Open Just grabbing a bite to eat

[Kureji]

Man! It's only been three and a half hours since Kurejī has been away from the mental hospital. The air is so... free! He was wearing his signature hoodie with black undershirt and blue jeans, along with his mask. The heat didn't bother him at all. Probably because part of his mind was still thinking sub-consciously of the Void. But other than that, he was glad to be out of that gloomy place!

Kurejī walked around taking everything in. It has been a while since he has been out in the real world, part of his broken mind remembers what it was like to be out here. "Wow! This is absolutely amazing! I need real food and not that bland stuff at that place!" His stomach growled as the thought of food crossed his mind and out of his mouth. He raced to where the nearest restaurant was and busted through the doors like he had something important to say. He could feel curious and surprised eyes on him, waiting for him to speak. "I'll have the best steak this place has to offer!" He exclaimed loudly. But that's when he realized his mistake. All he could see was sushi. His thoughts were confirmed when one of the employees had told him that this was a sushi place.

"Drats! Sorry fam! I'm on a steak mission!" With that said, He ran out, running to the next restaurant, actually reading the sign before going in. Zaji's steakhouse. With reading that, Kurejī walked in.

 

[Uziuke]

Uzi's eyes widened as the rather loud voice that erupted throughout the restaurant caught his attention. He finished chewing and swallowing his sushi. He put down his chopsticks and looked over to see a kid talking with the restaurant owner, before dashing off elsewhere.

He wondered what all the hubbub was about. He left some yen on the table to cover his tab and left a great tip. He made his way to the front of the restaurant, asking for the owner.

After finding out that the kid only wanted a steak dinner, Uzi gave a soft smile. With a thanks, he walked out of the restaurant. He frequented the district a lot, so he knew where the kid would end up.
Uzi placed his hands in the pockets of his black pants slacks as he read the sign of the restaurant next over. The black turtleneck that he wore kept him from standing out in the crowd.

"Hey kid." Uzi gave a shallow wave and a soft smile. "I overheard back at the sushi place that you wanted a steak dinner." Uziuke would place an order for two steak dinners and take a seat afterwards. "You could have that dinner for free, I'll place it on my tab." A gesture of kindness.

Uzi wanted to know who this kid was exactly. He seemed like a ball of excitement. Uzi also noticed a faint chakra signature from the boy. He wondered if he was a shinobi of the village. "The name's Uziuke by the way." He said as he looked the boy in his eyes.

[ Topic Entered ]

 

[Kureji]

Zaji's steakhouse... hm... what kind of steak does Kurejī want? As he mused over what to eat, a voice rang out. Someone had followed him about steak dinner. But the thing he was focused on was the ears. Is he an elf?! The second thing noticed was that the guy had told him that he would pay for the steak dinner too! Man! Was everyone so nice outside of the mental hospital?

There was no arguing, Kurejī plopped down in the seat in front of the other guy as he had introduced himself. Uzuike. Kurejī made a mental note of the name as a way to try and find thanks for him later on. As for the man himself, he would notice that while Kurejī was full of energy, looking into his eyes, was merely staring at almost blank lifeless eyes, as if he had seen something not worth telling. "I go by Kurejī." He said, and then adding, "Are you an elf, with those pointy ears? If so, that's really cool."

If there was one thing to be known about Kurejī, it's that he doesn't know how to go around talking to people. He was working on that front, but who knows how well it will turn out in the long run. "Medium rare steak is pretty good, yeah, it is scrumptulous."

 

[Uziuke]

Uzi gave a light hearted laugh as the boy asked if he were an elf. "No, if I were an elf I'd probably be somewhere else right now." After the quick laugh Uzi decided to ask his own question. "I like my steak well done myself. But there's something I wanted to ask you as well." A little conversation while they cooked the two's food would help Uzi get to know the kid a little better.

"Why are you wearing that mask on your face? I don't think Suna has a sand hockey league going on... Unless I just don't know about it. ... Hmmm..." Uzi thought about it for a second, but he knew there was another reason the boy wore the mask. Meanwhile the two's dinner would begin to be cooked in the back. The chef would call out how the two wanted their steak, and what they wanted on the sides. "Well done, and if you could give me fries with that, and a water, that'd be great." Quite the meal for one that already ate, but this Uchiha was quite the foodie. Uzi looked to Kureji, "You can add anything you want, beverages included."

Uzi awaited Kureji to call out his order. He wanted to ask if he was a shinobi. His chakra signature sure indicated that he was. But he also knew that not everyone that had a handle on chakra served their village. He stopped his own shinobi life for a few years himself, enjoying the civilian life. Quite the time that was. Learning the struggles of an average civilian was something Uzi enjoyed. That and working in those warehouses. The work was tough, but it kept him active and gave him something to do daily. The pay was ok as well, not that he needed it.

 

[Kureji]

As the Uzuike had talked and reassured him that he was not an elf, he then asked Kurejī why he wore a mask and went on to talk about a sand hockey league. Kurejī opened his mouth to speak, but words failed to really form. Why did he wear a mask? Well... "Well... I don't know to be honest with you, hahaha." As someone else had asked them what else would they want, Kurejī waited for Uzuike to place his order before asking, "You sure?" As it was turning evident that the other male was adamant of paying for the food, "Medium rare steak with fries and water." He merely copied Uzuike's order, minus how the steak is done, and waited.

Soon, the food came, and a heaping plate of food was presented before him, biggest steak he has ever seen with a huge helping of fries. He took his mask off.

Spoiler: unmasked

Smelling the food, Kurejī looked up and smiled at Uzuike before digging into the steak, using the steak knife and fork as he was taught back at the hospital, because normal people don't eat steaks with their bare hands. "Man! This steak is way better than the steak at the hospital! Thanks friend!"

 

[Uziuke]

It seemed the kid hadn't been asked that question before, as he took a second to answer. Either that, or he wasn't able to answer, which was fine to Uzi either way. The white haired Uchiha figured he wore it to look cool.

When Kureji took off his mask to eat, Uzi got a good look at the boy's face. It only raised more questions as Uzi gave a nod before Kureji began to eat. Uzi said a prayer over his food and drink, afterwards picking up his steak with his hands and digging in. He didn't use a knife or a fork because he took the entire meal as finger food.

"Ahh, it's no problem kid." Uzi replied to Keruji's thanks, wondering what would put him in a hospital. "Hospital you say?" It surprised Uzi to hear of Keruji's hospital visit. "I didn't know they served steak there." Uzi pondered on it for a moment, as if trying to recall it himself. His work as a medic was short lived, but he couldn't recall a steak dinner being on the menu. Between munches on his steak and fries, Uzi decided to ask Keruji another question.

Uzi took a sip of his water and continued on. "Let me guess, you received an injury while out in the village?" Uzi figured the medics did a pretty great job with fixing the kid up. His injury wasn't noticeable at all. He didn't know that Keruji was actually talking about a mental hospital.

 

[Kureji]

Kurejī looked on as he saw the other one start to eat his steak with his bare hands. Wait. Did the people at the hospital teach him the wrong thing? Or did he remember it wrong? He kept eating the steak as he thinks he remembers how he was taught, sometimes taking some fries with his hands to eat. When the topic got onto steak and it being in the hospital, Kurejī nodded, "Yeah, though the 'steak' there is kind of a very flat piece of meat that is almost rubbery texture. definitely not worth having." Kurejī assumed that Uzuike had maybe also been at the hospital for a time, but was let out, just like him.

As Kurejī ate, he listened as the other spoke. When he had spoke of injuries, Kurejī shook his head. "No, not injuries. there was..." He spaced out, wondering why he was in the mental hospital. He knew he was there for a while. And people helped him get better at thinking. Eventually even getting out of the hospital once and for all. But everything before that seems... Blurry. "I..." He set the steak knife and fork down, massaging his temples, trying to think. Why was it so hard to remember? He drank some water to hopefully calm himself down. Unbeknownst to Kurejī, some people started to feel... Different. It wasn't as if they were changed, but some people were showing signs of drained of energy, while others seemed not all there, as if they were in a trance.

"Void." Came out of Kurejī's mouth, and as soon as he said that, everything seemed to come back to normal. People who were drained of energy were walking and talking fine, those that were in a trance seemed to snap out of it, shaking their heads and rubbing their eyes. Kurejī himself though seemed in a sort of trance, staring at his steak, his almost lifeless eyes a protest to the fact that he is still living and breathing.

(MFT)
(WC:332)

 

[Uziuke]

As Uzi continued to listen to Keruji explain how the steak there wasn't as great, he continued to eat his food. Then something unexpected happened. The kid went blank as he tried to explain his time in the hospital. Had Uzi triggered some kind of episode? He could find out by hypnotizing the boy with his eyes, but he didn't want to scare the kid. Maybe if he got to know him better in the long run, he could search for the answer with his eyes. Now Uzi wanted to help the kid, but it just wasn't the right time to pry his mind.

Uzi didn't have to look around to know that the outburst probably caught the attention of a few in the restaurant. Uzi would give an attempt at breaking the boy out of his trance. "Hey, there's nothing better than going out and enjoying a fresh new day to settle the mind. You're out of that place now, you shouldn't let it get you down." Without knowing what happened, Uzi didn't really have the words to give the boy comfort. Uzi finished up what was left on his plate. He used a napkin to wipe his mouth.

"Are you a shinobi by chance?" Uzi asked, looking to Keruji. He figured shinobi life would get his mind off of the topic at hand, and whatever he experienced at the hospital.

 

[Kureji]

It seems as if none of the other patrons knew what really happened outside of maybe Uzuike. Kurejī, rubbed his eyes, but could feel his head pounding. Whatever happened, was over. He shook his head to get rid of the wooziness as he took a bite of his steak. It was delicious, but his stomach was no longer in the mood for food. He wiped his face, partially spreading the clown makeup, but not really paying attention to that, and put his mask back on.

That was when Uzuike had asked him if he was a shinobi. Kurejī shrugged, "I've had people tell me I had potential, but my lack of control of the Void and how it affects me and those around was put into question. They even had me take a Genin exam to see if I can get out of the hosptial within twenty-four hours. And they never let people go."

He took a deep breath and let out a yawn. "Thanks for the food Bud! It was delicious!" He then remembered some of the things that he was taught about being social in the hospital. One of the things was to basically ask back the question that was asked to him. So he decided to give it a try. "So are you also a shinobi? What is it that you do?" He wanted to ask more questions, but there was a certain time to press for questions, mainly when two people know each other more than just first occurence.

(MFT)
(WC:251)

 

[Uziuke]

Learning a bit of the boy's background, Uzi made a mental note about the void. Maybe he could visit this hospital to learn a bit more about the boy. His Genin Exam also sounded tough, but him being here today spoke volumes about this Kureji.

"No problem. Shinobi are supposed to help one another anyway." Uzi gave a smile, as if trademarking the phrase.

He was asked if he was a shinobi as well, and what exactly he did. It wasn't a tough question at all, though he was careful as how he answered. "I've been a shinobi since I was a young kid." The question brought back the memories he had within the Mist Village. It seemed as though no matter how hard he tried to forget, he never would. This wasn't a problem to him as it was always great to remember home.

As for the second question, Uzi looked up and rubbed his chin a bit. "Hmmm, what do I do?" The Uchiha decided to be straight forward with his answer. "Well, I protect the Kage, like a bodyguard of some sort. I watch the entrance to the village, making sure that no one leaves without proper documentation or word from the Kage. I also have to make sure that nothing gets in that isn't supposed to be here."

"And if it comes down to it, I'll have to go and hunt down anyone that betrays the village." Uzi thought about it a bit more. He was sure he left something out, but he figured he summed everything up. "Hopefully I won't have to worry about that with you. You seem like you'll be a great shinobi." Uzi reached over to ruffle the teen's hair a bit. He then continued on, "I could also help you with control of the void."

Uzi reached into his pocket, leaving a generous amount of yen on the table.

---
[ MFT | WC: +250 ]

 

[Kureji]

Kurejī listened intently to what the other had to say. And it was pretty interesting to say the least. He would never had thought that he is talking with someone that is a bodyguard of the Kazekage. Even in his messed up mind and isolation from society, he knew that the Kage were important people. It seemed pretty exciting, to protect someone that is in charge of the whole Village. Then the guy went on to talk about having proper documentation to enter or leave the Village along with hunting down those that betray the village. He then said that he had hoped that Kurejī would not be one of those people, and that Kurejī seemed like he would be a great shinobi.

Kurejī had seen the other run their hands through his hair. It was a weird feeling, mainly because the only time someone had touched him was when he has had those sparring sessions with some people to gauge whether he has the ability to become a shinobi outside of the mental hospital. He didn't really know how to react to it, but brushed it off as Uzuike had offered to help him to control the void. Kurejī nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that! I was only really trained for normal ninja stuff, but not much into controlling the Void. Like I have my weapons like my Teddy Bear." He brought out a summoning scroll and was about to release it when he remembered that Teddy was too big for this place. "Oops, kinda almost forgot that Teddy is too big for this place. And he might surprise some people."

 

[Uziuke]

"Teddy Bear?" Uziuke was slightly confused. From his tone of voice, Kureji would be able to tell that Uziuke had his doubts, though he was still interested in this Teddy Bear of Kureji's. He'd never heard of a shinobi welding a teddy bear in battle. Thoughts of Kureji attacking with a plush toy came to Uziuke's mind. The red eyed shinobi was obviously missing something here. Kureji whipped out what appeared to be a summoning scroll. Uzi's eyes widened, though Kureji caught on before Uzi said anything, commenting that he couldn't summon the bear in such a place. Indeed the jutsu would cause a scare.

"Would you like to go somewhere that Teddy can be released? I'd like to see this Teddy weapon of yours." Uzi had to admit that this kid piped his interest. Once again the white haired man's curiosity had gotten the best of him. "Because a Teddy Bear that can be used as a weapon sounds... Lethal?" Uzi couldn't find the right words, though he trusted Kureji's weapon would hold some truth to what he said.

"I'm sure there's somewhere nearby that would be perfect for us to look at this Teddy of yours." Uziuke didn't think this boy to be insane even though he came from a mental hospital. Everyone has their own walk of life, it was up to others to listen to the story that one's life produced. This is what created the bond between people, and created those close friendships that people shout after so. Uzi learned this whole being a mercenary in the cold unknown lands that he traversed. He learned a lot back in those days.

 

[Kureji]

Kurejī nodded as the other male had said Teddy Bear, as if it was unheard of using such a thing as a weapon. Kurejī nodded, answering his question by only saying, "Teddy!" He pocketed his sealing scroll and then started to walk out. Looking around, he couldn't really find any place that would be good for show casing Teddy Bear. Kurejī put a hand on the chin of his mask as he thought of somewhere to safely show Teddy so people won't freak out. He looked up and had an 'Ah-ha!' moment.

Not really waiting, he ran at a wall, as if he was going to climb it, and then remembered that he wasn't all that good with that kind of chakra control yet. He stopped merely inches away from running into the wall, before he had to actually focus chakra to his feet and steadily climb up the wall of the side of a small building. It was about maybe ten to fifteen feet up high. It took Kurejī about a minute to climb before he was on top of the building. As he surveyed the area, he felt satisfied that this place was sufficient enough to use to show Teddy.

Bringing out his summoning scroll again, Kurejī let chakra flow through it and poof! A giant eight foot tall looking bear came into existence.

It would look real, except that one would obviously tell that the fur was fake, the claws seemed more plastic than anything, and there were threads sewn in certain areas along with some band-aids thrown on other areas. There was darkness inside but once Kurejī's chakra threads took hold, the bear came to life and the insides start to glow orange. It looked pretty menacing except that first few steps it made, made it look like a drunk person in an oversized bear suit. But after that and Kurejī got the hang of it, it started to lumber around, he made it pick him up and set him on its shoulders.

 

[Uziuke]

Uziuke followed Kureji out of the restaurant, saluting the cook before heading out the door. He noticed Kureji had a bit of trouble climbing a wall as he stopped after taking a running stop. Uzi figured it was just the jitters, but the way he climbed the wall afters told Uzi that he still had some work to do. Uzi took a slow stroll up the wall. Once reaching the top he noticed a giant bear that seemed to be glowing.

Uzi's eyes widened a bit in amazement. He was both surprised and left in wonder as he looked at the bear. "I haven't seen anything like Teddy before. I'm impressed." He almost thought it was real for a moment, but watching as Kureji was sat on his shoulder, he understood he was the owner of the beast.

Inspecting a bit more closely, walking up to the duo, Uzi could noticed that it was put together. There was sticking, bandages, plastic and everything to it. "Did you put this together by yourself?"

Uzi wanted to see what it could do. Not noticing that it was a puppet yet, Uzi spoke up once more. "So what can you make it do? Uzi asked, curious as to how it would be used in battle. He moved away a good distance and sat down criss-crossed. His eyes began to spin as he sharing an became active. He wanted to study it's movements.

 

[Kureji]

When Uzuike had said that he was impressed by Teddy, Kurejī nodded, "Yup! Teddy is the best teddy bear there is!" He made the puppet do a pose, as if showing off its muscles and whatnot. Then he was asked if he had put it together himself.

Kurejī shook his head, "Nah, I got him as a bingo prize that they do once a Monday at the hospital. The rips and tears were from people hurting Teddy. I merely fixed him up." Kurejī said that proudly, as if he was proud that Teddy can take a few hits and that Kurejī himself is able to patch him up. "Teddy wasn't made for fighting, but I changed his insides to be less floof balls and more... Puppetty!"

Then Uzuike had asked what it could do and then sat down and... hm, his eyes are doing weird things, it's as if his eyes were dancing. Kurejī gave a shrug and hopped off the shoulder of Teddy and got into a stance that he was trained to take if he were to be a puppet master. The chakra threads were visible, coming from his fingers as he manipulated Teddy. At first, he decided to play around, making the eight foot tall bear move swiftly through the air, even making it twirl around gracefully despite its size. But as the warm up was over, Kurejī made the bear do some simple attacks and strikes as it made attacks in the air with its claws and an occasional headbutt, soon the claws retracted and knives grew out as the bear swung around, it kept up for another minute, but Kurejī had stopped. He didn't know nearly enough to make a whole show of what Teddy the bear puppet can do.

 

[Uziuke]

He smiled, watching Teddy flex it's muscles. Kureji had great control over the bear. Uzi figured the boy had been training with the bear for some time. Upon mentioning that he prepped the bear for fighting, Uzi knew his assumption was correct. Watching the puppeteer hop off the bear, Uzi began to pay close attention to what was going on.

Uzi watched the bear make fluid motions as it was controlled through chakra lining coming from Kureji. It was his first time witnessing a puppeteer during his shinobi career. He hadn't seen such a style. To see a teenager pull off such a feat was amazing to say the least. "You know, there are a lot of puppetry jutsu that you could learn." Uzi commented as he stood up. Kureji sounded defeated as he performed only a few basic strikes. "You could turn up the heat on a battlefield if you could master those techniques."

"Such moves could even give someone like me some trouble." Uzi grinned, almost sure the comment would keep Kureji on top of his trainings.

His eyes went back to their natural state. "That's if you keep practicing." Uzi looked forward to seeing what would become of Kureji. He seemed to stow a lot of potential.

"Some legends mention of those that could wield more than one puppet at a time." Uzi looked up to the sky while placing a hand on his chin. He tried to recall what he could on puppetry, but he didn't have much information on the subject. "Though I'm sure you could read a few books about it." Uzi looked back to Kureji. "They can tell you a lot more than I could."

 

[Kureji]

Kurejī nodded ecstatically as Uzuike commented on how he can get better with his puppet skills and be even more dominating on a battlefield, maybe even be a problem for someone that has dancing eyes like him. The main thing is practice. Kurejī was good with other ranged weapons, like his blunderbuss, but there is something about using Teddy for fighting that just really hits for him. It felt comfortable and natural for him.

The thought of making more interesting puppets cam to mind, especially when Uzuike had mentioned that some people have managed to use more than one puppet at a time, which sounded epic. He smiled underneath his mask, Uzuike probably won't know it, but Kurejī spoke and the tone would say it all, "Thanks man! Puppets are easy for me to use, feels natural to me!" Then a thought occurred to him, or rather, more of a question, "So why do your eyes dance? It's kinda cool." He had hoped it wasn't too much of an intruding question, but his curiosity got the better of him.

 

[Uziuke]

Uzi raised his eyebrows as he was posed the question about his eyes. He smiled. "Well, I was born into a Clan that possesses a known Dojutsu called The Sharingan." Uzi moved chakra to his eyes. A purple aura surrounded his pupils as the chakra began to change his eyes. They began to spin once more, slowing down as they revealed a new form.

"I plan on helping you with the void with these eyes. It may take a while, but I'm sure you'll be able to overcome whatever it is that's bothering you with a bit of help."

Uzi would go on to explain a few of his techniques. "If you stare too hard, you'll get lost within them. It's like a form of genjutsu. If one's not careful, they can make an opponent go psycho, and lead them to their death." Uzi neglected to mention what he went through to obtain such a rare form of the Clan's eyes. He did his best not to scare Kureji, as he was still learning his shinobi way.

"If you want, I can start aiding you in overcoming the void today, though it sounds like it will take a while on account of, I'd have to learn a few things about you first." Uzi's eyes stopped spinning and they returned to their normal red hue.

 

[Kureji]

Sharingan... It sounded familiar, as if it was something in the back of his mind, just like the knowledge of the Kazekage being leader of Sand, the Sharingan also seemed familiar. Was it common knowledge forgotten? Kurejī knows that he was in a mental hospital, and that place is for people who are not right in the mind, but... He scratched the back of his head before shrugging off the feeling. It was pretty interesting, this Sharingan that Uzuike has. It changed the way it looks to something different than before.

Uzuike then mentioned that he is willing to help him with his void problems by using the Sharingan. The other make then noted some of the side effects of staring too long into the eyes of a Sharingan user. People go psycho or even die. Go psycho... Was that how he ended up in a mental hospital? He pushed the thought aside, vaguely remembering a different feeling than the Sharingan. A feeling of emptiness. A rare thing to see Kurejī a really outgoing person and loud to be lost in thought, thinking things through, hand on his chin, obviously thinking.

And then there's... He just remembered that Uzuike was right there beside him, telling him that he can help him starting today. But he would have to get to know him first. "What? Oh yeah. Well you already know my name. I like puppets. And I came from a mental hospital after they had cleared me from that place after deeming me to reintroduce myself back to society. But anything before that is... Fuzzy. Sorry that that's all I got."

 

[Uziuke]

"Yes, I know a bit about your past." Uziuke looked to Kureji, knowing that it could be tough on the boy. He didn't want to overdue it, but Kureji seemed strong. It's why he suggested such a thing in the first place. "But, I'm looking to know how'd you react in a shinobi type situation. Such as how'd you react to being trapped within a genjutsu."

"If I tried to help, I wouldn't want you going back to the hospital because you couldn't handle the illusion you were placed in." Kureji could notice the change of tone Uzi had, he sounded a bit more serious. Not to scare him, but warn him of the troubles that he could face.

Uzi looked to Teddy, "Of course I'll be there to aid along the way, but it's up to you to succeed. I can't solve your problems, but I can lead you in the right direction" Uzi looked to Kureji, "Teddy will be there as well. You can use him if you feel that you need him. I don't know exactly what you saw in that hospital, but if I have give you a chance to do it all over again, would you be able to overcome some of the obstacles that you've faced? And would it help you gain control over the void?"

Uzi's questions would give him the answers he needed to prepare himself for what they were about to face. "From what I've seen, I'm sure you'll overcome regardless."