Impromptu breakfast meeting ( Heian and Dragon over Demon)

[staltik]

Koujiro walked the relatively empty streets of Kirigakure. It was early in the morning ( around 7 o'clock) so most people where still in bed, making it an adequate time to meet up with people without getting lost in the crowds. Kou stared at the scroll Kenji had given him at the Mizukage's tower the other day, he had contacted the two people listed on the scroll and asked if they could meet up at a breakfast shop near Kouji's apartment. He typically went there on mornings where he didn't feel like making breakfast himself, the place looked like a more old fashioned dinner, and the food they made was good enough for Kou to come back so he figured that there would be a good place to meet up with those people.

Stepping inside he was met by waiter dressed in a white t-shirt that read "Satonaka's dinner" along with black shorts, and white sneakers. His hair was colored hazel brown and was neatly combed to the right and his face showed a cheery, optimistic expression.
" Hello, may I have a table for 3, please" Kou said, hands to his sides, his facial expression and voice always made things sound much more serious than he intended for them to be, but he couldn't help it. 
" Ah, yes. Would you like to sit in one of the regular tables, or in a booth?" The waiter asked, pointing to the right, where several people where eating at tables, and to the left where a few people scattered around where sitting at booths. 
"I think a booth would be nice" Kou said, glancing at the emptiness and silence of the booth area. He figured that if he was going to be having a formal discussion about things, it might as well be where there aren't many people to distract him. Not to mention Kou was always a fan of quieter places, anyway, it allowed him to think more clearly. 
"Of course, right this way,sir" the waiter said, guiding him to a booth on his left, where he would be able to look out the window. The streets where becoming slightly more busy than they were when Kou had entered the dinner. The waiter placed 3 menus on the table, one infront of Koujiro and 2 across him. Opening up the menu, Kou took a look at what he might want to get, and then silently waited for the rest of the gang to arrive. 

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Heian actually got up at a respectable hour and put his clothes on. He didn't like it mind you, but he had still groggily gotten out of his fouton and forced himself to move himself onto the floor where he laid and stared at the ceiling. As he laid there, such thoughts such as: "why was I ever stupid enough to learn a ninja skill and get caught, as to be conscripted by the damn Mizukage" and "who's bloody idea was it to have a meeting for professionals at this wretched hour and not have it at a bar?!" And "I'm giving up the ninja business and becoming a bard once... Once I learn how to sing and play an instrument" etc.

Mumbling he rolled his body over again and found himself face down on the tatami wishing that tatami was soft enough to sleep on. Alas it wasn't, and remembering that he was going to be meeting with ninjas he better get up or get assassinated. He heard somewhere ninjas hold petty grudges and tend to kill eachother with little to no provocation. Which, was just barely enough to make him get dressed. He dressed himself half awake and yet somehow managed to look ruggedly handsome. His yukata immaculately pressed and folded in all the right spots, the gold edges, made with real gold wire, and bright crimson edge standing out against the blight white. He tied the obi smoothly around it slightly out of shape waist and ran a hand over his stubbly face.

Upon exiting the house he snagged his two fake swords, two of his masterpieces. They were forgeries of two important war blades and a matching set, he used them as accessories, making people think he knew how to handle a katana. Unfortunately anyone who knew anything about swordsmanship could tell he had never used one in his whole life. That and they had no blade in the scabbard. Which ment they were perfectly useless but to bluff, something he was an expert at.

Heian walked into the restaurant trying to remember the names of the people he was going to meet. He ran his hand through his soft white hair as he entered and waited for the host to seat him holding the letter he had recieved in hand. He prayed they would notice him and by that time he would remember their names...

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Ryuu, walking through the streets, was looking for this diner thing he was supposed to meet his new teammates in. It was a crisp morning, and a low mist hung over the buildings. Unfortunately for Ryuu, his other self did not like being up at this time of the day.

“Of all the things you could be doing, meeting these meatbags is the best you can come up with?”

“Onii, for the love of all that’s good and holy, will you quit with the insults?” Ryuu told his ‘evil’ personality. “We need a team. I can’t do everything.”

“The hell you can’t,” Onii retorted. “We’re Kaguya: whole armies have fled lone Kaguya.”

“Kaguya that have mastered all of our techniques,” Ryuu said, “Not untrained novices. Now be quiet or help me find this place.

“Satonaka’s Diner? It’s about three buildings back.” Ryuu’s illusory image of Onii jerked his thumb backwards.

“…I hate you, Onii,” Ryuu said, turning around and walking into the diner. Straight away he saw another person waiting to be seated. Ryuu stayed behind him, being courteous. In the back of his mind, he wondered if this white haired person was part of his new team.

“I sure as hell hope not,” Onii said, his illusory body peering at this person. “Look at him, he doesn’t look like he could fight wet paper.” Being in company, Ryuu couldn’t really respond without looking like a crazy person. He could respond in his head, but that was just stupid.

Ryuu has split personality, do you think he’s properly sane?

[staltik]

Kou looked up, noticing two, rather angry looking, people standing before the waiter. One was wearing a really nice looking yakata, and had strange white hair, Kouji had never seen white hair, and the other had odd eyes ( 1 green and the other purple). He  himself didn't know at all what his possible teammates look like. The only way to know would be to ask them, though. So Kou waved his hand, beckoning them to him.
" Are you two.. umm.. "  Kou glanced at the scroll
" Maeda Heian, and Ryuu Kaguya?"  He looked up at the two expectantly.

Koujiro wasn't used to having random impromptu meetings, but he figured that it would be necessary to form a team with somebody if he was to advance in the ranks and help protect his village. And in order to do that he would be necessary to reach out to the other genin and see if they would be willing to join him on his journey to assist and protect Kirigakure. 

He folded his hand on his kimono, of which was multiple shades of purple, in an awkward attempt to be polite. He liked people and enjoyed making friends, but 7 in the morning wasn't always the greatest time to make new friends. In his mind it seemed like a good idea, but having a meeting this early was kind of ridiculous in reality. Hopefully they could look past that and everyone could get along. 

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Heian smiled as the young... Man... Approached him and mentioned his name. But internally Heian was crying. Why in the hell where these kids so young yet so strong looking?! This was going to bite. He had to be twice their ages. Maybe they though he was their sense I or something. Damn it.

But knowing when to speak and when not to speak were important traits, and over the past 28 years he had learned at least something. So replying politely and with a genuine looking smile he replied. Yes, I am Maeda Heian. Genjutsu expert. He hoped the title Genjutsu expert would give him a sense of power without having to say that he was a genin, or otherwise.

Heian's first impression of the purple guy was he was confident, polite and feminine. He guessed the boy was educated and intelligent. He made eye contact and obviously thought before the spoke. His youth was a barrier though. He couldn't tell just how sharp the boy was because of it. 

The other man, the one who came in behind him gave him the creeps. The boy's eyes were strange colors and reminded him of stories he heard as a child among the wandering people. Stories on ninjas with strange eyes that could kill a man if he looked deep enough into them. 

Thinking to myself and guessing by their ages, Heian expected they would want someone to take the lead of the conversation and help direct the negotiation. Luckily he had negotiated many a illegal deal in his life and knew just what to do. Not to mention if he didn't take the lead in something either of these kids could chop him into bite sized peices and eat him. Seeing as he only knew Genjutsu.

Lifting his hand in direction of the table and motioned to sit down. Not yet glancing it the other man behind him, because he didn't want to accidentally begin staring at the boy's mismatched eyes. Such distractions could be a downfall when trying to work out a deal. Best to avoid too much eye contact. No guessing what this kid could do with those funky eyes.

Should we be seated?

[Deleted]

Ryuu observed the young man waving at him and the other, slightly older man in front of him. He was shorter than Ryuu, but with longer, more colourful hair than his. Younger, but that didn’t mean less skilled or less likely to be in charge.

“If you honestly think I’m following this short person, you’ve got another thing coming.”

The young one was carrying a scroll, and he seemed nervous. “Are you, um…Maeda Heian and Ryuu Kaguya?”

Ryuu turned to the other man, hair shifting slightly to reveal his mismatched eyes. Consciously brushing his hair back in front of it, he observed the other man. He was much older than he previously thought, now he could see his face. Could he be their leader? It was possible, but Ryuu had seen older and younger students of the academy when he was there. Assuming something because of age was stupid.

“Yes, I’m Maedia Heian, Genjutsu Expert.” The older man said. Expert? That sounded formal.

“He’s talking himself up, no way he can be an expert if he’s meeting a couple of Genin and looking that nervous: seriously, look at him, he won’t meet our eye.”

That was true: Heian was actively avoiding Ryuu’s eye, refusing to look back.

“I am Ryuu Kaguya, medical student,” Ryuu said, bowing slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Onii manifested himself in Ryuu’s mind and mimed vomiting. Ryuu glared at the image and it dissolved. After a moment of silence, where all three seemed to be appraising each other.

“Should we be seated?” Heian asked, and Ryuu agreed, walking ahead to the booth and seating himself. “Well, how do you both think we should begin?”

“I say we string the old guy by his entrails and then we can torture the kid.”

“Onii, I swear to the gods above if you don’t shut up I will bash my head on this table and carve out my purple eye.”

“Shutting up.”

[staltik]

Koujiro sat down with everybody else, he sighed a little bit when maeda proclaimed that he was a "genjutsu expert" this was obviously just some huge superiority contest to him. However, if he  was playing Kou was game "Nice to meet you, I'm Koujiro Sanaske. Assassin from the mountains up north and ninjutsu expert, You can just call me Kou or Kouji or something, I don't mind either"  Ryuu being a medical student brought up an interesting topic for kou, too. He had thought about training in medicine for a while, it would be a productive way to help everyone In his village but in truth Kou was more of  fighter, not one to give out support in the back lines where he could be saving someone from getting hurt in the front lines. Not to mention the ninjutsu techniques he saw the chuunin and jonin use when he first arrived at Kirigakure looked so much cooler to him. 

"So, I've gathered the three of us here today in the name of protecting and improving the lives of the people who live here in kirigakure" Kou started, looking at heian instead of the eyes of Ryuu. He used to hear stories about a group of people with eyes that could kill. Despite it probably being just another myhth told by parents to make children behave, Kou was rather superstitious, and he didn't want to take any chances. " I propose that we form an informal team to complete missions and assist the village in anyway we can" Kou said enthusiastically
" However, since the mizukage forms actual teams with chuunin or jonin as leaders himself, so it would be more like a group of people doing missions together without their ninja team. If that makes any sense?"he looked at the both of them expectantly.

Kou had been wanting to something like this for a while, he felt like the things he was currently doing was helping the village enough. But he would need some other help if he wanted to take on some of the higher ranked missions, maybe not a or B or anything. But C-ranked missions with real fighting involved, that would probably help the village somehow. Not to mention they would be super fun and challenging, and Koujiro needed a challenge just about now.Just to get his mind off the humdrum and boredom of everyday life.He could only hope that everyone would agree to it, though. 

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(ooc: Hey guys, I left my laptop at my mother in law's, and won't be able to get it as my car broke down. I'll be able to get it wednesday, So sorry i cant post til then. Right now I'm logging onto a school computer during work, and if my boss catches me im toast. )

Heian smirked and said he would love to join a team. Thinking it might be something to help him not get killed. Not to mention he had to be a ninja now. what a pain in the butt.

He also thought the purple kid was a little conceited, and didn't care for his high and mighty wanting to defend mizugakure...

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“Have you noticed that neither of these guys will meet your eye?” Onii inquired as Ryuu attempted to listen to Kou’s explanation of who he was and what he wanted to do with this ‘informal team’.


“Onii for the love of god, let me concentrate!”


“No, seriously, they refuse to look at you in the eye for more than a few seconds.” Ryuu had noticed that as well. It was odd: what could they see? Could they see Onii, or what could pass for Onii through the windows into his soul? Or was it something else?


“Maybe they’re just weirded out because you have two different coloured eyes. Not everything has to be sinister. Now, how about we ditch this meeting and go have some fun?”


“What do you have in mind?”


“I don’t know, murder spree? Maiming spree? Oh, maybe a shopping spree!” In spite of himself, Ryuu chuckled.


“Sorry, joke in my head,” Ryuu apologised, “An informal team sounds reasonable to me. How do you suggest we proceed?” Ryuu decided he’d take a back seat on decision making, if only to make sure Onii’s opinions didn’t cloud his own. What was surprising to him was that Heian had remained mostly silent. What was his problem? Being the clear oldest, he should be seeking leadership based on his age alone.


“Maybe he’s incompetent? Could be incontinent. Something about him is rubbing me the wrong way though. If we do team up with this guy, let’s keep an eye on him.”


“Agreed.”
Ryuu may not like Onii, but if someone made his dark half a little nervous, it was cause for some concern.

[staltik]

Koujiro looked at ryuu strait in the eyes for the first time. It was more than likely that his eye thing was a colored lens or just genetics. What where the odds that he could kill with his eyes? Also it was rude not to look someone in the eyes when your speaking to them, Kou may be an assassin but he at least knew his manners.
"that's a good question, I suggest that we meet up on occasion at the Mizukage's tower, and request a challenging mission that all 3 of us could complete as a way of extra training. And, maybe someday, we'll actually get paired up in an official team together. That Aside, though. I do hope that we can all join this team to further improve Kirigakure so that, some day, every body may live peaceful lives." Lou said, at least somewhat happy with his speech. 

"By the way, should you feel the need, I'm also known as the midnight assassin to some" Kou said, now looking at the breakfast menu, eggs sounded good to him, but then again he also liked waffles and pancakes. While kou did think that it was rather odd that the older man, Heian, wasn't speaking up and  trying to be the leader, Kou didn't really mind since he himself wanted to lead them. Despite the fact that the two would most likely disagree with his stealthy ways, he had always wanted to lead a group of shinobi onto the battlefield, sword pointed at the enemy like those  badasses he always reads about in books. While Kou was obviously incapable of leading an entire army of shinobi, maybe a squad of genin could suffice? 

" What I recommend we also do is at some point, doesn't have to be today, it can be in a couple weeks if you want to. But, either way, I think we should all get together in the park or something and show off our skills. Just as a thing we can use to know our strengths and weaknesses and abilities and such" Kou suggested.
He thought it would be reasonable if they did this, how else would they know how to work with each other in the heat of battle. Not to mention, Kou always liked chances to show off his skills. People usually single him out as the weaker man because of his age, this was his chance to show people that he was more than just show and talk, that he could actually amount to something. Not to mention, it was always fun to use his ninjutsu and such, he enjoyed the rush of battle, what a better way to feel that than showing off his skills? Probably going on super dangerous missions, but showing off his skills was a close second. 

[Deleted]

Heian literally facepalmed. Okay he didn't literally facepalm but after hearing a 10 year old child give such a patriotic speech, call himself the Midnight Assassin, and brazenly look the weird kid who chuckled to himself right in the mismatched eye he could not help but ogle. Was this child dropped on his head? There was no way in hell he would ever just go to the park and show off his skills to people he didn't know and hope they would be his buddies. Fool!! With Heian's mouth agape he sat there in spite of himself and noticed his company.

A creepy ninja child with eyes that might kill him if he looked at them, and a purple kid who thought being sneaky was calling himself the midnight assassin... sadly enough though if Heian was going to be in a life or death situation he would rather be with the retina-ripper than the foolhardy midnight moontard. 

Heian stood up, hoping his momentary lapse in manners wouldn't be too out of place, and for the first time began to speak.

Working his hand along his jaw, he stroked the smooth skin on his chin and began.

"If we are going to work together than may I make a recomendation?" He cast a sideways glance at the creepy kid quickly and continued. He was going to make a gamble, and in a rare moment Heian decided to do something he hated. He was going to be honest and cunning all at the same time. A combination, that he hoped would work. 

"Please hear me out to the end..." He said. "In all honesty I'm new to this whole ninja thing and if we are going to be teammates..." Heian swallowed at the word. He didn't like the idea. "...We need to get a few things straight. Be honest with eachother... as much as we can at least. We all have our secrets." He paused waiting for his words to catch their ears. "Truth is I am a convicted criminal, My sentence of sorts is being a ninja. I chose to accept this invitation to make this load a little lighter because I don't give one damn about this village or it's shinobi. That being said if we are to work together we will need a leader." 

Heian closed his eyes and thought about using a jutsu to make this work better. He knew he could make them feel and shivers, make them trust him more, or make them be in awe of his words, but he knew he had to let them make the choice via logic and gut alone. He knew with his age that people kept to their promises better that way. 

He continued. Not stopping.

"I am not a leader, I'm too lazy, have too little of a background in this stuff, and to be frank don't want to, so I won't. Moreover, I refuse to acknowledge a twelve year old kid who, to put it lightly is a moron, to be our leader. I would quit before you accepted." He said as he  stared flatly at the midnight assassin. "That leaves the one person here who has actually acted at all like a ninja the whole time. The one person either of us are afraid to make eye contact with..."

Heian regretted the words as soon as had said them. Heian straitened a little bit and his hands wiggled. He prepared to use a Genjutsu to mask his escape or smooth over his harsh words. Sipping his water as if he had just commented on the weather he smiled and waited for an answer.

[Deleted]

“Okay, this is getting interesting,” Onii said, materialising himself behind Ryuu in the latter’s mind’s eye. “You ever heard of the ‘Midnight Assassin’?”

“No, I haven’t. I can only assume he hasn’t made any kills, or he’s very good at his job.”

“Still, I wouldn’t want to follow an assassin into battle: assassins rarely take into account other people.”

“True, but Kou seems like a good sort. Hold on, why are you asking me if I’ve heard of him? We share knowledge.”

“Yeah, but we can keep secrets from each other, so I thought I’d ask.”

Unfortunately, that was when it all went to hell. Kou finished his speech, and Ryuu turned his head and saw Heian stare, mouth agape and seething with rage. Then Heian began to talk, and Onii began to laugh at it, the crowing laughter eating at Ryuu’s patience. Heian revealed his criminal past, at least that he had one, and how he didn’t care about the village.

Then came the bombshell, such as it was. This man decided that he’d talk down to Kou like he was some petulant toddler. Ryuu’s natural instincts flared, and Onii stopped laughing and looked scared.

“Uh, Ryuu. I’m supposed to be the angry one, you wanna calm down?”

Ryuu didn’t calm down. Once Heian was finished with his speech, looked at Ryuu and drank his water, Ryuu stood.

“You’re afraid of me?” Ryuu asked, coldly. “Good,” raising his hand, Ryuu pushed a piece of bone out of the palm of his hand. “If you cared enough to delve into the history of the village, you’d know that the Kaguya wield their bones the way you could wield a knife. You want me to lead? Then listen: I don’t care how much Genjutsu you bring to bear, if you talk down to Kou like that again, I will show you why you are so scared of me.” Retracting the piece of bone, Ryuu lowered his hand. “I have a desire to leave now: I will contact you both when I think we should meet for an exchange of skills and ideas and if I decide you can be trusted, Heian, then maybe we will go out on a mission. But if I decide you cannot be trusted, then you better hope that you can match me.”

Turning to Kou, Ryuu attempted to soften his expression, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Kou.” Turning his glare back to Heian, Ryuu allowed some of Onii to seep through and the purple eye moved independently, rolling around before focusing back on Heian. “Do not think for a second I won’t keep my eye on you.” Ryuu said as threateningly as he could, before taking his leave of the diner. He had lost his appetite anyway.

“Okay, I’m evil and that was scary. Why don’t you be that scary all the time? It’d be more entertaining.”

“Because that’s why YOU exist, Onii. Now let me calm down, we have some work to do.”

“What kind of work?”

“The kind that keeps people like Heian in line.”

{Exit}

[staltik]

Koujiro just sat there in awe through the length of the groups meeting, he could care less about how heian called him a child of whom he refused to be lead by. It was the fact that we was a criminal, living out his sentence or not, Kou wouldn't force being on a team with him to his worst enemy." I apologize, but I cannot work with you if you aren't at least somewhat enthusiastic about being a ninja. You should feel honored to be chosen to protect your village, and your family. Maybe someday we can team up if you're willing to, but as of right now I have no interests in completing missions with a criminal" Kou spoke, getting up from his seat and staring Heian directly in the eyes.

He then set his menu on the table " And I was hoping I would actually be eating this morning, fine" He sighed, yearning for those eggs and bacon, alas it could not be. He simply couldn't be around someone as aggressive and obnoxious as heian was being at the moment. Ryuu, however, seemed like a nice guy, hopefully they would be able to see each other again. "I'll see you later, then, Heian" Koujiro said, taking a step out of the table, and soon into the streets of kirigakure. 

(sorry for the short post, I need to pack for my camp now so I'm really busy.)