[Ishikawa Ren]

     Ren recalled standing up on the ridgeline with the other Ame shinobi who had accompanied him. The view of the river valley had been beautiful. He'd never seen landscapes like this, or the others he'd seen on the way here from Arashi no Kuni. Of all things, the sense of age astounded him.

     Not in any human sense, they'd only arrived once the scene a little while ago, relatively speaking - but Ren had noticed the way that there were divets in the surface of the stone hills and mountains in this land, old riverbeds cut into the hard surface by whoever knows how many thousands of years of rainfall.

     It was much harder to realize the scope of time, now that he was down in the city itself. It was the first day of the weeklong celebration around the Chuunin Exams. People bustled about, heading to and from where they'd been set up in and the festival grounds.

     Stalls lined the streets, Kaminari citizens selling refreshment, entertainment, and souvenirs. Ren thought about picking something up - he wanted something more than memories to remember this experience by.

     The crowds would've been too much for someone shyer than Ren, or not as used to people in such large numbers. But he adapted quickly, and he'd been living in Amegakure for a while now, so it was nothing in comparison. Still, he ducked off the street and into a small establishment that seemed relatively empty.

     Doesn't seem many of the other Genin have found this place yet, he thought. But as he turned the corner, he saw another shinobi - younger than him, pale, with a mass of luscious hair the same color as Ren's karakul black, and piercing red eyes - staring at him.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru | 290 words

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru had only just made it back from her journey into the foreign continent when Kizumi had told her she was doing the exams... again. It wasn't like the girl particularly opposed the idea of testing her growing skills with a new crowd, but it certainly wasn't something she was enthuased about. What she was, however, excited about was the potential learning opportunity that the exam presented for her - the foreign minds something to prod this time around, especially with the far stricter pull on lethality it was the perfect exam to study within rather then apply excessive effort within. She figured that would get her an earful later, but judging off the most recent to claim the title of 'Snake Sage' she doubted putting in half-efforts where it didn't pertain to her own path wouldn't be too harshly frowned on as long as she wasn't a complete embarassment. In that sense she had been eyeing a great many shinobi that were here today, and like that she was more then calculating on her approach. Not out of a shyness or a feeling like she needed to be too secretive to the truth of what she was after, but rather because she was looking for pragmatic youths - people who shared her views or seemedd less specialized to something off their appearance. Ishikawa Ren, a name she didn't know at all still, was one such person she found and having adjusted the scarf and haori that hide her more disfigured visage on her upper body towards her jaw she would approach. He was taking the normal route most did in the beating city, all she had to do was come from an opposing direction and she was bound to run into him. Thus where the two found themself in this awkward stand-off. A genin so obviously from Amegakure and a girl honestly hard to fully even pin as a shinobi if it were not from the sharpened gaze and the scrolls holstered to her hips, "You ssseem quite lonely walking alone, care for sssome conversssation there?" Yaki would hiss her words rather bluntly, somewhat of a jab as he had almost run into her even if it was planned on her end. A secondary note of playfulness also came though and it made for a conflicting message of what she could have meant seriously and what was just meant as a somewhat rude comment. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ishikawa Ren]

     Ren raised his brow a little at her voice. An odd way of talking, perhaps, but he couldn't much hide his country accent. Maybe hers was something similar. It didn't bother him much, though it took him a moment to understand what she'd said at first.

     "Conversation?" he asked with a smile. "Sure, though I wouldn't say I'm very lonely." he laughed. The Genin leaned against a barrel that was nearby and rested his hand on the back of his neck. With the other, he lifted his headband from where it hung from his hip.

     "Amegakure," he pointed out. "I'm Ishikawa Ren - Genin. Here for the exams. I assume you're here to participate too?" Ren looked her over, but wasn't able to ascertain much. A little odd looking, perhaps, with something hiding beneath that scarf maybe, but he'd already seen odder: there was that stone-boy for one.

     It seemed he'd learn and see a lot here at the exams. Ren smiled genuinely. Good. He'd need as much experience as he could possibly get if he were to perform his job as the Ame Lord's new assistant well. He considered offering a hand for a shake but thought better of it, so he gave her a casual bow. "And you are?"

Tateyama Yakitsukeru | 210 words

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yakitsukeru was already loathing this clueless young man. He had completely missed the window to at least have the decorum to apologize for almost ramming into her, even if that was more likely to knock him down then her given the weight differential was... probably in her favor she actually had no clue if he was secretly insanely heavy. Glowering from behind her scarf she would take in the details as he introduced himself. A relaxed fellow, though the bow was definitely a nice touch, easy enough on the eyes, though his general air made Yakitsukeru want to vomit. She was not a fan of the nice man act, and it was often one of the few she trusted from others the least. Still it was more entertaining then simply walking the streets and scanning for people. Information would be key after all. "Tateyama, my firssst name isss irrelevant for a ssstranger. I am working with Kumogakure for the benefitsss that I can receive currently from them, though I do not know if they are going to sssponsssor me for exam taking or not, that isss a quessstion for sssomeone elssse," The girl stated with a general shrug. It was not entirely wrong either, even if it didn't meantion where she was from she didn't need to. She had no headband and that was clear from a look on her person, and he was so obviously checking her over, "If thisss isss your bessst sssenssse of awarenesss I would back out now though Ishikawa-Kun. The chunin exam isss not kind to thossse who lack ssspacial awarenesss." TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ishikawa Ren]

     Ren smiled at Tateyama. "I'd rate myself alright, I think. Lack of awareness doesn't seem so bad compared to what passes for a Shinobi in Sunagakure or Konohagakure, am I right?" he joked. "I'm just kidding."

     He took a seat nearby. "With Kumogakure? Not from here, then? I've not heard an accent like that before, or heard of one like it, though I grew up in Arashi no Kuni and haven't traveled far." That was something he'd like to remedy at some point. He'd read plenty, and even now felt the call to explore. Perhaps Tsuchi's mountains, or the deep forests of Hi. The sands of Kaze sounded nice, but he doubted he'd let in the nation.

     "This is certainly a nice enough place, though." In truth, his talk of places was also, in part, to ease his anxieties about the upcoming exam. He had a lot riding on his shoulders now, and wanted desperately to succeed.

     For the time being, a distraction from worrying about that was nice. Ren looked over the odd girl once more. He wasn't even sure when to begin with getting to know her, but spending some time away from the crowds and the pressures outside would be nice.

Tateyama Yakitsukeru | 204 words

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki would glower at the young man from the generally tired eyes that she normally had. There was no personal anger, but a careful simmer of the coals, "Over-confidence isss a killer of many shinobi Ishikawa-Kun, I would sssuggessst a far more cautiousss attitude. I would hope that Amegakure would be more cautiousss, particularly in thisss potentially hossstile environment." Yaki would state before relaxing her gaze some of the way as she answered nodded to the young man's questions. His mention of an accent got a flinch to her eye, but she shrugged it wasn't like she needed to explain that she didn't have an accent to begin with. Moving on she skipped on with the conversation, "It isss hard to travel in Arashi no Kuni for an outsssider, ssso that would make sssenssse for the reverssse to be true. I take it you don't know where anything isss then? If you are looking for a ssspecific thing I can lead the way to mossst thingsss here. I have been living in thisss city while I train." Her lie was slim in the margin of her speech and it wasn't like he had a way to tell if she was lying, especially with only half a face to look at. Something about this young man intrigued her, whether it was from how he carried himself or natural charisma she had no clue, but in the end that didn't matter. Only extracting knowledge from the young man. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥