Don’t Drag Your Feet in the Sand (Open; No Fighting)

In the slums of the market place there sat a boy with white eyes glaring off into sweet nothingness. He sat perfectly upright with his arms crossed on his lap, his legs crossed under him. Against his back was a stand that held some riffraff clothing. The owner of this stand was nowhere in sight. From the outside looking in it would seem as though this boy was trying to meditate, but that did not make much sense. Why would one seek out serenity in a chaotic atmosphere such as the market place? Although this portion of it was the slums, that few dared to traverse, the noise generated by the customers was still within an earshot. This was no meditation, but what was it?

Gesshin knew what it was. It was his attempt to understand people without interacting with them. Proper interaction required skills he did not have. So he sat here often to try and understand how people could be content with their mundane lives. But deep down he desired more. He wished for someone to notice his presence and have meaningful interaction with him. He needed a friend that could act as a safety blanket if he were ever going to be able to fight without reserve.

Two loud thuds interrupted his focus. An old woman emerged from the depths of the shop. She kicked the stand to try and ward off the boy. ”Get away kid, you’re going to scare away my customers.”

He stood up and turned around. ”So that is what this mess is? A shop? I thought it was discarded goods. My apologies.” Even a hag like her would be able to sense the sarcasm in his tone.

She pulled out a broom stick and struck the boy on the shoulder. ”Hah, you freak! Get outta here before I have to hurtcha. Sitting in an alley by yerself staring off. Ahahah.” He let the broom strike him. It would have been an easy attack to parry. There was no reason to parry it though, she posed no threat and there was nobody to show off to. Maybe it was best to just leave.

He made his way out of the alley into the actual marketplace. Maybe this is where he would find something meaningful.


(( This topic is open with no fighting or killing. I encourage anyone with the slightest inclination to join. ))

The black wolf had been slowly following and watching the boy, his leisurely pace catching her interest quickly. The few people who were out at night glared at the wolf as she walked past them. She simply growled at them and walked on, following behind the boy at a far off distance. Her deep blue eyes fixated on his back as he continued to walk on. The boy hardly seemed aware of her, which amused the wolf even more. It almost seemed as if he didn't want to continue on with what he was doing, or where he was going. "What an interesting boy...he seems so unwilling to go back home, so alone in life..." she thought to herself as she walked on. Quite a distance away, the howls of her pack could be heard. She knew that she should reply to their calls, but if she so much as whined, the boy would hear her and most likely flee. "Man, what an annoying situation I'm in..." she thought to herself as she continued to follow the boy. She hoped that he would notice her soon, other wise, she would have to give herself away.

AS the boy turned left, she stayed behind long enough to answer the packs calls, using the link established with her pack, she told them to leave her be and fend for themselves for now. She then turned back to follow the boy to the clearing of sand, and stood silently, watching him train. "Hmmm...a Huuyga in Suna? How interesting..." she thought, watching him in complete silence and full interest. Though his mind was full of thoughts and mistrust, she found him so warm and inviting, he was almost like a young child who didn't know where his mother had went when he was in the village. But when he was trainging, he looked like a strong, and bright young genin. He was so perfect for her to discover, to be the one to over see him in such peacefulness and silence. He was perfect in almost every way, but she had to remember that he was very easy to frighten, since he had never really been spoken to anyone from the village with good intentions.

She sat there for a long time, watching him train, and repeatedly try something again until he got it right. Her black frun blended in with the night so perfectly that she sat there with her eyes closed and went unnoticed. After she had been there for a long time and was getting hungry, she opened her eyes and looked up to the sky for a few moments before standing back up and silently walking over to the boy. "You know, it isn't very common for Huuyga's to be in Suna," she said in a quite voice, walking over to stand by his side and look up at him.

His hand clenched and tore through the air, then opened and sliced the nothingness before him. It was a practice to help the boy understand that while others may be throwing their fists around and causing great blunt damage, it was both more efficient and effective to eliminate wind resistance. In doing so one would be able to attack at a faster rate, which worked well with his skill set.

Then something caught his attention. It moved from a stagnant position and began to approach him. His Byakugan was picking up the flow of chakra throughout the entities body. The boy felt foolish for not noticing sooner, it could have been a fatal error. Whoever was approaching had a vast amount of chakra, the likes of which he had never observed with these eyes before. He broke from his training routine and turned his attention to the approaching person. Should they will it, Gesshin may end the night in a coffin, or more likely at the bottom of a river somewhere.

The stranger exercised no caution, they made their way to the boy and stood beside him. In an effort to eliminate possible hostility and hide his secret, Gesshin deactivated his Byakugan. Little did he know that it was too late.

She spoke. More interestingly, she knew. She knew what a Hyuuga was, and that the clan wasn’t traditionally from Sunagakure. It was one thing to know the user’s by name, but she was able to pin him for a Hyuuga identifying his eyes and possibly Jyuuken with the clan. She was clearly knowledgeable, and her chakra levels meant that she was about Genin, he wouldn’t be able to pin her level exactly due to lack of exposure to higher leveled shinobi. This would be interesting.

”That is true, my forefather’s hail from a village hidden in the Fire Country. Not many people know about my bloodline, and it may result in the weird looks I get around the village. However if you have heard of Hyuuga’s then you must be familiar with their devastating potential.

He turned to the female, and what he found was fairly shocking. She was a wolf?!?! The chakra level was far too strong for a mere wolf and wolves usually can't speak, unless it was a wolf from a summoner contract or something along those lines. A wolf with that kind of chakra level could be a person playing a trick in henge, or something he has never even heard of before. It was fairly ironic that the boy was exuding self-pity, meanwhile he looked onto this wolf with the ‘weird look’ that he was accustomed to receiving himself. His best course of action would be to play it off nonchalantly. If he were to make too much of it he could upset the wolf.

”I’d imagine you would receive similar looks. Not to be offensive, it just seems that people around here fear that which they are unfamiliar with… So, are you here to kill me? Someone of your level usually doesn’t stealthily observe someone of my level without an objective. If you are going to kill me could you at least pretend to be subdued by my power for a bit, it would be a shame if all this training went to waste.”


**Edited - changes made because Rin is a wolf.

She smirked and held her paw up, making a motion as to keep him calm. "Oh honestly...the looks that the people of the Sand give me are of more than fear, it is of pure hate itself," she began explaining, her black fur making her nearly impossible to see. "They hate me for what I am, and they hate me for what I've doen to my clan...to the people of this village, I'm nothing but a monster that needs to be gotten rid of," she said with a nearly emotionless tone of voice. She sighed and closed her eyes, seeming to vanish into the darkness. The human race was desgined to fear that which they do not understand, and to mock those who they see as a lower rank in society than they," she said, and opened her eyes, the deep blue giving away her position once more. She slowly stood back up and walked over to the place that she had been sitting for so long. "As for the Huuyga clan, I've met other clan members in my travels and on missions for the Kazekage...nothing too close to fighting them, I don't really care to fight someone away from home, leaves me at a disadvantage at times," she said, playing down her position, telling the boy twhat she really did for a living would most likely make him wonder about her and why she would even be in what was considered the lower parts of the village.

She slowly began to shift back into her human form, her wolf ears still remaining in place. "Though it is true that I'm fairly aware of most clans that exist in the Leaf Village and the Fire Country itself, I'm not one to research them greatly or anything, since I like to keep my mind open to new opponets and such," Rin said, motioning her hands in gestures that almost made her appear to be bored. In all truth, she was now that she had started blabing about other villages and such...politics were never her favorite subject, and neither was her knowledge of the other clans in the other nations. Rin could be considered strange, not just because of her looks, but more so because of the way that she acted around people. She nearly cnstantly seemed to be bored with human life, and hardly ever, if any time at all, showed emotion or interest in anything other than her hobbies of drawing, leading her pack, and being a shinobi. Her life seemed boring to her now, but it definately wasn't as a child, though she would wait to tell the boy about her past.

Rin perked up slightly at the boy's question, replying in an emotionless, yet subtle tone, "Oh no, you're not boring me at all...it's just that I loose my interest in conversations quickly when they pertain to things such as politics and my knowledge of other clans and villages." It was the truth, and very hard to understand, cnsidering her rank in the Jounin world. She sighed, and sat down on the ground, the sand starting to cool from the night's cool air. "Kill you, as far as I know, I have no reason to kill you...unless given order by Lord Kazekage that is," she smirked, and rested her chin on her hand. The night was suddenly filled with the howls of her pack, they sounded close. Rin's ears twitched as she heard the howls and she quickly stood up, replying to her pack with a howl of her own. Though she had told them to stay on their own tonight, they had wandered into the village and followed her trail. "Oh, I'm Rin by the way, Rin Ukiku... I'm also a Jounin of this village, I'm Lord Kazekage's personal bodygaurd you know," she said, giving him another smirk, as the other wolves slowly walked into the clearing and past the boy.

Rin should have known that her pack would come looking for her by staying gone for so long, but she had hoped that they would take her order and leave her alone this one night. Too bad she hadn't thought of their tracking skills when she told them to fend for themselves tonight. The pack quickly slunk past the boy, and ran to greet Rin, licking her in the face and jumping up on her. If she would have been in a different place, or different time, she would have punished them for their actions, but she decided to let it slip so that she wouldn't scare the boy. "Well, now that you've seen them, I can't exactly hide them now," she said with a small laugh as she pushed the wolves down off of her.

Rin chuckled at the boy's thoughts, and answered his mental questions for him, "No, these are not all humans...they are simply wolves from the desert, and a few that have been picked up out of the Leaf Village's forests." She most likely shouldn't have done that, but she had aleady laughed, not letting the boy understand why she had done so would have been insulting, considering the great pride that the Huuyga clan members are raised with. "Well, these guys aren't the advantage that I was talking about...I was actually referring to the sand in our village's deserts, they are my weapon when need be," Rin explained almost darkly as she walked over to the boy, and placed a scarred hand on his shoulder. Her deep blue eyes held such strength, and yet seemed to hide so much darkness and evil. Rin was indeed a dark person, but held the younger shinobi in high regaurd, well, the ones that put forth effort and showed good interests and abilities.

One of her wolves walked behind her and pushed his nose into her free hand, whining. They always seemed to know when something wan't right with Rin, they always stoped her before doing something that she would regret later on down the road...too bad they hadn't been there to stop her all of those years ago. She sighed and moved her hand and bent down to pet the brown wolf that had come over to her. "These guys are not tamed, they are led by me, I'm their leader, and their first line of defence...you did however, get the part right about my family being close to wolves...my clan is the Sand village's version of the Inuzuka clan, only we deal with wolves, a more powerful and loyal canine," she said, patting the wolf on the head to reassure it.

After standing up from the brown wolf, she gave the boy a weak smile and the moonlight caught something metal hanging around her neck. The light reflected on the metal object, revealing that it was a Sand Village headband, the cloth slightly tattered. The headband was boviously older than the young boy's, and had definately seen battles over the years that she had worn it. "You remind me...so much of myself when I was younger," Rn said softly as she examined Gesshin.

Suddenly A straw dummy's detached head came rolling toward the woman, about a miniute later a littile girl came running after it "I found it guys," she said. She picked up the straw head and turned only to be face to face with the brown wolf "AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!," She hollered, instantly Yuro dashed to her side "What's wrong!?!? Konono?," he said


"T-T-THAT! it's gonna eat me," Konono said. She ran behind yuro and wimpered, Yuro stared into the wolf's eyes for about a miniute "No this wolf is trained he won't attack unlessed told so, Must be from the Ukiku clan," He said Konono stoped wimpering and said "Are you sure?" she asked "Positive," He responded "Sure as Pie?" she asked "With wipped cream on top," he said as he pated her head "I'm sorry we inturrupted your conversation- " He noticed the woman's tatered headband "Sensei i presume?"

Rin chickled at the young kids that had ran in on their conversation. "Trained by the best animalcanine trainer in Suna," she said, giving the small girl a wink. Rin sighed and walked over to the young boy, patting him on the head, messing up his hair slightly. "Nope, Lord Kazekage's personal bodygaurd," Rin said as she moved her hand away from the boy's head and walked back over to Gesshin. "You know...your father didn't give you a near as painful mark," she began as she rolled up her sleeve the rest of the way up past her shoulder. "This tattoo was the most pain that my body has felt since I was a young child...my father was a very crule man, and gave me this tattoo when I was barely old enough to even know what our clan did," Rin finished, tracing the tattoo with her fingers. If she had much emotion in her heart, she would cry everytime she saw her clan tattoo.

The clouds passed over the moon, making the clearing darken and then light back up with the moon's pale light. If Gesshin was watching closely, her deep blue eyes could have been seen flashing from blue to red and then back to blue. This was definately hard to deal with, bringing up memories wasn't usually a good thing to do around other people. Despite that, Rin was managing to do very well. "Well Gesshin, how would you like to meet with me early in the morning?" Rin asked suddenly. This was a good way to start a relationship off fro this child, he was way too alone in this village. Rin thought that he should be happier than he was right now, he needed...a smile on his face every day. Rin seemed to have a great affect on him, so why not try to brighten his days?

Rin sighed and nodded her head at her pack. "Well, since it's late and I don't trust the people in this village, I'll walk with you back to your house," she said it in an almost commanding tone of voice. That just showed how much of a leader she was used to being. The wolves all stood up in unison and walked to Rin and Gesshin's side. "You two had better go home as well, it's too late for you to be out here...alot of bad things can happen at night you know," she said more gently to the younger kids that had just came into the clearing. She closed her eyes for a few moments and sighed as she thought about everything that had happened to her in her life. Rin's life was definately full of death and hate. It was also full of pain sand sadness.

Rin had been cut off from the world for a pretty good while...she had mostly been with her wolves, raising the pups and caring for the sick and injured elder wolves. Was her life really worth living after everything that she had already done to the Sand Village? After a while, she opened her eyes again and looked over to Gesshin. Yes, all of the horrible things that she had done in her past was worth living through to get to where she was now. All of the death that she had caused, all of the pain and suffering that her father had put her and her mother through was worth it. She had been strong enough to survive everything that had happened, and she was even stronger to stand here before the younger generation just to pass on her knowledge and wisdom to the future leaders and fighters of this village. Rin would make the new generation a star of hope for the future of the Sand Village. Gesshin had the potential to become the next leader of the village, but he just needed to know how to associate with the people of the village and the other shinobi.

"If you plan on meeting me in the morning, meet me outside of the village in the desert. I plan on showing you something important, something that you will never forget," she said, giving Gesshin another one of her smirks.

[ Placeholder - I am super busy, I should have time to post tomorrow. ]

The sun had started to go down, Albel preferred the night time better. He decided to go for a walk through the town, since it was late theer wouldnt be alot of people out and about. He hadnt gotten far from his home before he could here the foot steps of his partner, Repede. In his normal grumpy fashion Repede let out a low growl so his presence was sure to be known. The had made it to the more rural area of the village some shops had started to close up and others began to open Hmm late shifts, i guess he said to himself. He turned down a street and come upon the residential area of the village. It was for the most part empty save for a few people who obviously was going in their home. The wind blew a little blowing his dark gray hair in his face, and cause his black leather jacket to blow about revealing his sword at his side. He wiped the hair from his face and fixed his coat as he continued his walk. Repede glanced about as he normally does at each person he say, he never stared but he was always alert. Easy my friend theer is no need to be so tense. We are in our own village after whats the worst that can happen Albel glancing over his shoulder at Repede. Repede growled in a menacing tone that made Albel laugh, which he rarely does. Fine stay alert if you want he said as his stomach began to rumple What say we get some food then we can go find a clear open area, i hear the moon will be full tonight and i know how much you like it. Repede growled with agreement and the two headed back toward the rural area of the village.

As the group started out of the clearing, Rin heard the faint noises of a growling dog. "Sounds like someone's dog isn't very happy," Rin said with a slight smirk as she walked along side Gesshin, her pack on eaither side of the two. Most of the time the shops closed early, but others opened up late. It amazed Rin at how many peple tried to stay out so late. "I hope your family doesn't fear my...erm...family," she said, rubbing the back of her head with her hand as they walked along the path to Gesshin's house. The desert night was turning cold, like always, and it was time to get indoors before you ended up freezing to death. Though Rin wouldn't freeze to death since her body temperature was up higher than the average human's temperature.

"And Gesshin, you're no trouble at all to me...nothing is trouble unless it has intent to kill me or someone close to me," Rin said emotionlessly as they walked on. Rin almost seemed to be bipolar, it must have been confusing to Gesshin. "You know, you shouldn't worry so much about your social skills...they're like family, you know them from the time you're born. It's all just a matter of learning to use them properly as time goes on," she said, giving Gesshin a slight pat on the head.

Before Albel was about to turn the corner, Repede growled in a warning like fashion. Repede disliked all people in general so everytime he sensed a unusual chakra level, which was all the time sense they were in the village. Albel, however wasnt paying attention. Since he became a genin he had been a single mission and that alone upset him. He sanpped back to reality when he came upon a odd pair. Both having odd characteristics the woman having wolf-like features and the boy having white eyes. Not being one for pleasantries, he kept on walking nodding at them in a slight hello like fashion. He hadnt gotten to far when he noticed his partner was still back there. Repede had not taken his eyes off the woman sense he saw her and for once he wasnt growling. Albel was shocked he assumed Repede would never get along with anyone but him. Due to Repede's fierce look and constant growling ( due to his inability to bark) it was hard for anyone to determine whether he was being friendly or mean. Albel could tell he was being friendly.

It seems my partner has taken a liking to you, i have never seen him react that way to anyone before. His name is Repede he said in a calm tone. Not wanting to come off as rude he looked to the white eyed boy I'm Albel, nice evening huh his eyes went to the sky The moon is full tonight it is quite beautiful, wouldnt you agree.

Rin came to a stop as the dog looked at her. She bent down to pet him, eyes kind and caring fr the animal. "Amazing...he looks so much like a wolf that I nearly thought that he was one for a moment," she said as she gently stroked the dog's fur. "You know, telling me his name was sort of a waste...I could have used my senses to figure it out on my own...you kinda ruined my fun," Rin said as she stood back up. Rin sigh and looked at the boy who owned the dog and spoke to him almost reluctantly, "I should most likely show you why he finds me so interesting, huh?" After saying that, Rin's form shifted to that of a black wolf, her fur making her blend in well with the night. She usually didn't show people her shifting jutsu, but this case was sort of special. "He was most likely confused about my chakra levels and my looks," she said, her wolf form shifting into a larger, black and orange colored wolf.

The cold of the desert night hit her fur, making steam rise. "This form's body temperature is up to about 200 degrees...completely past the average wolf's body temperature," she said, refering to the steam that was created after she changed into the larger wolf form. Then her form shifted again. This time she was an even larger white wolf with purple markings and purple wings. "This is a very rare trait...very few people have these three transformations in my clan...most have only one form," Rin said as she sat down on her haunches, wings gracefully folded behind her back.

At firstw obvious to Albel he was intruding and he would have left by now but Repede had his own ideas. But now this girl showcasing her skill like that had peaked his curiosity. This had been the reason Repede had been acting strange Repede must have sensed this girl was different. Repede growled as the girl pet him, she said she could have guess his name, and by the looks of it she could tell his growl was one of happiness. It seemed Repede had found a friend in this girl so Albel decided to stick around so Repede could have his run. Albel looked now to the white eye boy. he seemed docile though he learned from his father never judge a book by the cover. He had to admit he had never seen eyes such as these, but he grinned slightly when he though the boy must be thinking the same thing.Albel as switched between dark red to dark yellow, a birth defect due to his kkg.

Albel's eyes now shifted to the headbands of the two You are ninja to i see he said taping his finger to his belt which he had sewn his headband onto.

((OOC: Short post, but it was the best that I could do with my writer's block ^.^)

She looked back at Gesshin when he told her not to worry about his family and sighed. "Don't you think they would be rather freaked out by a giant wolf walking in the door with you when you return home? Or that they'll be even more freaked when they find out that it can speak the human language?" she asked curiosuly, raising her eyebrow in a questioning manor. Before Gesshin could respond, she turned back to Albel and replied to his comment, "Yes, I'm a ninja...unlike you two though, I'm of higher rank. I'm a jounin, a jounin who is getting very restless in this small village." She gave a light chuckle as she stood up, slightly towering over the two boys and the dog. "I'm also getting hungry, and so is my pack there," Rin said motioning to the 20 or so wolves that stood beside Gesshin, waiting patiently for Rin to start moving again.