Starring:
Date: April 29, 2013
Summary:
Yamamoto arrives to Konohagakure late one night and encounters Usagi. The two of them then speak with Taiki who is restocking the medical supplies at the gate.
"Late Night Arrival"
Konohagakure Village Entrance
Village Entrance [Konohagakure]
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The entrance to the Hidden Village of the Leaf Ninja is pretty well guarded. The entrance is kept tight with Ninja's identifying and querying foreign visitors, and even members of the village. Two large wooden towers are set near the gates where guards are constantly monitoring the inside and outside of the village. Two bells are set in both these towers in case of emergency and the guards need to assemble. The towers are at constant monitoring with Ninjas switching posts every few hours. People walking tread across grey concrete causing a clanking sound as they walk.
On both sides of this area there are several signs up for advertisements and shops inside the city, ranging from apartments, weapon shops and even sushi restaurants. The grey tiled pathway leads into three directions of north east, east and finally south east. Each direction heading to an uncertain destination.
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Usagi
Nothing too extraordinary can be said of this woman, she's standing just around five foot four, with blonde hair that goes down to her waist. It's generally left to flow down her back, but some care is definitely put into it. Her dress tends to consist of the sleeveless under armor/fishnet that seems to be prevalent, covered by the Chuunin's flak jacket, dark green in color. The jacket leaves her arms mostly bare, containing most of her useful items in the pouches and pockets that it has on it. All else that remains is fingerless gloves that are the same color as her vest. Her pants are skintight shorts, also jungle green, that go to her midthinh. Her shoes are useful for ninja, and come up to protect the ankles and lower parts of the shins, and aside from newly added shin guards of the same dark green color she wears, that's about it. Her complexion can be called slightly tanned, with blue eyes that seem to take everything in around her casually. She wears a band on her right arm, which currently holds two feathers. A smaller white one, and a larger green one.
Yamamoto
A young man in his late teens with ochre coloured skin. He is tall and muscular. His eyes are opal. He wears a dark red vest open in the front and dark red pants which are baggy, but brown wrappings cover the shins and calfs of the pants and keep them tight to the skin. Brown tabi cover the feet. Around his waist a thick bright yellow sash is tied to leave a pair of foot long tails hanging, and a matching yellow bandana tied in a skull cap covers his hair and bears an Iwagakure forehead protector. From the edges of his bandana spills thick shoulder-length black hair.
Gate Guard
An early forty year old Hyuga family member easily noted with his white eyes is seen wearing a grey attire and a pair of wooden slippers. A samurai sword, uncommon for his heritage is seen strapped around his left waist. He appears to be completely wise and experienced with a few cuts noted on his arms, face and a scar running across his left eye which is missing.
Taiki
Inzuka Taiki looks very little like a typical adolescent Inuzuka. He stands at about 1.73 meters (about 5'8"), and is wiry and thin. He looks like he is starting to mature into a very fleet footed frame, though he is without typical adolescent clumsiness. He has long, medium brown hair that is commonly tied into a woven ponytail on the back. His triangular face has very faint burn marks that are partially covered with crimson fang marks that proclaim his clan. His eyes are a haunted, almost dead-looking murkey brown that seems to stare into a person's soul. He is normally much quieter than a standard Inuzuka, often wearing a neutral expression.
Taiki has changed his outfit once again. Now his outfit appears to be simpler, starting with a midnight blue long-sleeved over-coat that extends down in two panels, one on each side, below the waist. His pants are midnight blue, almost black, ending in toe-less ninja-boots. Over the chest of the jacket is a chuunin vest, dark forest green in color. His belt is actually two belts, the wider one being similar in style to an obi, with a leather belt over-top. All loose ends from the belts hand down the middle of his back by about a foot. Also resting on the hip, just over the bottom edge of the wider belt, is a black chain with a blackened metal switch-blade sickle dangling from one side, and a spiked, blackened, metal ball from the other side. This is likely Taiki's Kusari-gama. Several pouches hang off the leather belt, completing his attire.
Accompanying him are his two ninken Shinobu and Nozomi. The elder dog, is of the Inuzuka malamute variety, while Nozomi is of the Inuzuka Huskies. ShinobuHe stands up to Taiki's lower chest at the shoulder, tall enough at this point for Taiki to actually ride him, though he doesn't do so. Shinobu's fur is almost pure white, with dark grey fur evident only along the tail and muzzle. His gums are a stark contrast to he fur, being a very dark black with shockingly white, very sharp, teeth. His eyes are brown, and those claws are very, very sharp. Nozomi on the other hand is younger, and smaller. She bears red fur with a white undercoat, white fur at the ear tufts, and a white fur around her black lips. She stands about 3/4 the size of Shinobu, and is built wiry and lean, as if she is more for speed than power. Her blue eyes are very intelligent, and quick to notice things. Between the two of them they quickly assess anyone that draws near, signifying that neither dog is a mere pet.
Its late. So late that the late nighters of Konohagakure have mostly gone to sleep and the early risers will be waking up soon. The sky is dark with clouds, the faintest sliver of a moon showing its presence only rarely. An Iwagakure shinobi is arriving, passing through the gates. Carried over his shoulder is a rather large sack filled with who knows what. The arrival of a shinobi from another village would often be greeted with much suspicion, but the Hyuga gate guard knows this Iwagakure ninja. It is Yamamoto, and the Gate Guard finds it an easy task to use the Byakugan and see that nothing in the bag is particularly dangerous.
The expression Yamamoto wears is fairly plain. His eyes are focused, but at some unknown point far away. He stops himself not long after passing through the gate, and as if realizing that he has arrived in Konohagakure he looks around a bit. He then looks back at the Gate Guard, then turns and gives the guard a curt bow.
It's not really usual when a Nara is out here, but here one is. Near the gate, and apparently watching from atop one of the nearby buildings. She hops down and lands nearby, looking them over. She pauses. She knows this guy. She offers a small, curt bow. "Good morning" She comes back out of the bow and looks up at him, going into a more relaxed stance.
Yamamoto looks up towards Usagi and blinks, then looks around the area as if wondering if anything else were there he had not yet seen. "Ah… Good… morning?" Yamamoto glances up at the sky, then looks back to Usagi and bows a little saying, "If you say so." He looks Usagi over. "Good to, uh, see you again. You look dressed to kill… this… isn't the training grounds, though. I hope your not here to… arrest me?"
Usagi blinks, pauses, then shakes her head with a grin. "No, no. Just usually I'm on 'call', for various reasons. So I like to be prepared in case I 'do' have to take care of business" She smiles at him. Though granted, the scythe on her back that's about as big as she is doesn't help. At all. Maybe it's even bigger. "So what's going on today? What brings you to Konoha?"
Yamamoto smiles at her response. "Oh, well. Its probably for the best that you aren't here to arrest me," Yamamoto says, then looks away from Usagi and looks around the village. "Though I don't think I've ever been arrested before, and… other than the scythe… I guess I'd prefer to be apprehended by someone more like you than by a, uh… someone not like you." He looks back to Usagi and quickly adds. "And I'm here because, well, I still have some reading to do, and… well, I went to Kirigakure but they… well, they aren't very clean."
Usagi smiles softly, and shrugs again. "Oh, this?" she pulls the scythe off her back and starts to 'practice' with it. As in spinning it around. In close proximity. She stops before she gets 'too' close, and then puts it back. "I'll take that as a confused compliment, so thank you" She finds a post to lean against and nods. "What sort of reading do you do, then?"
Yamamoto watches the scyth spin around, though his smile doesn't wane. He responds to Usagi's question with, "I… well, I'm reading about animals. And some about plants. Wild things, mostly. I figure that if I'm going to be wandering about like an idiot, which is, more or less, what I was told to do… then I might as well know what kinds of things I might find, right?" He shrugs the bag off of his shoulder and onto the ground beside him, then opens the top and reaches in to start rifling through it. "I read about these huge birds in the land of lightning that dive into the water to spear fish on their beaks, but getting the fish off their beaks is difficult for them unless they get help from one of the other birds. They… well, they might be interesting to go see. I've got the bird book somewhere in here…"
Usagi raises a brow. "Wander like an idiot" She shakes her head. "I highly doubt that's everything they told you, or at least they likely have an ulterior motive for it. But, in either case, I wouldn't exactly expect you to 'tell' me that, now would I…" She smirks at him and shrugs again, still leaning. "Animals are good, though I'd say work more on herbs. You never know how useful those will be when you need them"
Yamamoto looks up from his bag, "Oh. Yeah, sorry, you probably don't really care about birds," he says, then closes the top of the bag again and holds it in one hand. "So… herbs. Do you know a lot about herbs? I, uh, kind of got bored reading about the plants. I just looked at the pictures after a while. The books I found didn't really discriminate between time spent on useful things and time spent on… everything else."
Usagi raises a brow. "On the contrary, I watch a forest" She smirks softly at him. "the animals within it are very important to me…so in all honesty, I know much about them as well" As he mentions herbs, she nods. "I do have a small book about ones that are beneficial, and especially ones that aren't. That may help"
Taiki and crew are up this early as part of their duties to the hospital, though they are here earlier than usual. Reason for this lies in the large package strapped between his two ninken. It's inventory control time for the gates. This is when the emergency medical supplies at the gates get switched out for fresher supplies. Taiki drew the short straw, and thus he is here, barely awake. As he draws closer, he smiles slightly and bows his head first to Usagi, then to Yamamoto. "Hello," he calls out to the people as he comes within speaking distance.
Yamamoto looks to Taiki and his dogs arriving. "Oh, hey. Your name was… Inuzuka something," he says and nods a little. He looks at the ninken and the package between them for a second, then looks back to Taiki. "I don't think we were properly introduced. I'm Katen Yamamoto, a chuunin from Iwagakure," he says, then looks back towards Usagi.
"That would be useful," Yamamoto says. "I was looking for someone who knows more about these things, but I asked around some and couldn't find anyone to help. I thought about going to Kusagakure, but, uh, I didn't want them thinking I was trying to steal their secrets. And… I don't really like the thought of poison, or… maybe more the thought of eating poison, and I hear that they do a lot of poison things in that village. Plus I don't really know where it is."
Usagi nods to Yamamoto and smiles at him. "Oh really….We can go take a look into that. What we have available's in our public library, at least. Though again, not going to be giving any trade secrets away. Just useful herbs, and a few you may wish to avoid" She looks to Taiki after a few moments, blinking and offering a bow. "Hey Taiki" She then comes over to the two ninken, and tosses them each a treat, though aimed well so they aren't distracted from their tasks. "Shinobu, Nozomi" She ruffles their fur after a few moments, and nods.
Shinobu and Nozomi catch the treats and quickly eat them, then use their heads to nudge Usagi's side in thanks and in greeting. Taiki, however,tilts his head to the side and asks, "What?" to her blinking gesture. After she replies, he turns his head momentarily and says, "Inuzuka Taiki, Jounin Med-nin. These are my partners Shinobu and Nozomi. It's nice to meet you."
Yamamoto looks to Taiki. "An honor to meet you," he says, and then bows perhaps a bit deeply. "Med-nins are some of my favorite people. I can really support what med-nins do everywhere. Saving lives is a noble calling. I can only wish that I was born with such benevolence." Yamamoto looks towards the dogs. "And you get along well with animals, to boot. I think your the only Inuzuka I've met so far with two ninja dog partners."
Usagi grins at him. "You've met two this morning already, then" She looks at Taiki. "I'm wondering what you're doing up this early, Taiki. Normally at this hour, you're sawing logs" She looks over to Yamamoto and smiles again, this time an actual smile.
Taiki smirks at Usagi, then shrugs. "Today's inventory control day, and I drew the short straw," Taiki says, adding a shrug at the end. "You note I'm not changed into hospital uniform yet, it's still far too early." That said, he turns his attention to Yamamoto for a moment even as the ninken lay down near the gate post. "Inuzuka rarely have more than one ninken partner, primarily due to the fact the emotional bonds between human and canine are pretty tight, and introducing another is kind of like… having two consensual girlfriends at once… At least that's the closest I can describe it in purely human terms. But Nozomi was detailed to us for so long we kind of grew into this new team, so she's been with us ever since."
Yamamoto grins a little bit at Taiki's words. "Oh, so you having two dogs would make you a, uh… nevermind." He looks over to Usagi for a second, then looks back to Taiki. "I am, um, sure that it takes a lot of… emotional stability, to have two ninja dog companions, then, Taiki-san. I…" Yamamoto picks up his large sack off the ground and shoulders it again. "…I am glad that I have been able to meet you, Taiki-san. Its always good to see rare sights, or meet rare people. If you need any help with anything while I'm in town, I'd be happy to do what I can."
"I didn't even draw a straw, thank you" Usagi smirks at Taiki, then takes a slow breath. "Yea, way too early. Unless someone's practicing the Strong Fist or something, I doubt too many people are awake to injure themselves" She looks back to Yamamoto, a brow raised as she leaves that one untouched. As he mentioned emotional stability, Usagi pauses, very very briefly, but again, she lets that drop as well. "As for me, I just managed to slip into it somewhere along the way, though I don't have the bond that he does with them…and never will"
Even Taiki has the grace to blush under the emotional stability comment, but then said, "No, just a lot of patience and understanding. Believe me, the bond with my partners runs very deep, but not quite /that/ deep," he says, commenting on Yamamoto's unspoken comment. "I was using an analogy," he adds as he glances at Usagi during her pause. "She's something like a sister, kind of half-adopted." Now Taiki can't help but to tease Usagi, "Don't worry, it's been noted you volunteered for next month's rotation…"
"Yeah," Yamamoto says. "I was being conceited, I guess." He looks at the four of them together. "And I, well, I didn't draw any straws either. I practice the Iron Body style, and have been working on my conditioning, but really… It was getting late, and I sold my tent a while back for this chair, which I sold for, well, other things, but I didn't have anywhere to sleep, really, and I didn't want to sleep in the forest because I read about these bugs that eat the stuff out of your ears at night, so I figured I would just make it to town and if I didn't make it in time to get a room at the inn I'd just stay up until the inn was open again."
"I also told 'em to make sure it was my signature, thank you" Usagi winks at Taiki. As she looks at Yamamoto for a few moments, then sighs softly and shakes her head. "I have a hammock you can use" She looks to Taiki and then back at the gate. "If that'll suffice. you can use it nearby" She grumbles softly and takes a slow breath. "That's why you have earplugs"
Taiki hmms for a moment as he scratches his chin. "If you go to the library, you'll find a couple of books about building shelter in the forrest. There's standard civilian versions, which is free to anyone to pick up. If you want, I could give you a couple of titles to look for," Taiki offers. "A couple of them are even large enough to support hammocks." He says with a wink toward Usagi. A moment later he ads, "It's your signature Usagi. Trust me."
Yamamoto's smile wanes for a moment as Usagi mentions earplugs. "Thank you for your suggestion, Taiki-san. I will be sure to look into those. I have learned how to make a shelter, but the two methods I am good at either take too long or are a little more disruptive than I would like to be." He looks over to Usagi. "Uh… thank you for the offer, but… I mean, I will gladly use your hammock - I mean, your spare hammock. How did you know I had earplugs?"
"Because if you're going to wander like an idiot, so far that I've seen, you've been relatively prepared for it…save for selling your tent" Usagi grins at that. "So, earplugs. Either from loud snores in an inn, or other reasons" She shrugs. "But, if you can't think of multiple uses for them, that's not my fault" She looks to Taiki and smirks. "I know" She shrugs and yawns, stretching her arms above and behind her head.
Taiki eyes the jounin that are coming out with clipboards, then looks back toward the other two. "You're welcome Katen-san," Taiki says with an honest smile and a bow of his head. "If you two will excuse me, I really should get this done before shift change," he adds as he motions to the oncoming chuunin. "See you at the hospital Usagi. See you later Katen-san."
Yamamoto bows to Taiki as he departs. "I hope to see you when you are less busy, Taiki-san," Yamamoto says. He looks over to Usagi, "So, uh, about this book on herbs and the hammock. We should probably get going."
END
