[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi was a creature of habit, and her habits were simple fare for a simple woman: she liked the same seat at the same three dive bars in Kaminari no Kuni, drinking the same cheap beer each time. Variance was reserved for her adventures abroad; once she was back home, he craved the comfort of familiar sights, easy routines. The problem with habit and routine was that she saw the same damn people all the damn time. If she wanted to meet someone new—you know, not the same five old fishermen that adopted her into their poker group, or all the women she’d gone on a single date with and subsequently ghosted or been ghosted by—then she needed to change things up. As she stood in a nightclub in a tight dress and high heels, surrounded by blaring music and people ten years her junior, Kizumi was beginning to regret changing things up. She was already a few drinks deep, and after making a lackluster effort to move around the room, she settled for sulking at the bar and nursing a beer that was notably not cheap, despite being the same brand she always drank. At this point, she thought, she might as well just go home. As she was standing up to do just that, however, she spotted a familiar face across the bar—Kiho. Kizumi would recognize that curly dark hair and those vibrant orange eyes anywhere. She began frantically waving her arms trying to get the special jounin’s attention and beckon her over, nearly toppling over in her heels as she plopped back in her seat. She had enough presence of mind to not race over—she didn’t want to assume that Kiho would want to spend time with her while off-duty, after all—but somehow managed to completely forget that the girl was, in fact, underage, and definitely not supposed to be there.

Mibōjin Kiho 昆™ -- 323

LAIKA OF THQ

[Mibōjin Kiho 昆™]

To say that her promotion would have prevented her from doing more of the things she wanted to was an understatement. More demand in her training in light of information about some of the things happening with other villages, more missions to refine her skills, and more training. The only fun training she got to have in recent memory was her trip to Kusagakure to help Koume become a better Jinchuuriki, which was definitely a success if you asked her. Other than that her days had become pretty repetitive, but with all that work came with some demands of her own.

Tonight, for the first time since she hung out with Lady Chihiro was she going to head out to a night club again. She was coming of age anyways so she wouldn't have to feel nearly as guilty about it this time. As usual she kept her attire casual, or in this case slightly above so she wouldn't give too many people a reason to hit on her, though it was likely going to happen anyways because she and Chomei were just too stunning to resist.

Hair done in curls as usual with the rest of her hair faded down the sides, a nice tight black short sleeved shirt, some cute jeans with some perfectly placed tears in them, and some red shoes. The weather was still pretty lame, but with the ides of March coming spring was just around the corner and from time to time the weather reflected that. Upon leaving putting her brother to bed and telling her mother goodnight Kiho flew out into the night. Literally, to her favorite night club.

The people there weren't the most interesting, but, the place itself was really nice and was one of the only places that looked the way it did. Getting in as usual would be a breeze as she cut through the long lines outside using the connections she established during her time as ANBU by doing favors for the bouncers that were responsible for determining who got in and out. Kiho always bathed in the joy of jealousy from the men and woman around stuck waiting outside to get in.

Was it childish? Maybe, but it was one of the many perks when you got to be as fabulous as she and Chomei were. Upon entering she'd head over to the bar and make small talk with some of the people she was once pretty familiar with before her responsibilities took off. They hooked her up on the drinks and she always made sure to provide them with good tips despite whether it was acceptable or frowned upon.

The usual plan was to head over to the VIP section reserved for her before she got her dancing on, but upon finishing her first drink she noticed a familiar face vaguely not to far from where she was. "I'm almost certain we know her Seven... But.. Ooooh, Kizumi!" Kiho exclaimed after an initial awkward stare. She'd quickly finish the rest of her drink before blowing a kiss to her bartender and walking over to the Jounin.

W-whoa whoa there young lady... I thought we were taking it slow tonight?

Chill Sassy wings, Ima be with my girl so I'll be fine.

Your girl? You only met her once?

Yeah yeah, but we'll be friends after all this, trust me. If it worked with Lady Chihiro I'm sure it'll work with Kizumi. Plus, she definitely passed the vibe check on that mission, remember?

Pfft..

"My goodness Kizumi! I didn't know you were still slaying like this?! I bet you cant get the men AND woman here off ya." The latter of which would be whispered in her ear before attempting to give the Jounin a hug. The two met one another not too long ago on a mission with other Jounin, but given its rank there wasn't much room for them to actually get to know each other, but it seemed like fate had other plans.

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Oh, thank the gods that Kiho wasn’t completely repulsed by her presence here. She even gave Kizumi a hug, which was a massive relief; she’d been momentarily completely consumed by the fear that she’d overstepped. ”Hiii, Kiho, hello, gosh,” she said with effusive enthusiasm, quite obviously already a few drinks into her night. She hugged the girl back warmly, a whole-body embrace from someone who knew that the secret to a good hug was sincere affection and zero inhibition. When she pulls back she gives Kiho a face, a little mock-scowl. "What d’you mean, still,” she said, lifting her chin. "I’m thirty-five, ma’am, not a damn corpse.” Despite this clear assurance that she was, in fact, hot shit, the suggestion that people were throwing themselves at her makes her press a hand against her face and shake her head in dismay. "Exactly the opposite is true, in fact,” Kizumi asserted blandly, "and anyway, I shouldn’t be messing around with a bunch of youths regardless, I have no business hooking up with anyone in their twenties.” She wasn’t Toshi, after all. Hah, gottem. She’d have to write him to let him know that she burned him that hard. But she waved a hand to push all that aside. "But that doesn’t matterrr, Kiho, what’re you drinking?” There was a pause, and a series of emotions crossed Kizumi’s face: first, the sudden realization that Kiho was still underage; then, the eh, whatever as she recalled how young she had been herself when she was getting up to the same kind of nonsense; which rolled into a suspiciously sharp-eyed glance as she gave Kiho a little up-and-down look, as if to assess exactly how drunk the young woman was. The assessment: hardly at all, so where was the harm? Kizumi would be keeping an eye on her from here on out anyway, so they wouldn’t get into too much trouble. She knocked back the rest of her own shitty beer, then leaned on the counter to get the bartender’s attention while she waited for Kiho’s order. "Oh, does your friend like anything?” she asked after another moment’s thought. "Like, flavor-wise, do they have an opinion?”

Mibōjin Kiho 昆™ -- 380

LAIKA OF THQ

[Mibōjin Kiho 昆™]

"Hmm, good point!"

Kizumi was definitely far from a corpse, but unfortunately in todays misogamy spectrum it was still sort of frowned upon for woman like herself to be out like this. Fortunately, Kizumi was a badass in her field of work as a Shinobi and a woman so there wasn't much anyone could to tell her. Nevertheless, she was surprised to hear that nobody had been throwing themselves at her. Perhaps that had more to do with her taste in people and less of what others might be given there were so many younger people in the club.

They tended to gravitate more to people with their intellectual level and social status which is probably why she never found any interest in most of them. They could still be fun from time to time, but the way she saw it? It would never amount to the connection she could make with someone in her own field of work. Especially if she opted to date a guy. "Well, I mean. LEGALLY nothing is stopping you? Then again our culture is also pretty strict in terms of preference SO, I get it."

Regardless, the Jounin quickly shifted the conversation to what she had to drink to which Kiho begin shifting her head side to side as if she were hiding from somebody. "Eh.. Whatever is the strongest Sake they have. I didn't really ask the name." There wasn't many downsides to being a Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi, but she did learn something in the past that sort of took away from the fun she hoped to have by coming out here.

"What do they like? Nothing to be honest. All of this is considered to be poison, and because of that the short term affects of drinking don't really sit well with us unfortunately." On the plus side it meant Chomei and Kiho were pretty much immune to any poison they adapted to, which in this case meant all the properties that would make one loose under the influence. It sucked to only be able to get a buzz for only a few minutes before it all came flowing out of her.

"But flavor wise? Hmmm... that actually a good question, I don't think I've ever asked that question before."

Yeah, you just come here drinking with murderous intent.

Hmmm, I guess that's fair sassy wings. What do insects eat?

Seriously....

"Yeah, so I didn't get an answer. I don't think this place sells whatever it is they may like."

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Legally, Kiho said. Kizumi gagged. If she had to do some mental run-around to justify that technically, legally she was allowed to date or mess around with someone well over a decade younger than her, then someone needed to take her out back and put her out of her misery, because clearly something had gone irreversibly wrong in her life. If someone else wanted to be a cougar, more power to them—she just didn’t think she’d be able to sleep at night if she pulled a stunt like that. The strongest sake? Kizumi made a face—what kind of tolerance had Kiho built up already? Kizumi herself had been drinking… well, maybe heavily was a strong word, she didn’t think she was that bad about her boozy habits, but she’d been an experienced drinking for a good twenty years at this point, and she was still a lightweight. This place’s strongest Sake would knock her on her ass. But Kiho explained further, and Kizumi made a sympathetic noise. It seemed safe to assume that ’don’t really sit well with us’ translated into a resistance of some kind; Kizumi wasn’t exactly the scholarly type, nor did she know jack shit about what powers a bijuu actually held, but she could put a few puzzle pieces together if someone handed them to her. "Alright, that makes sense,” she conceded. "You had me worried for a sec, but you’d have to drink—gods, you’d have to be drinking pure alcohol, constantly to get anywhere, right? That… sucks.” She couldn’t imagine; it was practically the only way she liked to unwind. If it was taken away from her so suddenly… sure, she was safer, but god, at what cost? She turned back to the bartender then, who had made his way over after serving a group of girls gathered up down the bar. "Hey, hi,” she said brightly, "what’s the strongest stuff you have? Like, the strongest. I need a full bottle of it, you can put it on my tab, okay?” The guy looked perplexed for a moment, glancing between Kizumi and Kiho—his gaze lingering a little too long on Kiho for her liking—and opened his mouth as if to say something. Kizumi pulled a little stack of coins out from her purse, and pressed them into the bartender’s hand. "Thank you so much for your hard work,” she said sweetly, at which point the guy closed his mouth, gave her a little upnod with a grin, and went to go retrieve…whatever the hell Kizumi had just ordered. "Well, maybe we can figure it out with some experimentation,” she said thoughtfully as she turned back to Kiho, as if what she had just ordered was a perfectly normal thing to do. She didn’t have much to go on without context—but it never hurt to try a bunch of things to see what stuck! "Shochu’s pretty friendly to, like, putting things in it to give it flavor—you could try different kinds of fruits or flowers, maybe? Or a mixed drink, see if they like something sweeter?” Kizumi tapped her lips, now deep in thought, incredibly invested in the most important mission she’d ever embarked on: finding out what a bijuu likes to drink. "Can you put meat flavors in alcohol, is that a thing?”

Mibōjin Kiho 昆™ -- 576

LAIKA OF THQ

[Mibōjin Kiho 昆™]

It seemed like the Jounin caught on to what she was saying pretty fast, but unfortunately even that wouldn't work. Not unless there was a hundred completely different variations of alcohol, otherwise she'd become immune to it after getting over it the first time. A blessing and a curse all into one. As a young woman it was something to frown upon in moments like this one, but she knew as she finally grew into womanhood she'd be thankful to her immunity to all those poisons and toxins. Infinite beauty was a dream for many, but only she could truly achieve it.

She expected afterward that the two of them might move on to something else as she casually stared off into the distance after shrugging her shoulders, but Kizumi calling out to the bartender definitely caught her by surprise. Her orange optics were open wide as she specifically requested the strongest stuff they had. Kizumi definitely carried the intellect of a Jounin, but she was definitely going to be the parallel version of her former mentor, and honestly? She could appreciate this.

After years of looking down on a lot of the Jounin who were once responsible for making sure her abilities were being kept in check, it was good to finally meet someone who liked to have fun just like her. Not to mention someone who wasn't going to be judgmental. Not to say Chihiro was one of those people, but there were definitely plenty who would. Plus coming across a woman like herself with friendship potential was pretty hard these days.

Kiho glanced between both Kizumi and the bartender as she waited to see what would follow as there seemed to be some hesitation. She wasn't quite sure what kind of standoff she was partaking in, but once the Jounin pulled out some ryo it seemed to solve whatever problem that appeared to be on the rise. "Some experimentation you say?" Kiho replied with curious eyes as she scooted slightly over to where the Jounin was standing.

"Hmm, you hear that Seven? This alcohol is friendly AND, we can try a number of different things to add flavor."

Aren't you the host? It's not like you're waiting for my permission to try anyways.. And for your information--

A large thump could be felt around her seal as Kizumi got to the part where she asked if adding meat flavors would be possible. "Sooooo, definitely no to the meat thing... Yeah, definitely a no to that, BUT!~"

Ehem, as I was going to say.. I like things such as Fruit, Nector, and Sap!

"Aye aye Sassy wings! Fruit sounds like the best option for them since you're so KINDLY taking care of the drinks Kizumi. WE GREATLY appreciate you."

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi beamed—meat had been way off the mark, but fruits were right on the money! She didn’t mind covering the tab, either; it was a wonderful thing, to treat a new friend, and it wasn’t like she was spending her money on much else anyway. The regular part of her pay that went to her sister’s family was taken out and sent along automatically at this point, so it barely even factored into her budgeting, and most of her budget went to food and drink anyway. It was more expensive stuff than what she was used to, but hey, she’d come out tonight to have fun, right? Better this than slinking back to her usual dive bars alone, again. "Anything for a friend,” Kizumi said with a wink—though the effect was, uh, lessened by her eyepatch. Hard to tell a blink from a wink when one of your eyes is gone. "It’s nice that you get to go out like this, but I can’t imagine it happens too often—you were under pretty hard lockdown for a while, yeah? Have things loosened up at all?” She understood the necessity of constant surveillance for the host, but it also seemed so harsh, scrutinizing a teenager’s everyday life so severely. She couldn’t imagine that the shinobi responsible for keeping an eye on her were especially pleasant about it, either; there were ways to go about these things without alienating the person you were responsible for, but Kizumi doubted they followed those methods. A little trust went a long way, even when you were dealing with a potential weapon of mass destruction.

Mibōjin Kiho 昆™ -- 274

LAIKA OF THQ

[Mibōjin Kiho 昆™]

Kiho hoped the rest of this night would continue to move at the same flow as it did for herself and Chihiro. Having another person to hang out with like would definitely be the kind of fun she needed in her off time. Kiho would be taken by surprise when Kizumi asked her about the nature of her life as a Jinchuuriki. While it wasn't an issue it definitely wasn't a question she hadn't been asked in awhile since she'd become so busy as of late.

Not to mention most of her closest friends were too low rank to be aware of her position like Kizumi. Nevertheless, she wouldn't miss out on a prime opportunity like this one to be able to vent about it as she'd been dying to have this sort of talk for awhile. "WELL! Since you asked so nicely." Kiho added sarcastically with a smile on her lips. "To a degree things have actually lightened up for me, but as you noted it is pretty hard to get out these days."

"I still have ANBU who follow me around because they have to be prepared for the worst case scenario at all times.. I do however get a kick out of making life hard for them from time to time given how well I've progress. You know its kind of hard to reach a god y'know." Kiiho added with a laugh as the latter of what she said was geared to the name she'd been giving by the people of the village who spotted her flying in the skies.

"But the amount of operatives I have on me now are much smaller in number given how much in tune I have become with Chomei, and also how close I am in control in contrast with the last.. Jinchuuriki." The latter part being whispered as she covered her hand while her eyes traveled side to side. Since she learned of Keisukes whereabouts she'd become a big fan of how much they accomplished and how close they were to being able to master almost all of Chomei's abilities.

"My life is a busy one between this job and the other I have, but I take a lot of pride in being the villages 'ultimate weapon.' In name it kind of sucks, but I think we've managed to make the most of it regardless. The people of Kumogakure mean everything to me and I'd do anything to make sure they remain safe."

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

They have to be prepared for the worst case scenario at all times. Kizumi made a sympathetic noise at that—of course Kiho was aware of how potentially dangerous she could be. Kizumi didn’t have to know much about the intricacies of being a jinchuuriki to know that it had to weigh heavy, the high-security-clearance eyes on the village all on your back, waiting to see if the ticking time bomb would explode. It’s kind of hard to reach a god y’know. Kizumi laughed aloud. "Zeus, right? I think my baby niece reads that manga,” she said, grinning. "I gotta tell her that I know the real one, she’ll be thrilled.” When Kiho said the word, Kizumi mimicked her young companion, her gaze darting around the bar for any potential listeners. She suspected that Kiho’s own little side-glance was just a joke, but paranoia prickled up her spine—they weren’t in Kumo proper, and it wasn’t insane to think that foreigners could be in the club. Words held power, and rumors spread fast. Kiho didn’t need any more targets on her back. Still, it seemed fine. Kizumi’s posture relaxed. Though Kiho mentioned another job, Kizumi sensibly didn’t inquire or think on it further—if there were specifics she was meant to know, then she would. "Honestly, I think you’re doing great,” Kizumi said. "If the guys trailing you can’t take a joke, or keep up, that’s on them to do better.” Not that she could keep up with a jin, but she wasn’t about to try. "I’m just impressed that you have such a good handle on things. I was a mess when I was your age, and I had, like, a fraction of the responsibility.” She made a face. "I think I was still a chuunin, even. You’re killing it.”

Mibōjin Kiho 昆™ -- 316

LAIKA OF THQ

[Mibōjin Kiho 昆™]

Kiho blushed as she noted how her baby niece read the manga pertaining to the name she was given by her colleagues around the village. It was always so weird hearing it said out loud when she was around, but she couldn't deny that being compared to a powerful lightning Deity was certainly a flex she liked to brag to Chomei about. "Oh you're too kind.. You don't have to do that!" Kiho exclaimed while covering her face from embarrassment. Getting compliments from a decorated Jounin wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

Honestly though? Kiho was glad to be getting love from some of the people she believe wouldn't have her best interest at heart. With Raikage always being so busy with politics she never truly got the chanced to be acknowledge for all the work she had done. The village seemed to look in the other direction the moment they felt she wouldn't be able to meet the expectations set forth by the previous Jinchuuriki, Keisuke.

They saw her as nothing more than a placeholder until they found someone better down the line. Well, it wasn't like they said any of that directly, but it didn't stop her from feeling as though she was. Regardless, she scoffed at the naysayers and now she and Chomei were the best duo in the village. Together they would be bring the locals business back to life and save the village from all the problems created in the wake of the plague.

"And here I was thinking I was too hard on myself. All that talk about how much of a mess you were and somehow you're here as a Jounin making lil ole me feel like I'm actually doing something.. I think you are equally as amazing. You just have had more hoops to jump through to get to where you are today. It's because of vets like yourself that my path to success has become so easy. You guys made the ultimate sacrifices so I could be a spoiled kid who flies around like a deity all the time."

Kiho joked in the hopes that she would be able to give back the love she received from Kizumi. "So, what's it like being in your shoes. Are you still in the prime of your career or are you looking at taking a step back from all the madness?" Kiho asked curiously. There was this vibe she got from Kizumi that screamed excitement, but in the same breath questioning that same excitement in favor of something more timid and peaceful.