[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Kumogakure was not exactly what one would call naturally rich with resources. Located where they were, they always had a bevvy of rocks, minerals and ores, but when it came to other stuff - Water, lumber, even man-power? Well, they were always going to be on the more poverty-stricken side of the scale. The land simply wasn't particularly hospitable.

That was why their alliance with the other villages was so key - Kusagakure and Konohagakure were both flush with the things that they needed, and so they were able to make trade rather easy between their villages. Not to mention the fact that this trade relationship helped to facilitate friendship and brotherhood between the villages, something that would help to prevent future conflicts from breaking out.

Or, at least, so went the most popular theories.

It was therefore only natural that Kumo would send along delegates to help create and develop the trade-post that they were forming in Hirata village. It would, the idea was, help facilitate the trade network and tighten those bonds of friendship all the tighter.

That said, they didn't want to send someone too important to these things. If they were seen to be sending the elite of the elite, or even someone too high-ranking, it might be misinterpreted as a power-grab or attempting to brag or passive aggressively threaten their allies to get more power in future negotiations. But equally they could not simply send genin for fear of causing offense, or be misread as being dismissive towards the relationship.

Thus, they had chosen one of their newly promoted Chuunin, a man called Yamamoto Shosuke, to head up the mission into Hirata. As befit his new role, Shosuke had elected not to wear his usually eccentric clothing and instead seemed every part the professional - his hair was combed and out of the way, his sunglasses were cleaned and shone brightly like the sun even under the slightly dimmer lights of the Land of Grass, and he wore his Kumo flak jacket with pride, still clean and new, revealing just a little how new to this position of "authority" the man actually was.

It had, after all, been barely a week since his promotion.

Standing in front of the trading hub, Shosuke waited patiently for the ambassador from the other side of this agreement to arrive. He had dealt with one already, but now he was being told that he would meet with another. He wasn't sure why it wasn't simply handled between himself and Atagi, but he wasn't going to complain. After all, doing so would look bad on the record.

439 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-rank Mission: 1/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Honō Kojirou]

Kojirou rode on a panda.

Building materials were being brought to Hirata from all corners of the Land of Fields, and Kojirou was accompanying one of these carriages as a guard. Just like once before, he’d spend most of the time during their travel catching fish and impressing the masons and hammers with all sorts of Jutsus – while many had roots in the Ashigaru, many being from Hohei themselves, it wasn’t every day that one got to witness the Honō clan’s rare Kekkei Genkai. Each fish sliced in half was grilled by the leftover magma hanging on its wounds, and the molten masses quickly dropped down to the grassy floor and turned black. Kojirou had practiced his Lava Release for years now, so he was more than confident in his capabilities with it…

And also, he wanted to avoid poisoning the workers with leftover rocks from the lava.

Anyway, none of that explained why he was riding into Hirata on a wild panda. You see, at some parts of the woods west of Hirata, there was a thick bamboo forest – Kojirou had theorized for the longest time that there were pandas living there, although few had ever seen one before. This counted shinobi too…

So he did his best to find one, but upon hugging it, the animal did as animals do and tried to shake him off. It was still trying to this day.

The commotion alone would’ve released enough noise to draw in attention from everyone in the village. A confused panda managed to throw Kojirou off its back, sending his head deep into the ground as if he was a beetroot. Although, before it made its way back to the bamboo forests not too far away, it had managed to get a piece of Kojirou’s blood-red haori stuck to its paw. Grabbing the piece by the teeth, it sniffed for a few moments before raising its head and moving back, keeping the cloth as… well, as something, alright.

And a recovered Kojirou made his way to the trading hub, his red haori torn in half to reveal most of his Armor Vest underneath, but… his goofy smile deluded himself that nothing crazy had occurred. "Nice to meet you! I’m Honō Kojirou, from Kusagakure-”

”Boy! Wait, boy, you alright, man?! That panda roughed you up real good…!”

"I-I’m fine, I’m fine! See, not a scratch on m- w-where’d my haori go?” Pulling at the remains of his tattered haori made Kojirou panic a little, but beyond that, everything was stable… relatively.

Mission Sign-Up

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

... Okay, what in the actual fuck?

Shosuke was aware that he would be dealing with people from Kusa on this mission - He had already dealt with Atagi, and now he was being given a secondary representative. But when he had been told that he would be dealing with someone from Kusa, he had rather imagined they would be someone sensible, a junior ninja who was just looking to get the job done. Or, at worst, maybe they would be someone who was trying to recapture their glory days by doing a job that was underneath their notice.

What he had not been expecting, in frank honesty, was someone riding in on a fucking panda.

Shosuke was the first one to detect them, his sensor techniques allowing him to feel the incoming convoy from over a mile away. Most of it made sense - caravans made of wood carrying objects of stone, horses pulling long carts, shinobi both riding and walking along the path. But when it came to that oddball, it seemed he had to double and triple check just to ensure that what his sensory readings were telling him were indeed accurate.

When you were representing your people and supposed to be putting your first foot forwards, why would you ride on a fucking panda of all things?

It didn't seem particularly domesticated, in fact according to his readings it had just planted the man face first into the floor like he was a spade, but it was quickly moving to walk away from the rest of the convoy. The panda itself, however, wasn't what concerned him - He was friends with Miroru, after all, and he knew that otherwise strange or atypical animals could be utilized by a shinobi for missions. It was more the fact that someone had clearly gone out of their way, during a mission, to go fetch a wild animal and ride it for... what appeared, as far as he could tell, just to be for fun?

Just who WAS this guy?

It seemed the answer to that was provided relatively quickly. Only a short while later, Shosuke found himself coming face to face with the man. Hono Kajirou... Wait, he knew that name.

"... Wait, I know you. We underwent the same exams together, didn't we? You're the one who got your ass kicked by the ten year old."

Of course, there was a bit more context to it than that. Said ten year old was equipped with the Eight Gates, if rumors were to be believed, and he was a pretty strong kid. But a ten year old, at the end of the day, was a ten year old. At least Shosuke surrendered for honorable reasons and didn't actually lose to Miroru, the shame of having his ass beaten immediately by someone her age would have followed him for life.

Still, realising what he had said out loud, the Chuunin cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Apologies, I just didn't expect to be paired with so many people I "already know". You're the second one today who...

What I mean to say is, Welcome to Hirata, Mr. Kojirou. If you want time to change to conceal your armour more fully, I can wait outside if you need a few minutes to make yourself presentable.

That said, I should probably let you know; You've got roots in your hair. Guess that Panda of yours did a number on you."

578 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-Rank Mission: 3/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Honō Kojirou]

Wait, he knew the young swordsman?! From where?! When did they meet?! Kojirou began sweating profusely, not remembering the last time he had met this particular Kumo-nin, which… was bad. Really bad – as a matter of fact, forgetting a face from an allied village was nothing short of disrespectful! Kizumi-sama would tear him a new earlobe if she caught wind of it…

Ohh, the Chūnin Exams! He remembered to have met… uh… Katsuo. Yeah, that wasn’t him – who was this guy, then?! Utterly uncaring about the whole ‘beaten by a ten-year old’ rumor that might’ve spread, Kojirou asked out loud: "Wait, you were there?” A genuine obliviousness to the whereabouts of this shinobi, which might’ve required looking deep into Kojirou’s bright, sparkling eyes of wonder, curiosity and ‘baka-ness’.

"W-Wait, wait, wait! I’m the one who’s supposed to welcome you…” he sobbed, realizing that Hirata was in Nohara no Kuni – henceforth, wasn’t he, the resident of Nohara no Kuni, supposed to greet the Kumo-nin and welcome him to Hirata? Although, before he could correct even further, he had things to correct himself – most notably, the roots in his long hair and his missing haori. "Oh, j-just give me a moment! This is easy to fix!” he assured before heading out of the meeting place and into the nearby hay fields.

…

Upon his return, Kojirou’s red haori was discarded and swapped with a coat made of strong hay, akin to very minimalistic depictions of shinobi from days past in this country. He’d also gone the extra length to acquire a disc-formed straw hat. "I was trying to make friends with the panda… it always tails us when we travel, but it doesn’t even wanna greet us or anything! I’d understand if it was shy, but why stalk us if you don’t wanna talk to us or have us share a fish or something… they do eat fish, right? Bamboo can’t be all they eat?”

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

This guy didn't remember him? Honestly, Sho wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that.

On the one hand, there was the pain that came with not being remembered. No matter the situation, being considered forgettable was never a great feeling. On the other hand, it was oddly... liberating? Considering everything that had happened during the exams, Sho had worried that he would be defined by it - that his actions as "the one who surrendered" would have followed him like a black mark. But if someone who was actually there couldn't remember it, maybe other people wouldn't?

Considering Sho was never going to be the type of Shinobi who wound up in the history books, if people who were actually present weren't able to remember such things? Well, maybe he was actually free of it, maybe he could choose how to define himself. Or, at the very least, he wouldn't be defined by this failure necessarily.

"Yeah. I lost in the first round of the duels, you probably wouldn't remember me. We can't all be quite as famous as you, Kojirou~" Somehow, despite everything, he managed to avoid snickering.

Ignoring the social faux pas, it was a little funny that Kojirou was bent all out of shape over who got to welcome the other. Sho had been sent to deal with Hirata Village first, had already worked with Atagi and Yusei with it, so he had been here a few days already. Even so, he supposed that this entire country was Kojirou's birthplace so he could see him not quite understanding how to handle such a thing.

Though, the more time he spent around this guy, the more it seemed like he would have found anything stupid to be upset about. Especially as he ran off and, rather than removing the haori in its entirety, seemed to collect a bunch of grass to form into an overcoat. Kojirou might have thought it made him look like some ancient samurai warrior, but in Sho's case he just quietly grimaced, imagining just how unhygienic yanking things out of the ground and adorning them around your person would be.

The distance between their different perspectives could be measured in miles it seemed... Though, now that he thought about it, every Kusagakure ninja was like this in someway. Atagi was a lax and devil-may-care himbo, Yusei was about as emotionally intelligent as a satsuma, and now this one? What were they teaching in Kusa's academy, how to make things awkward?

"You really don't need to try to justify why you were riding a panda to me." Sho said, his tone remaining perfectly pleasant and placid, concealing his inner thoughts that there was no justification that would make the man not seem touched at this point.

"Have you considered that the reason it follows you is that most older ninja equipment begins to deteriorate and more than a small amount of it is made out of bamboo? You're essentially honey-trapping the poor creature and then confused why it would want to follow you.

Anyway - So, I hear you are here to help with the trading post development. Do you have any equipment I should be aware of or... I guess what I'm asking is what was your plan for improvement?"

547 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-Rank Mission: 5/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Honō Kojirou]

To think that Kojirou was considered famous for his butt injury was… sad. Very sad. It even made the poor boy rub his bum awkwardly, remembering… not so much, actually, he was knocked out cold from that following fall. Hopefully, his haori was in one piece afterwards – otherwise, who knew what else he would’ve been famous for…

Pouting again, Kojirou couldn’t believe that he even needed to justify trying to have a friendly horse-ride on a panda – it made perfect sense! Pandas were large guardian beasts of the bamboo forests near Hirata, and in a way, shinobi guarded those forests too… so they were, like, soulmates. However, Kojirou tilted his head in wonder, listening to Shosuke’s explanation which obviously made 100x more sense; older equipment worn by those shinobi contained bamboo fiber, and as time went on and things decayed, more of that bamboo got exposed and was detected by those pandas… so that was why it followed him all the time!

"W-Wait, that makes so much more sense! I often play with bamboo sticks on occasion, so… maybe my hands smell of panda food,” Kojirou admitted with a bashful look on his face, "Sorry, Panda-san…”

At last, back to the topic at hand – Kojirou nodded firmly to confirm his aiding role in building this trading post. "I can help lift up things with threads and ropes made of rubber! Quicklime, too, if you need to stick some planks or bricks together – and I know aaaaall of the tasty game in the near forest- not the panda, though. I’ll give poor Panda-san some space… but we got pheasants and deer out there, so the hardworking hammermen, lumberjacks and masons won’t ever starve.”

Pointing his less-than-a-blink unsheathed katana straight up in the air, Kojirou further declared: "And I won’t let anyone harm you! And… uhm… I-I’ll make sure not to get too harmed, myself. This time, I will.”

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

In a way, Kojirou almost had a point - there was a long, proud history of shinobi working with specialist animals. The most famous example was the animals that worked with sages, although that wasn't quite a 1:1 comparison seeing as sage animals were able to talk and converse with humans, a little like Miroru's kitsune creatures. Even outside of the talking ones though, many shinobi were paired with specially trained animals. If he remembered rightly, there was actually someone in Kumo who used a giant panda for this exact purpose.

But therein lay the difference - those were TRAINED animals. They had been taught, and in some cases specifically bred, for that type of work. It was the difference between having a crime-sniffer dog and just putting a random schnauzer in a crime scene and hoping they would be able to help somehow. Frankly, getting supplexed and having the panda walk away was one of the better results of what could have happened there.

Pandas were still meat-eaters after all.

"I dunno about that - Bamboo doesn't smell particularly strongly. If you just play around with it or use it to train your swordplay, your hands probably smell fine. But when you're literally leaving it littered around the floor like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs... well, you should kind of expect these things to happen."

As the pair walked, they would come into Hirata Village properly. If Kojirou had been here before, he would quickly notice the sheer difference in the village from the last time he visited it. A series of new buildings, each built out of lacquered wood, dotted around the village. A series of trading halls and warehouses for placing equipment had seemingly cropped up over night without explanation. Though perhaps that should be unsurprising, Koji would have known the village was getting developed and who knew if he was aware of the time frame it had happened in...

"Quicklime... Wait, that would mean you're a lava user, right?" The man had had his ass handed to him so quickly in the exams that Shosuke had never actually been able to see what the man was capable of. Another Kekkei Genkai bearer... well, this promised great things, should the guy actually be able to carry his own weight.

"Tell you what - It's getting to be about lunch time. If you would be able to hunt some game, that would be appreciated. We're still waiting on some of the major supply caravans to be able to restock from the new populace."

Well, that, and he wanted to see if this guy was actually able to put his money where his mouth was. Part of him severely doubted it, but he figured it was unfair to not at least give him a chance.

465 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-Rank Mission: 7/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Honō Kojirou]

Bamboo suddenly sounded like such an interesting topic to read up on when he got back home. Maybe he could make some bamboo swords like those back in the clan’s training grounds- wait, those often burned up… one of the reasons why they stuck to metallic training gear in the confines of the Honō compound. But outside of the clan’s areas, perhaps!

Hirata Village looked… so much different than last time he was here with his co. Instead of a short plot of a handful houses, it was now a taller, compact village – emphasis on village, like, a lively one – and so many more buildings for work were dotting the grasslands in front of him. Last time Kojirou was here was… uh, was it back when he was traveling with Azarea? That was right after the Chūnin Exams, wasn’t it?

Shosuke sounded surprised to hear about Kojirou’s status as a Lava Release user, which… wait, he hadn’t seen his fight in Round 3?! "Yeah! You should’ve seen it in Round 3 back then! I used plenty of lava!” Kojirou protested with swinging arms. At least remember that, too!

But their first task was to prepare lunch, and Kojirou’s eyes shone rays of obedience and duty upon receiving the order. "On it!” he saluted before darting away, leaving behind trails of floating blades of hay…

…

"Guys, over here! The meat’s almost ready!” Kojirou called back to the crew a short while after, leading them towards a whole-ass circle of rocks on a plain of grass a few dozen meters from the road where they were awaiting the major supply caravans. The rocks were flattened by cutting, and they served as seats – large bamboo sticks had been picked from the nearby bamboo forest as scaffolds for holding Ninja Wires that were attached to edible lumps of pheasants de-plucked of feathers, heads and talons. It was… almost out of character for someone as chaotic as Kojirou to be able to set up a fireplace like this, but he had some useful tools in his Katana Case for things like this. Azarea had trained him well in that long-distance mission they underwent together.

"I got some, uh, fish from a river I caught before coming here, too. I think it was salmon, but they’re a big large… maybe they’re trouts- do trouts live in rivers?”

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

If Sho was being honest, he hadn't actually seen any of the fights in round 3 save for his own. He had been one of the first fights up due to passing round 2 so easily, and after surrendering to Miroru he had walked out of the arena. Even other fights like Hotarubi's and Atagi's were just passed along to him through second hand information, let alone what had happened to Kojirou.

Were Kojirou not well known for being humiliated by the literal child, it was unlikely he would have known Kojirou at all. Compared to getting his ass kicked by a child, him being able to use lava release went relatively unreported. Though, he doubted if anyone had reported Shosuke's fight that they would have put a lot of emphasis on him being able to use Wood Release.

But perhaps this was a chance for Kojirou to redeem himself, at least in some small way. The panda honestly hadn't helped, but now that he had an opportunity where he wasn't fighting someone using the gates... well, here's hoping the pigs in the nearby forest or whatever he had chosen to hunt would prove less of a challenge.

---

Led into the place alongside the rest of the workers, Sho was able to get a firsthand view of what Kojirou was capable of - the place was honestly pretty impressive, the amount of work that it had taken to get these amounts of things together let alone set up in the way that they were, it clearly had to have taken a lot of effort. Even Shosuke wasn't certain that he would have been able to set something like this up in such short order.

"I mean... they're fish, right?" Sho said to the man's question, revealing his own lack of awareness in the situation. The truth of the matter was that Kumo didn't have many rivers, they were a mountain-based village so they dealt far more with animals like deer and elk than they did with fish. Sho was at least aware enough that there was a clear difference between salt-water fish and fresh-water fish but he had no idea what fish were which nor how one would be able to tell.

Getting a plate alongside with the rest of the workers, the rest of the men began to take over the cooking pit, helping to serve out portions and ensure that everyone got enough to eat. Sho, for his part, simply nodded appreciatively, moving over to take a seat near where Kojirou had situated himself.

"So - Apart from cooking, what is your plan here?" he said, gesturing back to the village. "I've already built constructed most of the houses and buildings for the place, so we've got that taken care of. What kind of specialty do you bring to the table?"

It was a simple question, but it was also an earnest one. He had to admit that the food situation had changed Sho's estimation of the other man, even if only a small amount.

505 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-Rank Mission: 9/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Honō Kojirou]

”They’re fish, yeah! That’s obvious!” Kojirou reaffirmed with a couple nods filled with pride and accomplishment in catching them, "They got fishy tails, fishy fins, fishy scales and fishy mouths. One of them even tried to bite my nose off – I didn’t know they could splash that high over the water…” Salmon, most likely, but Kojirou knew they were fresh and edible.

So he also took a portion after the others had filled their dishes. Cooked salmon-or-trout, it was still a little salty… maybe the fish were salt-water fish, or maybe they came from saltwater regions and just got lost in the river. Regardless, they were still tasty and easily filled Kojirou’s stomach, after which Sho asked him about his plan.

That caught him off guard. Sho revealed that most of the houses and buildings for the place were already built, done and completed by his help – what exactly was Kojirou’s bringing to the table? "… I, uhm…” he stuttered, switching glares between Sho and the village to testify that, indeed, most was built already, "Well, I was briefed… told that sometimes, bandits attack newly-built settlements when they think security isn’t established yet. S-So I was sent as a deterrent, but…”

Up until now, nobody had attacked yet. Kojirou panicked. "I-I think, I can still help… with things, like- I-I can make rubber ropes and- w-wait, building’s already done… I-I can still make food- m-maybe, uhm… d-do you guys need help with something else?”

"We’re just putting down the last dots like furniture and interior decorations, boy! That’s what we get paid for,” one of the workers explained with fish in his mouth, "Pretty nice place to set up a village, too – bamboo forest to the west, clear plains to the east, roads north and south with clear view over the plains – ya gotta be braindead to attack this place.”

"Oww…” There went Kojirou’s only real value – a defender against invaders or troublemakers who wanted to loot new places. It wasn’t like he wanted the place to be attacked, but he began feeling a little unneeded now. "…” And now, he was sweating. Sho might’ve hit a sore button with that earnest question.

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Sho listened quietly as Kojirou talked, nodding slowly as the man explained what he had been briefed about. Of course, it was indeed true that new settlements would always be at risk of opportunists aiming to prey on the vulnerable and weak town to line their own pockets, whether that be through stealing supplies, mugging migrants or even attempting to kidnap travelers either for ransom or slavery. What Sho didn't mention, however, was that Kojirou was wrong on a pretty fundamental level:

This town wasn't new.

Hirata village was, as far as Shosuke understood it, pretty old. Truth be told he wasn't quite sure how old, but it was at least a couple of decades or so if his info held up. The difference here was that it had been renovated, improved upon, expanded. There would still be a lot of traffic on the road, that might still prove to be quite dangerous and prone to being preyed upon, but there was at least some level of security already set up so that might scare off some of the less brave souls.

Still, despite not being the most sensitive soul in the world, he was able to tell that Kojirou was sweating bullets - something rather surprising, coming from a lavabender. It sure as hell wasn't coming from the ambient heat of the fire, so he could only assume it was coming from the difficulty he was having in working out what to do.

"Right - Well, if you're struggling for ideas? I made the buildings already, but there's plenty of additional work that could be used in proofing everything and making sure that things are actually safe to be around.

Beyond that, we could always use more manual labor if you don't mind pitching in like one of the boys. Oh, and of course keeping on cooking and hunting like this would be very appreciated."

Despite ostensibly being the same rank, Shosuke spoke as if he had been in this position for years rather than being as new to the role as he actually was.

"Alternately? I'm going to be setting up a new forest nearby, to give the locals plenty more wood to work with should they need any future improvements or more expansion. If you could cut down what I'm setting up, we should be able to give them plenty of stores for them to work with into winter and beyond."

402 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-Rank Mission: 11/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Honō Kojirou]

Proofing! Yes, of course, Kojirou could help with that! His eyes immediately shone rays of hope, stars for irises and brilliant glitter in all directions! All in all, Shosuke really just laid down the opportunities for Kojirou in such an easy way – it was as if Kojirou himself could’ve come to this conclusion! "Yes! I can do all of that, of course! I’m still full of energy, so I gotta pull my weight too around here!” he promised deeply, wildly, without an ounce of ill in his voice, too optimistic for his own good, but yet a driving force behind his every action. Kojirou had always been eager to prove his mettle, that he was a great help to others as a shinobi and as an extra pair of hands. That was why he continued to this day mastering Lava Release, in spite of all the trouble it brought him in his earlier Academy days.

Wood.

"…” Kojirou blinked once, then twice, then released an intrigued ‘ooooooooooh’ as something clicked. "You mean like Ichī? You can grow your own wood like that?!” Kojirou’s only seen Ichī use Wood Release to manipulate pollen, grass and minor shrubbery in a broader scale, but not directly wood in spite of its name. Shosuke's abilities in the previous Exams weren't witnessed by Kojirou himself, as revealed earlier, so he had no way of knowing the true extent of Wood Release. "That’s, like, a sort of cheat code for lumber… I’m in! Show me the place, and I’ll cut down as many trees as needed!”

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Well, say what you liked about this guy, but the one thing that you couldn't fault was their eagerness. There was something about the man's eyes that shone like diamonds, an undeniable eagerness to be of help that could surely be seen from space at this point. Though, one had to wonder just what the man was thinking - he acted like Sho had just tossed him a life-ring in the middle of a storm instead of just pointing out a basic fact to him.

"Well, I'm sure the others will be thankful that you're trying if nothing else. If you need help knowing where to reinforce and protect, you could probably ask any of the workers around here, they're more familiar with the new layout than I am."

Sho was about to finish his plate and head back to work when the man started blinking, clearly surprised by something that Sho had said. Was there something wrong? As far as Sho was aware, it wasn't like he'd said anything all that surprising or done anything out of the ordinary, yet the man was suddenly staring at him like he had sprouted a second head.

Then the bomb dropped.

Now it was Sho's turn to look at the other man with a look of incredulity, unsure how the man had gotten this far without knowing this sort of stuff. Had he not noticed that the village had changed so suddenly?

It was true Sho was a Yamamoto and not a Senju so some might be surprised to see he had the advanced release, but if he was going to be surprised about such things he probably should have realized something was strange by now.

At least Sho had had the excuse that Kojirou hadn't shown off any of his abilities yet, the proof of Sho's abilities were all around them.

"Well, I haven't done it yet so there's no real location to speak of..." Sho said, feeling a little embarrassed that he was having to explain something like this. Finishing his food and putting the plate aside, Sho brushed himself off for a second before moving to walk away.

"If that second idea sounds so promising to you, you can follow after me and I'll get something set up sooner rather than later. Fair warning though, I haven't used this tech a lot so if a tree springs up under you please don't get angry at me.."

406 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-Rank EXP: 13/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Honō Kojirou]

Truth be told, Kojirou might’ve let his anxiety get the better of him. It just felt embarrassing that Hirata had advanced this quickly, and he’d been around for exactly 1 of those days. He came from this country, damn it! Oh, the higher-ups would berate him sternly for his insubordination, surely… nah, he was overreacting, but that was yet another trait of his. Now, Shōsuke could tell Kojirou apart from a hundred impostors just by talking with them for a minute.

As quickly as he’d raised his spirits, he lowered them again once Shōsuke revealed that… well, he hadn’t exactly been prepared for Kojirou’s flickering nature. Man, what a dynamic duo! The second idea sounded like the right path to walk, and Kojirou didn’t want to become a person who regretted taking the path he took – if he wished to walk that road, he’d do it with a full heart.

Diligently, he trailed alongside Shōsuke, his head bopping excitingly at the anticipation of witnessing more of that esoteric Wood Release – and from a Kumo-nin at that, too! He must’ve been famous back in his village… wait, did that mean Kizumi-sama liked him?! Oh, no no no, that- that actually stung his heart a little. I mean, wait, Koji, Koji-boy, listen, surely you do know that she’s not even… like… she’s a damn grown woman?

Shut up, brain. True love will always prevail.

You’re a lost cause, Kojirou…

…

…

"But trees have leaf crowns on top, right? Maybe it’ll be like a giant marshmallow trampolining me up in the air,” Kojirou let his brain cook nonsense once more, "Or maybe like a roller coaster with all the branches… oh, I can’t wait to see!”

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

It was pretty clear that, once again, Kojirou was lost in his own thoughts. Though Sho was able to get a general litmus test of his emotional state from the trmeor-sense that run under the ground, the truth was that it did not make him psychic and therefore he had no idea exactly what disaster-film Kojirou was running through his mind.

That said, Sho couldn't help but feel for the other man. He was a little... well, okay, a LOT weird, but there was something earnest about him that made Sho feel like he was a good person at the end of the day. That he could feel like this, that there was a part of his mind that festered away and ate his self-confidence just like there was with Shosuke... well, it felt almost refreshing.

Shosuke was used to being the lowest rung on the totem pole, of having to follow the orders of other people and be at their beck and call. So, for him to have someone of his own rank who he could sympathize with and understand like this? It was a genuinely refreshing experience.

Regardless, the pair wandered down the road within Hinata, heading towards the makeshift new gate of the village and out into the wilds, heading to go plant that orchard. Sure, there were jutsu that would be able to construct more buildings or create a mass amount of loose wood planks, but this orchard represented something far more important than mere wood - it was a renewable resource; as long as they planted the seeds from the first generation he was going to make, Hinata Village should always have an orchard to use and to help fill the village's coffers for years to come.

All traditions started somewhere, and this one would start here. There was something undeniably beautiful about that.

[END THREAD]

308 words | Honō Kojirou

SPOILER: Click to show

C-Rank EXP: 15/15
Jutsus Used: None