Open Drawbacks? Or Moving Forward?

[Toshi]

Having this moment of peace was something that he relish. 'I'm hoping that everything goes well. That meeting will hold a lot on the relations of the village.' He knew if the meeting went sideways, the entire village could be in jeopardy... again. Thoughts of war came to the boy's mind, but it didn't scare him. He wasn't afraid to die for what he believed in, but he knew what was at stake here. There was more to this than what lay on the surface. He looked at the view from atop the Hokage Monument. The beauty of the village would never cease to amaze him. This was where he met Soku, a senior of Konohagakure. It was during his birthday as well, some memories just didn't fade away. 'At the same time, this could be the opportunity to strengthen our bonds with another village. To be able to call Suna an ally hold an unlimited amount of possibilities.' Toshi knew that training wouldn't be the answer to this dilemma. All he could rely on now was his ability to understand the situation, and move off of what he understood. More or less based off of his faith, and his gut. The Yuki turned to view the others that were around, most of them enjoying themselves. It was quite the sight after such destruction hit their village. To see civilians out and about living their lives as normal once more and uplifting to his spirit.

This time around, he wouldn't seek the answers from Nao, or any other of the higher ups. He would have to find the answers himself, though he could always look to them for help. He looked at this as his development as a shinobi. His transition from a young green leaf, to a full fledged Oak Tree that's been around a century or two. It wasn't just his own role that burdened him here, it was the entire village that was now on his shoulders. He would be speaking for everyone when it came down to it. This was something that he couldn't run away from.

With the sun beginning to make it's fall, the skies held an orange hue. A sort of alarm for the younger to make their way home. He didn't know if the curfew rule was still in effect, the village had been quiet for a week or so now. He knew there was still trouble lurking within the village, so he stayed on high alert. As the wind blew, he watched as several leaves danced their way down the Hokage Rock. Looking to the faces, he was inspired to keep his shinobi way. The village was on the line here, and he didn't plan on letting the village down. The breeze was enough to sway the boy's white untucked button up shirt. He placed his hands into the pockets of his black slacks, a bland look on his face as though he were lost in thought. He wasn't stressing. He played out a number of possibilities of the situation at hand, looking for the one option that would benefit both Konoha and Suna.



[ MFT | WC: +400 ]

 

[Hoshirei]

It had been some time since the Isaki clan co-head had been to the top of the Hokage monument. She made her way to the top as the sun set, wanting to watch the sunset over the village. She was dressed in her flak jacket for once, wanting to feel more like a shinobi than a clan head for a while. Underneath she had on black pants and a matching long sleeve shirt. Her journey up to the top was quiet as most people were wrapping up their days. A few people waved in Hoshirei's direction, but most kept to themselves. It still surprised her at times how much had changed while she had been sequestered in the clan compound.

The wind blew softly through the trees as Hoshirei reached the pinnacle, causing her long hair to sway and strands to pick up in the wind. She brushed her hair out of her face with her hand as she caught sight of another person on the monument. She took a moment to sweep her hair into a ponytail before making her way over to the still form. Stopping out of arms reach, Hoshirei studied the young man before her. She didn't necessarily recognize him, but that didn't mean much to her at the moment. If he hadn't visited their clan compound, she likely wouldn't have seen him.

"Good evening," she said as she angled her body so she was mostly facing the village so she could see what she came for. "The sunset is always beautiful from up here. Do you agree?"

 

[Toshi]

The boy snapped out of it as his own curious eyes met that of a woman with yellow eyes. This woman would clearly be identified by her eyes if he ever ran into her again. They say the eyes are the windows to one's soul. 'Such a color probably says a lot about her. I wonder if that's her real eye color.' Committing her eyes to his memory, he spoke up, answering her question. "Oi, yeah. I always take time to look at the view." Looking to the sky he loved what he saw. It's what made him proud to be a villager. One thing he'd never done was scale down the Hokage Monument. The thought crossed his mind while he was at the top a few times, but it looked sort of dangerous. He didn't plan on doing any mountain scaling, but it was great fun when he was on the outskirts of the village. Maybe the challenge would get things off of his mind. He began to move towards the edge of the cliff, before continuing on. "I'm guessing you come up here often?"

"You ever climbed this mountain before?" The boy asked as he let his legs dangle while looking down towards the village. He began to feel the urge to climb down the mountain, but he would entertain his company a bit longer before beginning what he called his exercise. Maybe she would get at what he was hinting at. Who knew, maybe she was the adventurous type and would come along for the fun. There was no such thing as fear to the boy, as he'd dedicated his life to pushing himself to the limits. Holding himself back from the fun wasn't an option, so when the opportunity arose, he'd take it without looking back. It's what made life fun... er... exciting... or whatever it's called these days. Though in reality, it's what made the boy ready to do what it took to keep his shinobi way.

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei watched as the young man walked forward toward the edge of the monument. He apparently came up here often, though Hoshirei had never seen him before. She moved closer to him and sat down on the edge. "I come up here as often as I can," she stated with a smile. "Between the view and the breeze, it is a good place to come meditate on life. Maybe even get temporarily lost in the clouds or watching the birds." Hoshirei sighed softly, remembering when she more fully embraced her old persona of the person with their head in the clouds. "It's been a long time since I've been able to come, or at least it feels like it."

Her dangling feet swung back and forth gently as a bright smile came over her serious countenance. Toshi's question was a welcome one and brought up happy memories of learning how to walk up vertical surfaces as well as on water. She had climbed the cliff beside the monument in the past to ascend the mountain, but it was back when she was still a chunin. "I've climbed up the cliff before. Walking horizontally the whole way was an experience I will not soon forget. Did it under the cover of night as well, so civilians wouldn't be startled. Though, I would imagine that not too much surprises them in this village anymore. After all, how many times do you have to see a shinobi running across a roof before you're desensitized to those sorts of things?" She paused for a moment, trying to figure out exactly why she was feeling a bit mischievous before giving in to the feeling. With a rakish grin, Hoshirei turned to Toshi and asked, "Wanna climb down?"

WC: 291

 

[Toshi]

"Hmm..." Toshi said, taking a moment to take in what the woman stated. Walking up the mountain sounded like quite the feat, not to mention, she claimed to be a Chuunin at the time. The boy tilted his head a bit, now she had caught his interest. 'I wonder what rank she is now.' More so over, he wondered the path she had taken to such a rank. He was still a young one in training, so he knew he still had a lot to learn. Maybe she could teach him a few tricks and tips while on the mountain. It'd be a great experience to say the least. Maybe he would learn something that he could take back to Nao.

Toshi giant smile graced the boy's face as he looked towards his senior. "Boy do I ever!" His reply to climbing down the mountain of course. He wondered what was going through the woman's mind. Toshi looked towards the bottom of the mountain, noticing how high up the pair were before taking in a deep breathe. Calming himself, he twisted his body in such a way that he began to drop down the side of the mountain. He clutched the edge of the ledge with his right hand, keeping himself from falling the ways down. "Walking down the side of the mountain seems like a good experience as well, but I believe in the old fasioned hand climbing." He grabbed the ledge with his free hand, now looking up to Hoshirei before continuing on. "I'm not looking for this to be easy, but I believe in pushing yourself to the limit to reach heights that were once unattainable." His words of inspiration often gave even himself the encouragement to achieve what was unachievable. Under the sunset, he imagined they'd be able to make it down by nightfall.

He knew this would be an experience he'd never forget, and probably form a bond that would last a lifetime.

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei wasn't initially going to climb down the long way, just walk down the side of the mountain again, but when she saw Toshi flip down to grab hold of the cliff, she knew she'd be going down the same way. She spryly maneuvered herself down onto the rock face, just a touch of chakra in her feet and hands to help her keep a grip where there was none. She turned her head toward the young man beside her. "Keep some chakra in your fingers and feet to be safe, okay? Wouldn't want to slip off the mountain if we can prevent that." The older shinobi then started to climb down the mountain face. Hoshirei was exhilarated. She felt like laughing, even as she was concentrating on not slipping off the cliff. She took a deep breath before allowing herself a moment to look down for the barest of seconds. She did laugh then, throwing her head back up at the sky.

From the top of the cliff, a ghost spotted Hoshirei and almost started following her. The person must not have been long dead, because they didn't end up following the two shinobi down the cliff. Ghosts seemed to forget their rules were different from when they were alive for at least a while after they first appeared. Hoshirei watched a moment as the ghost moved off back down the normal route down the monument. She cursed softly before focusing back on descending the cliff. "We might be getting some company at the bottom. I just saw someone who likes to tattle on me." The young man didn't need to know the tattler was a ghost after all.

 

[Toshi]

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure I won't fall." The boy gave a great grin looking towards the woman. He watched as she began down the mountain, mentioning that someone was going to tell on her. He thought it awkward as she seemed older than him. Who would she have to answer to? He didn't really know, but the thought of a tasty treat crossed his mind as she finished her statement.

"Ahh, it's ok, I'm sure they'll have some cake and ice cream when we- woah!" His fingers slipped between the words that were filled with enthusiasm. He could feel his body shift as he fell downwards. It looked as though he were freefalling. Looking at the distance between him and the ground beneath, he knew that he wouldn't survive such a landing. Thinking fast, the boy reached his hand out, creating a platform of ice grabbing hold of the edge. He now focused chakra to his fingers as he was instructed before. He managed to grip the edge of the ice platform, dangling from the platform with his right arm. Looking down below he saw how fatal his fall would be. "That was a close call. I'd be more careful to listen the next time she instructs me to act on her word.' Toshi sighed, he wasn't at the level he thought he was at, but this wasn't enough to stop him from his trek.

"Uhh, sorry about that. I guess I'm not as prepared as I thought I was. I guess I'll keep our difficulty on normal?" The boy cleaned up his embarrassed attitude. He pulled up to lift himself up. With enough momentum, he used the pull up as a way to jump back towards the mountain rock. It was a risky move, and as he came close to the Hokage Monument, he gripped at a rock that was jutted out a bit more than the rest. Grabbing hold of the edge, the ice platform transformed into a cloud, and rose into the sky. The boy lost sight of it as it was raised into the atmosphere. Safe once more, the green chakra at his tips helped him keep steady on the rock monument. "I'm sorry if that scared you." The boy looked to the woman, hoping he didn't get her heart racing. He wouldn't let it get to him. Such incidents kept him on his toes.

 

[Hoshirei]

The boy cockily said he would not fall and then proceeded to fall. The irony was not lost on Hoshirei. As soon as she saw the lad falling, she sped through the single-handed hand-signs for Flourite Spikes, intending them to catch the lad if he didn't catch himself. When Toshi caught himself, Hoshirei allowed the flourite to sink back into the side of the cliff. Hoshirei took a second to slow her beating heart and concentrate fully on matching the young man's descent.

"That was some quick work with the ice jutsu, very impressive kid. Sometimes it is difficult to catch yourself when you make a mistake, but as long as we learn from mistakes, that is what matters," Hoshirei said as she continued down the mountainside. "I certainly wish there would be ice cream at the end of our climb brought by the people who are likely to be there. It may not look it, but I run one of the clans here in Kohoha. I swear the elders don't like it when I do anything fun."

As they neared the bottom of the cliff, Hoshirei did not immediately see anyone in the area from her clan and she was rather surprised. She was close enough to the ground that she would be able to hear if they shouted out her name in concern or consternation. Once they finally reached the ground, Hoshirei was happy to be back on horizontal ground. Climbing down took much longer than just walking the whole way, even with chakra-imbued hands and feet. "Well, it looks like whoever had the opportunity to tattle on me didn't. The name's Isaki Hoshirei, by the way. It's nice to meet you!" she exclaimed with a bright smile.

WC: 288

 

[Toshi]

Learning from his mistakes. He let the thought settle, thinking back to the times where he had trouble with learning to control his chakra. Hoshirei, as she introduced herself, seemed to be one of the wiser shinobi around. He hoped he'd bump into her again. It seemed he could learn a lot from her. The boy began down with her taking lead. He kept his chakra focused on his hands and feet, being more careful as to not fall or slip this time. "Really?" Hearing that she ran one of the Clan's sounded cool. Meeting the other clan members was cool, considering that he was in one himself. Maybe she lived not too far away from his own home. The climb down was a steady one. Not in a rush at all, but he kept at a pace that at the end, he wouldn't ware himself out. He'd still have time to guard the gates if he so chose to volunteer. There was always a lot to learn from gate duty as well.

Upon reaching the bottom the boy jumped down, planting his landing with a giant grin on his face. He began to stretch, feeling a few muscles and joints wake from their slumber. He looked around for the tattle tale, but he didn't see anyone either. 'Probably hiding somewhere.' "I'm Toshi!, Nice to meet you as well Hoshirei-san!" One would think that the kid would be wore out after such a feat, but it was only the beginning for him. He opened his eyes, his emerald eyes now looking into her yellow orbs. "I'm from the Sakurako Clan. If I'm out venturing one day, I'd be glad to stop by and learn a bit about your clan." He liked the idea of having such an opportunity. The boy folded his arms behind his head, readying himself to venture off to his volunteer post on gate duty, when something crossed his mind. He couldn't just walk off after meeting someone so fantastic. Before he could spin around to leave, he came up with an idea.

"Oi, I was on my way to the gates for guard duty, but you struck me as an interesting person. I'd like to know more about your history as a shinobi, if you had that type of time." With a rather blunt and straight forwards approach, a curious look rested on the boy's face as he tried to study the shinobi that was before him. She didn't mention much other than that she was a shinobi and she liked visiting the mountains. She had a mysterious aura about her. Something told him that she had a few stories that he'd be interested in hearing, and their was only one way to find out such mysteries.

[ MFT | WC: +400 ]

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei was quiet for a moment after Toshi's invitation to the gates. After another moment, she shrugged and said, "I have time to accompany you to the gates. It has been some time since I've done gate duty. I would, of course, like to learn more about you as well, Toshi." Hoshirei smiled at the young man and started walking toward the gates. "Are we taking the rooftop shortcut or shall we walk on the ground?"

Until Toshi said otherwise, Hoshirei was perfectly fine making their way to the gates on foot. It was a nice night. One thing she did keep an eye out for, was ghosts. In a clan full of Ghost Walkers, they tended to be used as messengers or even spies whenever possible. She did see a few on their way, but they were generally not ones from the clan. At one point though, she did see one of the clan messengers and she stopped walking.

"Tell me, Toshi. Do you believe in ghosts?" the Isaki asked with her head tilted, staring off ahead of them.

_____________________________________________
OOC: It's short, but I think it'll do.

 

[Toshi]

"Aiye, after that long mountain scaling routine, I'm ok with walking." The rooftops were always a fun game of "Let's see who crosses the finish line first", but there were always other days to have fun and compete with others. As for now, the walk would help him restore what energy he'd lost while on his last escapade. Every so often he noticed the one he now dubbed, Hoshi, taking glances at the scene around. At first it seemed normal, but she seemed to have lost something valuable. He wondered if she was searching for anything, maybe something she dropped back while on the mountain? He decided not to worry about it too much, as she'd bring it up if it was truly a problem, but he'd stay on the look out for anything unordinary. While doing so he loved the night scene of the village. The stars in the sky were beautiful, and the streets of the village seemed to give off a glow. Maybe it was the shine of the moon that gave it that certain sparkle?

"Ghosts huh?" The boy knew that there were things of this world that weren't normal at all. Finding his chakra and abilities was the first major upset that he had to learn to deal with. Then there were the talking cats that could use jutsu from time to time. Not to mention the things that he'd seen in that one book that he was reading. "Ghosts, spirits, nothing surprises me anymore. I've come to accept that I'll be dealing with things that aren't normal occurrences." Toshi nodded, knowing that ghosts were out there. Some good, some evil, even some neutral ones. "A ghost wouldn't scare me." Toshi chuckled and sort of shurgged it off, now wondering what Hoshi was getting at.

"Why do you ask?" The boy looked to the woman, still trying to figure her out.

----
(( Ah, don't worry about the length. Whatever you're comfortable with is ok with me ~ ))

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei certainly appreciated walking on the streets after the climb, as apparently Toshi did not feel like racing across rooftops. His response to her question about ghosts, on the other hand, was a welcome surprise. Hoshirei still remembered being teased for her "spaced out" nature as a young academy student as she was not as careful as some of her clan members when it came to seeing the dead. She never did quite understand why it was so weird to her fellows, after all, like Toshi pointed out, the life of a shinobi was odd enough that most things should not come as a surprise anymore.

"I ask because my clan uses ghosts as messengers and sometimes as spies and the clan elders like to have them follow me. The tattle-teller I was looking for at the base of the mountain was a ghost." Hoshirei gestured over to where she was seeing the ghost. The man in question looked like he was wearing samurai armor with the Isaki clan crest emblazoned on the pauldrons. "There is a male ghost over there from my clan, you can tell by the water fan on the shoulder armor. I'm not sure if you are able to see him or not. They tend to hang out on their own plane of existence most of the time."

As Toshi would look over the ghost's direction, Hoshirei would study the young man's face, looking to see if he could see what she pointed out. After a few moments, the ghost's face would turn in their direction and he would start walking their way.

__________________________________________________________________________
WC: 266

 

[Toshi]

As Hoshi spoke, Toshi looked over in the general direction that she motioned to. He glared really reallly hard, as though it would increase his eyesight by 10%, but to no avail did he see anything. "Hmm..." The boy continued to stare in the general direction of the ghost. For a moment he thought he saw some type of blur, as if reality was phasing in and out, but he assumed it was only his eyes playing tricks on him. "I don't know. I think I saw the wind move." Toshi said, not knowing if he sounded like a complete idiot at the moment.

"Can he touch things of this earth?" Toshi asked, wondering if he would pass through a tree if he tried to touch it. He started to formulate a plan, that if the ghost wasn't bothered, he would attempt to see it visually. He knew it'd be best if he ran it by Hoshi first, but he would await her answer before he proceeded.

 

[Hoshirei]

The look of utter concentration on the young man's face melted Hoshirei's heart a little. There were not many people who would try so hard to do something so strange. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the ghost getting even closer. He certainly looked like he was going to come up to her and speak. Before the ghostly man arrived in their nearby vicinity, Hoshirei answered Toshi's last question, "They can do little things for the most part. It is best to not tempt a ghost into trying more. A remnant of their old power stays within them when they move to the other side."

The ghost finished his approach and Hoshirei recognized him as one of the elder's favorite messengers: Natsuko. Hoshirei nodded minutely to him. "It seems he has a message for me. Sometimes it is easier to hear them, though some words might not come through properly. Those in my clan who can communicate with ghosts have no trouble with hearing them. The man before us is named Natsuko and he works as a messenger." Hoshirei would then gesture to the ghost to speak his message.

Natsuko stepped an arm's length away from Hoshirei. Toshi would likely be able to sense a chill coming off the ghost's body with him so close. "The elders are unimpressed with your antics, Hoshirei-san, and require your presence back at the compound. I, on the other hand, celebrate your descent from the monument. It was quite impressive, young man." His last sentence was directed straight at Toshi and he would feel his hair almost being ruffled by the wind, but the wind was nowhere near strong enough at the moment to actually cause the ruffling. Hoshirei just smiled as the ghost lowered his hand from Toshi's head. She then turned her face back toward the ghost and said, "The elders can require my presence all they want. I told them earlier that tonight I am not dealing with any clan business, including their pathetic attempts at scolding me for having a spot of fun. You are welcome to stick around for a bit or take that message directly to them."

Natsuko took a step back, bowed, and stated with a grin, "I shall deliver your message, but I'm walking around the village first!" He then walked away from the pair of them whistling. When he was gone, Hoshirei looked expectantly at Toshi, wondering how much of Natsuko's message he caught.

____________________________________________
WC: 409

 

[Toshi]

"Hmm..." Letting the spirit be was the best option. He often came upon scenes where he wished he had a device to take a snapshot of what he saw, but he loved the idea of letting the scene be free. I guess with spirits it was no different. To capture one and hold it sounded like torture. He'd draw back on his idea of freezing it to try and see it.

Toshi listened as Hoshi explained a few things about the ghostly messenger. 'So there are some families that use ghosts as messengers? I wonder their other uses? Maybe they could aid in a fight by chance. There seems to be so much more to the spiritual world.' Being in tune with such a world seemed amazing. What were their limits? And what possibilities did such unique talent hold? On another note, it would be quite hilarious to be out dining on a training day and one of the ghosts take note of you missing training and tattle tale on you later on that evening. Knowing that Hoshi was possibly in the same boat, maybe it was best to let her go back to her clan home. He didn't want her to get in any trouble on his behalf. He wondered what all the fuss was about anyway.

She gestured to the figure who Toshi figured now stood before her. He looked the space before her up and down, wondering what this figure looked like. His skin began to sparkle and turn a shiny shade of white, as if denoting a change in temperature. If he didn't know there was something around them before, he definitely knew it now. It probably was rather obvious that he was trying to check this spirit out. He began to squint a bit again, trying to see it, though he only could grasp the reality of the air before him. Suddenly he felt his hair began to ruffle up, he wondered what was going on, between his hair, and the conversation the two were having. He kind of smiled a bit as he felt the force leave as gracefully as it came. He ran his palms through his hair, messing up his hair a bit more, letting the graceful presence know that he wasn't bothered by it.

As Hoshi spoke back to it however, he knew that something was wrong. He could feel the presence leave as Hoshi looked back toward him.

"Hoshi..." It was his first time pronouncing the nickname that he created for her, but he continued on without a hitch. "I don't know if I got you in some sort of trouble, but gate duty can wait. If their is trouble with you being out so late, I can walk with you back to your clan house." Toshi gave a clueless look as his eyes moved up to the sky. Now that he thought about it, it would be the perfect time to visit her clan home. Maybe he could learn a bit more about her family. "Ceasing himself from staring into space, the boy looked into Hoshi's eyes, "Hey, maybe you could introduce me to your clan. I mean, it's only right that I explain that I'm the one that had you out there scaling mountains." It sounded like fun. He figured he wouldn't be missed, and would just double up for his guard duties. There were always other days.

[ MFT | WC: +500 ]

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei's face remained a soft expectant look until Toshi spoke. She smiled at his concern for her and his shortening of her name. "Oh, I'm not in trouble at all. The elders are unfortunately mostly old fuddy-duddies who would rather I spend time within the clan walls than outside them. I can understand some of their concerns, but they forget that I'm still young and need to act that way at times." Hoshirei paused for a few moments to think before smiling wider at Toshi's offer to walk her back to her clan compound.

"You're welcome to walk me back if you would like. Natsuko said he was going to wander around the village for a while before returning himself. Perhaps getting there before Natusko for once wouldn't be such a bad idea. The elders can't begrudge me for spending time being somewhat of a mentor to a young man now can they?" Hoshirei's face transformed into a mischievous smirk and she had a happy spark in her eyes. She turned in the direction of her clan compound and waved him to walk beside her. "We actually are rather welcoming of village shinobi into our compound, at least since my husband and I took over. You'll be welcome by at any time. We have been trying to help train and run exams for the academy."

They would walk back into the clan compounds and maneuver themselves through the lane of entrances before coming to the entrance marked with water fans. Hoshirei would confidently walk through the gate only pausing briefly to see if Toshi was still following. A couple of children who were still out and about ran up to Hoshirei to give her a hug before she chided them back home before their curfew. It was good to see the clan was still lively, even if it was mostly older individuals now.
_______________________________________________________________________
WC: 312

 

[Toshi]

Hoshi assured the boy that she wouldn't get into any trouble, but he thought that she was just being tough. Her elders sounded strict. He was glad that Nao was so relaxed with his behavior. Maybe it was because he showed that he could take care of himself. Even while at a young age, he was allowed to visit the Outer Village areas freely. Tis how he matured of course, but there was so much more for him to explore. He didn't take advantage of Nao giving him his freedom, but there would be a day that he would venture outside of the village, to see what the other villages had to offer. By then he hoped to be a true ANBU, and not just in training. Maybe it was time to step up and see where that would take him?

Walking back was an option, and as Hoshi started, the AiT followed suit. Her mentioning the Academy caught the boy's attention. He didn't attend that Academy himself, but he'd heard rumors about the place. He still considered it something that would hold him back, but it sounded as though Hoshi was one of the Academy's teachers. A sensei to learn from.

As they made their way back to the Clan Compounds, Toshi was a bit comfortable now that he was closer to his own home. He'd have a short distance to walk when heading home. Walking through the gate, the boy was astounded at the Clan home. The children that ran up to greet Hoshi gave the emerald eyed boy a warm feeling inside. "You must be quite the teacher Hoshi. I can tell you're a great influence to those around." Toshi wondered what secrets the home would hold. His own gave off great vibes, and many different personalities, but he loved being around those that were close to him. 'Maybe they won't be so angry since we made it back before that ghost guy.' Thinking about it, he knew there were probably more ghosts around. 'I wonder if there are any more around.' He couldn't see them, but he kept his eyes open for any wierd occurrences that he couldn't explain.

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei kept walking through the compound, greeting people around them. One older woman, in particular, walked up to Hoshirei, gently tugged on Hoshirei's braid, and addressed her in a slightly chiding tone. "And where have you been young lady? Galavanting around the village again? My Toyo said you disappeared from the meeting again." Hoshirei grinned mischievously at the older woman before responding, "Maa, they were getting on about when Maki and I were going to have children again, Hanako-ji. You know we'll have them if we decide to or we will name a successor once we find one. How is Toyo? Is he adjusting to the afterlife? Oh, forgive me! I have company. This young man is Toshi. He is welcome in the compound, especially the training barracks." "Another village ninja? You seem to enjoy collecting them. Toyo is doing fine, though it is a strange transition. He's much sprier than he was the last few years of his life," the old woman would pause before addressing Toshi. "If you ever find yourself in need of a meal, you just come by my place. I miss having a young man around to feed," she said with a chuckle.

Hoshirei smiled and rolled her eyes pointedly after making eye contact with Toshi. Just then, Toyo came out of their house and ran through Hoshirei causing a cold breeze to come from just behind her as Toyo passed by Toshi. Hoshirei choked and started coughing. It was never pleasant for her when a ghost passed through, after all, she was always partially on that plane of being as well. She would bend over for a moment to get her breath back before glaring a bit at the direction the ghost ran. "He's really got to stop running through people, especially those who can see him! Ugh, that was uncomfortable," she complained, rubbing her chest a bit to warm back up.

_______________________________________
WC: 317

 

[Toshi]

As they moved through the compound, the AiT had only one thing in mind. 'This place is great. There are so many people around, I could probably do a lot of beneficial trading, and training here. If we could become an alliance, it would be great to go out and gather resources for the village.' Of course he'd also talk to Nao about it. It would be great for the clan to help out the village and others as they got the chance. The boy heard an unfamiliar voice. He made his focus the conversation that Hoshirei began having with another. He didn't know how it felt for other clans to live in Konoha. From what the emerald eyed boy knew, the Isaki saw ghosts all the time. He didn't know their combat tactics. Maybe he would ask Hoshirei out for a mission. He'd talk to his clan members as well and see if Nao would go as well. He didn't know how Nao would respond, but it would be good to ask. He wondered where this would take him in life.

Living life gave the boy a unique approach to life. His personality would tell about how he approached life. He wanted to influence others from the life he lived. The best stories would be the tales of peace that he would give out. He was happy Hoshirei brought him to the Clan House.

He looked towards the soul that passed through, wondering what it took to stay focused and in this realm. His heart didn't skip a beet, but it reminded him of the chills that he has when he's using his ice techniques. His eyes caught a blur of something running by, but he couldn't see anything as far as his eyes were telling him. "It seems like a fun way to live life, helping out others all the time." Toshi looked towards Hoshirei. He didn't feel a mean way about any ghosts, maybe they would like it if they had a bit of help.

[ MFT | WC: 339 ]
[ You up for a mission after this? I can ask Nao, or you can ask another if they want to join in if they can over discord. ]

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei could not help but smile at Toshi's quip. She finished rubbing her chest, finally getting over the feeling of having a ghost run through her. Hanako patted Hoshirei on the shoulder and said goodbye before disappearing back into her home. Once the old woman was gone, Hoshirei would turn to Toshi again and say, "Helping people is part of why I became a kunoichi in the first place. I've thought about taking some healing classes, but it never seemed like the right time and with so many to help right here in my clan, it is difficult to justify. I have a duty to these people, just as I do to this village." She waved him forward as she started walking closer to the dojo. "What made you want to live the life of a shinobi, Toshi-kun?" she asked.

She would listen for his answer, her eyes ever scanning the people around her. She had always been observant, even in her youth when she was deemed an air-head due to her listening to ghosts' stories. They would walk up to the dojo door and Hoshirei would motion for him to remove his shoes and step inside as she did the same. If Toshi would indulge her in a spar, she would enjoy it. Or maybe he could teach her a thing or two about ice jutsu. She imagined it would be somewhat similar to how her crystal jutsu was formed, or maybe that would just make it harder for her to learn ice-based jutsu. She walked over to the bokken holder and lifted one out of its place. "Care to go a round? I always find sword-play invigorating. Or perhaps another time would be better?"

[WC: 285]
[Absolutely! It's been a while since I've been on a mission. It could be fun. Apologies for the long wait as well. Life's been crazy.]