here as well to become a part of something beautiful and resilient." Ending her exposition with compliments, she was sure there shouldn't be a big issue with how this should go.

She remained where she stood for she understood that even if the guard was relaxed, the chances of motion triggering something would be high. The leader of the village was present before her, even if she wasn't seen as a threat but him, she knew the guard still considered her as such, per the insistence of conversation being a moot point for them. She mentally took the name of the guard to her memory for future reference. 'Akimitsu...' Her posture was steady and her smaller frame comparatively as her long hair swayed lightly in the wind. Determination remained ever prevalent on her face as she spoke towards Chiharu, "As much as I'm not what one could call a doctor, I am versed in some medicinal practices and hope to learn more and share what knowledge I already have with me as well. I've patched up my family of 10 plus more for a couple of decades now. I may not be professionally trained to be considered a doctor but I hope to use what knowledge I have for others." She added hoping that would seal the deal on the potential entrance into the village.

WC: 786, TWC: 2,379

Thoughts wandered and flickered through Marabelle's mind. The silence with all that was surrounding her within nature brought her attention elsewhere beyond where she presently was. Her hands on her satchel's straps gripped with tension from her knuckles to her fingertips. Something out beyond the mighty trees of the Amaranth was reaching out to her, calling her, and guiding her beyond where she stood in front of the guard and leader of this village that she originally sought after. The call from beyond the veil was invading and pulling the woman away, for now, she knows she will return. The world and all its beauty reached outward and pulled her away from this beautiful village, hidden in the blooming sakura trees.

WC: 121, TWC: 2,500

[Exitting Gates - Retaining Vagabond Status]

Claims:

Stats:

Techniques:

Chiharu listened as the woman spoke, his lips pursed as he thought over her words. She was a medic? Wanting to join the village? But where had she heard the whispers of Sakuragakure? They’d been founded mere weeks ago, surely word couldn’t have spread that fast. But, his pondering wasn’t enough for her, as she seemed to turn away all too soon. To the first that protected the village. Before he could do much as answer, she had already begun walking away, back in the direction she’d come. Sighing, Chiharu exchanged a look with Akimitsu.

“Too impatient to wait for my decision, I suppose. Let me know if anybody else approaches the gates, please.”

With that said, the man turned and walked back into the village, leaving the Yamanaka at his post.

[Exit]

WC: 132
132+196 = 328
328 words towards breaking bud, bringing my total from 955 to 1,283/2,500 https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t53312-shimi-daikon?highlight=Shimi+Daikon