[Deleted]

A Genin in name only but not in Rank: while he had received his headband and a ultimatum from his father, he now had little else to stop him on his course of freedom. Freedom was vast. Freedom was staying up until he liked. Freedom was choosing to do the things that he desired. Freedom was also being hungry, not having anywhere to sleep. But, insofar as he was concerned his life had changed when he had learned a new form of sensory: one that he'd never have though he'd been able to develop. Hotarubi was, and had learnt - to some small degree, the space around him. He theorised it was him being connected to the earth but it was like a comic book hero, except obviously he was the hero. In Takigakure no Sato's fake village, Hotarubi could have chosen to go to his old career, do some shifts as a noodle chef - but he was a Shinobi now. And that meant doing Shinobi stuff. An issue with that was that he wasn't a Genin in rank, and that meant no access to missions - so he was doing odd jobs. Right now, he was moving carts for people who had broken a wheel, and he was freakishly strong for someone who wasn't that muscular. But, being a Yamakira did wonders. The use of the sensory came in handy when he was on the opposite side of a cart that he was moving, and he wasn't actively hitting other people. But it wasn't perfect, in spite of his lack of vision. Or this would have been more difficult.

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

Some days, being back in "Takigakure" was still quite the strange thing. Though there were other large villages out in the world, Ruto had had to avoid them during his travels. Big cities increased the risk of being recognized by a shinobi stationed there, increased the risk of being caught. Small towns had been his saving grace as he traveled around the continent, providing him with security and community. There were none so bustling as the big villages, like this one.

This liveliness was of particular note in a place like the market. People were engaged in all manner of activities here. The usual buying and selling, of course, but also children running about playing with the toys recently purchased from stalls, or buskers strumming their instruments and dancing along. Carts rolled up and down the streets, merchants delivering goods or taking goods off to be delivered elsewhere. He wondered what had become of his own traveling cart, a thing he owned for only a very brief time before being arrested.

While Ruto was in public, he tended not to think of the usual things people did. Not what a nice day it was or how much fun strangers appeared to be having - he was most interested in observing pathogen pathways. For example - the merchant in that stall over there just touched his face before touching food, then sold it off anyways. The parent took a bite, then shared it with their child, who went off the play with some of the other children, and... so on. Observing these kind of behavioral patterns was important for his infectious disease research.

Unfortunately, he was so engrossed in this examination that he didn't notice he'd wandered right into the path of one of those carts being pushed up the road.

[Deleted]

Hotarubi had not anticipated that his day was going to change dramatically from the standard and typical haze of noise and chaos. It was a normal day and he had been going fine until his senses alerted him to a potential danger. "dO YOU FUCkin mind?" Was his piercing, splitting voice yelling as kids on the opposite side of the cart ran out in front of him. One of them held one of those toys - a paddle with an attached ball, staring seemingly into thin air and causing Hotarubi to come to a sharp stop. Just because he knew people were there didn't mean he yet knew how to interpret it, or what it meant in a practical combat sense, that was a part that still needed to be developed. And, thankfully for Hotarubi, being on the opposite side of a moving cart meant that nobody knew who he was talking to and therefore it got lost in the noise. He came out from the opposite side and saw - a man? Where did the child go? The child had taken off, and Hotarubi confusedly looked around, he could have sworn... "You're in the way." Hotarubi hadn't yet reason to pay attention to the man or his reasoning, given he was on the clock and he also had to play nice. They were incredibly unassuming. But, before he could offer another word edgeways, the merchants who'd paid Hotarubi for his labour had come up to him. "Surely, Hotarubi-san, you can't be tired yet? We haven't even got there, goodness, we can't sell here in the middle-" "not the middle of the street" the other reaffirmed. "-of the street, but you, sir, are you eyeing our particular wares?" A more elderly woman to a a younger man, but practicaly affectionate and bouncing off one another's energies. The elderly one sneezed with her hand: and rubbed it back onto her dress. Another finding for Ruto.

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

His attention was caught by someone shouting, the noise just barely audible over the other racket of the market. The children he was observing ran off to continue their playing and when he turned his head to the source of the sound, he found... He'd been standing in the path of a cart. He really needed to pay more attention. A young man came around the side of the cart and informed him he was in the way. Before he could answer, the merchants associated with the cart also approached to talk.

One of them sneezed into her hand and wiped it on her dress. Well, that was troublesome. An interesting finding, of course, but no wonder disease proliferated so easily through tight communities like this. There was probably no easier place for illness to spread than a market. He would need to keep that in mind.

"Sorry," he apologized to the trio, putting on a friendly smile and stepping out of the way of the cart. "I saw something on the cart that caught my eye, but I didn't mean to get in your way," he lied. What was in the cart anyways? It appeared like decorative items, handmade. At least it wasn't food, with those hygiene habits.

"Thank you for not running me over," he told Hotarubi. "I'm surprised you were able to see me."

[Deleted]

Hotarubi stood there a bit like an unused lemon and crossed his arms. Waiting for an order, or something. What did it matter to him? This was its own little training, learning how to mind his manners relating to missions and stuff. Unlike his brother who wouldn't have been caught dead doing this type of work, Hotarubi had a requirement, a need, to survive and thrive. He would do so under any means necessary. "Uhhuh." Shinobi didn't give their secrets away. "I have good eyes." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. The more elderly woman of the two looked Ruto up and down - though her apparent discerning eye through the wisps of grey and brown mousey hair didn't draw any familiarity, such personalised looks came from people who made it their lives in pursuit of gold and business. "Be polite, Hotarubi-san." they turned their attention to the possible buyer "We could offer you ... this?" she picked up something for him to inspect to see if it was to his own liking: a jade amulet of sorts, or mineral of bright green types. Hotarubi peered between the two of him from his stationary spot, wondering what was so good about it? Though he hadn't seen the interaction (or didn't care enough for consequences) he also wouldn't have seen that a line of red began to run down her nose. "We have many more things, of course, for you, discounted, heh..." Divide and conquer. Hotarubi could get behind that. Unfortunately, his senses weren't so refined as to see inside the body - and what was unravelling.

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

Good eyes? He sounded mildly sarcastic, though Ruto couldn't place exactly why. He'd never been good at pinpointing emotions like that. Maybe he was just annoyed at Ruto for standing in the way, or maybe he meant something else entirely. Some other skill had allowed him to notice, maybe. Better hearing or smell? The boy looked too... rough to be a sensor, but there was always a possibility. Don't judge a book by its cover and all.

The more elderly woman picked up a decorative jade piece. It was surely a nice amulet of some kind, though Ruto had never been one for such decorations. What interested him more was that he could harvest bacterial samples from it now that she had touched - Oh. It looked as though her nose was bleeding. What kind of illness must she have for that to be the case? Oh. It may simply be allergies, which would be less exciting, but was far more likely to cause dryness.

"Excuse me, ma'am, your nose..." He took a step forward, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to offer her.

While he was focused on this task, there was a slight creaking from the cart. Perhaps it was the fact that one of the wheels was broken, but it seemed to be sitting slightly unevenly, the weight shifted to one side. If not addressed, it might cause problems for the axle, though it may also be difficult to notice.

[Deleted]

Hotarubi turned away from the three of them, when he thought about it - when he didn't move and focused really hard, he could feel the world around him. It was like a song: not a song you could hear, but a thrum. Like a beat in your chest - and everybody had their own unique beat he was picking up. It was the music of one's walk: it had its own sound. Again, not one that he would actually quantify by being picked up by his ears, so while he listened to the thrum as he dubbed it, the merchants were having their own separate conversation. "Oh this? It's nothing. Had it for weeks! Forgive my rudeness," She said as she pulled out a napkin, on it: dried blood, giving the hint it had been going on for a bit longer than initially assumed. What even was a merchant like? "oh yes, ho. She's full of life and vigor, this lady. It's how we manage to do so well by our customers." Hotarubi would have rolled his eyes if he cared enough to listen, but his own thoughts had him preoccupied until he spoke out loud. "no no... how about it? What do you think, hm?" back to the amulet, refocusing the conversation for Ruto. There would be bigger problems than the axle of the cart, even if Hotarubi was still too stupid to notice it becoming an issue in the first place, and rightfully so. "Something fast is coming from that way." Hotarubi pointed, speaking quite monotonously as did so. He didn't need to worry about it, considering he was made of rock. Unless it was a Tsunami? No... this was a jungle. He didn't need to worry about that in the landlocked nation. Well. Unless it was a Shinobi. Hotarubi's position did firm up. That did get the merchant's attention though, turning away and toward where he pointed.

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

She had been bleeding like that for quite a while, if the history of that napkin was any indication. Perhaps it was an advanced sinus infection that she hadn't properly taken care of? It was also possible she was experiencing sinusitis from any other given number of conditions. The fact that she was barely concerned was intriguing, the type of person to walk around with a potentially infectious disease for multiple weeks without stopping to consider the implications. Every single item in this cart could be contaminated, if that was the case. ...That probably shouldn't make him want to buy it all, but on some level it did.

"Well, you two are convincing. I'd be willing to purchase-"

Hotarubi caught his attention again, the conversation interrupted by him noting that something was approaching their direction. He pointed off in the distance, though through the crowded market Ruto couldn't quite make out what it might be. Maybe Hotarubi really did have good eyes, or some measure of sensory ability, after all.

"Is it... something large? Should I help you get the cart out of the way?" Ruto asked Hotarubi. They usually preferred to pass themself off as a civilian rather than a shinobi, but they didn't mind putting in some elbow grease to help an interesting elderly duo such as this one, especially when there was more they could learn about this woman's disease if they endeared themself to her.

[Deleted]

"I can't tell." Hotarubi stated plainly, but he wasn't kicking himself into high gear either as he closed his eyes and thought about it, trying to ascertain... Hotarubi had braced himself for what he had thought was going to be a battle, jutsu or just people running? One couldn't be sure but it was a lot of relatively heavy things. But the noise was second, that of bells. Farm animals. His sensory abilities were right on the money about it being heavy things and lots of them: but the drawback being it wasn't really specific information. Kami on a crisp, he was new to this all. All for a meal in the evening. It was farm animals. Coming down the road and into view were a sheppard from behind guiding farm animals through Takigakure's.. busier streets. "Are you a fucking moron?" Hotarubi questioned the thought, bringing animals through a busy spot - how did they know to control them all? But, it was not danger as he had anticipated it to be. Hotarubi tutted. The tension in the air was broken by a stifled laugh from the younger man. "Very funny, Hotarubi-san..." "ya' had me worried for a second, there! I can't pay you if I die!" The older lady guffawed. Hotarubi switched his vision to them. For Ruto, the concept of mixing livestock and humans were also a practical lesson on viral pathology. This seemed to be a cesspit today; even if the village weren't like that normally, living inside a Jungle made it somewhat cramped.

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

As the animals came into view, Ruto relaxed. They were not a traditional threat, even if they weren't the cleanest thing to have in a place filled with humans, and were sure to leave a mess behind in their wake. At least Ruto had some interesting findings to report back to Ryu now. If Ruto were to release his next pathogen, it would certainly be in a marketplace, that much he knew. Nothing would result in a quicker transfer of a disease through people. Maybe he should focus on making it transmissible through livestock as well? Creating diseases that were equally infectious between species was incredibly hard, though, and often difficult to regulate. What infects a chicken can also often infect any bird, which can then fly to any nation, and so on. He would ask for guidance.

Outside of that, he was intrigued by Hotarubi's statement that he couldn't tell what it was. That meant it couldn't be enhanced sight or smell, or he would've realized immediately. Even a traditional sensor probably would have been able to tell human and animal apart. Did that mean... He was sensing vibrations, possibly? He could only determine the speed and trajectory, but no other features.

"...There's a medical technique, called Ikkou Gazou, where one pulses their chakra into someone's body, and it creates a sort of... topographical map of their organs," he informed Hotarubi, by way of breaching conversation. Perhaps the young man would find the concept interesting or useful. Sometimes learning about extant things even tangentially similar to what you were working on could help you develop your skills.

[Deleted]

"Thank you for your custom~" their cheery demeanor spoke volumes in respect of trying to complete a transaction. Their voice sweet. On the other hand, Hotarubi might've had a foul mouth but the Yamakira were well known enough that it - Crunch. The axle went on the card, causing the cart to tip: but Hotarubi caught it, shifting his body weight around so that its heavy weight supported it at the best way. There were benefits: Hotarubi had already begun to move off instinct, manoeuvring his body to the best possible position. "Eheheheheh..." That pleased him, and so he happily chuckled away to himself. But, that was quickly gone. "Hotarubi-san! We can't do anything with this! What are we going to do with our merchandise?" the younger man also spoke out as well. "We can't pay you if you can't protect our business, Hotarubi-san!" And Hotarubi's face first peered out from the corner which held up the cart. "Eh?" Then the rest of his body followed, and that was when the almighty crash sounded as well. The moment Hotarubi knew he wasn't getting paid, he had lost all interest. The cart crashed over - spilling out, and before the merchants could know any further, Hotarubi had already moved some twenty meters down. They thought about going: and looked desperately between Ruto and their cart, and Hotarubi. But, they couldn't leave their own wares. He wasn't technically a Genin yet - so what was the harm? "So, shall we take a walk?" Hotarubi moved between the two of them - and to Ruto, going back the way that he had come. Hotarubi ignored the noise that followed. "I don't know particularly fancy medical stuff, but uh, whatcha mean, seeing inside bodies? What's topoligracical?" he asked. Shame.

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

Oh dear. Well, that was troublesome! It seemed when money was off the table, Hotarubi was quick to allow the cart to collapse, not caring at all. Ruto understood that cutthroat attitude quite well, though he was never the type to wear it so openly. Callousness was better kept quiet, in his opinion. Reputation could be quite a lot for a shinobi and being viewed as undependable could be quite the liability in the future, not that it was Ruto's concern.

The two merchant women looked in some amount of distress as their wares had tipped over on the ground and Hotarubi headed off, asking Ruto to talk a bit. What to do?

"I'll come help you two in a minute," he assured the merchant women. "I'll go give him a talking-to." Ruto had no intention at all of chastising Hotarubi, but pretending he did was the best way to get out of this exchange as fast as possible. With that, he followed Hotarubi.

"Topology," he corrected Hotarubi, when he inquired as to what Ruto had meant. "It's the... study of physical spaces. Patterns and shapes." It was more complicated than that, especially in biology, but this young man struck Ruto as someone who was... easily confused. "Basically speaking, you can use small pulses of chakra to feel shapes in a given space. It seemed to me like that was what you were doing, on a larger scale, when you felt those animals coming."

[Deleted]

Hotarubi was annoyed. Why even bother? His frustrations were taken out on the environment because he wasn't pulling his weight and light marks were being made in the ground where before his lack of control would make all the difference. Now, foot shaped indentations in the ground. Shapes and patterns? "Oh. That makes sense?" Maybe this person had that ability as well? They were good at discerning, but then again Hotarubi had given an indicator. "What do you know about it? I've gotten better at it but I don't wanna be caught out." That was why he had learned how to do it in the first place. Though he had certainly manifested the ability in a way that people were not expecting. "Fuck them guys, right?" He abruptly interrupted his own speech, arm gesturing backward: looking back at them once more with a look of digust. Hotarubi shook his head and continued to walk. What else was he going to do for the say? He sighed though, indicating he was bothered by the lack of payday beyond the blunt and brutish nature he had shown Ruto already.

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

Stomping like that, the young man was leaving heavy indentations in the ground. It was an odd sight, not typical for most people. It was another thing Ruto couldn't quite place, though that filled him with curiosity. What could he be doing that would cause that? Was he wearing heavy training weights, maybe? Or maybe he was a doton user and it came very naturally to him when he was emotional? Speculation was useless. This one seemed tight-lipped. If Ruto asked, Hotarubi wouldn't answer.

He seemed to have a really aggressive attitude, demonstrated by him interrupting his own train of thought to swear about the merchants again.

"It was rude of them not to pay you for the work you'd done," he agreed, looking over his shoulder back at them. "But they also couldn't well afford it with their merchandise falling over like that. It'll be hard for them to sell and they'll lose money. You're young, so this is probably side work for you, right?" Not necessarily, he supposed. Unfortunate, poor young ones often had to work to pay their way. "For them, this is their main work. If they miss out on a day on the job, they lose a lot of money with little way to get it back."

However, if he was completely honest;

"I don't really have much sympathy for them, but you should at least pretend to. It's harder to get jobs if you have a bad reputation."

[Deleted]

Hotarubi yet again didn't have any thought about his own actions, even where it came to being a shinobi he should've maintained equanimity; who knew which prying eyes were watching and observing? Hotarubi wanted to survive in the long run. This was a way to make that not happen. But those weren't thoughts Hotarubi was having at the time. He wasn't out there to receive advice from strangers... well. Was he? He felt like he didn't have much direction in life as of late. It wouldn't harm him to listen, right? Hotarubi grunted initially, knowing this was just one person of a conversation that would happen multiple times in his life and he didn't want to have to repeat himself this time around. It was when he had to consider his role in getting other jobs did he actually think about his own actions. "It's only 'cus I can't get jobs as I'm not officially a Genin yet. Otherwise, I'd be out doing missions... not trivial pursuits." Some administrative thing, but he daren't return to the academy anymore on account of his father's demand, he wasn't that dumb. But he also needed to earn money, so there he was talking to Ruto. "What's your poison? People? You need a strong pair of hands? A reason to not buy whatever shitty goods they had?" Hotarubi was more so questioning the why of why they were talking.