Late Arrival [Requesting Entry]

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

He’d finally reached the promised land… Well, the promised land of several weeks, anyways. It was bound to come into view eventually. Though it didn’t seem to be as impressive as the books made it out to be. Were stories in books exaggerated? That couldn’t possibly be the case, but considering how all there was to see so far was a plain old canyon - still decently impressive with the lack of those in Wind Country - and a rather large gate. Of course, there were several buildings that peaked over the top of the gate, practically being consumed by the clouds above them. That would explain the village’s name..

Despite Sunagakure’s symbol being proudly displayed on his right bicep - as he was told to do by his superior - Yanjirou didn’t really stand out much amongst the crowd. Because it was too crowded… The traffic in the Toraono Dojo was impressive, but this was just breathtaking. If the boy were taller, he knew that it would simply be a sea of people that he saw, all flowing in and out of the gates as they went about their business. It was surprising - to say the least - that the guards managed to keep up with the traffic.

As he finally neared the gate, it was his turn. The young Byakko had plenty of time to mentally prepare himself for this brief interaction, and he already had his passport clutched firmly in his hand to prevent any sort of theft. Being in a new location, his new found confidence in his appearance had already passed, so he hid his feline features underneath a hood. Animal ears most likely weren’t a common sight in this village, so it would be better to avoid any unnecessary commotion.

Now he could only wait to be approached.

[Requesting Entry]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The circumstances under which Yuii had been granted Sennin were strange, to say the least. A virtual unknown prior to her return to the village, she was assumed to be, by the common man, much like the rest of her clan; stuck up and self-serving. Not fond of them either, that was an image was she determined to combat with every bit of her strength. So, while she was no longer required to commit herself to the usual daily gate duty grind, Yuii applied herself to it like any other regular Jounin or Chuunin in an effort to show people she was a leader, not a boss.

Which ultimately lead her to be here at this very moment, among many other gate guards, in time for the usual crush of trade and visitors. There was a rhythm to approving people and, Raiden be praised, everyone seemed to have their information in order so the line was moving quickly. Perhaps it was the large tiger sitting placidly at her heels that drove those forced into her line to behave properly; or the way the rest of the guards deferred to her decisions but no one wanted to mess with Yuii.

The little Sand-nin would end up in her line. When it was his turn, Yuii plucked the passport from the boy's hands and seemed to light up a little. "Sunagakure?" she asked curiously around a candy, her eyes scanning over the different pages of Sand's passport. This was something new, maybe fun. She couldn't remember ever having met someone from Sand before. The sennin leaned forward and peered under his hood to get a better look, a broad grin on her face. He was kind of cute and young, she decided. Did all Sand-nin look a little cat-like?

The blue haired woman glanced around for a companion but came up with nothing, "Reason for travel?" She questioned, wondering over how Sunagakure allowed their shinobi to travel so young and alone. After teaching Kumogakure's academy Yuii wouldn't trust most of those kids as far as she could toss them one handed. "Are you expecting or meeting someone?" That made the most sense to her. Maybe there was already a Sand-nin here to look after him?

At her side, Oniyuri pricked her ears forward and extended her neck to sniff curiously at the human cat. "Kitten" the tiger spoke, "why does it smell like kitten?"

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanjirou allowed the woman to take his passport, and watched as she flipped through it curiously. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as difficult to relate with these people as he thought - her look of curiosity being one he knew well. While he waited, the boy looked to the tiger at her feet. It wasn’t necessarily a common thing to see tigers in Sunagakure, but considering how the beast’s kin were revered in his clan, seeing one in person wasn’t exactly intimidating. Especially after training with his master and dominating his mortal enemy…

As enthralled as he was looking over every feature of the beast before him, the young Byakko didn’t even notice the woman peeking beneath his hood. Normally this would cause him to jump back a little, but he returned his attention to her a moment after he question.

”Perhaps we could get along..” He thought to himself after noticing her grin. New things were always exciting, but some simply didn’t appreciate them as much.

”Yes ma’am, I’ve come along way to see your village. Heard many great things both from travelers and from books.” After replying, he returned his attention to the tiger. Perhaps it did not descend from Byakko, perhaps it wasn’t even a contract beast at all, but it did not change how beautiful their form was. Another question came soon after his answer, and this time he did not hesitate to answer.

”Education.” He said, quickly realizing this may be to vague, ”I have always wanted to travel the world and see all of the things I’ve read about, so I figured it would be better to do it sooner. Before my life as a shinobi consumes all of my personal time.” That should do better. If it didn’t work for the logs, maybe the woman would be kind enough to allow it? He had plenty of things to see, after all.

”I am not meeting anyone.” The boy stated, in response to her last question. At this point, he was too excited to realize she was underestimating him because of his age, but it wouldn’t matter to him either way. He knew what he’s capable of, and that’s all that mattered to him.

When the tiger stood and investigated the young Byakko, he took a single step back, but the moment it spoke, any concern created in those few seconds were removed.

”I suppose it is a contract beast…” Unless normal tigers were developing vocal cords and learning to speak, this had to be the case. Sadly though, his cover was blown…

With a long sigh, the boy removed his hood to reveal his ears. ”Close, but I wouldn’t say I’m a kitten. Closer to your kind than that of a common house cat really,” He explained, ”My clan descends from our lord Byakko, which is also where we received our name. Similar to how the great Toraono clan has demon blood, only we have something more holy running in our veins.” Assuming the mention of Byakko would be a sufficient enough explanation for the beast, he replaced his hood and looked back to the woman.

When she was ready, Yanjirou would take back his passport and place it in his pocket. ”Seeing how I don’t actually know anybody in this village, would you mind if I asked you to be my escort? There are several places I already wish to see, and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about Sunagakure to the best of my ability. Assuming you’d be willing to do the same with Kumogakure of course…” Bargaining wasn’t necessarily his specialty, but this would be a good deal for both parties, if she was truly as curious about his village as he thought.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Yuii laughed aloud at the familiar name of the ancient Tiger summon. It seemed that in Sand the old cat was quite free with his love. "Well, aren't you fantastic," Yuii giggle, fighting the instinct to touch one of his triangular ears. "And what a dirty birdy our Byakko-sama is." Well, that explained the cat-people from the feast night with Junko too. Contract animals could and did create offspring with humans so she had been right to be uncomfortable. Stripes and fur just didn't do it for her.

Oniyuri was pensive if one could name the feline's expression, but by Yuii's experience, the tiger summon was always a bit wary of her own kin. It was a result of being fairly low on the food-chain, Yuii guessed. She was probably trying to decide if she should bow to the cat boy or mother him.

"Demons have a bad reputation here so best to not go comparing yourself to one around here," Yuii added as she made note of his name, country of origin, defining features like the ears, and his apparent reason for travel in an open book at her side. She flicked to a blank page in his passport and wrote in it permission for him to be within the village then stamped it twice; once with the date and again with Kumogakure's seal. "Also, Please be aware that the laws within Kumogakure may differ to those you are used to, and if you are uncertain of your rights as a foreigner it is in your best interest to find a shinobi, most likely ANBU, to answer your questions. It is also best if you restrict chakra usage to designated practice areas or the arena. I think that's all the unpleasant bits aside." With that, she handed back his precious passport.


She really wished she could run off and ask the little cub questions, but Yuii had already promised her time to gate duty. "I have no time right now," She answered his request, gesturing to her line. As Sennin, she COULD demand a replacement and go off with the interesting child but that would be a bit selfish. This wasn't exactly an emergency so he could wait. "I'm done in maybe six hours, Raiden willing there are no emergencies. Find yourself a place to stay, little Byakko kin, and have something to eat. I'll find you later. Off you go."

Her attention immediately turned to the next person in line, leaving Yanjirou to find his own way forward.

[Entry granted ]

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanjirou barely managed to keep his bearing when the woman called Byakko a “dirty birdy.” He just hardly understood the joke, but he had an idea of what she meant. Still unfamiliar with tiger summons, having only recently learned to summon them himself, the boy could not tell the beast was confused, but did wonder why she seemed so curious. Perhaps his clan was a foreign concept even for a contract summon.

Now it was his turn to be pensive, the boy raising an eyebrow as the woman mentioned that people in the village were wary of those with demon blood. It didn’t matter to him whether or not he should mention his family, but it was certainly something he would have to look into. The young Byakko listened carefully to all of the, “unpleasant bits,” taking note of the arena she had mentioned. Another thing he would definitely be sure to investigate, it would certainly be good to gauge the village’s shinobi. Though he would prefer to simply spectate…

Hearing the woman say she could not accompany him at the time caused the boy to let out a dissapointed, ”Hmmmm.” Before his eyes (literally) lit up at the mention of her finding him later. First hand knowledge always proved more reliable than books, assuming the source is competent of course.

So now he had a means of gathering information on the current state of Kumogakure; this trip was already proving to be worthwhile. Nodding to the woman, Yanjirou continued on his way the moment she turned her attention to the next person in line. He would follow her suggestion of finding a place to stay and eat, as his journey helped him work up quite the appetite. Bread and water can only get you so far…

Topic Left, thanks again