Early Introduction [RP w/ Sayomi]

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo woke up to the sunlight peaking through the curtain in his bedroom, for a brief moment he had almost forgot where he was. It was definitely quite the contrast from the places he had slept for the past few weeks. Sitting up from the bed he let out a long drawn out yawn as he began to get dressed. Wearing simple ninja gear, a dark blue shirt and pants with a Konoha swirl on the shoulder. His hair had grown a bit and he was overdue for a haircut, but he'd been travelling for nearly two weeks at this point, maybe he'd go get one in town. As he went his way to get breakfast an empty bowl hinted towards Kaji having left before him.

Despite the ache in his bones, Tatsuo wasn't one to sit still for long. After eating breakfast he made his way to the more commercial areas of the Cloud Village, it had been so long since he was here so his travels were a bit slow but he did enough courier missions in his time here to remember most of it. Doing his best to avoid most of the bad areas of the village he found himself in the Seki District, an area for the more privileged members of the Cloud Villages society. The houses were nice and the shops were packed with shoppers, unfortunate for Tatsuo he left his wallet at home as he saw a few things he'd like to bring home with him.

After turning one of the corners he noticed Kaji speaking to some girl, Tatsuo still didn't know many people here. He made his way over to the two however Kaji ran off before he was in earshot. Still curious and bored he went over to the girl who was now standing alone. "Heya, where'd Kaji-sensei go?" Tatsuo crossed his arms, looking off into the direction he left in. Before finally settling his attention on Sayomi.

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

A new adventure firmly in the bag, the girl found her way back from the outskirts of Lightning Country where the world was lush with vegetation and travelled back to the village hidden in the clouds, back to her home and residence. Things were still in disarray, but they were rebuilding after the fiasco that involved the demonic beast of lightning known as the Lion Volt and any time she saw a bit of damage that still wasn't repaired, the girl shuddered at remembering that it was she that called the beast down upon their village, though only under orders of Kaji.

She took a breath and tried to push any negative thoughts out of her mind, wondering what would happen next if they were to be attacked or perhaps a new mission, one more legitimate than the aforementioned emergency mission. Perhaps they would see such wonderful places and get a chance to fight new evils and whom else could know what lay in-store. And soon, speak of the devil, Kaji himself approached her, though perhaps it wasn't intentional. They spoke a little, Sayomi quickly gave a report about her activities and newest jutsu acquisition the past few days before the foreign jonin migrant moved on to something far more important than dealing with a lowly genin, or that was what she assumed. The details weren't actually given.

It took only mere moments, however, for another person to approach her; one person was rare enough, but a second was almost unheard of when concerning the lowly genin. This however, was even more rare as the clothing style was certainly not of the cloud and his headband immediately confused Sayomi, for it was of the Leaf. She saw his eyes looking in the direction, but the teen was almost so dumbstruck, she couldn't process words at first. Instead, she simply just pointed off towards where Kaji went, almost as if she were mute. Several moments passed in silence before her lips could move once more, but when they did, the words that she spoke were so low in volume, it was almost undecipherable. A whisper. After all, he wasn't Cloud, he could be a spy, but...she didn't exactly want to lie either. "O-Over there...to...the council, I think..."

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo looked down to Sayomi, furrowing his brow. He had a hard time hearing her but he was able to make out most of what she was saying. “Council you said? Kaji works on the council now here?” Tatsuo bit the inside of one of his cheeks as he still followed the now fuzzy figure walking off in the distance. He wasn’t suprised that Kaji had gotten so much clout here in the village, competancy was nothing Kaji lacked. But even if he wouldn’t say it, it did bother him a bit. Kaji was casting of the village which Tatsuo held in such high regard, for a foreign one nonetheless, but it was something not worth saying and for now Tatsuo wouldn’t. Taking aback by his thoughts, he realized he was still talking to the girl. He shook his head, before letting out an apology. “Oh sorry, I just got caught up thinking about something.” He smiled before extending his hand. “Ranna, Tatsuo. Genin of the Leaf and apprentice to Kaji-Sensei.” Tatsuo knew almost no one in the village, but he’d probably be here for a while. It’d do good for him to make some friends and Sayomi seemed nice enough.

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

The whole situation was definitely bizarre and being next to a leaf shinobi, the first person she had met from outside the country(that wasn't now a resident in the land of lightning) in quite a while. She didn't know how to react and so instead, she stood quietly, not moving after lowering her arm to her side, hardly breathing if it were possible. The brunette did feel a bit of shock that her could hear anything that she said, it was difficult for her to hear and even she was well aware of this fact, but still she refused to respond at all, that is, not until he mentioned something that the young shinobi felt was worth responding too. The fact that there was another person who was training under Kaji-sensei, something that blindsided the young girl entirely, feeling like it was an actual, physical blow to hear this news. "You're...apprentice to Kaji-sama?" she queried, bright eyes not certain whether or not to be shocked, hurt, betrayed, happy (to meet someone else) or some random combination of all or none. Her breath seemed to still once more as she waited for a response of some kind and prayed that whatever the answer, it would bring some semblance of relief and comfort.

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo’s full attention was now on Sayomi, his thick brows furrowed. “Mhm.. I’m his student. He must be a pretty big shot here in the village nowaday if he’s going to council meetings. Well I suppose he is a diplomat, even if that won’t last too long. What’s your name anyways.” Tatsuo scanned her from head to toe, looking at the girl who seemed too shy to even speak. “I’m not scaring you am I?” he said as he took his hand off his sword. “It’s mostly just to look cool ya’ know. I won’t hurt you or anything.” This wasn’t the first time Tatsuo had dealt with someone who seemed to shy to even talk, but he had a hard time understanding them. He was probably the complete opposite of being shy. Outgoing and gregarious, the boy was usually in the front lines of whatever he was doing. Usually leading him into a bad situation but hindsight was 20/20 and Tatsuo’s vision wasn’t so good when it came to that.

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

The girl took a deep breath, his peering eyes scanning her figure sent unwelcomed shivers down her spine which caused her to freeze up even more save for a small shake of her head. "I d-don't really know much about him...I t-think I'm on his squad? I'm...Santaru S-Sayomi..." the girl timidly explained before one of his words popped out in her memory fresh and rather disturbing to think about. It was true, she hardly knew anything about Kaji except he was a powerful ninja who was once from the Leaf village and now a permanent resident of Cloud. His explanation about the sword, something that she hadn't actually noticed up until he mentioned it specifically, made her shake her head once more. "I-It's...it's fine. I am...a ninja after all..." she stated, pausing a moment trying to contemplate the proper way to phrase the most important question. "What...do you mean by...it w-won't last long? Is K-Kaji-sama leaving...the Cloud?"

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo once again bit the inside of his cheek as he listened to her respond. At the mention of being on Kaji's squad Tatsuo smiled. "Oh yeah? I'm a student of his too. He must like you a lot." he said as he crossed his arms. He felt quite uncomfortable as the girl seemed she'd as soon run away from Tatsuo than holding a conversation with him. When she said she was a ninja he almost had a hard time believing her. He'd met plenty of quiet and brooding ninjas, but never had he met one so cowardly. "You sure? You seem a bit shaken up, did Kaji give you some bad news?" It was true Sayomi and Tatsuo were quite opposites, but Tatsuo began to wonder what Kaji saw in her as a student. She must be super powerful. For just a brief moment a matching flash of fear filled his face. And when she asked if Kaji was leaving Cloud, he shook his head defiantly, "No, it's not that. From the tidbits he's told me, he is abandoning his citizenship as a Leaf ninja. He wishes for Kumogakure to be his permanent residence. He's fond of the place." Tatsuo said flatly, but even the most oblivious could hear the hint of resentment in his voice. Whilst Tatsuo's nationalism definitely was curbed in the past year, he still couldn't understand why someone would abandon their village. But Tatsuo was wise enough to not say much about it. Especially around someone he barely knew. "So.. teammate.. you any good at writing?" He asked a smile returning to his face.

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

The girl thought about his words for a second, pondering his meaning and doubling back on what he said earlier. They were both his students? It wasn't unusual, in fact, it was certainly normal, but how could he have two students from two different villages? Would the next one be Sand? Rumors about the ninja there certainly weren't flattering or, Raiden forbid, Star. Luckily, her mind flashed back and she gave a visible sigh of relief out of nowhere when she realized there already was a third pupil that studied under Kaji. "I d-don't know if he...likes me, really. We, uhm..." pausing to try an think of how to properly explain the situation without sounding bad or confusing. And failed miserably. "Uhm...summoned a lion l-lightning demon and fought it? B-But he didn't give me any bad news...that was a while back too...week...or two?" Her mind unable to recall even simple details right now. What he said about becoming a permanent resident of Cloud made the edges of the girl's mouth tug upwards ever so slightly now that she was certain he wouldn't leave, but she didn't say anymore as even someone as dense as she could tell that he didn't seem happy about it. The question however, left her puzzled and she blinked in response, almost thinking it was a trick question. "I'm...I can write, at least...I'm n-not terrible at it?"

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo listened to her story about a lightning demon, he nodded mostly for himself. She must be strong, he'd keep in mind not to fight her anytime soon. He noticed the smile as she learned news of Kaji's plan. Tatsuo knew he couldn't blame her but it did not make him any less uncomfortable but at the mention of her being able to write the boy instinctivly grabbed both of her arms and grinned wide. "Great! I'm going to need your help writing a letter to the Hokage! It won't be too long, just a few things I need to clarify with him." He said holding onto her arms for just a moment, before letting them down and rubbing his chin. "It shouldn't be too hard, do you have any paper or something we can write with?" he said digging into his pockets before shaking his head. "Nope, nothing here." He then looked back to Sayomi, "Thanks a lot for helping me!" Tatsuo seemed quite eager to get this letter penned. He looked around trying to see if any of the stores looked like they would sell writing materials of any kind.

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

It was certainly a relief, not only to not have to lose her official mentor, but also to be able to stay on her team, though whether or not Tatsuo would be the official third party member was yet to be seen. And she certainly did not want to have to go back to being a substitute for missions on the rare occassion that one of the official squads were missing a person whether to illness or injury. The writing question did seem silly, everyone her age should be able to write, however the reason for why he inquired in the first place left the girl a bit flushed from the severity of the situation he would be placing her in. "The...The...H-Hokage?" stammered the young Santaru, even she knew not to meddle in the affairs of other villages and this was the meddleist, when it concerned the Kage. After all, she had not even seen the Raikage of the Cloud, let alone spoken to him. What if she messed up but what if denying this request of a villager would result in an international incident? War? A great shinobi war?! It was too much and all of a sudden the blood rushing to her head at such a pace put her in a daze. She heard his words and it registered with her on a subconscious level and she simply handed the boy her satchel that contained a small scroll which would contain summoning tools of the trade as she was taught to always be prepared, but also a small notepad and pen. She always carried it when she wasn't on missions so she didn't forget anything important, as she was wont to do and several pages had already been torn out, though not nearly all as it was still fairly new. "H-Here...paper...Hokage..." she mumbled to herself, handing it over with both hands and then starting to walk away slowly.

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo took the note pad and pen in his hands, but shook his head a few times. "No, no! You've got to write it for me.. because uh.." he hesitated for a moment before nodding with a smile. "You see, in uhh Konoha culture it is rude to write a message to the Hokage. You've got to get someone else to write it for you. You see the Hokage is really important, so if you can't get someone else to write it for you, you're probably not important enough to actually send him a message and this is really important. Like, I could die if I don't get this message out!" the boy said with a flurry of over the top emotions as he walked closer to her, trying to force the pen and notepad back into her hands. "Here it'll be simple, just start with uhh Lord Hokage.. This is Ranna Tatsuo and I hate to disturb your busy day but I have a few things to ask..." Tatsuo seemed to be deadset on the idea of Sayomi writing it for him. He began to rub his chin and look up obviously in thought of what next to say.

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

Not even knowing what she was doing, where she was going, her mind had almost completely overheated into meltdown mode over thought of being the catalyst of starting a war between two great powers of the world and who else knew what would escalate from there. It was a terrifying thought and she still stumbled off, mumbling incoherently to herself in the daze, stopping only on pure instinct as Tatsuo had interceded in a rush of words and flurry of eccentric hand motions, pen and notepad in hand, that she only stared blankly at him. However, one word did stand out, for good reason because it was a word that was so detestable and frightening to the timid little girl that she could pick it out even when asleep. "D-Die?" she repeated, blinking slowly as the light began to illuminate her eyes once more and she took back her possessions again, pen to paper. "You'll...die? From...an illness? Someone will kill you? Is it the Hokage?!" she questioned with utmost urgency before nodding as she began to scribble down with speed as quick as she could write and still have beautiful penmanship (the best she could manage anyways, she was of base birth despite her name after all). "Dear...Lord...Hokage..."

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo looked at her like she was stupid for a moment when she thought he'd die, but he quickly shook his head and smiled. Then nodding and putting on his best anxious face. "Yes. I could die. It's a secret though, so you can't tell anyone you ever wrote this for me, alright? Otherwise the Hokage might get mad at me." He said that, letting it sink in for a moment hoping she would listen to his request. Looking back to her he said "Okay what i'll need you to do is make it sound all fancy like, you know like how important people write. You seem really smart so I think you can do it." Tatsuo wasn't the most well-spoken man so he had to ensure Sayomi would at least make his letter sound a bit more official Tatsuo would hate to embarrass himself. After letting that sink in he began his monologue of what she should write once again, "But yes, Dear Lord Hokage, this is Ranna Tatsuo and I write you from Kumogakure. My travels went well and I met up with Okada, Kaji in Port Cirruss. We've both decided that I should start training under him once more and I wish to get your offical A-Ok on me staying in the village Hidden in the Clouds. If you're fine with me training with Kaji here I have two things i'd like to ask. Would it be possible for me to first get a rank that'd fit my skills more, I would like to switch from Medic in Training to a regular Genin as to avoid confusion in diplomatic stuff with people in the Cloud Village, and when Kaji thinks I am ready he can administer an exam for me to rise to the ranks of Chuunin. Anything further and i'll make sure to come back to the village and deal with it there. Thank you again, Ranna, Tatsuo." Tatsuo took a set of deep breaths, if there was one thing the boy was good at was talking for a long time. He then looked to Sayomi. "You caught all that?"

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

Suddenly, this task for a stranger seemed all the more important. If someone happened, then it certainly wouldn't be her fault since this is simply a custom in his village (or so she took him at his word as she typically did everyone), so it hopefully wouldn't lead to war, but she certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for him being executed by writing poorly, that would be terrible. Her conscious certainly wouldn't be able to take it. So Sayomi was determined to put her best foot forward in this matter and put a great deal of effort into this, as much as she could. Flowery language wasn't exactly her strong suit either. "O-Okay, I'll do my best...." she stated slowly but resolute as the youth began to transcribe every word said only more...florid. Before long, it was finished and the girl's hand had cramped up, something which was reflected in her face as she nodded. "I...I think so...is...this alright?" the girl queried, extending the notepad to him to take and read over to assure satisfaction.

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo took the paper and held it to his face for a few solid moments before nodding a few times. "Yes, it's great Sayomi! Thank you! I owe you a big one." Tatsuo seemed incredibly relieved that, that was all over he took the paper being careful to fold it a few times before placing it inside his jacket. "Really, is there anything I can do for you? I'm a pretty useful guy and we're friends we should help each other. Come to think of it, are you always so shy? I don't mean that in a bad way but you seemed scared of me and i'm your friend ya' know?" If ignorance was really bliss, Tatsuo lived a good life. Anything he said was to hurt others, but things like being shy were just so foreign to him. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but really if theirs anything, i'm your man." he said nodding a few times. "I'm a good hunter, fisher, sailor, I'm probably even the best tree climber on the continent!" he exclaimed, seeming quite proud of that accomplishment.

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

The pain in her writing hand still throbbed and she winced as she used her other hand in an attempt to try and straighten out her newly crippled fingers which had seemed to have formed a sort of claw initially and once the task was completely, she began to shake it, trying to get blood flowing once again. However, it seemed like she succeed and a light, tender smile began to form on her face, feeling rather satisfied, in spite of the pain of the consequences from her choice, at a job well done. Yet, once more the girl blinked in confusion as the male youth began to talk at high speeds, almost as if bragging in low key, as he listed potential services he might offer the girl as well as being a friend. Friend...was a foreign concept to her. There were many people that the small brunette would like to call friend, but in the end, they were truly little more than acquaintances, so she held up her hands in a peaceful, gentle protest and shook her head. "O-Oh no...I d-don't need anything at all...but, friends...it might be nice...to h-have one of those..." she admitted, her gaze having drifted off to the side sheepishly as she continued with the confessions. "T-Though, I'm...not really good at much...of anything...and...and I'm a-always this shy..."

 

[Tatsuo]

Tatsuo furrowed his brows, thinking to himself. As if now he finally realized that being more energetic did little to ease the ever looming anxiety facing someone as shy as Sayomi. He crossed his arms, tapping a finger on his forearm and smiled. "Well, you can consider me a friend. And don't worry, I don't blame you for being shy. I can come off a little strong. I'm sorry." Tatsuo offered a sincere apology. "Lots of times my friends and I go grab something to eat." he said as his stomach growled, he only ate a small breakfast and he was definitely a foreigner to the Cloud Village, he had no idea the best places to eat. "I've got enough Yen to pay as well, so if you're a bit short don't need to worry." Tatsuo tried his hardest to be as friendly as possible, trying not to intimidate the girl any further. "Or something else, that's if you're not busy." he said looking around at the many shops around town.

 

[Seijin]

Finding the ever hard to find child, the bird would fly down and perch on his shoulder, depositing the letter that it carried before him. Waiting for the Fire Country born boy to pick it up, the bird would chirp loudly to get his attention. Being the sort of man that he was, Umashi made sure to pick the loudest bird that he could find in all of Konoha to alert Tatsuo to his letter. However quickly the boy picked up the letter though, the bird would just as quickly go silent and fly back home.
OOC: Letter https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?p=266724#p266724

 

[Santaru Sayomi]

The whole situation was uncertain for the young brunette who was never one for social interaction, having very little opportunities outside of her family. For the most part, even in the academy days, people generally didn't want to have much to do with her, only acknowledging her when they had to, but, after all, she was from a low branch of the Santaru, even if only in name, and that branch never amounted to anything of importance. They only clung to the name for some semblance of notoriety within the village and Sayomi secretly, despite the reassurances of Tatsuo, felt that she probably did something wrong in the letter. The apology gave Sayomi a bit of relief, noted by a soft sigh, however it seemed all too sudden for them to go do things that friends usually did, at least to her. Not that she often knew how to interact in such situations. Nonetheless, when he offered to pay for her, she immediately shook her head in response, lifting her hands open palmed towards him. "O-Oh, please...no, don't worry. I'll b-be fine. I have my own money..." she stated, uncertainly as her hands went down to her pockets where some jingling could be heard and pulled out what she could fine, looking at it almost secretively and finding barely anything. However, something thankfully seemed to interrupt the pair before the young Santaru would have to renounce her earlier statement. A large, and rather obnoxious, bird would descend with a letter for Tatsuo, startling Sayomi quite a bit at first before curiosity got the better of her. "I-Is...everything...I mean...what's it say?" curiously looking over at the letter and the bird that held it.

 

[Tatsuo]

"Alright great! Where's good then.." he said rubbing his chin as he thought where to eat. Tatsuo was after-all, a foreigner he wasn't aware of the best spots to eat. Instinctively swatted away at the bird until he noticed the letter tied to it's foot. He took message away trying to avoid the bird's mouth just in case it's bite was as bad as it's bark. Pulling the string from the message unrivaled a letter and he glanced over it a moment before waving his hands. "Oh just some Leaf Ninja stuff, nothing really important." he said smiling with a nod as he stuffed it into a pocket in his jacket. "So, what do you think's best, for food, we could also stop buy a ninja tools shop. I'm running a bit low on Kunai and Shuriken and stuff. Do you need to grab some too? I could also use some more moon dust.." he said furrowing his brows thinking back to his adventure in Ushani. "You ever been to the village of Ushani? Nice place, pretty good ninja tool shop too." Honestly the village offered little in regards to true ninja tools but they had a plethora of options from alchemists fire bombs, moon dust, specter oil. All the good stuff.