[Hatake Toshizō]

"familiar ports". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." FAREWELL He was overjoyed to hear she was going to stop by the Hidden Leaf when she came back from the Tea Country and he cheered to that, lifting his recently filled cup and then chugging it down. "Deal! That sounds great. You can stay over my place, in the Hatake mansion. Mom will probably be happy to see you." he added, his mother being the only relative of his who was still alive, other than his daughters. After she said that, Kizumi mentioned that he should probably go back to the room, to join the fun, and he chuckled lightly. "Indeed, otherwise they will finish without me." and as he said that, he got up from the chair, putting the money for their tab atop of the table. "I will see you soon, Kizumi. Stay safe. You are one of the few I actually care about." he added, with a kind smile on his face, quite the rare sight for someone known as a 'Demon'. He was happy to have seen the woman, and about their conversation, she gave him much to consider, and he would take her words to heart. With a wave, he left and headed towards the room, quickly vanishing from sight, and indulging in his own debauchery. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Port City Exit post [hirana kizumi] [213 words]

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Hatake mansion, he said. Kizumi shook her head in faint dismay, but she was smiling. She had never quite adapted to the knowledge that her mentor of all these years was—she didn’t know what the word was, but the Hatake clan was a Big Deal, and widely respected within Konoha. Also, money. "It’ll be good to see her,” she said, and made a shooing gesture. "Go on, have fun.” Something deep in her chest went soft at his parting words, and it wasn’t just the alcohol taking its toll. He had quite a reputation, and Kizumi didn’t know what she’d done right in her life to earn his tutelage, his respect, and his care, but she hoped beyond hope that she was able to keep it up. "You too, Toshi-sensei,” she said. "Take care.” When her gaze fell back on the table, she clocked the payment sitting there, and she groaned to herself. ”COME TAKE SOME OF THIS BACK,” she bellowed, but her mentor had already disappeared into his room. She laughed, she sighed, and she covered her part of the tab anyway—the server would just be getting a generous tip courtesy of the Demon of the Fleeting Blossoms, she supposed. She paid for her own room as well—paid extra for a specific room on the other side of the floor from Toshi’s—grabbed what little was left of their bottle, and stumbled off to her room for a nap. [EXIT.]

Hatake Toshizō -- 243

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