A (Not-So) Familiar Face [Private]

[Oshiro Junpei]

Everyone moved around the city so quickly. No one stopped to take in the magnificent koi ponds, or the remarkable beauty of the city itself. It was all taken for granted by those who lived there. The Sun was just beginning to rise, and already merchants were opening shop, and the smell of breads and cookies wafted through the air. Junpei practically drooled as the smells reminded him just how hungry he was.

He had to finish setting up shop though, or else he'd miss the morning rush! The elderly were the ones who loved his work the most; they were fascinated by the violent displays he depicted that contrasted so beautifully against the fragility of the items he made. He continued fighting with his portable table, until it finally decided to snap into place. The boy set up his pricing sign and began to make his wares. The teen worked quickly, his skilled fingers working the clay masterfully. He made some vases, and a couple bowls and plates and set them on the table.

He began to the paint them, taking his time on this portion as it didn't come to him quite as naturally. Besides, perfection takes time; it just couldn't take up too much time or he wouldn't make any money.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Re: A Familiar Face [Private]

Maru had been hanging out in cloud for a while now, and he has been mostly exploring around to see cool places to train around and also a couple places to possibly live when he ever decided to move out of that cave he still called home. With a population of nearly a million people, the city of Raiden's Eye was so named in an attempt during ancient times to appease the young god and his followers. This place that was on the outskirts of Kumo had a large, walled-off area housing, endless array of pleasure gardens, hunting grounds, and koi ponds. The really neet part was the palace itself which was is a classically beautiful example of feudal architecture. So many places that the young mercenary could visit but there was so little time on his hands with all the training and having to run his share of a trading company that he won.

Maru was among the crowd dressed in his usual masquerade attire. Wearing his usual outfit of a white long sleeve shirt covered by a black vest and he also wore a navy blue cape for dramatic entries plus he believed that the cape made him look cool. He also wore stretchable white slacks for easy movement if he ever had to run away along with black boots that had hidden storage chamber inside of items in. But what really sold the outfit was the black mask that he wore all the time, not anyone would even recognize Maru if he were to wear plain shinobi clothes and take off his mask. He never wore mask because he wanted to hide his face, after all he does like being noticed. He simply wore mask because it suited him, kinda like a style of his.

His Kensei spirit being sleep, he was like a child without their parent being around to scold him if he got into trouble or do anything questionable. When he was about to head to the palace to see if there were any cute girls around there to pick up he found something or someone that interested him. There was a boy, probably in his teens, creating plates, bowls, and vases out of clay. ‘Oooo an artists.’ Maru hasn't seen or recognized this person before. Perhaps because he hasn't been in this part of town before but he decided to meet this interesting kid to see about buying some of his art. With a dramatic grip of his cape he pretend flew over to the boys stand then looked at one of the finished vases then rubbed his chin. “Nice work, how much you charging for one of these.” He said, picking one of the vases up then checked it out from all angles. “Art like this could be a great gift for some hawt gals I'm trying to–”

Drop
??!!
Smash!

Just like that he broke one of those pieces of art the boy had just made, darn slippery silk gloves! “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeell shit. I guess I'll just pay for two vases.” He put his hands on his hips, looking down at the shattered vase, before deciding to proudly introduce who he was. “Oh, right! Where are my manners. Gotta tell you who I am.” He cleared his throat, placing one of his boots on top of the shattered pile of vase before the clearly looney masked rogue began his introduction. “I am the watcher in the shades. From the stars we came, to the stars we shall conquer. Alone I shall stand, alone I shall prosper. Out of darkness I bring light, and always in for a glorious fight.</B></COLOR> Maru, Princess of Heart Protector of Light!</FONTFACE><i></i> Owner of the ultimate weapon <FONTFACE fontface="cursive">Kawaii, Musket of Heart and Guide of Light.<COLOR color="#BF00FF"><B>” Maru stuck a pose before finishing his awesome sounding introduction. “Kashima! Our golden rule is to remain defiant and free! With the fire of our hearts, we shall always succeed!” Being as slow as he was, the disguise that the boy had on did fool the man since he practically acted like he was meeting the boy for the first time. Otherwise, he would've pointed out he was the scared kid who was with Mastermind when he was passing out guns to every or the kid who was getting bullied by that Sennin who that kid said that he was trying to touch them. But with Maru proudly saying his name would the boy know the rogue?

[Entered Topic.]

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

The market was picking up quicker than Junpei had hoped. He had only finished painting a couple vases and plates so far! His mind was racing as the deadline was approaching; his heart was starting to beat louder and his surroundings had faded away as he focused on his work. His hand moved agonizingly slow. The teen knew he couldn't rush himself, no matter how stressed he was feeling; that would only make him screw up and set him behind even further.

Inky depictions began to form with increasing clarity on the vase as Junpei worked. The vase was about half as tall as he was and also nearly as wide where it bowed out in the middle. Large figures with leaf headbands formed that were looming over a child. One of the figures was throwing a punch at the helpless kid. It was a day that he could never forget. Much of his pottery featured similar scenes of violence, but this one was different; it actually happened. Mentally he felt stuck, constantly switching between thoughts that painting scenes from that day are a healthy coping mechanism, and thoughts that he was stuck and not actually moving forward. As Junpei painted the crowd on the vase, synchronistically, the crowd was forming larger at an exponential rate in the market.

The teen's heart rate slowed as he finished and his surroundings began coming back into his awareness. Junpei looked over and noticed a bowl was gone with some Yen thrown on his table. He must not have even noticed he had a customer at his stand! Thank goodness they had left money, and that no one had taken it in the mean time! They had been pretty generous too! Luck truly seemed to be on his side lately! After gently setting the vase down, he quickly scooped the Yen into his gloved hands and then stuffed it into the left pocket of his checkered burgundy vest.

Junpei took a deep breath, releasing away the last of the tension from his previously hyper-focused state. He was slow coming back into full awareness, the sounds of the the birds chirping and the indistinguishable chatter of the market began to rush back. Upon opening his eyes, there was a man standing at his table handling his merchandise. Junpei flashed a toothy smile at him, but before he could even get out a greeting the man clumsily dropped one of his creations. Junpei's face twisted with horror. He was speechless, but the man definitely was not. After taking another deep breath, the teen listened as the man spoke; his blood pressure dropping quickly back to normal levels. The man was more than willing to pay, and he was even going to buy more! How could he could stay mad at that? A smile crept over the kid's face once again as the man gave a long-winded introduction. The man seemed like an entertainer also; he was very dramatic and Junpei liked his flair.

"Oh, uh, don't even worry about it, Maru, I can fix it! WIll you just help me pick up the pieces?" It was true, he could repair the vase rather easily. He would have to re-paint it, which was of course the hardest part, but he wasn't out any material. "You know, if you're going to buy one of my pieces you should purchase this one." and with that Junpei grabbed the vase he had been working on previously. "I'll even give you a discount, because it's so odd, but there's a man also named Maru on it!" He took a breath before explaining further, "This particular scene I painted actually happened. It was a while ago now, but me and my friends were just kids hanging out in Tea Country, and while we were there we were stopped by a couple Sennin from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They stopped us with no proof of any wrongdoing. A crowd formed pretty quickly cause my friend made a scene about it, and then the man ended up punching my friend so hard he was knocked out; right in front of everybody, including that man, Maru!" Junpei had begun to tremble slightly as he started talking. He hadn't spoke about it since he had left the village. The teen took another calming breath and quickly wiped a small tear that had begun to pool up in his eye. "Oh, anyway, the point is that fate is weird, and if you like my art, then it really feels like you are supposed to have it! So, I'll let it go for only 8,000 Yen!" And with that the boy smiled. Hopefully his generosity would make the man want to buy even more.

[MFT]
Word Count: 789

 

[Midori Futotta]

'Phew’ he was relieved to know that the teen would just accept the money and not throw a huge fit over something that really wasn't his fault. The rogue helped the boy gather the shattered remains of the vase he dropped, listening to the tale the boy had about one of his pieces of art taking a look at it closely because there was a man named Maru in it. And what was cool about it was the guy in the painting design had on one of those masquerade mask similar to his and a cape just like his. He just told the Raikage and the former hokage about a scene that he experienced similar to this. “Ayyyye that guy looks just like me, I looked like that before I grew out my long flowing hair you're seeing right now.” He said, flipping his hair listening to the rest of the lads tale about his artwork.

Apparently him and some friends were just hanging out with some friends then suddenly a leaf Sennin came to stop them without any proof of them doing anything wrong. Slow as he was, some things that the boy was talking was strangely familiar to what he witnessed in tea country. “Funny, you know I was just talking about a incident like that with the Raikage, a former leafie was pretty upset about hearing that children were getting killed. Even accused the current Hokage of crimes against humanity.” He said looking up, he rubbed his chin to think about what happened. “You know, don't recall all the details about that meeting but…. Wait.. You're the kid who the Sennin threaten?” Then it stuck him that this teen WAS one of those kids that the Sennin threaten! He wasn't that kid who almost shot his thing off or that other kid with that dog. This teen was the kid who got all scared when he gave the Mastermind group some guns and who called the Sennin a bully.

“8000 Yen hmm?” He said rubbing his chin, he wasn't that good at math nor counting that much money. Probably due to laziness, so instead of giving him the exact amount or even talking the boy down. The rogue reached underneath his mask to pull out a huge sack filled to the brim with stacks of money like magic. “Here ya go 8000 Yen.” He said setting the bag of yen on the stand then he placed his hand on the artwork this kid had made. “You know… I think the guy that you painted on here is me. If you are who you say you are how about I escort you to the gates so my guy and the Raikage could hear your story. I'm sure you probably have the proper paperwork and stuff to get you in.” He said confident he could get the boy in, from what he saw the boy was the type to follow the rules despite being around a tough crowd. He was pretty sure he could provide some kind of papers.

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

Picking everything up took no time, thanks to the man’s help. As the teen picked up the pieces of pottery, they were seemingly disappearing into thin air. Junpei flashed Maru a toothy grin and took the broken pieces from the man; his palms eating up the clay hungrily. Within a matter of moments of collecting the last of it, the clay appeared back in his palm in a large ball that ready to be transformed and molded once again. The destruction of the piece breeds the creation of something new; that was not lost on him.

Junpei did a quick double-take as the man spoke. He hadn’t even noticed that the man had indeed wore the same masquerade mask and cape as the other Maru. Now that it had been brought to his attention, it was kind of an unusual outfit. How had he not noticed that? It looked so natural on the man for some reason. As Maru continued speaking though it became obvious very quickly that he was indeed the same Maru that had been in Tea Country that day.

There was a jolt of something he hadn’t felt in a while; familiarity. Junpei had been traveling for the past couple years, never staying anywhere too long. He met lots of different kinds of people, tried all kinds of foreign foods, and saw parts of the world he had never dreamed of before he began to take control of his life. There was something very striking and comforting in the familiarity of actually knowing someone for once.

The boy’s smile widened as the man handed him a sack bulging with yen. The smile dropped quickly as he spoke though, ”Yes, that was me! I was with my friend, Katsu, when the Sennin stopped us.” He took a moment to breath, feeling his lip starting to quiver. He wiped one of his eyes, pretending as if something had gotten caught in it.

There was another jolt of relief as Maru told him he could get him an audience with the Raikage. Until now he had been asking the gods for a sign of where to go and what to do, and here was the answer in front of him. That sense of relief didn’t last long though as Maru mentioned needing the proper paperwork. ”Well, I would love to come with you, but… well, I don’t actually have any official paperwork. Junpei rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, ”See, I didn’t really tell anyone in the village I was leaving. I’m sure they’ve figured it out by now though, its been a couple years.” He took a deep breath and continued, ”It was more than just what happened in Tea Country though. There was a message that was broadcast through the entire village. It spoke about the Hokage’s corruption and how there were children being slain at the gates. I’m sure its all true! You saw how quick one of Leaf’s Sennin was to beat up my friend, with no proof of anything. I didn’t feel safe in my own village.”

The teen sighed audibly, tears pooling in his eyes, ”Is there anyway to get in still without a passport?”

[MFT]
Word Count: 534

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru took in the boy's words then sighed, unlike how he was the villages actually banished him from the village never to return this boy actually got through village security and ditched his village which he knew was frowned upon by many village patriots who would die for their village. However, the difference here was that it was hard to say in the village when the high ranks are not doing a good job. With Hana coming here seeking asylum and Maikeru with his gang heading to cloud for refuge too the Raikage would have to look into this problem that they are having with leaf's villagers leaving because they were unhappy with their village. Besides all that, he asked for proof and this kid witnessed the whole thing. Hopefully the other crew members like Mastermind are coming here too, especially that kid who almost shot himself because he was great at acting.

“Okay, look.” He said to the poor crying child. “I got inside of the village without the property paperwork, so I think I might could get you in. Like the former clan head was a leafie himself who's going below the radar right now because… well let's just say him and his wife are famous in leaf, very very very very… very famous. You might even say you seen their faces around.” He explained and he should know because two people in his clan had been Hokage before, hence why they were trying to stay hidden by blending in with the crowd. The rogue thought for a moment what he could do to help the boy get into the village, then a idea came to his head as he thought of a perfect way to get the boy in. However he was going to have to stretch the truth a bit in order to get him in like Umashi did with him.

Maru pulled from underneath his mask, a notepad and a pen to begin writing a letter. Since headset calls could be traced it was more than likely they would find out what Maru was planning to do, besides letters can be eaten so it was more reliable to just send a letter rather than headsetting someone. He pulled out a empty bottle from underneath his mask, then a gold ribbon to roll the paper up then tied it together before dropping the letter into the bottle. Then he summoned his messager Youkai Jeez who began to spastically look around before looking up at Maru. “Need you to take this letter straight to Umashi, hurry up.” The creature took the bottle then bolted through the crowd to deliver the message to the man which would read;

Yo Father Yamamoto!

So like get this, there's this leaf refugee with me and appearintly he doesn't have the proper paperwork nor does the village knew he left the village if you know what I mean. My idea was to say that he was from water country and probably freeze him up a bit so he looks frost bitten but that was just a thought. What do you think? Should I escort him to the gates cause he looks only nine years old. A poor, frail, weak, pitiful looking, nine year old….

Help a guy out.

~Yamaru Yamamoto

Now all they had to do…. Was wait on his Youkai to return.

[Message Sent to Umashi]

 

[Seijin]

Mind his business what what Musashi aspired to do above all else. It helped him to achieve zen, it also helped him to stay alive. When he got the letter from Maru, he had to do a double take. One, it was just waaaaaay too open in terms of revealing what his talents were. Some secrets were meant to be private and his ability to fashion a good disguise was one such thing.</COLOR>

Yo Father Yamamoto!

So like get this, there's this leaf refugee with me and appearintly he doesn't have the proper paperwork nor does the village knew he left the village if you know what I mean. My idea was to say that he was from water country and probably freeze him up a bit so he looks frost bitten but that was just a thought. What do you think? Should I escort him to the gates cause he looks only nine years old. A poor, frail, weak, pitiful looking, nine year old….

Help a guy out.

~Yamaru Yamamoto

Looking unamused, he grabbed a pen from his desk, pulled fresh parchment from his special pile of parchments and wrote back to his errant child of sorts.

Yo Yamaru-son!

I can't help to facilitate a transaction for a place that I've not been in such a long time. There's only two types of candy that I ship at this moment, dark chocolate and mint green tea. Pick a bundle, provide me with a name for who it's for and I'll send you a bill in the mail.

~Yamamoto Musashi

<COLOR color="grey">

Sending the letter back by the way that the other had been sent to him. He quickly went back to doing nothing until the plot called for it.

OOC: Topic entered and left [Message Delivered]

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

His eye's lit up brightly, and a large smile returned to his face as the teen listened to Maru explain there was still hope for him to get into Cloud. Junpei instinctively opened his arms and grabbed the man in a tight hug. A simple thank you would not have been sufficient to express the boy's gratitude. He held on for a moment before letting go and thanking him profusely. "I know you can't guarantee getting me in, but you're willing to help despite barely knowing me and that has been pretty rare the last couple years. Thank you so, so much!"

Maru began to write a letter almost immediately. It was refreshing to meet someone so helpful and selfless. Junpei wondered what the letter said, but merely stood silent as the man did his thing. He watched intently though as Maru summoned... a thing. It was kind of cute, but in a real ugly kind of way. It was also spastic and kind of loud. It ate the letter and disappeared, and then it was back before he knew it! Junpei hoped fervently, with his fingers crossed, that the Youkai brought back good news. He was practically shaking with excitement as he waited to hear what the response said.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru tapped his foot on to the ground, looking at his invisible watch to see what would be taking that no good pink rodent so long. Finally, Jeez had came back with bottle in hand delivering the news to them getting close enough to the rogue to hold the bottle to him and began jumping urging for him to take the message. He bent down to grab the bottle from Jeez hands, then dumped the letter into his hand before tossing the bottle somewhere and began to reopen the letter. He simply took one look at the letter before crumbing it up into a ball then putting the paper into his mouth and proceeded to chew it while talking. “Good news bud.” His voice was muffled as the rogue chewed the paper. “He said he'll help, just walk to to gates.” When he finished chewed he swallowed then stuck out his tongue, the ink always tasted pretty nasty to say the least. He thought about letting the boy go on his own but that seemed a bit too dangerous considering he might be in the bingo book but hopefully news hadn't spread that the boy went rogue.

“Relax, as soon as you come to the gates I'll be there since I'm a shinobi here yanno. So nothing bad will happen to you. But don't say you ran, say the village let you go since mercenaries are more respected than Nukes.” He said, gesturing his head to the artwork that the boy had because that would be pretty important since they had been getting a lot of dissatisfied shinobi coming to cloud. Former leaf shinobi here, messages there, that kinda stuff. “I recommend you telling them what you saw cause I mentioned it to them, they'll have some questions and say Yamaru (which is my fake name I go by when dealing with important things like meeting the Raikage) had witnessed this incident in tea and I'll back up your story.” He explained, turning on his heels to leave. Smiling then waving to the boy hoping to see him at the gates. “See ya soon! Remember, you'll be alright cause I'll be there so nothing to worry about.” He exclaimed, jeez running over to the rogue who disappeared into the crowd. ‘That damn old man is useless at times.’

[Left Topic]

 

[Oshiro Junpei]

Thee was a stillness in the air that was almost deafening. The quick impatient taps of Maru's foot rang loudly through his ears as they waited for the return of Jeez. Junpei's grin never faltered though. A group of black birds appeared from behind the teen, flying straight ahead together in a perfect V-formation. A truly auspicious sign indeed for moving forward into a new city.

No sooner had he thought of the omen as fortunate then Jeez returned with a message in hand. A message that Maru read... and then ate. Junpei did his best to hide his look of repulsion and curiosity. Jeez had brought back good news though at least! The boy hadn't really been too worried about it, there was an overwhelming feeling that everything was going to work out. It was nice to have the confirmation of it though.

"Thanks again, Maru. Some day soon, I'll repay your kindness. I'll be heading to the village then not too far behind you with your tips in mind." Junpei did his best to calm his nerves as he fully realized that it felt kind of silly to walk right up to the village as a nuke. A moment of clarity came in time for him to realize just how reckless some of his actions actually were, but it passed too quickly for any long-term integration.

The teen began to whistle a joyful tune as packed his stuff up as quickly as he could. It was time to head to his new home.

[MFT]
[Word Count]: 255
[Topic Left]