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[attr="class","bsltmarg"]Himawari

ヒマワリ

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It had only been an entire since Himawari had returned to the village. Her home,this place was everything to her, so even if she were a prisoner for some days, she was still very happy to be back. After being released, she was told that she would have escorts, and even trained shinobi watching over her regardless of where she went, albeit at certain times. Well that was the price to pay, she had no problem with it however.

The woman made her way through the village, by herself. The village still seemed the same, the only difference was the way the villagers treated her. Walking with her hand down to hide her idenity, the villagers still recognized her. The mumbling and staring made Himawari feel as if she were out of place. It was obvious that they weren't too fond of her being back in Konoha, as bad as she wanted to break down, the woman continued to make her way through the masses until she eventually stumbled into a bar. Making her way towards a stool with her head down, she would take a seat.

One hand shielding her face as she waited to be helped by the bartender. The music played, and the atmosphere of the bar was lively. She enjoyed the energy, but only because it kept the unwanted attention away from her. Going out was such a hassle for her nowadays that she would rather just be alone most of the time. 

@Yusuke Sarutobi x words x notes

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[Yusuke Sarutobi]

It was an average afternoon at the drunken monkey. Shinobi having returned to the village were scattered about the place, enjoying the music and conversation. Yusuke was in the kitchen finishing up some meat skewers he had made for everyone.

It had been truly heartwarming to see how when given the chance people would pitch in. The Drunken Monkey didn't charge for anything. Instead Yusuke simply asked for people to donate what they could. His fridge and freezer were now stocked with food, and the tip jar on the counter flowed over with Ryo. It was enough to keep his stock, and even help out with the bills a little.

He worse his normal shinobi attire, with his weighted bracers and greaves. Over his pure white flack jacket he wore an apron. "Do whatever you want to the Cook" was written across it in red letters along with a smiley face that had one eye closed in a wink. He exited the kitchen, carrying a tray of skewers and plates.

At one end of the bar he saw two men sitting together and he sat the tray down. They seemed to be looking rather intently at a woman sitting alone on the other end.

"Lot of nerve showing her face." One said.

"Disgrace. We should haul her off." The other replied.

"Let's go over there." The first said.

"Oi." Yusuke said, his voice level but his eyes ablaze with anger, "Can't you read the sign?"

He pointed over his shoulder to the wall behind him and one of the men squinted.

"No shirt, no shoes, no problem" he said quizzically.

"What?" Yusuke said, looking over his shoulder.

Sure enough he had pointed to the wrong sign and he quickly gestured to the one beside it.

"No. That one." He said with a sigh.

"If you don't have anything nice to say, drink a beer instead." The second man read aloud.

"Exactly. This is my bar, and nobody starts trouble here." Yusuke said.

The two men looked him up and down in his silly apron.

"We could take you." One said quietly.

Yusuke leaned down on the bar and smiled at the two men.

"Oh I'm sure you could," he replied his voice almost a whisper, "but as I said this is my bar. A magical place where food and drink are free and a good time can be had by all. I wonder how many shinobi in here would jump up and kick your asses if I asked."

The two men looked at each other, and then around the bar where perhaps a dozen people were sitting.

"That's what I thought." Yusuke said, standing up straight.

He grabbed two of the skewers, put them on a plate and placed them in front of the men.

"Do yourselves a favor. Eat these before you say anything else stupid." He said and he grabbed another plate and skewer and moved down the bar.

He reached the dark haired woman and sat the plate down beside her. She seemed to be trying to hide her face, or else she has had a terrible day, a dejected aura seemed to radiate from her.

"Rough day?" He asked, leaning on the bar, "Can I get you anything? Booze, water, a helpful ear?"

He gave his ear a little tug and chuckled at the woman.

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[attr="class","bsltmarg"]Himawari

ヒマワリ

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Himawari minded her business while she sat alone, keeping her words and thoughts to herself. The woman has outstanding hearing, so everything that was said in the bar was heard by the senju, all the good times, stories, laughter that many of the customers were talking about, as well as the rude ones who weren't so fond of Himawari's presence. She knew better than to react, instead her shoulders sunk even more than they were before. Her body language could tell the tale of her mood, no matter how hard she tried to seem normal.

From the back came a man with blonde hair carrying a plate of skewers, it smelled delicious, but the woman didn't expect to be offered anything. Her ears picked up on the man's words as he confronted the two shinobi who were just talking bad about her. Her eyes shifted to the three as the man pointed towards the sign, her eyes would follow and she would read the sign herself.

"No shirt. No shoes. No problem???"

The woman would read to herself in confusion, and would then read the sign next to it. A small grin would force its way onto Himawari's face for a split second before disappearing again. Shaking her head, she would continue to listen to her surroundings. He was on his way over towards her, she could tell. Sitting up a bit as he would place the tray of meat skewers down beside her. His words would catch her attention however. "Rough day" he would ask.

Himawari's eyes would shift to the side, slowly taking her hand away from her face, she would slightly nod at the cook. He would offer her a drink, and a helpful ear, but Himawari wouldn't respond immediately. Silence would overcome the two, as the chatter in the background proceeded.

"You didn't have to stand up for me back there..."

Himawari would say with a soft insecure tone.

"If I'm driving your customers away then I..probably don't belong here."

She would say, the last part of her statement fading away as she looked up at the signs yet again. This was a place where everyone was welcomed, but who would want her here? Who would possibly support a criminal? A traitor? An enemy of the Leaf? No matter where the woman went she often found herself being asked to leave by the owner. This was her new life apparently. Her old friends won't even talk to her, let alone spend time together to catch up with the three years that they lost. She felt alone, even worse, she felt unwanted.

Yusuke Sarutobi x words x notes

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[Yusuke Sarutobi]

The woman nodded at Yusuke's question and lowered her hand from her face. She didn't touch the skewers Yusuke had laid out and instead simply sat.Yusuke raised a quizzical brow and placed his other elbow on the bar, getting comfortable. Finally the woman told him he didn't have to stand up for her.

"Oh? And why not? You let people sit around stewing on things, let anger sit and it breeds negativity. Not the kind of atmosphere I'm going for" he said simply.

She made note of driving his customers away and Yusuke laughed.

"You got to charge to have customers. These are happy freeloaders. If they don't like you being here seems like that's more their problem then mine. They are welcome to go actually spend some Ryo elsewhere. Now eat." He said, sliding the plate before her.

"Food does wonders to lift the spirits, and tell me what you want to drink. I'll have to dock my own pay if I don't provide good service " he said with a grin.

Yusuke had a soft spot for women. He blamed his mother for it, she had raised him that women deserved to be treated with kindness, taken care of. This had led to his take on chivalry. Sure it was old fashioned, but what was the harm.

"So you wanna talk about what's got you down?" He asked.

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[attr="class","bsltmarg"]Himawari

ヒマワリ

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Himawari's eyes stared into Yusuke's as he laughed at what she said. However she was serious, anyone who actually cared about their business would have gotten her to leave the second she walked in, she wasn't used to it, but at this point she was beginning to normalize it. The man's words said a lot about him. It didn't seem as if there was anything that bothered him. He knew right from wrong, and was an overall genuine person. Everyone in the bar was there because he wanted to offer a good time without charging them, instead, he let them tip whatever they considered to be fair for his service.

Himawari stared at the tray of food that was placed in front of her, shifting her eyes to face the blonde haired man yet again. Why? Why was he being so nice? To her out of all people, she didn't even have any intention of coming into his bar in the first place, it only happened by accident.

"What don't you understand?"

Himawari would say with a bit of frustration in her voice.

"I'm a criminal, you know...Himawari, the traitor...at least in their eyes."

The Senju would say in a soft tone as she gestured the crowd behind them. Placing her head in her hands, the woman would let out a soft sigh of frustration.

"There's not much to talk about. I just..wish things were different. That's all"

@  x words x notes

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[Yusuke Sarutobi]

Yusuke heard the frustration rising in the woman's voice as she told him he didn't understand, as she gave him her name, and as she expressed the views of those around her. She placed her head in her hands and Yusuke felt a surge of pity for the woman run through him.

Now that she had spoken her name Yusuke knew he had heard of her. Himawari was a shinobi of the leaf who had apparently gone rogue a few years back. She had rceently returned to the village and been stripped of most of her freedoms and status. Yusuke reached down, pulled out a bottle of ale and popped the cap off, taking a long drink as he gave her a moment to compose herself.

"Himawari," he said slowly, placing the bottle on the counter, "I'm not one to argue, but I don't think you understand."

He gave her a small smile.

"I've found in my experience that most people have the bad habit of forming rather large opinions based off of a rather small amount of facts. When meeting someone what people say about them tends to matter very little. Who they actually are on the other hand matters quite a lot." He said with a nod.

"In their eyes you can be lots of things. Who are you in your eyes?" He asked.

He picked up the bottle again, taking another drink.

"I don't know your circumstances or your story. All I know is when faced with situations we wish were different we have two very important questions to ask ourselves." He said.

He raised his index finger on his free hand.

"Can you change the situation? This ones tough, cause more often than not the answer seems to be no, but." He said raising his middle finger to join his index.

"The second question is, can you control how you let the situation make you feel, and how you respond to it? Usually the answer to that one is yes." He said.

He slid the plate closer to her, placed his bottle back on the bar, and crossed his arms.

"So now that we have established I'm not kicking you out, I won't kick you out, and trying to convince me to kick you out is a waste of both our time, I suggest you eat. Otherwise I might end up offended, because wasting food is a pretty high crime in my eyes." He grinned.

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[attr="class","bsltmarg"]Himawari

ヒマワリ

[attr="class","bsbody"] Himawari sat in her own self pity as her head rested in her soft palms, her hair brushed to the side. She couldn’t help but to feel as if the world was against her in this moment of time. Her mind was is disarray and she thought of how different things had been only a few years ago. She never wanted to leave, but it was her morals versus what the anbu captain deemed necessary, and surely she chose what she thought was right. A sigh escaped from her lips as she finally removed her face from her hands. Her amber eyes turned to face the man who had been sitting beside her as her name was called.

Yusuke went on to explain that she was the one who did not understand, that the way others viewed and treated her was not his own. Himawari could tell he was open minded, but it seemed as if here being too open to having a known criminal on his premises. She was nearly executed, and was still facing trial. That plus her being the tall of the town made her feel otherwise. The Sarutobi seemed genuine, but Himawari wasn’t buying it completely.

The plate slid closer to her, and she would slowly grabbed a skewer. Empty amber eyes rested on the food for a moment. She was hesitant to eat, finding places that were so willing to sell her food was extremely rare, let alone offer it to her. The woman had grown used to the cruel treatment to the point where whenever showed any trait of wanting to help and caring for her, she immediately proceeded to think it was a trap. The ANBU weren’t the only ones skilled in triggering a person’s psyche, the common villagers did so as well as they often spoke bad of her.

"I’m sorry Yusuke but...it’s hard for me to trust.”

She would say as she gently rested the skewer back on the plate. As hungry as she was, she just couldn’t bring herself to eat.

"You say that now, but what if customers stop coming here or even worse they link the two of us together? My own father doesn’t even want his name associated with mine...his only child.”

The woman would add on in a soft, remorseful tone. Her eyes diverted to the side as she looked at the ground. Her sadness was beginning to turn into a flame that was quickly building within her soul. The very man that raised her, wanted her to disregarded, as if she were nothing more than scum or trash. Perhaps the man wasn’t wrong.

@tag x words x notes

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[Yusuke Sarutobi]

For a moment Yusuke felt that he had gotten through to Himawari somewhat as she picked up a skewer and began to bring it to her mouth. That sensation fled as she spoke, apologizing, and lowered the skewer back to the plate. He gave her a sad nod.

"Its okay. I understand." He said.

And he truly did. His father had always had issues with him, and more often that not Yusuke had been forced to dodge our avoid various pitfalls his father had placed before him. He reached down and tore of a piece if the meat on the plate, and plopped it in his mouth. He wanted to show her he hadn't done anything to the food, and to be quite honest it just smelled quite good.

He washed it down with another drink as she spoke. Once again he gave her a small smile.

"We could probably compare notes on fathers who hate us, but I don't know how much time you have." He said.

And then the full meaning of her statement hit him. Her concerns, and he chuckled.

"Let me tell you. Most terrible people don't tend to worry about the humble bar owners business, or his well being. They also don't usually find themselves wracked with guilt because of their actions. When I look at you a see a woman trying to do her best in a tough situation." He said simply.

"You are worried you are going to put me out of business, or someone will come after me for associating with you. Let me put your mind at ease. Anyone who comes after me looking for trouble, will have a bad time." He said with a laugh.

She didn't know him. All she saw was a guy in an apron serving drinks. The fact that she was even worried about him spoke volumes of her character. Yusuke reached down into the neck of the apron with one hand and pulled out the Konoha headband he had around his neck.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Yusuke Sarutobi, shinobi of Konohagakure, and owner of this fine establishment." He said, showing her the headband.

"And let me be absolutely clear. You Himawari, are welcome here anytime." He finished.