All roads stem from learning

CEs, otherwise known as continued education credits, were pretty common in the career of shinobi. The world was constantly changing, new discovers, new inventions that altered our way of life. From fuinjutsu seals, to medical healing practices, it was all static. On average, Okisho, and possibly the rest of the shinobi, would get on average 3 to 4 CEs a year. The Medical Nin however, were always on the clock taking CEs. One time, Okisho overheard on Medical Nin chatting with another, explaining how he had take 17 CEs last year.

Okisho found it rather astonishing that today’s class would make it number 3 this month. They all had something to do with the application of seals. He wondered if it had anything to do with his teammate’s shop, TenSeals. Business was good, so the many gossiping Uchiha in the Uchiha District.

Regardless, this many CEs in a month was unheard of. If he’d known this would have happened, Okisho would gave held back on the flyers he put out the night before TenSeals lavish grand opening. He sighs, as he continued to walk down the hall, sauntering with little care for the place. He knew he would have helped Tenshi anyway he could, it’s just that…, he too had a life.

As for attire, Okisho is a minimalist, nothing too flashy and void of any logos. He is seen wearing a simple all light grey shirt, and a pair of dark navy-blue slacks which stop at the top of his ankles. A single ninja pouch concealed underneath his black shirt. The pouch his attached to his black leather belt, fastened on the back right side of his waist. His shoes are standard issued shinobi editions, revealing his toes and back ankles. His shinobi headband is tied tight against his forehead, but not so much to cause any discomfort. Along with his attire, he carried a thick rolled up blanket in his left arm.

He steps outside, and takes in the cool breeze. The weather today was absolutely perfect, he takes it all in until noticing a small extinguished cigerette bud on the ground near the steps. He stares, glass eyed at the sight.

As he pondered, his mind retraced the stone steps thar led up to the Hokage Rock. His mind took its sweet time, recalling the events that led up to the meeting of Nokino. The smile cracked his on e stoic face. He’d never met anyone like her before.

“That’s… interesting”, he said.

Aoi didn't really care about sealing things. In fact he felt that the whole notion of sealing things up ran rather anathema to the way he felt about most things. He treasured freedom, the open air, the feeling of moving freely through it. The thought of sealing something inside of something else, locking it away from all that splendor, just sounded worse than killing it.

However, grim as it were that death was preferable to being sealed by anything, the possibility existed that one day Aoi may be forced with sealing something, or having himself sealed. In which case it would be prudent for him to know how both know how to properly execute a seal, but also to know how to avoid ending up sealed himself.

That was he'd found himself going to what he had discovered was in someway related to a Continuing Education thing. Aoi wasn't even sure they'd let him in. After all he barely had any education to continue, he was still very much an Academy Student, and not even a senior one at that. The only thing greener than he was, were the leaves on the many trees throughout the village. A fact that had continued to persistently tell him that there was no point in him going to a class on sealing.

Yet Aoi did anyway. After all he didn't have the powerful bloodline of someone like Kazusa and his Uchiha relatives. He didn't have the wisdom and experience of Noami sensei. He didn't even really have the dexterity of some of his class mates when it came to practicing hand signs. Some of them, still hurt his fingers to attempt and anytime he tried, he felt like a bumbling child with no finesse.

What Aoi did have though, was drive, and the ability to work himself hard as he needed to, be it on musings on how to better attenuate himself with the element of wind, in practice with the various weapons of the Shinobi trade, in the study of the lectures lovingly handed to him by Naomi sensei. He might not have been the most promising student to have ever arrived at the gates, but he might just establish a reputation for being the hardest working.

So proud of his convictions to his own work ethic was Aoi, that he had nearly driven back the nagging shadows of doubt by the time he'd arrived at the Academy. The architecture was just as garish and uninspired as it had been the first time he saw it, and yet even after such a short time there, it was already beginning to feel like a home to him and he would often find himself daydreaming about the conversations he would have with his classmates.

So entranced was he, that he almost found himself shocked to wake up from his own daydreaming and see the as of yet unknown visage of Okisho Uchiha seemingly staring into the middle distance. The man himself seemed unassuming. The dark clothing you would expect, and even his ninja headband also being worn as a headband, a thing that seemed rare and lacking in personality, though indicating the wearer's adherence to tradition. Aoi respected it.

What had taken him off guard however was that the man carried a blanket, and stared at the Hokage. Aoi shifted his focus to the mountain and its faces and strained his vision. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. They looked, so far as he could tell, much like they had always looked.

"What's interesting?" he asked looking back up to the stranger, a curiosity in his voice that would be apparent.

((WC = 608))

Pulled from his daydreaming, he was met by another figure; a student whom seem to be interested in what got Okisho glass eyed. Of course, he wouldn’t go into detail, he was still too bashful. But happy nevertheless. He turns his gaze towards the student, responding in a carefree tone. It was as if he had all the time in the world, now done with his CEs… for now.

“Oh nothing, I just happen to wander off a little too deep down the rabbit hole. Something I’ve been doing for quite sometime now that I’ve come to thing of it”, he smirks while taking a glance off momentarily. Eventually, he swings back to get a measure of his new company; he was rather tall too for a student. Nevertheless he was glad he didnt have to look down.

“I’m Okisho, are you a student here? How’s your teacher? ”, the memories of the 2x4 obstacle courses and kunai tossing challenged seemed like a distant memory. How time flew, such a resource spent idlely.

He stands by, waiting to hear a response from his new company. A distraction hevery much needed.

"I understand the feeling." said Aoi, and it was true, he did. More than once in recent memory had his attempts to delve into some deeper state of mind and understanding lead to the many and long quagmires of daydream and afterthought.

"Aozora Aoi." he answered when prompted to give his name. He was still curious as to which particularly rabbit the man had chanced down the hole, though he doubted he would get an answer, and doubted even more his own willingness to inquire further. For now, the older man would likely get to keep his privacy, and Aoi supposed that was fine enough as it were.

"I am a student yes, under Noami sensei." he answered and the irony that while he was not being overly inquisitive about this strange, new man, the man was being very inquisitive about him. Not that Aoi minded overly much mind you, it was easier to make small talk about himself than try to make complicated and vague big talk about things he didn't really understand.

The only thing he found odd, and perhaps a little difficult to answer was the question of how was his teacher? He pondered for a moment and took his time on the response. He didn't know her particularly well. It was still early enough in the school year that he likely wouldn't get to know her very well for some time yet. In his most memorable interactions she'd seemed strict, but motivated and that didn't sound like the sort of answer to give a stranger.

"Noami sensei is tall." he eventually settled on, not giving anything more than a cursory and probably rather obvious observation. Still it wasn't becoming of an aspirant ninja to give out overly detailed information to strangers, and besides the man already had his name and general occupation of "student" or rather, "person who knows little and is capable of less." and that seemed to be a fine enough ending point for Aoi's side of the introductions.

Still he could not find a way to ham fist in inquiring more about this "Okisho" at the present moment. The flow of conversation at this point had been rather fast, and Aoi knew if he wanted to know more about the man, he would have to find someway to convince him to reveal that to Aoi, all on his own. So in keeping with the flow, Aoi inquired further.

"What brings you here today Okisho, other than chasing rabbits I mean?" He said, and hoped he sounded more on the clever side of the conversation and considerably less on the trite and vexing side of things.

((wc = 442)

“Noami…”, Okisho hadn’t had the slightest clue to who that was, other than the fact that said teacher was indeed tall. A feature, he could possibly look out for in the future when undergoing another CE? Although he was curious as to the studies of the student, Aozora. He tries to stiffle the thought of another rabbit leading him astray.

“Well, after one graduates from the shinobi academy, a shinobi’s school work is sadly never done. They don’t teach you this in fear of rejecting the career. In fact, depending on what you specialize, your workload can be quite intense. I hear Medical Ninja have it the worse with the continued education classes.”, he looks outward once more. Lamenting the fact that he would most likely be back here, sometime next month at this rate.

“Like life, things are ever changing. As it should, nothing should remain stagnet, it hinders progress. I could stand here all day and pout about it, but, i’ve come to truly respect the education system here. Whatever updates, ground breaking discovery, or even a simple annex involving the shinobi system, the village is quick to bring the shinobi up to speed.

Forgive my monologue, I jus-“, the winds suddenly pick up, and with it a familiar scent it carried towards the two. Okisho immediately thought of Hokage Rock, the night where he met the tall amazon who carried a jasmine blue rose haze so thick, that only her violet eyes seemed peirce.

The rabbit, tickling Okisho by the nose, led him else where in a trance. He sauntered alongside the Shinobi a academy, his walk slow but steady. His curiosity nearly robbed him of his senses.

“Do you smell that, Aozora”, he wanders to the side of the academy, only to notice a half shut window. And on the window sill, an ash tray full of discarded cigarettes. ‘No…, it can’t be.’, mind raced with wild theories, yet they all contained the same subject in question. He had to figure out if this rabbit was worth the trip down wonderland. After peering through the window, his face almost passing through the half shut point of ingress, he turns to Aozora. He tales note that the office was indeed empty.

“How many teachers do you know smoke these?”, he picks up the ash tray and seemingly examines it as if he was looking for clues.

After moments pass by, Okisho was seen sauntering away from the academy, alone. His previous company was left to his own accord. It was fun while it lasted, running around the academy for old timesake. But now that moment was gone and he had much to do else where.
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Exit, TWC/ 1,054
10 Stats from Chakra towards Speed
172 words towards Spirit Gun V7
876 words towards Mastering Blistering Web V7 876/1,000