Putting the Mainland Behind Me

The cool night air wisped around with the taste of salt, a young shinobi stepped from a ferry boat to the swaying dock below. He lifts his head as the full moon shines in his silvery eyes, the breeze shakes his spiky brown hair as it cascades across his face.Takashi had just arrived here in a distant land leaving behind those distant rice fields of his childhood, a sigh slipped his lips as he slipped a pack of cigarettes from his right front breast pocket. He tapped the bottom of the pack exposing a single smoke that he then grasped with his lips, pulling the pack away exposing the chosen cigarette seemingly hanging from his lips. Returning the pack to his pocket he next pulled out a silver flip lighter, striking a flame and holding it to the cigarette til smoke began to rise as he took a drag. He puffed some smoke from his lungs as he closed the lighter and stored it in his pocket once more, turning to the dock worker he spoke calmly “Which way to the nearest good drink?” The man looked at the outsider with distaste before pointing to the east, Takashi nodded with a smile as he began making his way to Tsukigakure.

After a couple hours of walking, Takashi who at this point had begun smoking another cigarette, saw as these massive ornate gates with crescent moon roofs began to grow as he came closer and closer. With a few moments transpiring he stopped about 10 meters from the beautiful gates, taking a drag from his light as he looked up to the towers. “Hey! Anyone home!? I know it’s late, but I could use a drink and a bed!” smoke rolling from his lips as he spoke, he awaited a response hoping for the best as he did not quite know the world beyond the mainland.

(316 Words)

Oda twiddled his thumbs as he leaned up against the wall at the top of the gates. He was quickly regretting letting his enthusiasm convince him to take the gate guards shift. He didn’t know that when he volunteered to stand gaurd that he would have to do so much standing. Despite all that, the gates offered the most beautiful view of the moon as it rose behind Kage Tower. He pulled out one of his training manuals and looked around discreetly before opening it to reveal a romance novel, ‘In The Eyes of Her Heart Vol.23’. His cheeks blushed as he continued to read, suddenly being shocked out of his attention by a voice as it pierced the night air.  

“Hey! Anyone home!? I know it’s late, but I could use a drink and a bed!”

Oda peered down the wall and shoved his “training manual” into his pocket. A Visitor! He thought to himself as scrambled for a notecard given to him with a series of procedures. He yelled back down.

“Coming! Be there in a second!”

He ran down the stairs like a herd of bulls, knocking things over and almost slipping in his excitement. As he burst out of the door he enthusiastically shouted

“Welcome to Tsukigakure sir! Home to the lost souls… err”

He paused and looked at the note card again

“...a sanctuary of arts, trades, and unity, open to all who seek true love and harmony!”

He gave a flourish before reading the note card once more.

“Ok, so bossman, I’m going to need an ID card from you and if not..” He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket that he was told explicitly not to fold. “I’ll just need to have you fill this out!” He flashed a smile to the newcomer “It's just the basics, height, weight, tattoos” He briefly flashed his Terumi clan tattoo. “Stuff like that!”

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WC: 321

The sounds of dysfunctionality came from the ramparts above, followed by a statement which indicated he would be approaching Takashi. It wasn’t a moment later that the young man walked from the gate to where Takashi was standing, “Lost Souls?” he said with a slightly questioning raise of his left eyebrow. The shinobi continued on as he took a drag from his smoke, the ashes falling as he slowly exhaled listening to the remainder of the welcome speech. “New to Guard duty?” He would gesture his right hand to the note card before continuing to speak, “I have no form of ID, I’ve never been associated with any of the governments.” He would then outstretch his left arm, palm facing up to the starry night as he finished speaking. “I guess let me see the form, as long as I can get a drink after.” He would wait to see if the form was handed over.

If Takashi was handed the form he would proceed to read over the text and fill in the required information;


He chuckled as he wrote his reason for visiting, just before returning the paper to this presumably Terumi ninja he spoke calmly “You should be careful, some shinobi are not kind to people with strong bloodlines.” He would await the other man to take the paper, using his off hand to remove the now finished cigarette from his lips and discard it. He exhaled the smoke, maintaining his calm demeanor and speaking after a moment or two allowing the guard to read over the paperwork. “So, anywhere to have some warm sake?” Takashi would await a response, hoping to be allowed inside to find a place to have some sake and sleep for the night.

He used his peripheral vision to admire how different this land was from the rice fields he had been so tethered to, this was the closest he had ever been to a village of this magnitude and he was ready to see what it had to offer.

(362 Words)

Oda grinned sheepishly at the newcomer's remark
“Eh, I'm workshopping it.” He coughed a bit at the second hand smoke, and smiled at the second question “Very first night!” Oda's chest puffed up in pride.


He handed the form over to the ninja. Taking a moment to assess the man as he filled out the paperwork. He seemed to be pretty rough and tumble, and he had an edge to him. But, he could see how a long night of traveling could do that to anyone. As He took back the paper and stared down at it his eyes widened, another Terumi! His excitement quelled a bit at Takashi’s warning.

His face went serious for a bit as he thought about that but then returned a big smile. “That’s why we gotta look out for each other right?!” He deftly and fluidly picked the discarded cigarette up from the ground and put it in his pocket without saying anything as he read the form more. “Besides nothings gonna stop me from bringing this clan back! We got pretty scattered after Kirigakure. We can’t afford to let our name be forgotten!” Oda paused briefly at his sudden outburst of passion as he looked off into the distance at nothing in particular.

“Heh, sorry bossman got a bit carried away. These papers all look good! Follow me!” He said, waiting for him to follow.

If he followed, he would answer Takashi’s question as they walked. “Yeah there's the classic Red Moon Resort, or if you're in the mood for something spoOOoOoky” He put an inflection on his voice and did spooky fingers towards Takashi “Then there's the Darkside, their pancakes are ok by my estimation but the sake should be good!” Oda continued to walk until a bit past the gates and into Tsukigakure proper before stopping and pointing down a path “Just follow that path and you should come to the Redmoon Resort.” He pointed to another path “And that one will lead to Darkside!” He extended a hand to shake and waited for him to respond.

Regardless of if he shook his hand or not, Oda would continue to say “I am Oda Terumi by the way! Welcome to Tsukigakure, come on by to the academy sometime! As for now I have to stay on guard duty. It was good to meet a fellow member of the bloodline.” His usually jovial demeanor hardened a bit and he gave Takashi a knowing look before returning to a smile.

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WC: 419
TWC: 740

Takashi watched as the man's expression changed from the warning he had imparted to him, though it faded when he responded speaking of sticking together. Puzzled he watched as the man then reached down, picking up the cigarette butt then placing it inside his pocket, after a moment of looking over the form the man then carried on about bringing the clan back after being scattered in the old days. Takashi would simply smirk for a moment at this proclamation made so boldly, though it seemed this level of belief stole him from reality for a moment as he looked to the sky. “Lofty goal you have.” Takashi would remark as he watched the guard return to the material world, the man then encouraged Takashi to follow him as they crossed the village gate threshold and began walking a short distance.

As they walked the guard began speaking about an Inn known as ‘Red Moon Resort’, making the remark that it was something of a spooky location to visit all while doing some strange motion with his fingers. “You’re an odd one, but hey to each their own I say.” Takashi would briefly slip into the conversation with a halfway grin as his guide continued on, now making mention of a pancake house of some sort. He paused when the guard said this as he couldn’t put it together in his head that a place would sell both pancakes and hot sake, surely the man walking with him would notice the look of confused thinking coming across his face. However, he was able to shake away the look rather quickly and continue forward listening to the quick tour. With the guide coming to an end they stopped across from one another, the shinobi offered his hand to Takashi in a gesture to shake to which he accepted and clasped hands with him giving a reasonable shake before releasing the grip.

A direct introduction finally crossed the man’s lips as they stood there in the streets of the village, an invitation to the academy followed soon after though all was cut short by the man pointing back to the gate with his words. “Well, you read the paper but I’m Takashi.” He’d pause for a moment, the look of realization appeared on his face as he reached inside his coat to a small pocket. Not much of a moment would pass as he pulled a small ceramic bottle with the kanji for rice wine across it, he popped the cork keeping it in his off hand as he took a sip from the bottle. You could see by looking at him the enjoyment from his last sip of the bottle, he corked it and slid the empty bottle back into his pocket. “Before you take off, What does Terumi mean to you?” Takashi asked as calmly as he could, the drink was not enough to change his personality but you could see the temperature change on his face as it began to show signs of red glow. This question was quite personal as Takashi had little to no knowledge for the clan other than their desired DNA and the special kekkei genkai they carried in their genes, so perhaps Oda could at least explain in his own words what it means to him.

(552 Words)

Oda chuckled at his comment but kept his thoughts to himself for the time being. He proceeded to give him directions briefly pausing to chuckle again at his comment and simply give a big grin.

As they shook hands and the man asked his question Oda gave an excited look and answered quickly as if it had been something on his mind many times.

“To be a Terumi is to persevere, through any trial, challenge, or calamity!” He pointed his thumb at his chest and continued to say “And my goals aren’t lofty Takashi, they're necessary!” He grew passionate and motioned all around him “The Terumi’s are one of the oldest clans out there, our roots are deep! And it's going to take a little more than a war to put us down.” He gave a smile before breaking the handshake.



WC: 141
TWC: 881

Takashi paused for a moment as Oda spoke passionately about the Terumi and how important they were to him, during the speech he slipped a soft pack of cigarettes from his left breast pocket on his jacket. A small tap on the pack exposed a single as he bit down on it with his lips and pulled it from the pack, returning the pack to his pocket and pulling out a flip lighter from his pants pocket. Oda had by this point reached the point about his goals, Takashi lit the cigarette taking a swift drag and exhaling from the right side of his mouth ensuring he could avoid smoke going over to Oda. He finished his talk about the meaning of the Terumi clan in his eyes, which led to Takashi’s response “Well you’re passionate to say the least.” He let loose another smirk as he continued “So Oda, If I may ask…” he looked into Oda’s eyes, the moon shining in Takashi’s silver iris “What elemental properties has our lineage bestowed upon you?”

Takashi would await a response, of course if Oda chose not to reveal his chakra nature then Takashi would say “I understand.” and pry no further. However, if Oda chose to reveal his nature then Takashi would say “Me as well, blessed with fire to light the way.” He would continue to smoke and exhale in a direction to avoid smoke going into Oda’s face, “Perhaps, while I’m in town we could do a little training? I could use a little practice to knock away the rust from my travels.” He would then begin to look in the direction of ‘Red Moon Resort’ as he was ready to rest after such a long time on the ferry heading over.

(294 Words)

As Oda finished his passionate speech he smiled and gave a shrug. “What can I say, sometimes us Terumi’s run hot!” He laughed and glanced over at the gaurd tower, noticing a confused tourist. His thoughts were interrupted by Takashis question and he answered in truth. “Fire baby! Ooh yeah, burnin hot!” He exclaimed. After calming down slightly he nodded as Takashi responded.

“Absolutely!” He excitedly pulled a notebook out and wrote his address down, handing him the piece of paper, if he took it he would continue talking

“Feel free to stop by anytime while you're in town. I'm usually there in the mornings! Let's knock that rust off!” He did some shadow boxing and turned to leave and help the confused tourist.

As he walked back to his post at the gate he turned around, continuing to walk backwards and shouted to Takashi "Don't be a stranger bossman!"

[Exit]

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WC: 150
TWC: 1031

Claims:

Takashi listened to Oda’s passion and excitement, a smile formed on his face as he was handed a piece of paper with contact information on it for Oda. He accepted the information, placing it in his left breast pocket and continuing to listen as Oda carried on. As they parted ways, he could hear Oda yell out to him about being a stranger. Takashi simply responded by lifting his right hand into the air, all his fingers in a fist position except his index and thumb which formed a bit of an ‘L’ as a symbol of acknowledgement as he disappeared into the village.

[Exit Thread]
[Enter Tsukigakure no Sato]

(104 Words)
(1,628 Words Total)

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