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Reply With QuotePart 2
Fire Country, Hidden Leaf Village, one year ago. A 12 year old Hiroshi stumbled towards the gates of a village he’d never seen before. His clothes were a bit dirty, but still in good condition, and the leather goods piled up on his bag were spotless, unlike his body. Covered in grime, healing wounds, dried blood & still moist blood around his mouth, he had to sit down once he got next to the gates to catch his breath. The guard, seeing the condition he was in, asked if he was OK. Saying he just needed to rest a while, Hiroshi asked when the markets opened. Hearing they’re closed for the day, Hiroshi thanked him then walked in. Looking at the only coin he had, he knew what he had to do to regain at least some strength. Finding a bakery, he looked around before slipping around the side, to where the bins were kept.
He had just found a bag of the fancy stuff they keep in the display parts of the counter when he looked up to see something that would change his life. Walking down the alley that crossed the road then went passed him was a man, but Hiroshi didn’t notice him at all. It was the girl that was with him that caught his full attention. Never had he seen anything more beautiful. Her hair, so long it fell down to the small of her back, was as golden as the sun. Her jade green eyes were nervous, but still caring. The red kimono fitting perfectly.
Ignoring the food that would have given him strength he very much needed, he followed the girl, keeping out of sight. He followed her to a large building, where he heard her say to the front desk attendant she wanted to sign up for ninja class. Following her further in, easily slipping past the unsuspecting attendant, she was led to a room with an old man & a couple of other people in it. Watching through a crack in the door, he checked the room out, the girl never leaving his vision.
The room was pretty much empty, except the desk the others were behind & the chair the girl sat on. The old man was wearing the same kind of outfit as the Kage of the Hidden Mist Village, except it has red on it instead. The man himself was smoking a pipe & asking pretty much all the questions. Turned out the girl’s name was Haru Yoshi, & that she was 11, one year younger than Hiroshi. This was a special interview for her since her dad was rather busy, so they couldn’t get there. Hiroshi noticed she was rather quiet, but he didn’t care. There was something about her that was simply, perfect. Hearing she was accepted & which class she was in, he knew he had to join up too. Even if only to see that face, smiling like an angel, just one more time.
Realizing that meant they were coming out, he looked around for somewhere to hide. Seeing there wasn’t anywhere, he cursed inside as he jumped up to just above the door frame. Using a charkra technique he’d just learned, he stuck there as the girl left with her Father. Hearing talking inside, he swung down to talk to them when the old man came out the other way. After using so much charkra to stay above the door & to patch up his now healed wounds, when the old man blocked Hiroshi’s body with a fist, the world spun then went dark for a few seconds. When he came to, he was in the same room he had just been spying on. He was lying on his back, with all 3 grown ups from behind the desk looking at him. The old man spoke first.
“So young man, any chance you’re going to tell us why you were spying on that interview, and what you were doing swinging down into my face?”
“I, I’m sorry sir. I, I…”
“Yes?”
“I was hoping to sign up for the classes. I want to learn to be a ninja.”
“Really? What makes you think you could be a ninja?”
“I’ve already learned a lot. I was using that charkra stuff to stick above the door. Look, I’ll do it again.”
He immediately regretted ignoring that food cause as soon as he tried to move, his body lifted slightly, but then just gave out. Breathing heavily, he tried again with the same results. The old man called for a nurse, and a blonde woman stuck her head in. She asked the old man if she could be any use, to which he nodded to. While she walked over to him & started checking him out, Hiroshi noticed there was something different about her. Not in a bad way, just different. She looked young, but something didn’t feel right about her. Something didn’t add up right about her. Introducing herself as Tsunade, she asked how he was still conscious despite having so little strength.
“Living on the streets, you don’t have much choice. Pass out, and nobodies gonna bring you food.”
“Such a young kid with this much endurance, that’s actually pretty impressive. Why are you here in the first place?”
“He wants to become a ninja. He followed the Yoshi girl in, and decided he wanted to sign up too. I’m guessing you’re about 12 young man?”
“Yes, um, I’m 12, Koge sir.”
“It’s actually Hokage, but it’s interesting to see you have a rough idea. Tsunade, what can you do for him?”
“Well, there’s not much I can do, except for bed rest till he’s better.”
“Think you can show us what you’ve got then?”
“yes sir, Hokage sir.”
For the first time in a while, Hiroshi got to eat actual food, rather than scavenging. Classes started the next day, though Hiroshi didn’t get to go. Though he knew he was healthy enough, he knew nobody healed that fast so he faked it, using careful tricks & some of his techniques to drain himself so his true healing speed wouldn’t show. After about 5 days, he allowed Tsunade to finally know he was ready, without any hidden pairs of eyes watching from where ever they could hide. Passing the test but not making it look easy, he was accepted into classes, & couldn’t believe his luck when he ended up in the same class as the Haru girl. However, he never could engage the brain enough to talk to her, no matter how hard he tried.
************************************
Fire Country, Hidden leaf Village. It’s a slow morning at the market. Normally there are more people, even this early, but today was rather slow. Hiroshi sat at his Leather Goods stall watching the few people around, talking to customers who looked interested. One couple started looking at some matching leather jackets, then strolled into the larger Leather stall further down. Several minutes later, they came back & brought the pair they were looking at earlier. You sell more expensive stuff that’s lower quality, & they’ll keep coming to me he thought as the other stall’s owner watched the couple walk away wearing their new jackets. Hiroshi knew he’d be jealous as hell right now, planning like he always does.
He still had the trenchcoat he had made for Akira, still fitting well, having been taught how to make it so it would survive being made into a larger size several times, without showing it. He also wore a pair of black leather pants that he made himself, along with a mesh shirt. He didn’t know why everyone wore them, but he had to blend in. The black steel caped boots he wore he had found at the local dump soon after he’d turned up, which he rebuilt to fit him. His hair was still a mess, but now he could afford to get hair cuts every now & again. The scars showed no sign of going, still reaching from above the eyebrows to level with his nostrils.
Still a slow day though. Wish it wasn’t though, I’ve got the exams tomorrow. I won’t get to sell anything since I can’t afford to be late Hiroshi thought to himself. Heck, I have to leave soon, or I won’t get to class in time. He chuckled to himself, then leaned back with a slight frown. It seemed a lifetime ago since he’s actually passed the basic classes at the Village Hidden in the Mist. He still missed his friends, especially since he had none here. Playing games with Haku, Akira & the others, reading Akira’s father’s notes about the “top secret Demon Hunter Alliance”, saying how someday they’d work together to catch or kill all the demons, tailed or not. He missed those days, and friends, but he had to keep a low profile…
Hearing something in the distance, he was snapped out of his memories. Leaning out of his stall & looking around, he spotted what he thought he’d heard. The faces of the Hokage’s monuments had been painted on, & a blur in a orange track suit and a black shirt was being chased by a three other blurs. Noticing which way they were going, he just turned around, grabbed a leather jacket & started waving it out, doing one last call out for business before he shut down. Suddenly the orange blur shot passed, narrowly missing the jacket, quickly followed by a sensei which wasn’t as lucky. Being made out of high quality leather Hiroshi had made himself, it resisted most of the damage, but still tore in a couple of places. The sensei however, thrown of balance by the jacket, went flying into the side of a building, landing in a heap on the ground. The other sensei just kept up the pursuit, chasing the orange track suited Naruto down the street.
Good luck Naruto. Your gonna need it. Hiroshi chuckled under his breath, then put on an angry face & went to deal with the sensei that crashed. He found him still in a pile, his head spinning. Resisting the urge to laugh & loose the angry face, he walked right over to him.
“What’s the big idea of running in & ruining my stock. Oh, sorry Toji Sensei, but still, why did you charge through & crash into my stuff. This is one of my best jackets, and now look at it. It’s all ripped & torn. Who’d want to buy it now?”
“You again? Look kid, just charge it to-”
“You better not say the academy, because we both know they’re not gonna pay for anymore damage you do to my stock. You do it all the time. Now are you going to pay up or what?”
“Well, let’s see what I’ve got on me…”
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