Home, Sweet Home. [Private/PM to Enter]

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

The day Yanji had promised came far sooner than he thought.. It seemed that he had forgotten some clothing at Hans' the night before, and the boy decided to hunt through the village all day until he found him. He appreciated the effort, of course, but he had to hold up his end of the promise now that they'd seen each other. Since the time of their meeting was fairly early, the young Byakko simply gave Hans some instructions to meet him at the Toraono Dojo whenever he was ready or able, then they parted ways to prepare. There was no fear that his home might be too dirty, considering the constant state of cleanliness it was in. No matter where or when you were in that place, it was always a blinding white color due to the lack of dirt, grime, or whatever else might be able to cover the walls, floors, and furniture of homes. Not even dust could be found in the places found hard to reach, or simply forgot to clean at times. It was almost unnatural how clean it was able to be in fact...

So, without the worries of having to clean his home before allowing his friend to see it, Yanji found himself standing at the entrance to the main area of the dojo. Being as large as it was, it was able to hold not only the main branch, the Toraono, but also side branches such as the Byakko - which Yanji was a member of - and the Miroku, which the boy still needed to learn more about. Not only could it hold multiple branches of the same clan, but it also acted as a temporary entrance to the village until a more permanent one could be built. How long would that be? There was no way to tell, but it only meant that the large structure received a lot of foot traffic, nothing that a child such as Yanji would mind, many interesting characters came through each day, so if he wasn't off exploring the village, he could be found watching the people entering and exiting the village.

At the current time, it was nearing noon. The boy would have to make sure to grab Hans something to eat once they entered the dojo, he had to be hungry at this point if, assuming he hasn't eaten yet of course. But what could he even make? Yanji had little experience with cooking, so it would just be another item added to his list of things to learn. That along with Ancient Sunan, the culture of several other villages - which he planned to experience first hand rather than just reading about it - and even the rules of several sports, mostly non-contact. Pain wasn't something he enjoyed, but if it ended up being interesting... Maybe.

As Yanji continued to wait, he began wondering.. Would such an extravagant building be intimidating to the young boy he was about to see? After all, he had no way of knowing where his friend actually came from, unless he did some research before coming. Not only that, but for many first timers, the dojo certainly isn't something that seems very welcoming.

 

[Hansame]

Walking down the nicer, more cleaner part of town, Hansame carried with him a small box that contained the clothes his friend had forgotten about. He had read up about where he was supposed to meet Yanji, and was surprised to find that it was the Torano dojo. Only slightly confused about where Yanji lived, if his place of living was in the dojo or if his cat eared friend wanted him to meet. Strolling up to the grand entrance, he smiled seeing the place that he had visited a few times in the past, and even though the building looked rather menacing, he strolled right up to the doors, but instead of going in, Hansme saw a familiar pair of cat ears right at the side.

Moving over to his friend, the small optimistic blond child gave a small wave before breaking out into a run, nearly crashing into Yanji in the process but he stopped himself in the nick of time. Moving back about two steps to give them some breathing room and so that things won't be so awkward, he smiled. "Hi Yanji! I brought your clothes that you forgot!" He smiled, holding up the bag with a one hand, and the other one brushing off the lab coat hoodie hybrid he had made the other day. "So this is where you live? It's really really big...and clean. Do you ever get lost in there?" He asked, tilting his head.

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanji watched as his new friend approached the Dojo, clothing in hand. As he arrived, the young Byakko would accept the clothing an smile at Hans' response. "This whole place? Of course not, the main dojo belongs to the Toraono clan, but I'm sure you know that already, with the name and all. No, my family's portion of the dojo is further inside, and I usually stick to coming in, and leaving. I have no need to learn how to fight from the clan members here." He replied, turning around and gesturing for the other boy to follow.

"Come with me, and try to stick close! Lots of people here today." It was strange that such a social boy even managed to break an introvert like Yanjirou out of his shell... He'd never broken for anyone, even when they interested him. Simply doing what was necessary to either get what he wanted, or end the conversation as quickly as possible.. No matter, he couldn't say that such companionship bothered him. It was almost.. Nice.

Once the two started making their way through the dojo, the crowds started showing up. People entering and leaving the village, those wishing to train with its masters, those who simply lived there. People from all walks of life were present, and they all stood in the way of the two boys as they traveled. Thankfully however, they eventually came to the portion of the dojo that was meant for its residents. Here, there was far less of a crowd, and the only people they might see would be those who also lived there.

"Not far now." Yanji said as they walked, looking behind him with a smile. They would pass several doors before they came to one that had a small sign above its frame, with the words "Byakko" scribed into it. "And here we are, come on in." He said with a slight sigh. The possibilities of the two running into his sister, or either of his parents were quite high. Of course, his sister never really hung around home - much like himself - and his parents were typically busy with village matters.

Once the two entered, Yanjirou would remove his sandals, and suggest that Hansame do the same before entering. If any dirt were to touch his home.. There was no guarantee it wouldn't just fall apart because of such a foreign material. The entrance hall was pure white, with little in the way of decoration aside from potted flowers in either corner near the door.

"So uh... What do you want to see first?" Yanjirou asked. He was unsure of what friends did when they went to each others home.

MFT

 

[Hansame]

Hansame smiled at his new friend as he told him about things that happen inside of the dojo and such. Following Yanji inside and staying close per instructions, the young blond child looked around at all of the different people, but focused on following his cat eared pal. Hansame smiled some more when he thought about his friend, and how shy Yanji was in the first place, and how he eventually opened up to him.

He continued to look around at his surroundings and the people around him, rather then where he was going, leading him to bump into a few things as he trailed after Yanji. Remembering his last visit at the dojo and what he did, he smiled as he saw other children around his age practicing with weapons. Hansame began to feel a little underdressed this time when the two arrived over at Yanji's place of residence, but thankfully for him, he had no dirt on him, so he wasn't too concerned with leaving a mess. He wondered what secrets the large estate held, but wasn't going to explore it, it would be rude after all. Removing his shoes and placing them neatly next to each other, The small blond child looked at how bright the main hallway was, and began to wonder if all the high class family and clans had completely white houses as well. he looked back at his friend when he asked what he wanted to see first, Hansame began to feel a little awkward, but then looked around"er, how about where you stay i think?" he asked, rocking back on his heels

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanjirou waited for his friend to remove his shoes, and nodded after he said they should go see the "place he stays." The boy was almost tempted to be a smart ass, and say that the entire dojo is where he stays, but that's just a technicality. "Sure, we can go see my room." He said, putting on a small smile before he turned and stepped up onto the clean, white, marble floor and began walking toward a second door. Upon reaching this door, he would once again wait for Hansame before continuing, and as they entered the second room, not much changed. The dojo's living room was just as clean as its entry hall, but with more space. There was still little to no decoration, and the most furniture that could be seen in the room was small square table in the center with four mats surrounding it.

"Oh good, no one else is home it seems.." Yanji mumbled as he walked toward yet another door - three being present, including the one they just walked through. The next one was to their left, and the young Byakko was quick to walk through it, out of fear that his assumption may be wrong, and they may be ambushed by one of his family members if they stay in one place for too long. This was the last room before the boys would reach their destination, and it was much like the entrance hall. Just lacking the potted plants, and with more doors. Each of the students would have to walk to the the end of the hall, and the very last door is where Yanjirou would stop to wait for Hans.

"Alright, here it is. Excuse the mess." He said as he slid the door open. Dust practically spilled over into the hallway as he did, but Yanji was quick grab his friend by the collar and drag him in before too much of it got out. What they wouldn't see, is the dust being destroyed as it touched the ground outside of the room. A technique that even the resident of the home found strange. Inside of the room, it was much darker, and more cluttered than the rest of the dojo. Books were scattered around the room, some in stacks of similar - or more often than not, unrelated - books. Scrolls could be found in a similar manner, some open and containing what looked like chicken scratch, others containing legible handwriting about various subjects. There was no desk to hold anything, but there were two bookshelves in the far right hand corner of the room where even more books and scrolls were held.

Allowing Hans a moment to take everything in, Yanji would walk over to his bed - accidentally kicking over a vial of ink on his way - and sat on top of its neatly made cotton covers. About the only thing that could be considered neat in the sea of leather and paper. "Feel free to have a look at any of the documents in the room. I'm always happy to help someone else learn." Yanji said with a smile, remembering that he hadn't lit any candles yet. His feline eyes - a gift from his family's lord, Byakko - allowed him to see in the dark a little better than others, so he usually didn't need one, but as far as he knew, Hans was a regular human being. So the boy walked over to one of the bookshelves, grabbed a box of matches - striking one on the side - and lit a nearby candle that illuminated the small room they were in. Just like the rest of the dojo, the walls were pure white, but the dust was easily seen now that there was a light source besides what was produced through the thin screen of the door. The room also had a surprising lack of any windows.

MFT

 

[Hansame]

Hansame smiled at his new friend as he told him about things that happen inside of the dojo and such. Following Yanji inside and staying close per instructions, the young blond child looked around at all of the different people, but focused on following his cat eared pal. Hansame smiled some more when he thought about his friend, and how shy Yanji was in the first place, and how he eventually opened up to him.

He continued to look around at his surroundings and the people around him, rather then where he was going, leading him to bump into a few things as he trailed after Yanji. Remembering his last visit at the dojo and what he did, he smiled as he saw other children around his age practicing with weapons. Hansame began to feel a little underdressed this time when the two arrived over at Yanji's place of residence, but thankfully for him, it had no people there. But who knows, perhaps there were people who were secretly watching the duo in secrecy. But if anything was going to happen, it hadn't happened yet.

When they got to where Yanji indicated where he lived, the purple eyed blond gave a little squeak in surprise when he got pulled over into the room. Squinting slightly trying to adjust to the dark of the room, he then blinked when the lights came on, or the candle was lit. Still adjusting from the change in lighting, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were so many scrolls and books surrounding him. "There's so many books out here!" he exclaimed quietly, like one would talk in a library. Picking up a few books and looking at the titles in a bit of surprise, he showed them to Yanji. "Where did you find these books on weaponry? They look really really old, but cool!" he asked, opening one up and looking at all of the designs.

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanji was happy to see his friend taking interest in the sheer amount of books he had in his possession. Enjoying the sight of so many could only mean that, he too, was an intellectual of some kind. This might have been something he thought of earlier, considering the expert craftsmanship the boy was capable of when he created the duo's jackets, but at the time it seemed more like art than academics. When he thought about it, the process did involve precise measurements...

The boy's train of thought was interrupted by Hans' question, which after a single glance, he had an answer for. "Ah, those. Well, like most of the books and scrolls here, it was most likely given to me by my mother and father for studying materials. There were some that I purchased myself, but I believe those were among the ones given to me." Yanjirou paused for a moment, taking a closer look at each of them, "And it seems those are also the books I used to create my own weapon.." He stated, forgetting to actually show his friend the weapon he wore on his wrist

"If you'd like to study designs like that, I would be willing to lend those to you. If you prefer to own your own, there's plenty of merchants in Suna that sell all kinds of books - new and old." Talking about the various texts available inside of their village made Yanji's mind wander, thinking of what kinds of books or ancient tomes they might find in other lands and villages. The mere thought made him remember when the two first met, and the mention of traveling together came to mind - bringing a smile to the boy's face, and causing his eyes to glow slightly in the dimly lit room.

"So, Hans... You remember how I said I'd like to travel one day? What if I wanted that day to be much sooner than either of us thought? I feel as though waiting too long after our genin exam might not allow me to leave this place as soon as I'd like to, so my suggestion is: Would you like to begin our journey after we become genin? I believe it would be quite easy, just say it's for training. It wouldn't be a lie, and really, you never know what we might run into out there. Simply staying in the village, we would most likely be sent to do errands for the rich until they finally think we're powerful to do something more significant." Yanjirou would give his friend a moment to think about what was said, scanning some of the texts lying around the room, ones about foreign lands catching his eye now that he was thinking about it. "Just think of the experiences we would have, the people we would meet, the things we would discover. So I ask you, will you join me on this adventure? I can't guarantee our survival, nor can I guarantee that we'll be returning to the village any time soon, but I can say that it might be a once in a lifetime chance for us to go to a foreign place without some assignment. What do you say?" The boy was already eager to hear Hans' answer, his heart now dead set on going on this adventure so early.

After he was finished scanning the room, he would seat himself next to Hansame, looking him in the face as he waited for the - hopefully good - answer.

 

[Hansame]

Scrolling over the titles of each book and marveling at the sheer mass of all of them, Hansame was especially interested in the weapons making. Looking at the weapon on his friend's wrist, he was pretty amazed at how small and compact the weapon was, yet it looked pretty practical, and probably useful in combat. Picking up the scroll detailing weapon making, he skimmed through the contents before rolling it back up. Hearing Yanji say that he could borrow the scroll just in case he wanted a weapon of his own, the young Sunan nodded his head excitedly. "Oh! Yes please! I think I should make a weapon too! That way, I have other options besides using jutsu!" he smiled.

The topic between the two began to take a more serious turn when Yanji brought up the promise that they had made, that they would travel the world together and such. Hansame looked a little bit confused at first, but then nodded his head when he understood the first part of what Yanji said. Being an errand boy for the rich and powerful didn't seem too appealing to the little blond, and the other part about training and exploring the vast world seemed to be pretty amazing, but there just left one big question to Hansame. Did he want to live a controlled life of order, or a possible chaotic life of freedom. it took him a long while as he thought over such things, but then he looked back at his friend with a bright smile. "Yanji, of Course I'll go with you! We're friends! And Friends stick together!" he said happily.

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

It was almost as if seeing his friend being interested in all of the books and scrolls lying around was become more and more exciting as time passed. Perhaps studying together was more fun than studying alone? It would certainly be nice to have Hans keeping him company when they went to see the other villages', and other countries' libraries. Though the simple thought of their libraries was a exciting him a bit more than just the company he'll have going there... Maybe that feeling would be challenged when their journey began?

Speaking of, Yanji made a large smile after his friend agreed to go sooner than either of them expected, after much thought of course. There would be plenty of preparation needed, as they couldn't just leave and expect to arrive in another country after a day or two. They might need to purchase an animal to carry their food, plan routes to make sure they arrive in certain villages or towns at certain times, make or purchase plenty of clothing and backpacks for storage. It would not be a simple thing, but in the end it would likely be worth it. Perhaps now would be a good a time as an- No, there were other things they had to discuss, and it would still be some time before they could travel anywhere.

"Glad to hear you want to go soon too! There's quite a lot of things we'll have to talk about regarding that, but I'll save that for later. You said you want to make yourself a weapon too? I'm sure there's a few things we could do for you... What kind of weapon would you want? We can make it together!" Yanjirou offered, hoping his friend would agree. After all, he did make the cat-eared boy a cat-eared jacket to better hide his feline features - it only felt right that he made something for him in return. And after his own creation, he'd gotten very good with his hands...

If his friend accepted that offer, the boy would wait for Hans' choice of weapon. It may be a bit more difficult to make if he chose to have a forged weapon.. But it could also be a useful skill to learn if they wanted to earn some money on the road. And Yanjirou already had several ideas on how to give them several uses thanks to another scroll he'd studied.

Once they came up with an idea, if they came up with an idea, Yanji would start thinking more about their trip.

"So Hans, now that it's becoming less of an idea, and more reality, I guess we'll really have to plan this journey out, huh?" He would say in a bit of a softer voice, knowing that work could sometimes deter someone from going through with an idea, at least from what he's observed. "We may need you to make us some larger backpacks, or we could purchase them if you'd rather do that. We would also need to make sure we have enough non-perishable food for at least two weeks at a time. You never know how long it will take us to travel from place to place, especially with all of the stops we'll be making. Not only that, but tents, sleeping bags, and everything else will be a necessity as well..." The more he thought about it, the more things came to mind. The young Byakko let out a sigh and looked at his friend, "I think you get the point, we've got a lot of preparation ahead of us before we can do anything. I understand if you'd rather talk about this later though, not like we won't see each other again." Yanji would end with that, allowing his friend a chance to respond.

MFT

 

[Hansame]

Clutching the scroll carefully and nodded his head excitedly. "of course! For weapons maybe something for both hands that i can hit hard with and maybe blades! Blades are nice! And if we could get really good, maybe we could retire one day when we get old and start up a little shop selling weapons and stuff!" he suggested excitedly, looking around at more books and scrolls. When Yanji brought up more stuff they would need to do so that they would be able to travel a lot more easier. He wholeheartedly agreed that a large backpack would be ideal, and other things like that to survive out in the cruel outdoors.

"Alrighty! And I can make some more clothes so that we could save on some money, we can talk about it now or later, whatever you would prefer!" he smiled before continuing. "As for places, where do you want to go first? I kinda don't know much about the world, but i'm open for everything!" he smiled.

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

"Blades are always good! As I'm sure you've noticed, I use a katana myself.." Yanji replied, nodding as Hans explained that they could retire from the shinobi life in the future and become weapons salesman. It sounded nice, yet... So out of reach. Even with his clan's history in metal working, life as a shinobi didn't seem like it could be so easily pushed aside. But all of this was beside the point, it would be nice.

Yanjirou smiled when Hans agreed to make them both more clothing and bags for the journey they had planned, it was obvious that he would be an asset in the future, not that it was the only reason he was considered a friend of course. "Hmmmm, where would I want to go first?" The boy mumbled in response to Hans' question. There were so many places to go, and things to see, but if there were once place he had to choose...

"Probably Kumogakure no Sato first. He said, "And everything between here and there of course. There's no real way to skip those." This statement was given with a slight smile, as it got him thinking - once again - about the things the world had in store for the two of them. New friends, places, things, everything could even surpass his expectations entirely, and give them a more spectacular adventure than they ever could have planned.

It didn't take long for his thoughts - and their conversation - to be interrupted however, as a thud could be heard in the room beside them.

"Oh no..." He said, immediately jumping to his feet and urging Hansame to do the same. Once he got his friend up, he would rush out of his room, back into the clean white halls that were his family's dojo, and toward the entrance hall. He made sure to leave little in the way of an explanation, as he knew that if he were to give one, his friend would likely want to meet whatever made the noise...

Upon reaching the entry way, Yanji would try to nudge Hans out the door as quickly as possible, closing it the moment he could and turning back around to face the mysterious noise. The only thing the young blonde boy would be able to hear from the outside, was a simple "No one," followed by silence.

TLUS, I totally forgot about this thread, and don't want it dragging on too long as the exam is about to really get started.