~Nara Residence

[Shodai]

“My name is Nara…Sai Nara”
the boy thought as he neared his destination on the solitary dirt road
“Im 12 years of age, and have recently become a Genin in my village…Takigakure” he suddenly interrupted his thoughts with a heavy sigh.
He then began speaking amongst himself aloud, watching only the ground as he proceeded
“Why do I always have to pump myself up like that…as if I don’t already know these things
well enough”
Sai glanced to his left noting he had developed a small audience, a young girl outside of a bakery, stood gawking at him.
“hello...” said Sai with a compassionate tone, the girl immediately dashed behind her mother to hide, as she exited the shop.
Sai smiled nervously on his way, irritably scratching at the back of his head
“I suppose if I saw someone conversing with himself casually, I’d think something was wrong too”.

He swallowed deeply, he had reached his journeys climax.
“Here we go”
he whispered, knocking faintly at the oakwood door of the tall gray Minka home… after a few short moments he shrugged with relief and turned quickly to leave
“Guess nobodies home, ill try ba…”
he paused mid sentence, freezing in the processes of taking a step. Stopped in his tracks, His eyes moved from one side to another, he
struggled to move at first, but quickly realized it was futile
“A Kagemane no Jutsu!” drips of sweat gradually fell from his forehead
“and at this caliber, I-it…could only be one person” his body spun around so that it was facing the household once more.
Sai forced a smile upon his face and spoke unhesitant
“Hello Grandfather, its been a long while..”he was brought crashing to his knees, pressing his hands to the ground to force himself up…abruptly Sai became released, causing him to tumble backward, Sai’s sweat drenched his face
implicating his struggle, it was then a voice echoed from the roof top
“You who have abandoned the only family you have left, what business do you have here. such nerve as to come to this place, and murmur a single word, from which has nothing to do with pleading for my forgiveness…you should apologize to your brother most of all, you have failed him, with such shameless acts of cowardice”.
Sai stood cleaning out his hear in a nonchalant manner, he knew it drove his grandfather crazy when he ignored him
“yeah… about my brother, he’s the one im here to see, is he around?”

[Naoe]

Sai’s grandfather scowled slighty and boomed once more at his grandson,
“Now you listen here, boy. What’s to say that he would even want to speak with you, were I to permit it?”[/u]
Muzen Nara sighed, hearing his brother and grandfather speaking outside, he closed his book, entitled, “The Hidden Mist: A Tale of Blood” and set it down lightly on his desk. He turned off the lamp set on his desk and slowly made his way to the door. He cracked the door as his grandfather finished speaking peering out at his brother, he opened it slowly and stepped outside, slipping his sunglasses down over his eyes to block out the sun,
“Ojiisan, it’s fine, I will speak with him. Please, do not judge my brother so harshly.”
Muzen turned and gave his grandfather a bow, in return, he got a nod of the head and a heavy sigh from the old man, “Do as you will Muzen.”
Their grandfather turned with a sigh and walked slowly out of view, going into the garden behind the home.
Although permission was given, Muzen felt a tone in his grandfather’s voice that told him that it would be best for him to leave with his brother. He gave Sai a bow of the head,
“Thank you Ojiisan, I should be home later tonight, if I’m not home in time to make you dinner, there is ramen in the cupboard.”
He shouted at his retreating grandfather, with a small, nervous smile, Muzen turned towards Sai and smiled warmly, “Brother, we should go. Perhaps a walk to the pond while we chat will set a more relaxed tone for our visit.”
Muzen took a step towards the waterfall in the distance, glancing over his shoulder as he took another stride,
“Sorry about Ojiisan, he is… Well, you saw how he is now; do not think less of him for it. But I must say, I am surprised that you have actually come to visit me, what is it that you wished to speak to me about?”

[Shodai]

Sai stood quietly, listening to his Grandfathers remarks; he lowered his head
When the old man took his leave to give the cabbages some much needed tending.
He contemplated for abit…
“I Suppose Muzen deserves special treatment, after all he is the one that stayed here”
His eyes became gloomy for a short while, though he snapped back when realizing his
was upon him. He smirked, returning a bow
“It’s just good to see the Old man’s being well taken care of… you not looking so bad
yourself Muzen, it even looks like you’ve put on some muscle”
a calm thrill came about within Sai as he listen to his sibling speak,
though he saw Muzen at the academy, he could hardily remember sitting
down for one single conversation with him.
In the midst of it all one thought continued rearing into his mind
“the way he’s speaking…doesn’t he hate me? Why shouldn’t he...”
He tucked his hands down into his pockets, and began walking towards the pond
“Well…what ive come to see you about is more of a proposition for us both”
After a brief pause he shook his head then turned to face his brother
“Ive been thinking…since squads haven’t necessarily been assigned yet,
and I pretty sure, that I wouldn’t work very well teamed up with complete strangers… if we were to do missions together, and succeed efficiently enough, then maybe the Takikage would see how well we cooperate, then assign us to the same team”
he had been walking backwards facing Muzen all along, until a recent stop
“So what do you say, wanna try for it… and be in the same squad as me?”

[Exit]

[Naoe]

Muzen stop mid-step, his heel touching the ground, but his toe hanging in the air, he brought his foot down slowly , he stopped completely, and looked down at his foot as a small puff of dust came from beneath it. He turned around and faced his brother,
"Well, well, well, that is very interesting, my brother."
Muzen ran a hand through his hair, pushing the glasses up so that he could look at his brother's face, for the first time in what seemed like ages,
"I must say, Sai, that you're looking quite well yourself, it has been a long time since I've seen you in action. Without that, I couldn't be sure of how well we'd work together."
Muzen laughed slightly and took a step backwards, "but, if you've kept up on your skills as a Nara, then we should be fine, I've trained in a few areas, but honestly, I have gone astray and most of my repertoire is actually the NinJutsu of our homeland, of the Waterfall."
He sighed and spun on a heel, continuing on at the same pace as before, he hummed lightly a slow dirge, stopping only to add briefly,
“On second thought, yes, I think it will work well, we can both use the experience, and I know that I can work with you, I do not hold the same grudge as Ojiisan does. I think I understand why you might have left, perhaps not, but in any case, it doesn’t bother me. Brother, we shall show everyone what the Nara Clan is truly capable of.”
Muzen continued the humming as the pond continued to grow larger, its sound, a pleasant splashing of water against the shoreline beginning to reach Muzen’s ears, his face forming a smile as he thought of the things to come.