Starring:
Date: December 1, 2012
Summary:
A friend from the past softens the heart of the guardian she once knew.
"Second Promotion Exams - Friendship: Hiroshi and Rise"
Unknown location
It has been a tough journey but somehow Rise managed to muster up the strength to press on in search of the hidden Oasis an old 'acquaintance' of her had once shown her. Besides, Rise was truthfully running out of options after losing Fuuta's trail over half a day ago. Plus for some strange reason it simply felt right to simply let go of her persistance for a change. Well, most let go since she still needed it to keep her mind sharp enough throughout the aches in her joints and the occasional flare up of pain in her nose from her last battle.
"… Hah, guess I was pay'n attention e'nuff." Rise boasted before taking in a deep long inhale. Then exhale just as long. "… Banzi-kun." She murmured quietly as she meandered closer to the edge of the cliff face overlooking the oasis. Heedless of what most consider sound advice, Rise simply dropped her half empted back pack of supplies and plopped down at the edge before fishing around in it. Eventually, with a muttered "Yosh." some type of wooden instrument is pulled out and placed upon her lap.
Hiroshi has seen his fair share of fighting but the teen hyuuga doesn't look to damage at all. His clothes were a little dirty but save from that he was free of any true long term wounds and blimishes. He would find himself traveling to this hidden oasis, a good place to relax his feet after such a long walk. The amount of blood shed and dead bodies he has seen were far more than he has come across in his last year of travels, but none the less he persisted on through the dark areas of the jounin exam. As he came towards the peak of a cliff he would spot a small figure not far from his eyes, having yet to get a good look at her, he would however notice the instrument she placed upon her lap. A small smirk would come to his face as he approaches the figure from behind stopping several feet before reaching them. "Hello there, fancy a tune for a beggar mans story?" he would ask in a joking tone.
The moment Hiroshi's voice reached Rise's ears she froze mid-stroke across the momento with eyes wide with a mixture of suprise and nervousness, then tender affection that burned her cheeks. Compared to the speed in which the first few emotions flew through her system, the darker emotion traveled at a snails pace. Even so, it would nevertheless breach the surface of Rise's thoughts well before she had enough courage to turn and face the Hyuga.
Unmistakeable fear lit up her eyes as a result of the torrent of thoughts that rushed through her mind. All of which could be summed up into one phrase: She was terrified of what Hiroshi might think of her current appearance. Following that wave of fear came resentment and anger. Both of which were echoed behind her command, "Get out." as she bowed her head.
Hiroshi would be shocked at the command, this was the first time someone told him to get out, normally its give me your scroll or gimme dat scroll boy! "Get out?" Hiroshi would repeat as he turned his head to the figure, his long ebony black hair hanging just mid ways of his back. His deep intense white eyes hidden behind his eyelids as he simply flicks an idle wave. "That's a first, though I suppose I should be thankful you are not trying to waste my chakra and energy like the last few people to be in a petty fight." He would say turning his head back towards the obviously saddened figure. "But I am willing to share a story and take a moment of my time to relax, but if you insist." HE would say slowly starting to walk away the voice of this person sounded so familiar, could it be her, in these exams already? Man how time has flown by he would think to himself, his steps were slowly as if he truly were not intending to leave but he was wondering would this person try to stop him.
Rise pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her legs at just beneath the knees before burying her face into her pants. Truly wishing in this moment that the act alone would translate to her fears being buried deep enough to make room for her old brazen attitude. Instead, all she managed to do was make it a little harder to hear Hiroshi's words. It is only after hearing the sounds of his footsteps grow seemingly fainter that Rise musters enough courage to mumur, "Wait" then pull her head back far enough to say it louder. "I… I… "She trailed off, shaking her head and growling irritably. "… *sniffle*… What's this story of yours..?" She asked after hesitantly turning back to peer out of the shadows of the bandages wrapped around her head.
"Well there once was a hyuuga male, who got told to leave an area, but as he left someone from his past stopped him. The end." He would say as he comes back over towards Rise, a small smile upon his face. "Now now, no tears no crying snips." He would say leaning down to peer at the bandages around her head, "Still beating up on them boys I see." He would say as he drops his rather heavy pack, obviously the contents of what he had was still there, but it was all, water and crackers? "How about a cold one?" He would say holding a small bottle of water over towards the girl as he simply smiles at her, something he rarely does but for her he made the exception. "Wow snips, you have really grown, I know time has passed and all but you, now in the jounin exams. I gotta admit that's impressive."
Rise snickered despite herself. A throaty growl escapes her lips as she leered at the Hyuuga from the corner of her eyes, murming something along the lines, "I don't cry" before leveling her gaze towards the horizon. As annoyed as she was with Hiroshi's non-chalant attitude, Rise was listened to his words without a fuss and even took the offered bottle by the finger tips before setting it aside. "…. Not as impressive as your hiding skills Hiroshi-baka." She stated bitterly.
Hiroshi would chuckle lightly as he slowly took a seat on the edge of the cliff, his pale gaze facing outward as he listens to her. Hiding was not his forte that was for sure, this brought a chuckle to him as he turns to her smiling as he patted the spot next to him. "Hiding is what I use to be good at, now I stick out like a sore thumb. The truth is he has had a small amount of trouble, but his body didn't show it at all. "From how good I look now one would think I was hiding, but I have had my fair share of run ins with some powerful enemies. A Sword user turning out to be an old friend, and a genjutsu user trying to seduce me. Strangely enough each of the fights I settled without wasting more than 5 percent of my chakra." He would say as he drew his left leg in to support his chin on his knee. "I am glad to see you again snips, you have grown a lot. Makes me wish I had more time in life to see you grow. So tell me how are things going for you."
Rise glared out of the corner of her eyes before rolling her eyes. Hiroshi had missed the point of her words and there was no way she was going to try and make it a lot more clearer. Not yet at least. For now she was more or less content to try and bleed out her frustration by digging her fingers into the bone of her legs. "… *sighs*… Things are goin okay I guess.. ya know, aside from getting my eyebrows burnt off by that red headed-te.. baka." She corrected on reflex and mentally facepalmed a second later. Why had she allowed her fathers teachings to get to her that much she wondered.
Hiroshi would only turn to face the small child, a sympathetic look is upon his face, though he does not speak, instead he remains silent for several moments. The silence is golden all the way Hiroshi stares out into the distance, these exams had truly taken their tolls on its contestants, turning enemies to friends and friends into enemies. Hiroshi however was not worried, even if she attacked he could not be merciless and simply decimate the child, but her current condition looks like she had quite the fight already. "Its ok to lose you know." He would say finally breaking the silence as he takes a bag of crackers from his backpack. "Losing, being frustrated it's all ok. But it's a bad thing to blow your chakra load on an enemy early on. Its best to save up and relax, so you won't be easy picking mid game." Was he giving her advice, or was it something more. After taking several crackers from the bag and stuffing them into his mouth he would hand the pack to her, looking at the wound on her head, "Want some help cleaning that?' he would ask, his tone was deep yet there was a gentle ness in his words."
Rise stayed silent for an extended moment as she thought over Hirohsis' words in earnest. No matter how she tried to find flaws in what was said her heart simply could not not agree. So, after a final headshake and an exasperated sigh she gave up the attempt. She turned soon after to regard the teenager fully; only to be find her mouth unwilling to work any longer.
Hiroshi had truly undergone a shocking transformation since the last time she saw him…
"… H-huh?", She murmured, faintly drool and blushing as she gazed dreamily at the Hyuuga. Upon finally dragging her eyes away to peer directly into his eyes Rise quickly snapped out of the daze and turned away, burning a brightly red as a tomatoe. "Th.. th….Th-Thanks for the.. uhmm.. advice *sagenods* Hiroshi-kun." She stated nervously as her eyes flickered back and forth between looking at Hiroshi from the corner of her eyes and the horizon. "Uh.. eto.. I-It'll be f-fine HIroshi-kun!" She squeeked and winced, mentally admonishing herself. "*clears throat*.. I'll, be, just, fine… alright..?", She asked forcefully to keep any other mishaps form happening.
Hiroshi could only blink at the small confused girl, is she ok? His pale eyes would lock upon her during this entire ongoing nervous complex she had. However this was not the first time he saw her like this, its really how he remembers her, but yes she has grown a lot. That smile of his would grow even more as he remembers the time he spent in kumo on his last mission, the loud mouth clay user who attacked them, and how quickly he was dropped to the ground. Time sure does fly over the years, where has it all gone he would wonder. "Alright snips I believe you." He would say as he takes two canteens of water from his backpack and a small waterskin flask, "But take these with you, try to conserve them and not drink them up entirely until we are out of here. Last year there was a bit of poison in the water supply, so this year I came prepared for any and everything. So tell me snips how are you doing, who banged you up so bad, and how badly did you almost kill them?"
A figure landed in a tree from out of sight, wearing a dark purple cloak with golden trim on the bottom hem and the bottom seam of the shoulder cape. Under the hood was an even darker purple (almost black) mask that was glossy in texture with two eye-slits instead of normal shaped eye holes. The figure leaps from the tree and lands a few meters from the two. Hiroshi gets a wave, and the masked figure turns and would assumably be looking at Rise for a few moments. A quick turn of the head for a moment towards Hiroshi, then back to Rise, almost like they were looking to Hiroshi wondering who she was, or waiting for her to introduce herself to them. Though, no action in aggressive manner was made (yet), they didn't make it obvious they were here for a fight.
Rise grew crestfallen as soon as the question was asked and narrowed her eyes. The cold shoulder treatment, it would seem, is the only answer she deemed worthy enough to answer with. After several moments of silence Rise would uncurl her legs and snatch up the bottle of water from before to chug it down in one go. "Aaah!", She exclaimed, wiping the rest of the water from her lips with the back of her hand before coughing up a bit of the left over. Any attempt to help her relieve some of the water is waved off.
"… I was lucky enough to land a punch on the guy before…" She shuddered. "Before he showed his real colors and—" Whatever else she intended to say is cut off by the sound of Ogosokamaru's approach. As soon his formb became truly clear to her Rise simply stared blankily at the Reizei for an extended comment…. then fell over, curled up as a ball, and laughing her bottom off.
Hiroshi would chuckle lightly when the purple cloaked being lands in the area, seriously what is with the purple? He could only shake his head as he looked up towards the masked being. "She is ok with us, you have no need to walk around with that on over here caped crusader." With Rise laughing Hiroshi could hardly hold off how own laughter, he and Ogo had the discussion of his cloak beforehand one thing is for sure though, very few would suspect such a powerful foe hidden in purple. Rise gloomy mood seems to be fading away in her laugher. "Well atleast you are laughing." He would say but just who did this to her he would wonder. She was one tough cookie, who could have been so powerful that they showed their true colors? Hiroshi would simply turn his attention back to the oasis, things were about to get rough in the next few days, with everything slowly reaching the peak people will start to become desperate, the injured will be harassed, and the strong will be challenge. A small sigh would come from him as he opens his c shirt looking down at his scroll, so far he has defended it easily, but now its time to go on the attack.
At the start of laughter, Ogo looks at Hiroshi, who says she is fine. Ogo would have taken his mask off anyhow, but now when he does it, he pulls the mask down and flips the hood back in one deft motion, and looks at Rise. "People don't approach me or even try anything if they know who I am apparently.." He shrugs, "So this is my disguise so people at least show themselves, then find it hard to hide from me again after that." He looks at both of them, "Go ahead, yuk it up."
And indeed Rise did keep up the laughter until the pain from stretching out some of her still more serious injuries forced her to gradually calm down into a small fit of giggles. "Who… is-*snorts*.. that.. guy?", She asked in between the lingering pockets of laughter. If no answer is immediatly forthcomming Rise would roll back over and prop herself up with one hand while the other wiped away the tears that bubbled at the edge of her eyes. Seeing the serious expression written in the Hyuuga's features quickly dried up most of her merriment, prompting her to look towards the horizon. "… Looks like I ain't that only one with a bit of trouble on the mind." She stated non-chalantly.
"That's true, most people who see you will run off and that makes completing the primary objective harder which is not good. So kudos to you for that idea, I wish I thought of it sooner, same disguise different color." He would say with a smirk. Watching curiously as Rise tried to recover from her laughing fit Hiroshi could only shake his head lightly turning to face Ogo, "Kudos, you made her laugh and extremely happy in this moment, you have my thanks but come now ogo, don't be a fly on the wall. Introduce yourself to the young lady its what a gentleman does." He would laugh out for a moment before turning to rise, "Well I will say this guy is a good guy, and a good friend. Though at times in the past I was convinced he was a sadist, but it turns out that was just his way of saying hello." He would say, giving ogo a chance to introduce himself.
"That's true, most people who see you will run off and that makes completing the primary objective harder which is not good. So kudos to you for that idea, I wish I thought of it sooner, same disguise different color." He would say with a smirk. Watching curiously as Rise tried to recover from her laughing fit Hiroshi could only shake his head lightly turning to face Ogo, "Kudos, you made her laugh and extremely happy in this moment, you have my thanks but come now ogo, don't be a fly on the wall. Introduce yourself to the young lady its what a gentleman does." He would laugh out for a moment before turning to rise, "Well I will say this guy is a good guy, and a good friend. Though at times in the past I was convinced he was a sadist, but it turns out that was just his way of saying hello." He would say, giving ogo a chance to introduce himself.
Ogosokamaru just looks between the two, at Rise still composing herself and Hiroshi trying to explain it away or something. Ogo just shakes his head, "Whatever," and turns to walk towards a a tree, looking up at it, and sizing it up as he was calculating something in his head. Then he draws his sword, and slices at the tree several times with a leap right next to the trunk straight up, and different slashes at different heights, attempting to carve the tree into several pieces and several piles of pieces of firewood. He was still wary of women at the moment, having gone through somewhat of a breakup just before leaving Kumo to come here, he wasn't all that trusting of them without an ulterior move.
Rise nodded thoughtlessly in agreement since her mind was still elsewhere for the most part. A glance is still idly given to the swordsman followed by a raise brow in response to the answer. His next act while interesting to say the least is eventually dismissed with a simple eye roll and a mumured, "Whatever to you too." Soon after she closed her eyes completely and bowed her head in thought before coming to a quick decision. "Thanks for… well, thanks for everything Hiroshi-kun." She stated softly, rising calmly to a stand. "But I wanna still stick with what I got from this point on… I wanna… *headshakes*… Just thanks." She snickered. "… But the next time we meet it betta be after this second portion is over cuz I ain't gonna be able to resist wanting to ta—*blushes*.. uhmm, heheh, aight later Hiro!!", She exclaimed hastily before rushing to yank up her bag and take off back down the entrance.
Hiroshi could only smirk as he held his head down, she is a big girl now, and doesn't need his over protective attitude. A chuunin in the jounin exams already, she grew up faster than me he would say to himself as he turned to face the girl once more. The blush in her face brought a chuckle to him as he nodded to what she had to say. "Ok, just remember beating them into a pulp is not the only way to get their scroll. Conserve your food and chakra, and most of all." He would pause turning to face out into the oasis, "take care snips, give them hell." He would say before turning his attention to Ogo, "let me guess you are going to build a camp fire so large anyone can see it. And have everyone think you are a novice or an amateur for building it to be so noticeable and then as they prepare to attack you. The rest of that costume comes off, and you slaughter them?" He would ask Ogo, which was actually a good plan believe it or not, and would easily lead to him obtaining more scrolls.
