The Ants Go Marching One by One

Zatoichi was unable to sleep for the third night in a row and had decided to walk the streets after dark. Toneri and Ayato had already checked on him so he was good for about an hour and a half. After what had happened with Sephora he's under constant watch! Everyone knew to watch for him in the village. Especially members of his clan, people on guard duty at the gates and even those on guard duty in the village. This meant he had to be extra careful, he was already in trouble, and didn't need to get into any more trouble! More trouble meant he would be grounded for the next Six months and then he would have to do extra assignments to regain bits of his freedom! No need for that!
Zatoichi pulled his cloak close around his body as he kept to the shadows, hopefully not being seen. It was rather windy tonight. Maybe a brisk walk in nature is what he needed to finally help him get some rest. His legs were still slightly sore from the incident with Sephora so he couldn't walk too fast. The dark was rather peaceful. He only saw a couple of people out so far. He stopped for a brief moment to take a break, he pulled his hood down to look around as he sat down to rest his sore legs!
232

Amikiri started making his way home. He had just finished a long shift at the gate post and in his opinion, it was the worst shift someone could get. Sometimes, to “keep them fresh” guards would be given shorter shifts. Normally, this would only be good, but this caused the existence of the dreaded four to ten shift. It was the busiest time of day for people entering the village, as people were rushing to get into the village before dark. And for some strange reason, a parent let their child out of the village to play during the day, the guardpost and gate area turned into a hellscape. Fortunately, no parents made that decision today.

The dark haired Hyuuga was still a bit tired returning from his job though. Normally, he would’ve gone straight home. However, the warmer weather as winter turns to spring inclined him to take a bit longer of a stroll. His clothing was well situated for this warmer weather. He wore a dark pair of pants, a pale green shirt, and his brown leather work boots. His short-ish black hair was slightly tousled like usual. He wore his Nise, as he had forgotten to take it off after his guard duty. Turns out an impossibly lightweight layer of chakra armor that is only visible with chakra vision and is meant to be hard to notice makes it quite difficult for the user to notice that they are wearing it. As he slowly walked through the city of Hoshigakure, the young Genin eventually found himself near a park.

He looked upward and saw the beautiful stars. Deciding to take a moment to observe them, he wanted to find a place to sit down. The dark haired Hyuuga glanced around and found a nice bench to sit upon. As he drew nearer, he realized that someone was sitting there, mostly covered by a large cloak. Amikiri sat down on the bench next to them, maybe a little over a meter to their left. He leaned back and spread his arms across the back of the bench. Before looking upward, he turned his head to the right to observe the person next to him. A slight smile spread across Amikiri’s face as he recognized the slightly infamous individual, before he then turned his head upward to stare up at the stares. He would, in an amused tone, say, “Well Mr Zatoichi Hyuuga. I never would’ve guessed to see you here at this hour. It seems you’ve made quite the name for yourself amongst us gate guards, but I never heard the full story of what happened. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened that's got the higher ups so wound up about you?” Amikiri made sure his presence was not intimidating, not wanting Zatoichi to think this was an interrogation of sorts. Amikiri was unarmed, only wearing the clothing on his back and his invisible Nise stretched across his skin.

WC: 493

Zatoichi felt the stranger sit next to him, but due to bad lighting and the fact he didn't have an active Byakugan yet, he didn't know who it was. Until, the stranger said his name! He dared not move, his breath was caught in his throat like a huge lump! This was a clan member and a gate guard both…Amikiri. He was quite relaxed and visibly as he looked at him he couldn't see any weapons in the very dark dim lighting.
”I kinda accidentally…well no, intentionally set a trap for Sephora Hyuuga. It was a ten foot hole in the ground for her to fall in. She was coming home the other night after telling us…not me but …everyone else that she was going to meet Tori, she came back way later, I had uncovered the hole and she fell in. I got in trouble because I shouldn't have been out and because I hurt her…i mean, she fell and broke her bones…shes half Kaguya she can heal right? Apparently not very fast …you're not going to turn me in are you? Everybody thinks I'm in bed asleep. I'm kind of grounded!” He finally managed to say to Amikiri, he started looking around for an escape route in case the other Hyuuga decided to try to apprehend him.
“I had to get out of the house for a little bit!” Zatoichi added with a pleading look in his eyes. “I'm allowed out for school but that's it, for the next two months.” He added as he leaned his head back and looked up at the sky.

(267)

Amikiri gave a slight chuckle as he heard the story about Sephora. First she was trying to take a quick trip to the borders, next she was falling into pit traps. She never seemed to keep herself out of sticky situations for long. He would lightheartedly respond with, “Well, if you’re looking to avoid trouble, I wouldn’t exactly recommend setting pit traps for your fellow villagers.”

“I think I might know a bit of what you’re talking about. That was probably the night Sephora tried to leave the village to find Tori Uzumaki. I was on duty that night and those two made quite the paperwork mess.”

Amikiri found this whole situation up to this point amusing. He could tell that all of these people were quite well natured and he wasn’t too disturbed by their confusing antics. However, it was starting to seem like everyone knew someone else within this group, and he was quite curious about it. “So it seems you all have some sort of group going on here. If I had to make a guess, I would say it includes Talon, Sephora, Tori, and you. Would you say I’m correct with that guess?”

In response to the Hyuuga’s other statement, Amikiri said, “Well, you don’t have to worry about me turning you in. A bit of fresh air never killed a man or caused the destruction of a village. And I must admit, sometimes I feel the same itch. To go beyond where I am supposed to. To see everything I can.”

As Amikiri finished his last sentence, he realized something. With a light laugh, he said, “I just realized, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Amikiri Guhin.”

WC: 284
TWC: 777

Good, he wasn't going to turn him in, he actually understood that sometimes a person just needs a breath of fresh air. This gate guard seemed to realize there was a group between them all, yet Zatoichi never really considered himself a normal Fuku Member, no, as a matter of fact he considered himself above the average Fuku….Team Fuku Next Generation? Hmm, seems more like a fan based Fuku group! How about Team Fuku 2.0? That sounds better.
“Yeah they have a team of their own, they call themselves Team Fuku! I guess I should be nicer to Sephora. She is my cousin, a fellow clan member and a villager.” Zatoichi said with a sigh.
“Oh, Zatoichi Hyuuga, nice to meet you Amikiri. How long have you lived here in Hoshigakure very long?” Zatoichi asked him curiously, thinking Amikiri is a nice guy! “How long have you worked as a gate guard?” Another question? Yeah but may as well get to know the people in the village. He does know his classmates and his own little group at the school, but he doesn't know many villagers or many of the village ninja. He knows the ones he is related to however but that's about it!

207

Interesting, Team Fuku. Amikiri wondered where that name came from. He’d never heard of a Fukugakure, so his best guess was already shot to hell. Based on Zatoichi’s language, Amikiri realized that the white haired Hyuuga was more of a periphery to the group then a member. The Hyuuga guessed that it was Zatoichi’s rank as an academy student that excluded him from this status.

Though, it could also be his origins. Amikiri didn’t know much about Zatoichi, but from what Talon and other members had told him, it seemed that they all were missing ninja after fleeing the destruction of the Volcano Village. While Amikiri didn’t know if or if not Zatoichi had fled Volcano, if he didn’t, it could be a reason as to why he wasn’t a full member of their team.

“I actually haven’t lived in Hoshigakure very long. It’s been about,” Amikiri paused to think for a second, “a year and a half or so. Before that, I lived with my family in the countryside of Haven Country on a medium sized farm. It’s crazy that only a hundred or so miles and you’re in a completely different world. How long have you lived in Hoshigakure?”

“Well, it was about half a year after I moved here that I got into being a ninja as my full time job. Then it was a few more months before I was given my first job at the gates and after that, it’s practically my full time job.” The dark haired Hyuuga thought for a moment before he lightly chuckled and then said, “I think one of the first people I actually had to write a decent amount of paperwork for was Talon. I remember it quite well. It was my first time admitting someone into the village that wasn’t just your standard tradesman or person just going out to the borders. I spent the next couple of days constantly wondering if I was going to get fired for letting some crazy missing nina into the village. Thankfully, my hunch was right about Talon and I was not fired, as you can see today.”

WC: 356
TWC: 1133

Amikiri seemed to have an interesting life, he knew even the rural areas outside of Hoshi were nice! It was something about this area that just gave you a sense of peace and even Zatoichi had to admit that! Talon Tau? Yeah he is a good person. One of the only Taus that Zatoichi had ever met!
“ He lives in the house where I live. I have the attic bedroom and he has a room one floor below me. I have to admit he's not that bad, he's quiet, much like a wallflower, but I heard that you don't want to get on his bad side! I mean, he is a Tau after all. I'm sure he's all bark and no bite though!” Zatoichi commented. He didn't mention how Talon had threatened to sew his mouth shut! Of course that was completely Zatoichi's own fault.
“I was born in Kiri, my father was Haru Hyuuga, my mother is Tori Uzumaki. My father passed away before he even knew about me! I had clan members that I was related to here in Hoshi and they took me in.” Zatoichi said as he reminisced on the past and growing up in Hoshi.
WC: 200

Amikiri chuckled in regards to Zatoichi’s comments on Talon. The Hyuuga would respond with, “Well, I’ve met two Tau in my life. So far one of them was incredibly creepy, violent, and weird, so I hope Talon doesn’t share the same bad side. Though, this other Tau did seem to lack a good side.”

The Hyuuga’s thoughts drifted for a moment. It had been a couple of months since he had last thought of Isomo. Thanks to Toneri’s advice, what had once completely occupied his mind and every waking hour of his day was now something that he had almost completely forgotten about. However, upon thinking about her, Amikiri could not help but feel a slight chill down his spine. Her strength as a ninja did not intimidate him then and especially didn’t intimidate him now, but it was her character and personality that caused him to think twice about her. However, as Toneri said, Amikiri shouldn’t occupy his thoughts with some passing missing ninja.

Upon hearing about Zatoichi’s familial situation, the Hyuuga said, “I’m sorry to hear about your father. If you don't mind me asking, since your mother Tori is a member of Team Fuku and you are as well, was your father Haru also a member?” This whole Team Fuku group seemed to be a very established clique and it definetily had a deep history. Amikiri was interested in the possibility of meeting with one of the more senior members, as it would be very interesting to hear the entire history of this group.

“Do you know if Team Fuku has a leader? I’d really be interested in meeting with them to learn more about the group’s history.”

WC: 281
TWC: 1414

Loaded questions, but no problem for.thwbyou white haired Hyuuga! Now he himself wasn't yet a member of Team Fuku but his mother was one of the first members if he remembered the story correctly!
“I'm still an academy student but my father may have been, I knew he was an ANBU at some point and I think they said he was a Mizukage once to, I don't know a whole lot about him unfortunately! My mother was one of the first members of Team Fuku so you could probably talk to her and I am sure she can answer any and all your questions!” Zatoichi said with a smile. He just realized he had been gone a while now! He stood up and looked at Amikiri. “AIt was nice chatting with you, I hope to see you around again soon, I have to go for now!” Zatoichi said as he turned around to run back home.

Exit

TWC:1063
+10 stats
5 vigor
2 chakra
2 speed
1 strength

As Zatoichi started to stand up and leave, Amikiri would quietly say, “It was nice meeting you.” By now, the Hyuuga had kind of forgotten that Zatoichi was out after hours.

As the white haired Hyuuga was fully gone by now, Amikiri chuckled a bit. This boy and all of Team Fuku for that matter were quite mysterious. Apparently Zatoichi’s father was a member of Kirigakure’s ANBU Corps at one point, potentially even the Mizukage. Now that wasn’t a backstory you heard every day of the week, especially in Hoshigakure.

Amikiri would have to talk with Tori Uzumaki soon enough though. This group definitely had a history and he was interested in learning more of it. The Hyuuga would hang out at the bench for a few minutes before making his way back home, planning on going to sleep for the night.

WC: 142
TWC: 1556

[Exit]

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