Gathering (Open)

[Oshiro Saki]

Kosei shifted in his weight in the chair, took a sip of the tea, smiled up at the younger of the two girls across from him. Both were substantially shorter than he was... not that he was a giant or anything. He found that most women in the village were shorter than he was, even though there was the occasional tall woman who would put him in his place. It's not like being five foot eleven was a huge deal, but when most of the people you know are three or four inches shorter than that, you get used to thinking that you're a pretty tall person. Facts would show, however, that he was only about an inch taller than average height.

A smile found itself on Kosei's face when Kaoru said she was going into the ANBU branch, HIS branch. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't biased... he LOVED the ANBU, despite the sheer sweat, long hours, and low pay sometimes associated with the job. The thought of being able to stop the crime in Kumo, save the lives of it's citizens, and other things like that... it was like the ultimate thing you could do for your village! And, when you got assigned to the unit that Kosei was in, you got the privilege of protecting the Raikage himself! It was a humbling honor... as much as Kosei disagreed with the pacifistic ideals that Shin had. Still... protecting the most powerful and important Shinobi in all of the Lightning Country gave a little weight to your name... not that anyone was supposed to find out who you were. Within the branch, it did, at least.

However, Kaoru seemed a bit... small. Perhaps she just seemed young. Of course, Kosei had been nearly as young when he joined the ANBU, so maye it just seemed weird now that he was much older. He was addressed by the elder kunoichi, who inquired about his rank after stumbling over her Chuunin rank. "I'm a Chuunin... best rank so far!" he said, a smooth grin on his face. Chuunin was his main branch rank. The thing about being in the ANBU corps was that you couldn't let people know. Your identity had to be kept a secret, otherwise people who you've arrested, hitmen, and other nasty bad guys started coming after you. "Are you sure you'd wanna go into ANBU? I hear that it's hard."

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"Yes I agree with the Sir," I said, "Being an ANBU is an awful lot of work. Why don't you join the transportation branch with me? We need more chu chu trains in training. Didn't you hear that we lost one of the trains to the Kingslayers a few weeks back? It was when the Kingslayers were trying to kill the Crown Prince."

The Kingslayers, for those who did not know, were an extremist group bent on overthrowing the feudal government of Lightning country and replacing it with 'democracy'. Their leader Enishi had already seriously injured the Raikage Kagetsu and forced her to resign. They were also suspected of attacks against the current Shogun and several other authority figures.

 

[Kaoru]

When the man pointed out that the ANBU were probably pulling Koko san's leg, Kaoru felt a great relief but also embarrasment. He walked over to Kaoru and Koko san, pulling up a chair. He asked Kaoru about which branch she was going to join, she answereed by saying "I'm going to join the ANBU" Although she was quiet, Kaoru tried to make her voice sound as confident as possible. The stranger had a huge smile on his face, as if he was proud in her choice. It caused Kaoru to respond in a similar matter. He told about his rank too, then questoned Kaoru's decision. Followed by Koko san with a proposition to join the transportation branch. She was slightly furious, she took a breath to calm her nerves "Of course I want to do something to help this village" she took a step toward the man "I know its going to be hard. I'm stronger than I look, even if I'm small I can do it. "Kaoru had never had more resolve to prove herself.

 

[Oshiro Saki]

"Welp..." Kosei said as he rose from his chair, scooting it back into the small table behind him, "If you think you're up for it, I wish you the best of luck!" With that, Kosei nodded at the other kunoichi, and walked passed her out the door, sipping his tea on his way out. He had things that needed tending to, and he didn't plan on putting them off any longer than he already had.

[TL]

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

I returned the man's nod as he walked away. I shared a smile with Kaoru before taking a seat myself next to her and motioning for one of the waiters to come. I had spent the day running around warning people of the blueberry plague and could use a cup of tea.

"Who are your teachers at the academy?" I said to Kaoru, "Is Miyazaki still teaching? He's the one who wears a lion costume all the time."

 

[Kaoru]

The man staggered out of his seat, running into a table. He wished Kaoru the best of luck then left the cafe, drinking his tea. Koko san returned a wink to the man then took a seat, motioning for a waiter in doing so. She asked about Kaoru's teachers and about a Myazaki sensei. The young girl looked back on her time in the academy. She finally replied by saying "I - I can't think of them on the top of my head, but they were certainly some eccentric ones. But I've nevver heard of a Myazaki sensei. Did he really wear a lion costume?"

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"Yes, he wore a lion costume to class."

When the waitress came I ordered a cup of water off her along with a blueberry bagel.

"It isn't as weird as it sounds though. He specialized in teaching us in how to disguise ourselves during a mission. During the first class he walked in fully disguised as a lion and scared us all. I'm not really sure why he kept the costume on afterward."

I bit my lip, "Actually now that I think about it I don't think I ever saw Professor Miyazaki without his lion costume on. I am sure you have had a few odd professors yourself though. Are you in any mission cell right now? Who is your mission leader?"

 

[Kaoru]

Koko san continued on about the crazy teacher and his lion costume. Kaoru had trouble controlling her laugh luckily she managed to keep it at a low chuckle. She continued to munch on he crossaint as Koko san spoke. In response to Koko san's queston Kaoru replied "U - Um actually I'm not in a mission cell. I just became a genin so I guess you can say I'm still pretty green" Kaoru gave a smile "But I do hope to be in a mission soon. How about you Koko san?" Kaoru sipped her mocha.

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"You must be excited. We're all excited before our first mission. It can be so much fun to actually get our feet dirty. I still remember my first mission. We had to find a stray dog that was believed to be infected."

Now that I thought about it, why did they send a cell of Genin to handle a stray dog? I was sure that the village has a pet control unit that was better capable of doing something like that. Not to mention the horror of what could have happened if one of the Genin got bitten by the infected dog. Village administration was weird like that.

"I don't have any cell right now though. I'm what you call a temp. I do the odd jobs that other shinobi don't want to do or fill in spots in cells when someone is sick."

I stopped for a moment to grab the cup of water and blueberry bagel that I had ordered and place both of them on the table.

"Do you have anyone from your past classes you're hoping to be in the same mission cell with?"

 

[Kaoru]

"Yes I'm very excited " Kaoru responded as Koko san continued to tell about her first mission, catching a stray dog. "That is strange" Kaoru remarked as she thought about the situation herself "Maybe pet control was busy with other jobs thus they had to send your squad." She finished with a cheerful smile. Koko san then went on to saying that she was something called a "temp". "Well thats good at least you get plenty of breaks right?" Kaoru stated as Koko san got up to get the bagel she had ordered (A blueberry one ironically). Kaoru took a bite out of her crossaint as well. When Koko san returned, she asked Kaoru if there were any classmates she would want to be in a cell with. Hmm," she began deep in thought "I would have to say any of them" she said as she looked back to the familiar faces of her newfound friends from the academy.

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

I rinsed down my bagel with the water as I heard the new kunoichi talk.

"Yes being a temp does have its advantages. Still sometimes you get envious of the other teams. They get to go fight the Kingslayers or get on the career path for Senninship. Someone has to do the supporting roles though."

"Have you considered asking the Raikage to be your cell leader?", I said, "He isn't leading any Genin team I think. I am sure if you asked him nicely he would say yes. Technically everyone who reaches Jounin rank is supposed to lead a new Genin team in order to teach them how to be shinobi. The Raikage could benefit from having a team too."

 

[Kaoru]

Koko san stated that there are advantages to being a temp but she wanted to be in a cell for the fights and traing. Yet she contradicted herself by saying that someone had to have the supporting roles. Kaoru giggled"You do have a point Koko san" She took another sip of her mocha, but she nearly choked when Koko san asked Kaoru if she wanted to join the Raikage's cell. "Umm Koko san I think the Raikage would be too busy to be training a bunch of Genin. Don't you think? Kaoru wiped off some of her drink from her lips with a napkin.

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"The Raikage is busy? Don't be silly. The Raikage doesn't do much. He occasionally fights with his father on the weekend and spends the rest of the week ordering someone else to stamp papers for him. Most of the real work of the village is done by one or two Jounin who suffer from sleep deprivation and masochism."

And, I thought to myself, occasionally said Jounin get to retire by being promoted to being Sennin or Kages.

"Plus!" I raised my index finger and pointed it to the academy, "There is nothing more important than raising the kiddies. We can be the best shinobi village in the world, but if we don't raise our kiddies to be strong then in ten years we'll cease to exist. Look at what happened to Red Bean village. Their shinobi were all as strong as Sennin, but they didn't bother to teach their kiddies anything. Now you won't find Red Bean on any map."

I smiled at the girl. She had almost choked when I brought up the possibility of getting the Raikage to be her cell leader.

"You could always ask another Jounin to be your cell leader if you'd prefer though. You should have asked that man who was here earlier... Kosei I think he was called? You should have asked him if he knew any ANBU forming a new Genin team."

 

[Kaoru]

Koko san stated that the Raikage didn't do much work, but instead Jounin did. I'm not sure on that Kaoru thought to herself as she smiled while listening to Koko san's speech. All of a sudden Kaoru was startled by Koko san putting her finger in her face. She went on about how they had to raise their kids to be shinobi or the village would disappear like Red Bean. Kaoru pushed her finger out of the way "Your right Koko san" she said, although had never thought of having children or getting married for that matter, she never even had a crush! Koko san smiled as Kaoru gagged on her food, then discussed about the man earlier and asking if their was a new Genin team in the ANBU. "How would he know?" Kaoru replied, curious on how Koko san could know the man's name and what division he was in, information that he did not tell.

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"Ionno. He looked like a knowledgeable guy," I answered as my finger was pushed away.

"I mean he looked like the sort of guy that would know about these things. Kosei the ANBU Captain. Yep, he looked like a 'Kosei the ANBU Captain'. What would you name your son if you wanted him to become an ANBU?"

I quickly added, "Assuming you decided to have children when you grew up that is!"

Remember kiddies, having kids of your own is a big responsibility. You need to feed them, clean up after them, and throw them birthday parties. It isn't the sort of thing you should decide to do on a whim. The consequences of not planning a family include all sorts of awful things. Why, you might very well end up with a child who is unhappy about being born and holds a grudge against you for the rest of their lives. Be responsible - get a cat instead.

 

[Kaoru]

He looked like a knowledgable guy? Kaoru thought as Koko san explained. It sounded completely absurd to her, how can you judge a person's knowledge and status just by looks. But Kaoru was brought out of her thoughts by Koko san's queston of what she would name her son if he wanted to be in the ANBU.

Before Kaoru could open her mouth though, quickly said "Assuming you decided to have children when you grew up that is! Remember kiddies, having kids of your own is a big responsibility. You need to feed them, clean up after them, and throw them birthday parties. It isn't the sort of thing you should decide to do on a whim. The consequences of not planning a family include all sorts of awful things. Why, you might very well end up with a child who is unhappy about being born and holds a grudge against you for the rest of their lives. Be responsible - get a cat instead."

Kaoru didn't quite get that last bit about the cat,but she let out a chuckle and said "I don't know Koko san, only time will tell right? Kaoru took a sip of her mocha. Plus I doubt I'll even get married. Anyways how about you Koko san. Are you going to have a family?

 

[Oishi Shichimenchou]

"I-I was married before actually." I sipped the last bit of my water before placing it at the edge of the table.

"My husband died when out on a mission."

I smiled at the girl one last time before standing up and giving a short bow. I had taken too much of her time already and had things to tend to myself.

"Thank you for your time. It was nice meeting you. Hopefully your first mission goes very well."

I took out a few bronze coins and placed them on the table before starting to walk away.

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[Kaoru]

"O - Oh" Kaorulowered her head as she heard about the demise of Koko san's husband. " I'm sorry for bringing it up" she apologized. Koko san gave Kaoru a smile and a bow, by which Kaoru returned."Thank you for your time. It was nice meeting you. Hopefully your first mission goes very well." Koko san said as she placed a few coins on the table. "It was nice meeting you too, Koko san. I hope we see eachother again." Kaoru put on a grin as the woman left the cafe. I better get going too Kaoru grabbed her bag and left a tip herself before she left the cafe to continue her morning errands.

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