[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Having chased the bandit leader into the woods had left Yaki only a good few meters away from the hut that contained a man with what she was looking for. It had been nearly a month since she left her home nation to journey and nothing about it so far was causing her regret. Approaching with a lack of fear and confidence enough to bluff her way past a chunin without flinching. She would move forward to the hut and look for any signs of life, it was rather late after all... she could only hope that the old man wasn't asleep and if he was then she simply had to wait out the night for when he would wake up. He had to wake up eventually anyways. Sitting down as she approached the entrance for all but a few feet she would relax for only enough time to set her largest scroll in a position she could rest against it instead of carrying it on her body. Letting her snakes crawl outwards to keep her warned of the surrounding as she let herself rest for at least a few moments. It was much needed rest after all the bandit killing she had just done. TAGGED | NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ren]

Yaki approached the hut and as she got closer to it, she noticed that there were some inscriptions on the wooden door, from the distance, it looked like some sort of painting or calligraphy attached to the door, which was quite the odd thing to have at such a spot; perhaps this person was quite unusual. However, upon a closer inspection, the girl noticed it was - in reality - a fuinjutsu, which was creating a barrier around the mysterious hut. The man she was looking for was most likely inside, but protected enough that she couldn't disturb him just yet. Deciding to wait the night for the old man, she would sit down near the entrance, and place her large scroll as a makeshift pillow; not the most comfortable option in the world, but the one she had. Shinobi are, however, used to the discomfort of improvised camping, and the girl - although fledging in her career - was also no stranger to this.

The snakes would stand guard, making sure she would be safe through the night, and after a long night of sleep, she would woke up the next morning. The seal had disappeared, but the door remained closed. What would she do?

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Fascination seeped the girl as she would work more towards analyzing the wood as she finally awoke. She had managed the night without bother, but the snakes had not tried to wake her. Which meant they also sensed no danger here. Collecting the serpents back under her garments, she would approach the door with only a small modicum of the caution one would normally exhibit in such conditions. As such Yakitsu likely looked arrogant for someone her age. As was the folly of use and doubly so for pride. Steeled her resolve in the long travel it took to arrive here and seared in place by the blood of bandits she had killed only a night prior she would knock on the wooden door. Waiting for a response that either would or would not come, though she had enough mind not to trespass the home… not yet anyways. There was still more to be done today and going forward, and she couldn’t very well do that if she was under hostile presence from whatever old goat decided to crack open the door in front og her. With that in mind she would wait with a blank expression with a small amount of patience. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ren]

The girl would knock on the door, and her knocks were loud enough that it should reasonably alert anybody inside of the hut that there was someone out there, and with a clear interest of making themselves known, but no matter how much she knocked at the door, nobody would answer it. While she was sleeping, something happened, because the fuinjutsu seal that was previously protecting the door and the hut was most definitely gone. However, there was no noise coming from the inside of the hut. It was so quiet that the only possible explanation for such quiet was that the place was probably empty.

If she decided to wait without breaking into the door, she would be waiting for a few hours before anything of notice happened. But if she did choose to wait, after that time had passed, she would be able to see an old man with a long white beard and a bald head approaching in the distance. The man showed no signs of being in a hurry, and if he had noticed the girl there from the distance, he made no indication of it whatsoever. He continued to stroll peacefully through the dirt road until he arrived at the place.

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

It wasn't the hardest to get her to wait out an amount of time. Yakitsukeru was not a patient girl, but when she had enough to do then she was more than capable of something as simple as waiting for someone to show up. Having formed a seal on her arm for the snake that she had acquired dominion over a while back finally... just in case she needed to summon the damn reptile. Not that she had anything to appease them at the moment, but Furu could prove useful still when the time came. Other than that, Yaki was given plenty of time to meditate on her understanding of Doton. Given she felt she was on the cusp of understanding, but it was still so awkward for her. Why the hell did anyone want to use something solid like earth exactly? There were benefits in the strengths of being able to ward the land itself, but that was just Yaki's intuition on the matter. She needed to definitely understand more than she did currently if she wanted to do more than she could with what she was being given by just her travel. It was just odd to think about... everything was conceptually rigid with stone. Breaking her trance only after hearing footsteps approaching and being wriggles against by her snakes as warning she would turn to see the old hermit as he stood, "Good afternoon, Grand Hermit. I have travelled rather far to asssk for you to teach me your waysss." Yaki would start bluntly. There was no reason to hide her intentions. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ren]

The man was quite short and skinny, and in truth, he didn't seem like much of anything, and he dressed up in a rather goofy way, with his flower pattern shirt, brown cargo shorts and sunglasses with a thick orange frame around the lens. When he got close enough to the kid, he rested his hands on his back and looked at her with a mildly amused expression on his face. "So, you are still here, uh?" his tone was nonchalant, but he seemed mildly amused by her determination; it seemed like he was aware she had been waiting for him all this time, even though his tone indicated that he half-expected her to just pack her stuff and leave the premises. Maybe he was even hoping for that outcome.

In response to that, the girl called him 'Grand Hermit' and revealed that she had travelled far and wide to search for him, seeking out his knowledge. "I see. Well... No. Now, if you will excuse me." he said rather casually as he tried to walk around her and back into his own house. His answer being quite dismissive, as if he didn't want to discuss it, but he didn't seem particularly upset by her presence either.

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

He had the gal? Yaki would grind her teeth for a moment before stand in the man's path. She was unafraid of this old man and saw no reason to even be remotely against being stubborn, "That isss all you have to sssay? I refussse to not have an explanation of why, and even then surely there isss sssomething that I can do to get you to allow me to learn under you." The aggrivation that she felt was plain to her voice which matched the blunt voice she had used before despite polite words she had used. Yaki had never been too nice to others due to her own circumstances. In this instance though, her pursuit of knowledge was consuming of everything that was polite. An almost palpable need to consume anything the man could teach her was growing thick into the air. Gauging and predatory, but not the hostile kind, a predator sizing if the animal was prey or predator itself. Was the struggle worth the pain? Was the pain worth the prize? Those aspects were being actively considered in the girl's mind as she glared towards the man. Her snakes would tilt their heads and taste the air for anything like danger. She was determined to convince the old man. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ren]

"You are in my way, girl. Excuse me." he said as he tried to go around her, but the girl insisted in blocking his path, making the old man sigh in annoyance. She wanted an explanation, even though he had none to give, and she also wanted to know a way she could convince him to change his mind. "This is such a hassle" he thought, showing a bored expression on his face. Turning around, he rested his hands on his back and pondered for about a minute or so.

Finally, he turned back around and nodded at her. "Sure. But for you to be worthy of my knowledge, you will need to prove yourself. Well..." he smiled, showing that some of his teeth had probably found residence somewhere else. "Go to the city, kill a beast there, or something. Make some impact. If you get some infamy of your own, I will share my knowledge with you. Now... If you wouldn't mind... I need to take a nap!" he said, as he would once again try to bypass her and go to his house, now that he had given her a task to complete.

In truth, he didn't care about the task, he just wanted to occupy, potentially frustrate the kid and get her to maybe go home.

[Tateyama Yakitsukeru]

Yaki would raise an eyebrow in surprise at the old man's words. Was that planned for in his point of view? A lie perhaps? Did she care? No, not at all,"Infamy of my own? You're a criminal hermit then? Sure, I don't care about thisss land, itsss rather dull asss it were. Stretching out her arms she would sigh, "If I kill the beassst your going to teach me at leassst a bit yeah? I will hold you to that Oji-Sssan. I know the rumorsss of your sssealsss, make no missstake I wish to learn your work. If that meansss completing tasssksss in return I have no complaintsss. I believe itsss of poor ssstance to croak without passsing it along, I hope you can agree." Walking away without another word she left her honest phrasing to sit. Was she meant to lie? Deception was a powerful tool, but so was shrewd honesty. She simply wished to keep moving past the level of knowledge she had, and to do that Yaki could only choose to learn from individuals that would actually listen in to her demand of give and take. Equivalent exchange was a principle of alchemy and commerce, and in both it required for the value to be agreed upon. TAGGED | Here NOTES | Here MUSE | Sealing You In Sound

AI ♥

[Ren]

"A criminal?! Me? No... I'm just a bored old man. If you can bring me some joy, it will be more entertaining than it has been for ages now..." he said, with a light-hearted shrug and a soft chuckle. The girl seemed to want to confirm the extent of their bargain, and then asked if he would teach her a bit, and after pondering for a few seconds, he nodded to her. "Well, I guess that would be only fair, would it not? If you managed to do something, I will teach ya my sealing techniques. How many, well, that will depend on what you do kekekekeke!" he said, laughing with his mouth open, showing time took most of his teeth.

And now, with the girl leaving, he was finally free to proceed with his nap. Still, he wondered if this weird girl had what it takes to make him actually wanna share his knowledge. She seemed driven enough considering how long she stuck around trying to finally meet him. Maybe... Just maybe, she would prove herself to be a worthy disciple. And although he didn't want to admit it, he could definitely use one.

But time would tell.

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Tateyama Yakitsukeru

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