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What a day this was turning out to be. One minute three strangers are arguing between one another, the next they all were chomping down some lunch at the same table together, asking what each others goals were. Not to mention, two of the three literally bumped into each other signing up to become ninja. Always weird how life worked out, wasn't it?

"Oh right, I suck at this. My name is Kaito Arata. Kaito or Kai for short, whatever works best for you fellas." At this point Sai took lead in the conversation, asking the both of them what their intentions were. "Eh? Guess we're getting right to the point." 'Twas understandable at the very least. Who really wanted to team up with someone who didn't have real aspiration to do anything with his life. Kaito got the feeling this Sai fellow, wasn't looking for the run of the mill type person either. Like you didn't wanna give him a lack luster answer of 'not really sure, just kind of wanting to see where life takes me' without expecting him to reject you. Luckily, Kaito had goals in place for himself.

Hajime naturally responded first, Sai did direct the conversation more towards him with the 'alarming' statement. Now that Kaito did get to thinking about it, the situation was a little weird to say the least. His rebuttal to the statement sounded pretty honest and believable. The monk finished his statement, which meant it was his turn to take lead. The sobering man scarfed another one of his rolls down, catching Sai slide a pair of chop sticks into the sleeve of his left arm. What a weird gesture, Kaito couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of test or Sai genuinely just wanted to snatch a pair of chop sticks for one reason or another. "So yeah, my intentions are simple to say the least. Although I haven't been in this city for a few years or so, one day, I'd like to become the Hokage." Sipping on some water, he'd continue. "I get it, probably looks pretty strange how a guy who moved away from his home for so long, intends to lead a village he's not even taken a step in since he was fourteen. But honestly, that's just been my dream since I was a child. Gotta follow your dreams, or some sappy crap like that, right?" Kaito chuckled, chomping on another roll. It almost felt embarrassing to say that, being a nineteen year old just freshly tagged as a genin. That wouldn't stop the process though, just gotta keep working.

The mystery still stood tall, why the chopsticks? Did he call him out, or let it be? Just at that very moment the monk offered a roll to the chopstick bandit. "Hrm... He must have noticed too... Guess we'll see how this plays out." Kaito leaned back a bit, crossing his arms. "Guess we earned the right the same question. What's your intentions Sai?"

(Also, from a phone.)

Stabbing someone in the eye with chopsticks. Wowza. At least he finally figured out the strange fellows intention with the small wooden utensils. So, this conversation basically turned back to where he for sure thought this conversation was leading. The whole 'nice guy' was cool and all, but at first glance it didn't seem like any of these three deserved to be in that category.
"Well, uh... Cool." Kaito was really at a loss of words. It wasn't the fact he was nervous by any means, it was more of an awkward feel than anything else. "So yeah, why did you wanna go all serial killer on us again? The boy scratched his head, shoving his last roll into his mouth. At this point, this conversation wasn't really his to be having. Maybe he was joking or something, either way he seemed a little too serious about it. No awkward laugh afterwords, no 'just kidding', pretty weird to say the least.

The genin leaned back in his chair as well, cracking his back then leaned forward resting his head against his right palm. Kaito was awaiting the monk's response. "Man. I hope these guys don't get into a fight here... I don't wanna get kicked out of my favorite restaurant my first day back in town damnit!" Letting out a big sigh, he'd slurp down the rest of his water while waiting for the next move. More importantly, should he order dessert?

Sai released a heavy sigh, his focus was fixed on the monk and it was only now he realized that his grip on his leg had become so tight his knuckles had gone white. This was no longer a situation he found wise to continue.

"Lovely story. However I feel the need to correct three things." With a shift of posture he turned to face Kaito, "You would be the gorilla. Irrelevant in all circumstances beyond the mess you shall surely create... I do apologize but at what point did you think this conversation was ever for you or about you. There is no us, there is the monk and then there is me."

Pushing his chair back he rose from his seat if only to lean forward on the table to look the monk in the eyes. "Your fable has a flaw for it is not the original tale. You see the gorilla in all tales not but a fool and if the story of 3 losers surely only the rabbit would be the winner as only the rabbit can out wit the rest.

No... you see neither the fox nor the weasel could catch the rabbit. The fox is clever and fast but could not reach the rabbit in its borrow. The weasel, whole sleek and tricky, could only chase the rabbit through its tunnels. Together however, the weasel could chase the rabbit from safety to the trap set by the fox.

And do you know the moral of the story, dear monk? Friendships among the wicked are nothing less than conspiracies, by which the defenceless and the innocent are sure to suffer. That the carefulness of the wicked causes the godly to look about them."

Leaning back, Sai turned to leave stopping only to add, "I retract my statement, Kaito, I was to rude to judge you as the gorilla. No. You are the rabbit. The question is, between the monk and I, who is the fox and who is the weasel." And with that, the man walked out of the restaurant, not once had he touching the food or drink that had been offered.

After they had exchanged a few pleasantries, Juugou watched Haikyo return to the lobby of a nearby building brimming with confidence. I'm guessing that's the lady that gave him a hard time earlier... thought the young Aburame, eyeing the particularly well-built woman. Considering that the older teen was a stranger to actual combat, it was easy to see why he was defeated so easily the first time. Haikyo then led the way to the area where the combat test would be administered and was followed by the now irritated proctor. Juugou took the opportunity to enter the lobby of the building as well, but just before he got halfway to the registry desk he was stopped by a receptionist he had failed to notice before.

"Are you here for the battle test as well?" she asked in disinterested tone. Juugou turned to walk toward her, fishing into his bag for the letter of recommendation Grunnard the librarian had given him earlier. He proffered it to the receptionist without saying a word. The woman gave an exasperated sigh before moving to the currently vacant desk to input data into the computer terminal. She then produced a pod camera and told Juugou to stand still as she snapped a quick photo. Within the span of three minutes the young Aburame held his ninja registry card in one hand. In the other, the steel forehead protector emblazoned with the leaf symbol attached to a blue cloth. Now officially a Genin, Juugou smiled from ear to ear. It had taken months, but he had finally passed the first hurdle to accomplishing his dream. The young Aburame thanked the receptionist, who simply nodded and began filing her nails.

When Juugou turned to leave he saw Haikyo already outside. He jogged over to the older teen, who seemed pretty content with himself. "It looks like things went well this time around. What happened in there?" he asked, pointing back at the registry building with his thumb.

Sai looked over his shoulder, his brow cocked as Kaito chased out after him, "Hm? I'm sorry but isn't that your favorite restaurant, shouldn't you not be dine and ditching them." He said with a laugh. Before he could start walking again however, the monk also arrive mentioning something about a mission. "Oh?" Snorting, he stepped to the curve and sat down, "Well good luck with that."

A sigh of frustration came from the boys mouth upon hearing the news from Hajime. Whether he liked it or not, Kaito was gonna be stuck with this moron for a while. "Were a team now.. Great." His words filled with obvious sarcasm. The now genin would shake his head, before turning to Hajime whom soon after tossed him the scroll. "I owe you one for paying the bill, monk." Upset or not it didn't really matter, his first mission was ahead of them and they had a job to get done. "Burglary case. Says this merchant was indicted for the crime but he swears he didn't do it. Guess it's our job here to go check his alibi." Kaito went silent for a moment, quickly scanning the page for all the information. "According to this guy, he stopped at a barbecue, sake bar, and lastly an apothecary in that order. Guess we'll start at the barbecue, it's actually right down the road from here. There's actually quite a bit of restaurant's in this strip here." Kaito turned to his right, pointing ahead. "The restaurants name is Hikari. It's actually a pretty fancy place here in town, pretty pricey as well." Rolling the scroll up, Kaito placed the scroll in his right pocket and starting walking towards his destination.

Hajime was sure to follow, although Sai didn't entirely seem very interested. Kaito wasn't really sure what his motives were, but honestly at this point he didn't really care too much. "We're about a mile out, should be there in just a couple of minutes if we walk pretty quickly. Let's get movin'.' Kaito took a couple more steps before tuning his attention to Sai one last time. "Whether we like it or not, we're stuck together now. Come if you want, if not no sweat off my back." With that, the group whether it be two or three was on their way to visit Hikari. Time to get down to some ninja business!

Juugou listened intently as Haikyo recounted the events of his second bout with the proctor. The older teen had been able to successfully stop the woman's attack with the soul skin technique he'd developed a few minutes ago, which had surprised her enough to let her guard down just enough to narrowly avoid a blow from the Yomi. Because of this the proctor had allowed Haikyo to pass his test, and ultimately attributed his success to Juugou's help.

"Oh, I really didn't do much." said the young Aburame, scratching the back of his head, a slight blush spreading on his cheeks. He really disliked being thanked for something that came naturally to him, but it made him feel good being acknowledged. "I just assessed the information you provided and gave some advice. Luckily it proved to work out." Haikyo's next question came as no surprise, being raised as a sheltered child that knew nothing of the ninja world. "Well..." started Juugou, trying to conjure the words to make his explanation as simple as possible for Haikyo, "As ninja, we are officially part of the military of the Fire Country. We're Genin now so the chance of us getting involved in anything major, like war, is really unlikely. That being said, we can begin taking on simpler domestic missions about women cheating on husbands with their third cousin or maintaining civility by chasing down public offenders by the name of Aizen and Takera." Those names he mentioned were world renowned for creating disturbances during previous Chuunin exams. "Going on mission is the best way for us to hone our skills, and make some coin while doing so." Juugou rubbed his upturned fingers against his thumb, then stretched. "We can go to one of the new mission kiosks and select from one of the available ones. There's one right there." he said pointing at the electronic stand near the benches where they met.

Word Count: 760 + 321 = 1081

Haikyo shook his head and placed a strong hand on Juugou's shoulder. "Do not downplay the importance of your advice. You taught a man to look at a situation from a different perspective. This altered perception was what allowed that man to further his own life, in pursuit of his dreams. That, Juugou, is an enormous deed. Nothing to merely scoff at." He stated with a sharp nod. He listened intently to the explanations of what entailed being a ninja, and he essentially came to the conclusion that it was almost exactly as he had imagined in his mind already--which wasn't exactly a bad thing. It meant he could go with the flow of things easily and move forward in this world with a general understanding of what the world expected back from him. When Juugou mentioned Aizen and Takera, however, Haikyo quirked a brow and screwed up his face, obviously confused. "Aizen and who? I know not of these people, but if they are causing problems for the people, then we mustn't let that continue. Are they strong?" He asked, wondering just who these criminal elements were.

While Juugou had the time to explain the two he had mentioned, they began to walk towards this training kiosk that he had mentioned, and he began to look through some of the missions that were available. There were simple things like cats who had been lost--then there were more difficult trials like hunting down stolen merchandise from a trader's cart. He had no idea where to start--he barely even knew where he was standing. He had only just come to this country, so he did not know his way around. "I do not know this place, as I have only just recently moved here. So perhaps it would be better for you to look through the missions and choose one for us, yeah? But, if this is the quickest way for us to gain strength, I would love to complete as many as I can." He said with a grin, determination lighting up his eyes. He was going to do this. He had to do this.

He felt a pang in his chest as he stood there, thinking about his family. He wondered if he would ever see them again...or if he was going to end up learning on his own the rest of his life...would he ever be allowed to return to them? He bit his lip as he looked back to Juugou. "Since we are military...do we have any restrictions on movement, Juugou? I mean...between other countries?" He wondered if it would be considered some sort of act of war for him to go back to Rain...he would want to visit them eventually...when he had made some progress in the art of his family line. When he could carry out a spiritual rite...when he could connect to the souls of those around him, and offer them passage upon their deaths. That was when he would return.

[ooc: ]

Word Count: 1081 + 500 = 1581