New and Exciting things [Open to 2 others, Konoha shinobi only]

OOC: This topic is to be directly after Medusa leaves her meeting with the Hokage, she is simply exploring and will not hurt anyone who enters this topic unless you are looking for a fight in which case it may only be a spar.

Medusa strolled down the Konohagakure streets, she was not used to the location and it became apparent that she would become easily lost. She wandered the streets without much knowledge of where she was, but a good feeling about where she was going. There was a large heat signature nearby, as well as a tasty smell in the air. This was something that Medusa had never encountered, back in Sunagakure the food was always covered in sand. It chafed her throat to eat in Sunagakure, so usually Medusa would have to order food which would be packaged and then transported into closed doors. Although even then, Sunagakure food didn't taste very good, it always had a strange earthy taste. Even though she was so intrigued by the smell, Medusa kept her wits about her, she still wasn't wearing her Sunagakure headband. Instead Medusa had the dark black snake ritual hood covering her face in shadow while her back, arms and legs from the knee down remained exposed to the air. It was cool whether, somewhat too cold for Medusa in the clothes she was wearing. At least in this climate she wouldn't become severely sun burnt in a small amount of time. However Medusa had realized that she never really was sun burnt, it seemed she was immune to it due to being half snake, or maybe it was due to being half something else... For now, the questions could not be answered, but they weren't really important questions in the first place. Something that WAS important to Medusa at the moment, would be the great taste in the air coming from a nearby source. She tracked down the smell and heat signature carefully following it up until she came in front of the building. It had what appeared to be wet objects drying, wet objects cooking, more wet objects waiting to be cooked, others were wet and cold being eaten. Medusa had no idea what these things were, they were strange to even look at through her eyes, however the smell was so good that she would have to try one. Taking a few steps toward the counter, Medusa was immediately served and asked what she would like to order. Raising her hand slowly and pointing at what appeared to be a wet, round and partially cooked object on the menu. The man wrote down Medusa's order and her name, although he gave it a questionable look as it wasn't a regular name, he continued with what he was doing. Medusa stepped to the side to allow the next person to order while hers was being prepared. She turned around to face away from the counter and look out on the multiple people eating their food slowly.

The Dango Shop had plenty of tables for one to sit at and enjoy their meals, though many preferred to simply take their purchases from the shop and eat them at their favorite village spots. A few of the tables were occupied as expected, what with Konoha being one of those lucky villages with great food. Sitting on one particular table by the entrance of the shop was a young boy with silvery grey hair. Kazuto black eyes were watching the girl who had just strolled over to the counter, a look of shrewd curiosity on his face. His eyes had been drawn to this stranger the moment she entered the shop: the reason being that Kazuto had never seen her in the village before; Kazuto made it his job to know each and every person living in the village of Konoha, of course their were many who he did not know of, but all those in his age group had been observed by him already. It was therefore easy for him to recognize that this person was not one of the regular inhabitants of the village. There was a great chance that she was visiting from another village or country. The girl did seem to have the look of interest on her face that distinguished a non-Konoha resident.

“Interesting,” muttered Kazuto, getting to his feet. Placing his hands into his pockets, he walked over to the girl standing by the counter. Stopping in front of the counter, he glanced for second at his surroundings, and then turned his attention to the prey of his interest. Really, if anything piqued his interest, there was no stopping his desire to gain as much knowledge on said subject as he could. It was like a disease, his desire to know as much as he could; a fitting disease for a Nara such as he. Kazuto spoke in a warm voice, a friendly smile that seemed genuinely sincere appearing on his face: “Hello there. little missie. I’ve never seen you around here before.” His eyes fell on her attire. It was definitely a contrast to Kazuto’s clothes that was for sure. “New to the village, are we?” he asked as he leaned against the counter with his arms folded across his chest, the expression of the perfect host still etched across his face. “I’m Kazuto Nara. And you are?”

Medusa was surprised by a new arrival, his feet were the first thing that she saw as she was staring at the ground for a moment. Konohagakure had ants, Medusa had never seen ants before, she was usually to busy to dig beneath the sand in Sunagakure to find them. However there they were, more life on the planet to be discovered, once her fascination with the ants had finished, she turned her attention back to the man's feet. Raising her eyes upwards until she arrived at his face, he was giving her a curious look she was not familiar with, however maybe he knew something wasn't right in the picture. Medusa put on a smile with squinted eyes as she attempted to answer in a polite tone. "I'm not so little really, but there you are, appearances can be deceiving of age I guess in this realm..." Medusa stopped her speech before she spoke too much, taking her attention onto the boy himself. He couldn't have been much older, or younger than her mortal body was. Medusa gave him a look of curiosity for a moment, eliminating her once smiling face as she began to speak. "So, I am Medusa, visiting from Sunagakure and I have only recently spoken to your Hokage. He seems to be a proud man I would have to say, but men are only men. Then again, why are you so interested in who I am, or is it rather where I am from that interested you?" Medusa asked, her curious face changing as she had no idea who this boy was, what his background was, or even whether or not he was a member of Konohagakure. She was not accustomed to the people in Konohagakure and its citizens were hard to separate from visitors for her. Medusa took a few steps to the side before she suddenly stopped, bumping into the arm of the man behind her. The order she placed, sitting in his hand and ready to be eaten. She turned away from the boy for a moment as she smiled and accepted the parcel of food from the man. Opening it immediately and picking out the dumpling from the bottom, it was moist and smelled great. Medusa immediately plopped it into her mouth and began chewing on it. Amongst her quiet moaning of joy and the bright smile she suddenly wore, somehow she managed to keep her focus on what the boy was doing.

Kazuto listened to the girl speak as he finished speaking. His mind caught the end of her sentence and began processing it. “In this realm, you say? Interesting,” replied Kazuto thoughtfully as she halted her speech. An odd thing to say, “in this realm”. Could that mean that she was – Kazuto felt like laughing at the possibility – that she was from another dimension or time period? Kazuto shook his head in his mind. Really, what stupidity, it couldn’t be true, it was probably just a way of comparing Konoha to whichever place this girl came from. Kazuto was not someone who believed in alternate dimensions, he believed that if Man was never told about it, he was not meant to worry himself about it. Yes, it was logical, and Nara were all about logic.

Kazuto snapped out of his thoughts to find the girl giving him the very same expression he had had on his face when he’d seen her. She spoke once more, introducing herself as “Medusa” of Suangakure and having just met the Hokage. He heard her comment on men and felt like laughing. Clearly, this girl was one of the sexist types. “Hmm, I suppose that he is a rather proud man,” replied Kazuto thoughtfully. “But then, aren’t all leaders supposed to put on a show of being full of pride? It won’t do for his followers if the leader himself is a complete wuss, now will it?” The question of course was a rhetorical one and did not require an answer, so Kazuto continued speaking without waiting for Medusa’s reply. “Why am I showing such interest, you ask?” he said with surprise that sounded sincere enough, placing his hand on his heart as if offended by the question. “I’m hurt, can’t a person show a newcomer some hospitality without arousing suspicion?” He lowered his hand as his grin dropped from his face. “Obviously I’m interested in both, Medusa-san. After all, if you were not interested about my village, you wouldn’t still be here after having spoken to Hokage-sama, would you?” Kazuto looked away from the girl for a second as he stared blankly at the entrance of the shop.

Truth be told, he was interested in the other villages and how the citizens there lived their lives. He was always interested in knowledge, he more you knew about a situation, the further you could go in life. It was only normal for Kazuto to want to know as much as he could about the other ninja village. He looked once more at the girl beside him, who was now eating a dumpling she had apparently ordered. Kazuto smirked at the look on her face, clearly Konoha’s reputation food-wise was the same as ever. “I take it you’ve never eaten a dango before, have you?” said Kazuto. “If you want to enjoy some of the best food in Konoha, remember to try out the ramen from Ichiraku’s. From what I’ve heard, it’s the best ramen shop in the whole village. I must remember to try it one of these days…” His voice trailed off he noticed the snake tattoo on the girl’s arm. Of course, Kazuto had a haunch the moment she had told him her name, but seeing that snake tattoo confirmed what he had guessed. Gesturing at the snake on her arm, the Nara spoke: “Interesting, I see you have a thing for serpents. Any chance you could tell me how they relate to you, Medusa-san?” His voice held the tone of innocent curiosity as he spoke.

OOC: I can't believe I put [/b]*Sentences*[/b] in my last post. I never make mistakes like that. =_=

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Medusa was intrigued by what the boy said, ramen, she had tried that type of food once. Back when she was a child and still lived with her once breathing parents, they used to serve her with ramen in the morning and at night. Medusa was very picky about her food though, they never cooked it the correct way, maybe that added onto why they died. Thinking on the different types of foods she should try before leaving, Medusa almost didn't catch what the boy was saying. She heard the end of his sentence about the boy still needing to try it himself, if he was local and still hadn't tried it, obviously it must logically be hard to remember trying food in Konohagakure, to Medusa that was anyway. She didn't think as a normal person would, this was not her place, it didn't make sense to her sometimes. Medusa also didn't know what would happen if she died, would her soul be driven into another body, or be sent back to hell for punishment, maybe she'd be sent to Heaven for saving the lives of two men back in Sunagakure. The questions she asked herself usually didn't have a current, relative point, however they were all valid and required answering sometime. Preparing her voice to answer the boy, Medusa had a moment of thoughts to ensure she wouldn't say the wrong thing again. "Yes... My name was not of my own creation, however Medusa is not my real name. I was born to a different name, however I do prefer the name Medusa, it reflects my life style a lot better for where I live. Since I am on this topic, I might as well explain that I am actually half snake. You probably haven't had a good focus on my eyes since we met, they would have told you immediately." Medusa said, stepping out from the shadow and into the light, opening her eyes to a normal size without squinting them. Her snake resembling eyes glimmered in the sun, the pupil immediately increasing in size as it became a stretched, vertical, oval shape. She waited to hear what the boy would say next, although she may have been running out of time for lingering in Konohagakure, Sunagakure needed her services even at this moment.

Now that he could see them, Kazuto was intrigued by the girl’s eyes. They reminded him forcibly of his summon Orochi’s eyes. Indeed, the slits for pupils that he saw on Medusa’s eyes was proof enough of what she said. “Interesting, half a snake you say? Ironic, considering I myself have managed to summon snakes and can use a few serpent techniques. Ironic indeed. Yes, the name “Medusa” would certainly fit a person like you… Interesting.”

Kazuto remained silent for a while, then ceased leaning against the counter and placed his hands in his pockets. He looked at the girl once more. He was finding her even more and more confusing, and yet at the same time his puzzlement intrigued him. He wanted to voice the question about her being half a snake, which she no doubt expected him to ask, but Kazuto felt that it would be rude if not nosy of him to ask such a question. Really, it was not wise for a ninja to spew everything about themselves to other ninja. How much had he found out about the girl compared to how much she knew about him? Kazuto opened his mouth and asked a question which he had been pondering over for a while: “Tell me, if you don’t mind that is, why you came to meet our Hokage? I take it that it was an emergency? If so, how did you manage to get here so fast?”

Kazuto waited for the girl to reply, wondering what could have happened for a mere ninja his age to come and speak to the Hokage of Konoha. He hoped Medusa wasn’t getting tired of all his questions; Kazuto often went over-board with his questions because of his curious nature. Sadly, people called him a “nosy jerk” at times. He didn’t care though, for what was the point of being able to gain information if you did not bother to do so? Intelligence led to a desire for more intelligence, it was only natural.

Medusa was intrigued slightly by the boy's conversation, however she was not used to such long speech. She felt awkward that she was in the appearance of a human, the body usually received compliments from people even though it wasn't hers. Medusa admired the body that she inhabited, it had been her home for a long period of time. She had the appearance of a girl at eighteen years old rather than a twelve year old, but she was still five foot tall. Medusa hoped the body would not grow past five foot, it was a great height to have for the abilities she used. But there it was, she enjoyed the appearance she had a lot and hoped it would never change. Medusa prepared herself to speak while the boy was having a moment of silence, so she swallowed the dumpling whole and spoke in a polite tone.

"So now that you know about me, what is a Nara when you live in Konohagakure?" She waited for an answer, however the boy spoke on a few more things, it was interesting that she was even in Konohagakure she assumed, not many Genin traveled from Sunagakure. "I came to Konohagakure because of some trouble in Sunagakure, just some men attacking us, I'm sure we'll recover. But I had to retrieve a summon which was sent here, it isn't with me anymore but there you have it." Medusa replied, but how to answer the part about how she traveled so fast, that would be the difficult part. She raised her left hand out to the side and focused her Chakra down her arm and into the palm. Suddenly the broomstick would pop into existence and she'd catch it between her fingers.

"This is my transport, a rather common form for someone like me I guess." Medusa set it horizontally and sat back onto the broomstick while it levitated. Raising it slowly as she floated above the ground, she then dropped down again to stand back on her feet. "Just to prove that I'm not insane, this broomstick flies and I used it to come here safe and sound." She said, holding the broomstick in her left hand again as she stepped further away from the store. There was an intriguing tree nearby which she had to assume was a Jasmin, they had beautiful flowers when they bloomed. However she had never seen a flower, someday she'd have to come back to Konohagakure and find out what flowers looked like for real. She turned back around to face the man and see if he'd tell her what a Nara was, they were an unknown subject to her, and Medusa had to know her enemy for the Chuunin Exams which were coming soon.

(OOC: Sorry for taking so long, busy life as always.)

Kazuto pondered on how best to answer the question he had been asked by Medusa. He supposed it was time for him to put the knowledge he had on his clan to good use. “What is a Nara, you ask? Why, it’s one of Konoha’s prominent clans, obviously not as famous or feared as the Uchiha or Hyuuga, but well-known within the village at least.” He paused for a moment as he thought, then continued. “The Nara are usually in charge of the Medicinal Herb department in the village, though I’m not really sure why… Anyways, the things we are well-known for in the village is our great intellect, so you’d best bear that in mind if you were to ever battle a Nara in the future. Not all of us are geniuses, however.” Kazuto laughed lightly as he finished talking. Truth be told, he had yet to meet a Nara who he would classify as an idiot, but there was still a chance he might meet one in the future.

Kazuto listened to the girl answer his question as to why she had come to meet the Hokage in the first place. He was interested in hearing more about these attacking men she mentioned, but felt that if it was his business to know, he would find out if the Hokage gave a speech on it. No need to unnecessarily worry his head over it. And anyways, Kazuto had much more interesting matters to question. Medusa had raised her hand and grasped a broomstick which had appeared out of thin air in her hand. She then let go off the broomstick, which did not obey the laws of gravity and fall to the ground, instead hovering in the air without any visible support. Medusa had now sat on it, and the broom did not fall to the ground from the added weight, maintaining its position in mid-air. Kazuto stared at it. It was one thing for a summon to appear out of thin air and speak, but it was strangely unnerving to see an ordinary inanimate object such as a broomstick materialize out of nowhere and float in the air like it lacked mass.

Kazuto snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the girl walking to examine a tree outside the shop. He followed her, a calculating look on his face as he thought things out. Really, this girl was just confusing him more and more with each answer to his question. “A flying broomstick, how unique, I have to admit that I’ve never seen anything like that before," laughed Kazuto. “It pains me to say that compared to you, my abilities are rather dull and ordinary. It’s like comparing a simple rock to the secrets in space. Of course, I can do this, which is quite ordinary for my clansmen.” Turning his head, Kazuto scanned the area around him, and nodded as he noticed one man standing beside a tree reading a book with his back turned towards Kazuto and Medusa. Forming a few handsigns, Kazuto held the final rat handsign and whispered, “Kage Mane no Jutsu.” His shadow turned from dull gray to jet-black and extended forward, snaking along the sand-colored ground towards the unsuspecting man. In a matter of seconds, Kazuto’s shadow had merged with the man’s shadow, and before the man knew it his voluntary body movements ceased. Kazuto raised his hands and clapped them twice, a motion which was mimicked by the man himself. Kazuto crouched and so did the man, and he at that moment he pulled his shadow away from the man, stretching it around the tree so that the man would not see it as he glanced over his shoulder on impulse. Kazuto waved innocently as the man glanced at him then at Medusa. Muttering under his breath about delinquents, he closed his book and walked away from the two of them, frequently glancing over his shoulder to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him.

“Well, there you go,” said Kazuto as if he had not just took control of a stranger’s body movements. “That’s the basic ability of my clan, the ability to manipulate our shadow to connect it with another person’s shadow and ultimately controlling their movements through our movements. It’s not really useful as an offensive move, but it’s perfect for “stopping the enemy in his tracks””. Kazuto made quotation marks in the air for the last phrase and laughed lightly. He knew it unwise to tell a stranger about his clan’s abilities, but he felt it unfair that the Nara clan was not as famous as the Uchiha, Senju or Hyuuga clan. It didn’t really help with the self-esteem.

Medusa was intrigued by bloodline abilities, this Nara was so far sounding like something based on a film. A clan of geniuses, it was an interesting subject, especially since Medusa had not heard of anything like it before. She had the knowledge she required to live amongst the Sand ninja, the rest was a blur or just not in her head. Although at times Medusa felt she was the be all and end all force on the planet, she had since discovered that there were more powerful forces than she had thought, all with advantages and disadvantages which she would be defeated by or given victory for. Medusa listened to the boy explaining Nara to her, it would be useful information for her later time in life at which she would be possessed by her master and sent to work. She however was still more interested in enjoying her time before he came, it was a good enough realm so far, nobody had hated her or treated her like dirt, but the future was the future and she was bound to obey it. Medusa prepared to reply to what he said while she turned to pay further attention to his words. "A clan of geniuses? So you too are a genius then, which means that you must have a lot of your own beliefs wouldn't it? Medusa was elusive in conversation, she had felt like giving up information on herself on this day, it was a good day to do so.

Although instead of speaking, for a moment it seemed the boy was in deep thought. He was most likely pondering what she had come for, maybe he would ask her more questions on the subject, although it would be painful to answer why she of all people had to come to Konohagakure. Medusa noticed some blood coming from her right hand's index fingertip, she stuck it in her mouth while the boy was in thought. Her claws must have been pressured against her skin at some point in time, which was not uncommon due to their nature and the body they were in. She thought to herself for a moment, why was she truly trying to help the people of Sunagakure. Later Medusa knew that she was meant to kill them all anyway, which meant the further she helped them the harder it would be, but something in her kept telling her not to kill. The body she had taken over had a strong will, a spirit even Medusa could not silence. Inside her mind at the moment, the girl was screaming in pain as usual, it was hard to deal with and even harder to understand. Medusa felt like stabbing herself to kill the girl inside, but that could either not work or do worse than good for Medusa herself. She pondered what to do while the boy began speaking again, appearing to be interested in the broomstick.

"Unique maybe, I myself cannot understand why there are not more unusual things around here." The boy appeared to be either jealous, shocked or doubtful about his own abilities. He referred to them as "dull" or "ordinary", but Medusa had grown used to the abilities she had, they too seemed ordinary to her. However before she could get a word in about it, the boy seemed to pick up his spirits and began preparing for something. She watched on in expectation to see what he could really do, sitting back against her broomstick again while she waited. The boy spoke some words before his shadow became completely black, it was strange and yet exciting to watch. The shadow appeared to move along the ground, while a man nearby seemed to be the target of the boy's eyes. The man suddenly stopped what he was doing and appeared to be mimicking the boy, or maybe the other way around. Either way, their actions were identical and it seemed one was under the control of the other, which had to be the boy as the master and the man as his pet since it was the boy's shadow which appeared to move to the man. She understood now, this clan was somewhat of a human puppet master, although not as basic. If the Nara had to connect a shadow to their opponent, then they had a weakness she could exploit later in the Chuunin Exams. Although she would have to prepare something for it, this would be useful information none-the-less. Medusa laughed as the man was released from the boy's control and began acting like a paranoid insect being stalked by a spider. She heard him mutter something while walking away, however she could not display her abilities on him since it would mean his death and her exposure. Turning her head back to the boy, Medusa listened as he spoke a few more words.

As she had suspected, the Nara was a form of control master clan which used the shadow for their techniques. It was an amazing ability, which didn't seem dull or ordinary. "Good for stopping the enemy in his tracks" Medusa would remember that line. "So you have such an ability, but it is not offensive? I do not see how it lacks offense with what you could combine to it, however this is not a time to be speaking. I must leave you and return to my home, they will be expecting news from Konohagakure which only I can provide. Till I return for the Chuunin Exams, I will not be back here, good day to you Shadow Master." Medusa spoke as her last words for the moment, she sat properly on the broomstick and within a matter of a few seconds would be gone from sight. The information gathering had been good, useful for her purpose later and a good way to begin plans for what she would do upon her return for the Chuunin Exams.

Kazuto listened to the girl speaking about his clan’s ability to control shadows. He wasn’t surprised to hear her say that it could be used offensively as well as defensively. He had simply repeated the words his father had told him when the former had been taught how to use the technique. His hand twitched a little as he recalled one of the clan’s jutsu, Kage Shibakuri no Jutsu. It was an offensive move after all. He had not been careless enough to tell her everything about his clan, after all.

Medusa had sat down on her broomstick once more and was giving her farewell. He frowned slightly as she called him “Shadow Master”. What an orthodox nickname for a Nara. “Yes, I hope to see you during the Exams as well, Medusa-san,” answered Kazuto pleasantly. He watched her soar away into the sky on the broomstick, even now amazed at such an item. It truly did allow her to fly. How marvelous. Pocketing his hands, Kazuto turned away from the direction Medusa had just flown off in and began walking, his mind thinking as it always did on the events he had just gone through. It would be incorrect to say that Kazuto had learned nothing; he had learnt plenty, but all of it confused him. This “Medusa” was even more confusing than she appeared. Kazuto smirked in amusement. What a pity he hadn’t been able to learn more about such an odd specimen of Sunagakure shinobi. Yes, it was a pity. He continued walking in silence, still immersed in thought.

(OOC: Short)