Save Me [OPEN]

Spoiler:

"Miso with kakuni, please", a voice said.

The head chef took the ryo, and thus was obliged to carry out the customer's order. While he was preparing the food, he shot a few casual glances, without any particular intention naturally, at the man behind the voice, who had his back turned against him. The hairstyle did not tick him off because he had seen numerous hair like that, but it was something about the black outfit that he had on as well as the aura that he had which the chef was strangely familiar with. When he put all the noodles, toppings, and broth all in one clean bowl (despite its use hundreds of times over many months), he set it all down before the man on the table-top, looking at the customer. "Here you go", the chef said.  

"Looks like Kojirama wasn't too shabby in keeping the tree together...", the man said.
"Excuse me?" the chef retorted, his ears detecting a familiar tone from the man.
At last, the man turned and sat down, dipping his chopsticks into the bowl of noodles, and darted his eyes up at the chef while his twin blades were settled down right on the counter.

The chef's eyes squinted so that his senses could fully trace the source of the familiarity, before his eyes flared up and a smile hatched from his face.

"Ah..... Musashi!"

Later

"Quality has not gone down at all, Tenchi-san...." Musashi said, as he was almost done with his ramen. "Haven't seen you around in months. I heard that you left and just disappeared on some village duty or something. Well, welcome back. And where you been?"
"It was just some leisure time. I just made a personal trip around the world. That's all. Came back a few days ago, actually haha..."
"What?! Oh, man! You should have stopped by earlier then. We had your favorite".
"It was a tiring day. All that walking and training. Ah well. I picked up a few things". With the last slurps from his bowl, Musashi finished his order and used a napkin to wipe off his mouth. "You're still in business, old friend", he said, satisfied. Musashi grabbed his belongings as Tenchi tended to a bunch of other customers. He left Ichiraku Ramen, happy that even the meal reminded him of home. He was older, hopefully wiser now. As Musashi collected himself, he blended in with the crowd of his fellow men, with new and old ninja alike introduced to the busy streets of the village. He had become a shadow among the leaves....

Lavii was out and about as always. He had gained some kind of noteriety within the village having gained 3 tomoe sharingan as a child. Something that he had hidden his entire life, but had come to light. The young Uchiha was wearing normal Uchiha styled clothing that consisted of a black short sleeved shirt. Under said shirt he wore a compression shirt which covered his mouth. The outer shirt had the Uchiha crest on its back. He also wore simple black shorts and blacks shinobi sandals. He himself was just returning to the village and had heard there was a attack on the village as well as other things happening. He was baffled at the news, but this was a major village with a lot of enemies. He walked the streets with no real purpose; he passed by a man a man whose presence felt familiar. Lavii turned to head and looked at the man. "Musashi Sensei..." He spoke loud enough for all to hear.

She seemed to come back to the shop with a seemingly happier demeanor. 3 long years of training and gruelling as a chunin under the care of her family near Kumo. She came back ever so often to check on her close family in Konoha and friends of course. She of course missed it's calm wind and beautiful scenery. Of course most of the population hasn't gone off well but she knew the place was still her home. More so she missed her friends, her sensei, even her rival. So many people she felt trust towards and put herself on the line if needed to help aid them.

She took a breath of air and went inside for a moment as she took her place farthest from the others like she always had. She then rose her voice to the chef with a small smile. "Spiciest you have if you have it..." She asked awaiting her meal thinking back to when she was a genin and barely seemed to smile, now with growing up she felt more comfortable and stable in her abilities. More so more able to trust others without having to go through a ton of trouble.

Once her dish arrived, she ate it properly without a blink of an eye or tear drop from just how spicy and hot it was. As she finished up she nodded a thank you to the man as she paid her meal and just as she began to exit she noticed a larger figure leaving. It took her a while, looking it over as she blinked for a moment before lighting up. "Musashi, good day my old sensei..." She grinned to him for a moment as she looked to the boy around her age come up as she laughed lightly. "New team already it seems, how nice...looks like you've got alot of work then." She mentioned before sighing out. "Sorry for the intrusion it's just I wanted to thank you for training me but also helping me out with a few troubles. You're an amazing teacher really." She said with a smile as she turned to the boy. "He really is, just try to keep him away from the girls...he loses his attention near them." She chuckled slightly.

WC: 376

((well it did say open and I wanted a bit of closure and fun with old sensei!~))

"How all of you have grown.... Takeo and Kuroo must have nearly caught up to my height by now..."

He was rejoining the community of leaves that were scattered all around the village,when all of a sudden someone had called his name, addressing him as "sensei". Musashi stopped walking and turned, sliding his feet towards him. He had not recognized he who was garbed mostly in black, especially with his mouth covered. He had looked at the dark-haired amber-eyed shinobi, who was nearly as tall as him, trying to place him within his memory bank. He hadn't quite remembered who he was until from the corner of his eye, he saw a very familiar auburn-haired kunoichi who he himself had trained. It was Hitomi, all grown up, addressing him as sensei once more. Her new outfit was not too different from what she wore as a Genin, and her hair was much longer, colored more beautifully too. Musashi had been caught off guard by her appearance, although it was not specifically her transition into a young woman that did it. It was the smile. A new radiating aura that replaced the depressed quiet mood that once colored Hitomi. It was like he was looking at a completely different person. Indeed, for a brief moment, she had been revived back into the world.

Hitomi had thanked him for being her sensei, to which Musashi humbly smiled. "You seem like a new person, Hitomi. Bolder and stronger. In return, I can only thank you for continuing to walk the kunoichi path. That's all I wanted, really", he had replied. Hmm.... 70 cm... no, she's an 80?! That's scary good... Musashi thought. He was glad that he lived in Konohagakure.

Afterwards, he remembered who the boy was. He was an Uchiha, although he did not remember his name. Musashi did not tutor him, but he knew that he was a Genin from another cell of the same generation as Kuroo, Hitomi, and Takeo, and remembered that he often came over to see what was going on in their training sessions. The Uchiha who he had known as a young boy had grown into a fine man, and a full-fledged shinobi for Konohagakure, no different from himself. He had looked at the two of them with a proud smile on his face, and also thought back to those two other knuckleheads that he taght..

Lavii would use his right hand to move the shirt from his face. He had looked quite different from three years ago, but anyone could tell it was still Lavii Uchiha. The man before him seemed so much younger than he was now and it amazed Lavii. He wasn’t one of his students, but he still felt as if he was a Father figure of sorts, even if Musashi did not know this. It was then he saw Hitomi approach them and begin to have a conversation with Musashi who was her sensei. The two of them had a deeper bond than he had with the man standing in front of him, so he sort of faded to the back as they talked. When Hitomi would begin to talk to him Lavii would force a small smile. He did not actively talk to this girl, so he did not really feel too comfortable talking to her. Lavii would nod to her request of him. “Where have you been?” Lavii directed the question to Musashi. “And what have you gone through to appear to have aged so much?” Lavii would not ask this question a loud, but within his head instead.

She seemed to give a nod to him as if assuring her change was well known. "I spent some years with my cousin, you know her. Kasai is just someone you can't seem to frown around, it really helped me find some self esteem." She pointed out then looked over her clothing. "Well that and her taste in clothes helped out too." She chuckled for a moment before going on with the chat. "I walked it to protect my family, I still walk it for the same reason. I've just learned protection doesn't mean being strong or paranoid of every small thing, things are to come and I just need to be ready when they do not try to prevent them." She grinned for a moment to him then turned towards the other.

Speaking of her two teammates she hadn't seen them in a long while. Right after the exams Hitomi barely got the chance to say her good byes before heading off for better training under her cousin. She knew for sure Takeo would be ecstatic to see her, being they were friends in the group. Of course when she was younger she considered Kuroo a rival of sorts, however with her new demeanor she could only wonder how he'd react to who she was and what she does. It was definitely a thought to think on considering how different she was in and out, yet still remained herself at the same time.

"Well considering Takeo and Kuroo, I haven't seen them either. I bet they have grown in their own way. However before anything I wanted to find and thank you personally before relaxing with my family for the day." She sighed in a joyful manner. She then smiled over at Lavii and then thought a moment on something. "You...seem familiar." She took a moment to her thoughts, tapping her chin for a while. "I know for sure we've at least met before, what's your name? Maybe it'll jog my memory!" She asked politely towards Lavii. With a bit of curiosity biting at her.

WC: 345

"Hmm.... finding myself, I guess? This old fool can't stay here, forever. I spent a lot of time in Kumogakure and in a couple of the minor villages. Part of it was just to get sense of the culture there, but I spent my time trying to master myself. I did it in my own way so I don't really know how to describe it, but I guess.... you could say that I.... re-learned the Way of the Sword? yeah, let's go with that..."

Musashi replied to Lavii. He had been glad that Hitomi had spent her years gaining strength and confidence under her cousin. He had been reminded that Hitomi always placed the welfare of her family first, even above that of the village. That was the motive behind her will, and she has made herself into a strong woman because she followed it. Fundamentally, the youth of Konohagakure have never changed in their passion. "Thank you, Hitomi. Do send my deepest thanks to your cousin for me when you see her again".

Wished he could see some of the adults around.

Lavii would turn his attention to Hitomi as she began to speak to him. "My name is Lavii Uchiha." The words flowed from his mouth smooth and low, but not so low that he could not be heard. The Uchiha boys attention would then turn back to Musashi who had started explaining his whereabouts over the past 3 years. "That's interesting. That's why you seem more refined and far wiser in only 3 years. How was it learning a whole new culture and Sensei can you please Teach me what you learned one day?" The obvious fascination with what he was just told was obvious the words of the Uchiha. He was good with a sword, but he doubted he was anywhere as good as Musashi.

She smiled to them for a moment however she paused with the mention of the thanks to Kasai and seemed to look down and away for a moment as if like she once was. "I'm sure she knows your gratefulness." She mentioned giving out a shallow sigh before smiling calmly to try to get the distracting and sad thought out of her mind. "However I do have bad news upon her, she-" She paused and took in a deep breath for a moment. "Committed suicide whilst after my training, sad to say. As devastating as it was however I feel strangely fine with it." She said giving off a bit of a solemn smile. Once her question was answered she smiled to him nodding and tried to get off the depressing subject to chat to him. "Ah that's why you seem familiar. Please don't take me the wrong way but for a few moments you didn't seem like your clan's usual appearance so it confused me." She nodded her head down to him in a point of apology of sorts.

"Either ways the travels you had obviously are interesting, I myself would love to learn more however I need to refine my medical skills before I truly could begin to get into the deeper thoughts of weaponry." She mentioned looking at the both of them with a calm and easy demeanor. She couldn't help though that her thoughts traced back to her time in Suna and felt both pride but also a bit of heart ache. She didn't want to feel depressed and down once more but it was hard not to with the knowledge she had gained and the person she was with but no longer can be. Especially some person who seemed so happy, so uplifting in life and looked to the brighter things. Gone by her own hand with nothing left but her memory.

WC: 314

"Yeah, we'll make it a promise. Before you two reach Jounin class, I will instill inside the two of you the Shinshikata ~ the legendary sword style!"

A change in tone had been noticed by Musashi, as he could see Hitomi's hesitations, depressing state of mind, and struggle to keep herself composed as she had been about to reveal what took all of her courage to the two men. The news hit Musashi right in the chest like a hammer. Heat warmed up on the back of his neck as he suddenly felt that the aura of death fell on his shoulders. Even after all these years, tragedy had managed to struck one family of two villages. Musashi bowed his head a little before Hitomi, to show that he too was a little hung and to express his solemn condolences. "She was a great woman, your cousin..."

Everyone must be resilient. Bouncing back from depression or even from the border of death, humans learn to move forward. Musashi had lost several people that he had known before he had gone out: Tear, Soma, and Nero. Hitomi was no stranger to the aura of death either, for it was Soma who had been her beloved sensei and lost his life in an attack by a SSM. But they still survived in this world, and in this world where the Will of Fire binds them, there is no such thing as a pain that cannot be overcome, and a love that cannot be recovered. Perhaps one day, death will look away...

"One day, yes Lavii. I'll take the two of you. Kuroo and Takeo can join in, too. It's a very loud place..." he said. Then he also thought of instilling something vital into the two, and thought of something that was simply out of this world. Perhaps he could impart, as the strongest Nakata, his clan's fighting style to these two leaves.

Lavii was simply in the background as the two spoke. He was not paying much attention until he heard Hitomi mention her cousin had committed suicide. Lavii would show no emotion, but had a powerful sense of remorse for her. Being a Uchiha this young man had a strong sense of Family, so he felt deeply sorry for Hitmoi's loss. Although he did not say anything he sent vibes towards her. He could however tell that the young woman did not want to think about it so only Musashi would have picked up on the vibes. Her sudden change of demeanor slightly threw Lavii off, but not so much to where he would hesitate to talk or anything. 'His clans usual appearance.' What did that mean? Although she said no offense Lavii couldn't help but take some kind of offense to it. "What do you mean by that exactly?" You could tell that by the tone of his voice that he had taken some kind of offense to it. When Musashi began to talk he seemed to almost forget what Hitomi had just said. He turned to Musashi, who had agreed to train him in the way of the sword. A gleam suddenly appeared in the eye of Lavii when he heard this. He had become ecstatic, but his outward appearance would remain calm. "I wonder where those two are, but when do you want to get started?" Lavii asked with a smile. He himself was ready right then and there to get into training. He wanted to be the Greatest Uchiha since Madara or even Sasuke. Even within this generation there was the man named Sabo whom Lavii needed to surpass. If Hyuu had instilled anything in Lavii it was a sense of gaining power; even if they had two different ideas of what to do with said power.

She was trying her best to avoid the topic asked on beforehand even so far as to jump from one topic to another in some attempt to try to keep her mind busy and going as she did she took a moment to hear Lavii and then blinked for a moment in confusion. It seemed she said something she didn't really think through. "A-ah...um nothing sorry. Just rambling I suppose." She sighed wanting to punch her own face in for such a rude remark.  She was obviously embarrassed about even bringing up the topic.

She took the time and hesitation to try and regain some composure as she smiled to the group once more. She listened in about the training for a much higher goal and nodded. "I wonder that myself, I only can hope they'd want to or even if not would enjoy a small bit of time to recognize their old sensei." She didn't care for the power or the fact of how amazing the attack was. More so she cared for defending and protecting just as she always has, even it was once herself.

It was easy to see she was desperately trying to either keep on topic or change it, she may have changed and grown but that didn't mean death never hurts, even if one has said all they could and got all the time in the world to say their goodbyes even in everyday conversation it was hard to keep it out of mind and heart. She had no one in mind to surpass, no one in mind to be better than, only a goal to keep learning and getting stronger for her family, and now even for herself. This didn't mean she needed to forget the death, but rather learn to live with it.

WC: 301

"I should look for them later. Time has barely flowed for my body, but I think it would be me who would have a more difficult time recognizing them than the other way around. It would be nice to bump into both of them once same with you two. Mhm ~ mhm, while my eyes scour around the village, I can say that Kojirama has made me a happy man to see that our home is thriving ever more. News of Hashirama Senju's successor must have perked everybody's ears"

His head glanced away to see people of his world, because although they might never know each other, they were still people of a united land.
To Lavii's question earlier, Musashi had humped, "Hmm.....". he then smacked a fist on the palm of his other hand to show that he had reached a conclusion. "About a year, hmm mhm. I'll still be 'round. Your hearts just have to get a wee-bit stronger".

Musashi had not sensed the brief tension between the two Chunin. He merely interpreted their own exchange as a humorous one.

He was glad to see the young generation of shinobi once more. They had saved him.

Lavii was looking at Hitomi as she some what tried to cover her tracks about what she had said about the way Lavii looked. He began racking his brain trying to figure out what she meant, but couldn't figure out what she meant. He was truly interested in what she meant. "It is okay to tell me what it is that you meant." He could tell that she meant it to come out a different way. When Musashi began to talk Lavii's attention would shift to him. "Indeed it did. It has been a long time since Hashirama's Genes have held the reign; that was a more of less quote of what some of the elders are saying. Unfortunately Lord Kojirama has been...M.I.A. only a handful of the villages Shinobi know this, so you can imagine that it is a big deal. We have been having stand ins perform his duties." Lavii would speak low so that only Musashi could hear because he was not sure if Hitomi knew this information or not. Lavii would raise a eyebrow; what did he mean their hearts needed to be stronger? The question would rattle around in Lavii's head before he spoke."What do you mean by that Musashi Sensei?" The confusion was obviously present in the voice of the Uchiha.

She fumbled a bit with her words trying to explain, she wasn't sure how to without sounding rude whatsoever but she had to give him some sort of answer. "Aha, um...it's just, well you sorta reminded me of a legend past. I could be wrong though, I mean sorry in advance it's just...uh...the way you looked for a moment just sparked a memory and I just started blurting out words." She smiled awkwardly scratching the back of her head for a moment before hearing Musashi speak. "Indeed, I've met him once before for a funeral to another. He's very wise, though sorta rambles on that wise topic rather often. If anything though, he has done good here at least from what I've seen." She smiled to him calmly and nodded up to him.

"Stronger hearts?" She asked as a question thinking to herself and realizing what it meant for her fairly quickly. "I see...that will not be easy then..." She said to him but looked away in a solemn tone for a moment. "I hope the other two head that as well..." She said before sighing and fixing her hair back into place, she then begun smiling once more in a cheerful demeanor.

WC: 212

"See you later, cherubs!"

Upon hearing Lavii's secret revelation to him that the Hokage Lord Kojirama was not present, an eerie feeling had passed over Musashi. It was like his peace upon his return to his beloved village started to tilt, and demons emerged from the chinks. From Lavii's lowered tone and careful manner in revealing this piece of info to the elder shinobi, Musashi had felt that he had to do something once more for the village, both as a Sannin and a former Hokage. He still believed that Kojirama would turn out eventually. Kojirama is missing? No longer present in the village, after all these years? Musashi had known who to ask for more details and uncover how long this had been happening, and what the other authorities had done to substitute. He had hope in his heart that Kojirama had not disappeared and ventured off to the next side of the world. What occurred in other villages will not occur in his home. To Musashi, soon one of these days, Kojirama would turn up in the village, as a savior. Perhaps he had gone out on his own personal mission to uncover information to combat Konohagakure's enemies of the past? And selected people were chosen to keep guard over this truth and run the village for him while he was gone. Yes, Kojirama who Musashi had selected to be the next Senju lord of the house of the leaves, will not perish without saying otherwise. Power goes to those who are strong. So, with a deep desire to find more about this, he had to head to the Administration Building. It was good to see two young friends, and he had to rejoin the work train to make Konohagakure prosper as others have been doing every day. Bowing before them, Musashi had said "It was nice seeing the two of you". Then, he had simply turned away from them and ran towards the head building, waving his hand in the air for the two behind him to see as he went farther and farther away into the distance, calling that he would meet with the two budding leaves once more.

[EXIT]

Lavii raised a eyebrow to Hitomi's reply. "Legends of long past huh..." He wasn't convinced from her answer, but he decided to just drop it. The Uchiha man could tell that Hitmoi was racking her breain on what to say to Lavii after his question; this is why he decided to drop it seeing as it was causing unnecessary stress to the woman. Upon seeing Musashi's reaction Lavii would simply stand there. He still did not understand what Musashi meant by 'he needed a stonger heart', but he was sure that he would eventually figure it out. Lavii would turn to Hitmoi and blink a couple of times not really knowing what to do, but simply walk off. "See ya later I actually have to head somewhere." All be it a bit awkward he was not lying Lavii was actually headed to the Academy to hold a demonstration for the students there.

[Exit]

She nodded awkwardly not sure what else to say on that matter to him. She went on to see Musashi as she waved to him for a moment signaling a farewell until the next time. She took into account what he mentioned on stronger hearts and nodded to herself once more. She knew what she had to do but was unsure how to do it. She then noticed Lavii was leaving as well and nodded to him waving off. "Alright then see ya, I do to now that I think on it..." She mumbled to herself thinking on the time of day. She began to head off in a similar direction towards Lavii but not the same, she was to to do the same as he was. However she had to be ready and so she headed off to get her tools. She didn't want to come unprepared, especially with her younger brother probably at the Academy watching her intently. She didn't want to disappoint him or the others.

WC: 170

Exit