Yakitori Cravings

On days where it rained in Iwagakure Kudo liked to seek out yakitori for lunch after her morning conditioning exercises, the cold air made the warm meat skewers all the more satisfying after a good workout. After wiping down her sweat with a towel she threw on a jacket and strolled through the food stands until  she found her favorite street vendor. Passing through the cloth divider she waved the vendor over and placed an order for a plate of skewers and a cup of barley tea. The tea was quickly poured and handed to her, cupping her hands around the warm ceramic she closed her eyes as her body temperature slowly rose. Looking around her Kudo saw she was alone in the street stall, her singular focused hadn't even noticed, too excited for the skewers and warm tea. It was fairly typical on days such as these, though she would have preferred some company as opposed to the solitary eating these rainy yakitori lunch's tended to be.

Son'Rei had been within the walls of Iwagakure for a few weeks now, the village looking kindly upon the refugee of Sunagakure or rather what was once Sunagakure. The village was left in ruins, and the people scattered to the winds. Iwagakure was kind in the fact that they welcomed those displaced by the destruction, though there were many that believed Iwagakure was responsible for it. Something Son'Rei did not learn until after he was within the walls of the village, apparently the one who destroyed his home was a rogue ninja from Iwa. Some said the Tsuchikage failed in her duties to stop him, some say she was apart of it, Son'Rei on the other hand unless he saw proof with his own eyes had no opinion about it. Too many times had he been led astray by false rumors, he learned quickly not to believe everything you hear. Still there were certain things that you could not help but go by what you hear, mainly when your visiting a foreign country and looking for a good place to eat. Son'Rei had asked around throughout his stay so far, getting quite a few recommendations. Some were good, others not so much in his mind. There was one however he had not tried yet, Yakitori. Today he was going to end that, stepping out from his rented room and onto the streets of the village, Son'Rei would make his way through the rain to Yakitori's.

Steam would seem to waft off the male as he move down the street, the droplets of rain seemingly evaporating as soon as they landed on him. This was another new experience for him, they didn't have much rain in the desert so he never really noticed before. However, since the man at the gate had pointed out that he seemed to have a high temperature, he had been paying more attention to things. Nobody else had this steam rising from them, and if they weren't using the thing these villagers called umbrellas, they appeared to be soaking wet and cold while he remained dry and as warm as he always had. They had cleared him at the gate after a brief detainment, learning that his body just ran unnaturally hot compared to everyone else. Wearing his breathable clothing that most would assume would not be enough warmth for the mountain area like Iwagakure, Son'Rei would have on his light pants black tank top and his white light jacket, his Sunagakure Hitai-ate fashioned into a belt around his waist. It was the perfect clothing for the desert conditions of Sunagakure, and while Iwa was nowhere near as warm, Son'Rei was more than comfortable, to him it was just another warm summer day (even though it wasn't). 

Stepping through the cloth divider, Son'Rei's Golden-Amber eyes would scan the small establishment. Completely dry despite just stepping in from the rain, Son'Rei would see the woman already sitting looking just as cold and wet as those he had passed on the way. Taking a seat, though not directly next to the woman, due to the small size of the establishment still well within conversation range. Placing his order, Son'Rei would turn to the woman. "Lovely weather you get up here," his tone holding just the smallest of signs that it was a simple jest, as he smiled.

Not wanting the cup of tea to lose too much of its heat, Kuro finally brought the drink to her lips to take a sip. As she did so another customer entered the dry and warm stand to place an order. He looked to be a foreigner with clothes better suited for a warmer climate, and interestingly didn't look to be wet if at all. Hurray, somebody new! As if answering her silent prayers to break the solitude of her lonely lunch the stranger joked about the weather with her. Still wanting to be sure it was indeed her that was being addressed, Kuro did a quick sweep of the stall to be sure there was no one that had snuck in that the man was speaking to. Finally and only once she was sure that it was her that he was talking to did she respond.

“It's usually much nicer here, though most people try to hurry indoors and stay out of the odd rainy days in the Land of Stone.” Taking another sip of her she suddenly thought of the possibility that this stranger knew the owner and was actually talking to her. Oh no! Looking briefly at the owner he was busy over the grill cooking their skewers, paying them mind after taking his order. “Have you tried Sumi's yakitori before? It's the best in Iwagakure, hands down!” She made a little fist pump to go along with the statement, always hoping for more regulars at her favorite stand even if they might be a visitor.

The young woman seemed surprised by him speaking to her, taking a moment to look around to see if he had been talking to someone else before she answered him. "Yes, well we don't get much rain in the land of wind," Son'Rei would add to her comment about the weather.  She would ask him if he had come there before, going the extra mile to say it was the best in Iwa while pumping her fist which would cause him to chuckle slightly. "No, I am afraid not. This is my first time here, though I have heard good things from the other villagers about it. I have been trying to try all the local food during my stay here, before I venture off again. This is the last shop so if what you say is true, then I saved the best for last. Which is how it should be." Son'Rei would reply with a small smile, "My name is Son'Rei Fujio it's a pleasure to meet you." Introducing himself with a small head nod towards her as the shop owner arrived with their orders, taking his skewer Son'Rei would take a bite before looking to the woman, his eyes wide in amazement. "You are right by far this is the best I have had," Son'Rei stated before looking back to the owner, "my compliments to the chef," he would add with a bright smile before he continued eating. Taking a small break in his eating to look back at the young woman, "so, if most hide indoors from the rain. What brings you out?"

Son’Rei introduced himself with utmost grace, clearly those from the land of wind were cut from a different cloth than her contemporaries. Too many of the Genin she worked with acted a little too much their age, an inescapable result of promoting young ones such as herself to be shinobi. “I’m Kudo Hattori, nice to ya!” Finally the steaming plates of skewers were placed before them, Kudo offered a quick bow to Sumi before diving into the food. Gripping two skewers at once she bit off as much as she could chew as Son’Rei asked what she was up to on such a rainy day.

“Pchprayning!” Swallowing the half-chewed meat Kudo took a swig of tea before reiterating. “Training! Though truth be told it’s really the weather that brings me out on days like this.” Moving her hand back to her cup she gave pause before continuing, taking another small sip of her tea that was now well past the point of optimal heat but still quite tasty. “You might find it weird, but I like working out on cold, wet days. Sometimes when it’s cold enough you can see steam rising from your body when you work really hard!” Realizing she was raising her voice as she talked, Kudo stiffened slightly before returning to a more reasonable volume. “You mentioned venturing off again, have you seen many other lands in your travels?” Kudo’s eyes twinkled with anticipation, excited to talk with someone who seemed to be so well-traveled. She had never left the Land of Stone and was eager to see what else the world held out there.

Son'Rei would snort slightly at Kudo's remark about the steam rising when working hard, with his natural heat that seemed to happen to him every day since he arrived in the land of earth. "Yes, well steam is a natural occurrence with me, or at least it has been since I arrived here. According to the medics of your village, my body runs hotter than others, and as such the heat my body produces causes steam when in cold or wet areas. I am mildly curious as to how warm your summers are here, though I doubt I will be around to see it." The male would comment as he finished off his skewer and ordered a few more, "perhaps we could train together sometime before I leave the village." Son'Rei would add with a smile, it had been too long since he had a decent spar and in all honesty was beginning to feel out of shape because of it. If his former sensei could see him now, she would be ashamed of him. Four years and not a single new technique learned, his daily routine had fallen apart and he was beginning to develop a gut, he needed to get back to it even if that meant he needed to start with the basics again. "Actually this is the first time I have ventured beyond the boarders of the land of wind. I spent four and a half years wandering the desert, with no true purpose or reasoning. When I finally returned home, I found the village in ruins and those that survived stated Iwagakure had ownership of the land. I travelled straight here after that, to see what I could learn from your village before I continued my search. Though I did pass through the land of Birds along the way here, it is quite a magical place. Have you traveled any beyond the walls of the village? Can you tell me anything about the destruction of my village?"

As Son'Rei described his natural phenomenon of constantly running so hot that water would simply evaporate off of his body, Kudo's eyes widened in awe. Surely this wasn't the craziest thing to hear in her line of work, but with her strange fascination with accomplishing the smallest hint of this anomaly it became a point of curiosity to her. The prospect of training was incredibly enticing, it had been a while since she'd had a proper sparring partner. “Thwat, would be great!” She barely managed to pull out while finishing her final skewers, the both of them ordering another round. “I haven't had many sparring partners to train with of late. There's been a lot of rainy yakitori training days on my own.” Kudo felt kinda down on herself for not trying to reach out to more of her comrades, but there had just been so few genin in active duty to really do anything with.

The conversation quickly took a turn as Son'Rei talked about the years spent wandering in the desert only to return to a destroyed village whose ownership had transferred to her own homeland. Gulping nervously, Kudo took a sip from her dwindling cup of tea to wet her suddenly parched throat, feeling quite inadequate to give the answers she felt Son'Rei would truly desire. “I'm not sure who is responsible for the state of your village, but I do recall hearing about Sunagakure's transfer to Iwagakure a couple years back.” Kudo certainly didn’t sense any malice emanating from the suna-nin but her guard was certainly raised with the potential animosity towards her village one could easily feel in his position. “There's been much talk of assassinations and massacres in the past few years, honestly it's part of why I haven't signed up for any missions outside of the Land of Stone. I have traveled outside the village's borders though, the mountains can be quite peaceful with many nice hiking paths and scenic views to be had.”

Hearing Kudo agree to sparring with him would bring a smile to Son'Rei's face, haven't not had someone to spar with in several years now. True be told, he had not had a spar since his training with his former sensei before she disappeared, so it would be good for him to stretch out and practice his techniques more. It wasn't too surprising to Son'Rei that Kudo didn't have much information about what had happened in Suna, though there were rumors floating around the village, deep down he knew that he would likely have to speak with someone high up in the ranks of the village to get any hard facts. "That's to be expected, I guess." Son'Rei would reply with a slight shrug as he finished off his tea, motioning to the shopkeeper for more with a wide smile as they waited for more skewers as well. "So what can you tell me of the local life? What is the Tsuchikage like, and what kind of missions have you been on? Do you work with a team, or is it more of a solo effort?" Son'Rei would ask with curiosity as he shifted the conversation. He had thought about going to see the administration about him earning his keep so to speak and doing some missions for them while he was there, but he didn't know much about how they operated or if the Tsuchikage would even trust an outsider to do missions for them. He had more questions of course, but did not want to overwhelm Kudo with them all at once so he would only ask a few for now. Taking a sip of his new cup of tea, his mind wandered only slightly to thoughts of where he would go after he left the land of stone and what he could still learn while he was here.

Thankfully, Son’Rei didn’t seem perturbed by the news, or lack thereof. Kudo raised a hand with her empty tea cup and was acknowledged by the shopkeeper who she could see was tending to some rising flames from the grill at work. Playing with the cup in her hands she recalled the first time she’d seen the Tsuchikage when promoted to genin and receiving the headband tied proudly to her forehead. “She’s really strong! At least that’s what they say, I don’t get much face time with her. I’ll see her running about busily when coming in for a mission at the administration building.” Taking another futile sip from the clearly empty cup Kudo tasted the single droplet of tea that slipped down its cooling surface. "She's really young though! Not like most old geezers up at top. Sets a good example for us kunoichi." A confident followed the final statement, it was after all confident kunoichi like her that inspired her to walk this path.

“I mostly go on missions helping find cats and babysitting the academy kids.” With that remark she’d puff her chest and fold her restless arms, wanting to go on something further out and explore the exciting but scary world. “I usually go with a small team, but they rotate with whoever's available. I’m… only a recent graduate so I’m still working myself up.” With the little lie she’d scratch her neck nervously, even after admitting to being scared to leave the Land of Stone she was still embarrassed about her lack of confidence. “Training’s mostly a solo effort, so it’ll be nice to work with someone else for a change!” As she beamed with a bit of a forced smile to try and lighten the mood she’d worked herself into, the universe seemed to answer her with the plates of skewers being lifted in front of them, as well as new cups of tea poured. Slamming her hands together she bowed to the shopkeeper in thanks. “You’re the best Sumi, they’re even better today!” Wolfing down a whole skewer she hungrily tore into the chunks of meat, almost bending the small wooden stick with the force.

Son'Rei would smile as he listened to Kudo speak of the Tsuchikage, though she didn't know a lot about her having only seen her briefly, the man could tell that the Tsuchikage was someone who inspired her people. Son'Rei didn't get a lot of that from Sunagakure, the Kazekage was a powerful individual that deserved respect there was no doubt about that, but they didn't inspire the people. It was that which lead to the village's downfall, poor leadership. It was nice to know that not every village suffered from the same neglect as the former Kazekage had. "Leading by example is a good way to go about things, it shows that you don't have to be old to be wise. I am glad that you have someone that you can look up to for inspiration, it is an important part of developing as a Shinobi or Kunoichi. You inspire for that greatness and then you surpass it, and one day you will be inspiring others."

Listening to Kudo talk about the missions, he could tell something was off. Whether she was lying about the missions she had been on or embarrassed about the missions, he couldn't tell but he could tell she seemed nervous about it. He wouldn't press the issue, and on the outside it wouldn't even seem as though he could tell she was hiding something, instead he would smile as the new skewer was placed in front of him. "Well, I have been thinking of looking into earning some money on my travel. If your village allows it, I will be doing some missions where I can help out. Though I don't think animal wrangler is in my skill set, they don't tend to like me too much and I don't particularly like them either. But if allowed I will be helping out where I can, so maybe they will assign us a mission together or something."

Though it might have been rather forward of him to say that they could do missions together, Son'Rei would not be trying to say that she had to go on missions with him, though if they did it would likely allow them to do better missions than babysitting and animal control. Taking a few bites of the skewer before washing it down with the tea, Son'Rei would nod thanks to the chef before turning his attention back to Kudo. "As far as training, it has been a long while since I went through the steps but if you are willing to either now or on another day is fine with me. It would be good to see where I rate with a fresh genin out of the academy, just to see if I still got it or not." He would laugh slightly at the end, in truth he hadn't trained against someone since he graduated the academy himself, so it would be nice to see if he had improved at all or had just been idle.

The prospect of training had certainly excited Kudo, but she hadn’t even considered going out on a mission together and she simply sat there, mouth agape with even sparkly-er eyes than shone earlier. How long had it been since she'd been on a real mission? “Y-yes! If the village would allow it I’d be super down for a joint mission. I’ll bet they’d let us take something a little more challenging with the two of us working together.” Her already animated body now bounced with extra pep in her movements, chewing with an added level of determination in her eyes.

The notion of heading to training now had Kudo wolfing down the rest of her skewers, as the last wooden skewer clattered on the plate she raised her cup of tea to wet her throat with a final gulp. “It’d be nice to warm up with some training before seeing if we could set out on a mission together. Iwagakure has some nice training grounds on the west side; lots of stone to access for a good duel.” Pumping her fist excitedly, she'd wait for Son’Rei to agree before getting up after paying and giving a wave before heading off. “See you next week, Sumi!”

Son'Rei would nod as Kudo seemed just as excited to train as he was, finishing off his own skewers and tea, Son'Rei would pay for his meal before moving to follow Kudo to the training grounds. Wondering what the training grounds the land of stone had to offer and how it compared to what they use to have in the land of Wind.

{Exit Thread}