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Post by stormecho on Jun 9, 2010 17:46:38 GMT -6
Konoha's place in the Land of Fire ensured that the days stayed hot, sunny and slightly uncomfortable when it came to walking a dog with thick, black fur. Not that Metsuki wasn't used to such a trial. She had done it all her life, since Ao had been a fuzzy, blunt-muzzled puppy that barreled her way into everything. Besides, the climate kept nights at a comfortable temperature, which is important considering the pair's habit of sleeping outside, usually on a bench or under a tree somewhere quiet. It was somewhat neccessary to avoid her clan, which meant spending a great deal of time outside, and, when it came to it, buying her own food. Which was why she was out here, in a crowded street - crowded by her standards, where her team was the largest gathering she could tolerate - looking for a suitable place to buy food.
Truth to tell, she was finding it harder to eat normal food, which scared her when she thought of it too much. Meat was fine if she cooked it, over a fire or whatever was neccessary, she could eat fish... But something about the spices and just the food put her off and made her feel sick if she ate a lot of it. Not that she'd let anyone know that - her clan would make a fuss about her and Ao's 'bond', Hyosuke wouldn't care and Sachiko probably would think that she was sick. Maybe. She didn't know her teammates that well yet. That was one of the problems - she needed a pack, she and Ao, and her clan was obviously not going to give her that. But Hyosuke was rude and made her want to bite him or leave him stranded somewhere.
A short, tense growl made her grimace, looking down at Ao, who paced nervously at her side. If Met didn't like crowds, Ao hated them, and would probably require a really long run through the forest to calm her down after this. Forcing herself not to mimic the same stiff posture that her partner was showing at the moment, the girl swept nervous green eyes over the food vendors and the stores, unsure of where to go. She hadn't bought food in a while... That probably wasn't healthy. Hopefully she wasn't going to die of scurvy soon.
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Post by Rock Lee on Jun 10, 2010 11:36:33 GMT -6
^^^Rock Lee^^^
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was grocery day! The day that he had to go out and buy food to help fuel his energy for training, and of course anything that could help supplement his training. Lee was particularly fond of eggs and other protein heavy foods, but he was also smart enough to get stuff with carbs. He even bought himself some ingredients for the curry that he loved so much! Overall, grocery day was fun, but then there was the challenge of having to carry everything that he bought. Of course, for Lee, just about everything was a challenge. In this case, he was carrying everything on his arms, and he had bought some of the biggest, heaviest boxes and foods he could get. Heck, there was a watermelon in one bag. Overall, an average person would not be carrying all that.
So it was with that in mind that Lee had made his plan. It was a simple plan; he was going to use his groceries as training weights. Then, he was going to take ‘the scenic route’ home to increase the amount of time he had to carry them. Combined, this would make an excellent work out for him! He had thought about running too, but with all the motion the eggs and such might break, so he had to sadly just walk home. It was worth it though to save the eggs. Besides, with all the crowds around, he’d have the extra bonus of having to move even slower, so he spent the time lifting his arms up and down and using the bags as weights. Of course, no training exercise was complete without a ‘punishment’: if he was unable to carry all of his groceries home, then he would….hmm, what would he do. Oh, he knew! He would cook his entire team a big breakfast! Yeah, that would work; he needed to work on cooking skills anyway.
Pushing gently through the crowds, Lee stopped when he noticed what he assumed was an Inuzuka; not many other people walked around with dogs. He also noticed that she looked a bit stiff and sickly. It really should not be his business to get involved in this, but she really looked like she could use some food. Unless she was starving herself as part of some training regime….hmm, not, that probably was not it. Even he did not like to starve himself as part of training; not providing your body the nutrition it needs was rarely a good thing. Looking down at all of his groceries, Lee figured that he could probably give up some of them to help the girl out some. It just wasn’t right to see someone in the prime of their youth looking so…unyouthful. Or at least that was probably what Gai-sensei would think if he was here.
Making his way over, Lee tried to wave at the girl with all the weight on his arms to get her to stop. Getting as close as possible, Lee introduced himself.
”My name is Rock Lee, and I noticed that you do not look well. As I cannot stand by when someone has the flame of their youth burning low, I am willing to help. If you would like, I happen to have a watermelon I can spare.” he didn’t mention he had only bought it for the weight training.
Lee tried to move his arm over to the bag where the watermelon was stored, but between the weight and the positioning of the bags, his arm was unable to make it. He kept trying to reach over, but when he did he saw the contents of the other bags were close to falling out. Apparently he was not going to be the one to get the watermelon out of the bag today. Shifting his body around, he moved it so the bag with it inside was facing the girl.
”It seems I am unable to reach it myself. If you want it, take it out of the bag there.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
^^^Konoha’s Handsome Green Devil^^ [/font][/color][/center] |
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Post by stormecho on Jun 10, 2010 12:47:19 GMT -6
Metsuki usually didn't notice people with groceries because, well, they were invisible. There were so many around who carried bags of food that she tended to ignore them completely, one more piece of scenery to complete the scene, another distracting tangle of scents to confuse her nose. But she did notice the other ninja, if only because Ao began to growl as he approached. When she looked up, her eyes widened in confusion. She only got a glance at the youth carrying an overload of groceries before Ao shouldered her aside, bristling as she rooted herself in front of the girl. The growl became louder, and Met winced, both at the sound and at the reaction it was sure to get. But even the half-wolf's threat couldn't completely drown out the sound of the stranger's voice.
The introduction was normal enough - but suddenly he was talking about a fire burning low and she blinked, forgetting to try and pull Ao away in case she decided to lunge. The fire of youth? Was that a metaphor of some kind? But the mention of food, even something like a watermelon, made her stomach rumble convincingly, and she finally moved to nudge Ao with her leg.
"Er, that's very kind of you..." she said softly, and then stopped as Lee decided to twist around in an attempt to conjure the watermelon from the depths of one of the bags. Eventually he gave up, just as she was about to burst out laughing at the ridiculous situation. Reaching into the bag, she lifted it carefully and bowed once she had backed a suitable distance away. "Thank you. I haven't had fruit for a while..."
The niggling feeling that she was forgetting something finally kicked in and she quickly inclined her head again. "I'm sorry, I'm Inuzuka Metsuki. It's nice to meet you, and thank you again for the watermelon." Strange as it might seem compared to her other habits, Met believed in manners - a pack needed strict ranks, and ways to address everyone to smooth over rough situations. Being polite, when neccessary, was quite important.
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Post by Rock Lee on Jun 12, 2010 9:57:09 GMT -6
^^^Rock Lee^^^
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Lee began to approach the girl, he noticed that the dog was growling pretty bad at him. Apparently the dog wasn’t liking him that much. Still, he was not going to let that get in his way of attempt to help the girl. Besides, the dog was just doing its job of protecting its friend and master. For that Lee could not criticize, only commend. Would have made this a lot easier if he did not have to deal with a dog growling though. He was ready should the dog lung; groceries made wonderful shields….and do not ask how he knew that.
Still, it went well enough. The girl took the food from him, though he could see she was holding back a laugh. He would not have minded if she laughed; even he would admit the situation was rather funny. Eventually she got her watermelon, and then thanked him for it politely. He was starting to like this girl. The dog, not so much, but it seemed to be behaving well enough so he could not fault it. Lee gave her a small bow back to be polite, though not a deep one since he still had groceries on her. Lee was a little concerned when she said she had not had fruit in a while. Fruit was very important! It had lots of important vitamins and other things in it that a person needed.
”Be sure to include a large variety of foods in your diet to ensure maximum healthiness!” Lee said, giving her a small thumbs up and a smile, the best he could in this situation.
Eventually she introduced herself, and just as he thought she was an Inuzuka. That explained the dog and all that. Still, a big clan like that would have better fed, unless she was just a stubborn girl or something. Or she was doing a starvation training of sorts. Anyway, she had introduced herself, and the polite thing to do by know would probably be to talk with her a little while. He was not in a rush; besides, it would increase his training time with this weight! All right, that was great!
”It is a pleasure to meet you Metsuki. Would you mind if I stayed with you bit? I am not in a rush, and it will be good training for me to carry these bags anyway. It is a beneficial situation for all involved.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
^^^Konoha’s Handsome Green Devil^^ [/font][/color][/center] |
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Post by stormecho on Jun 15, 2010 15:21:15 GMT -6
She might have continued on her way at that moment, but she needed to wait until he bowed back, and she was slightly interested in talking to him anyways. Without a Jounin, her team couldn't go on missions, so they... didn't. She spent most of her time sleeping or hunting, with the occasional playful game of tag. She trained when the training fields were relatively empty, but without relying on her clan, her store of shuriken and kunai was small, and without missions she had little chance to obtain the money to buy more... And it all came down to her team and her clan. One she desperately wanted to be complete and active, both to distract her from her own troubles and to let her trust someone, and the other... The other could go die. Or well, maybe death was too drastic but she'd be happy if she never had to go back to the compound.
Suddenly, Rock Lee decided to spout something off about healthiness and fruit and she blnked, distracted and confused before she remembered what she had said before. "Ah, right... I know that, but I don't usually have the chance to buy fruit..." she murmured, and then realized it sounded like she was poor. Well, she might as well have been - living sort of on her own was not the most pleasant existence - but she really could buy normal food. Instant meals made her sick, but she could go back to her clan and get food from there, or ask for money.
Of course, that would be rather unpleasant, and she wouldn't be able to take Ao with her for fear of the half-wolf trying to maul every nindog she saw.
Once more she was snapped out of her thoughts as her companion spoke again. She really had to stop drifting off like that... it was rude, especially since he was being quite nice. Smiling tentatively at him, she curled her fingers in Ao's fur comfortingly, trying to will the canine to behave. She was still looking over Lee as if planning to bite, and she didn't want the scene that might create. "No, I don't mind at all," she agreed pleasantly. Looking down at Ao again she sighed and added, "My dog's name is Aomidori, but you can call her Ao. She's a bit quick to bite, but she generally tolerates people I like." And despite the other's weirdness, she decided that she did like him. He was disarming, in a way. Especially with that way of posing when he gave her a thumbs up. It was just so cheerful.
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Post by Rock Lee on Jun 17, 2010 15:10:02 GMT -6
^^^Rock Lee^^^
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did not usually have the chance to buy fruit? That just was not right. But she was an Inuzuka; they were not a poor clan by any means. That made the fact she did not usually buy fruit very suspicious. Still, Rock Lee knew enough about clan procedures to not dig into and investigate anything suspicious. Neji had made sure of that often enough. Only so many times you could ask about how the Byakugan works before getting a (probably well deserved) beatdown from the Hyuuga prodigy. It took about ten or so before Lee finally gave up on it. So for now, he would just have to assume maybe the Inuzuka were having some rough times or something, or that maybe the clan just was not as consolidated as the Hyuuga were.
”Well then, make sure then every chance you can buy fruit, buy a lot of it and enjoy it then.” Lee said, giving the best advice he could think of. It was not great advice, but it would have to do for now till he could think of something better.
The focus then, was moved onto her dog who still looked like she was going to try and maul him. The girl at least looked like she was trying to calm the dog down some, which made Lee feel a little bit better about the situation. This would not be a good time to get mauled; he might break the eggs he just bought. Nobody liked egg goop all over their food, and he was not an exception. She agreed to let him talk with her for a little bit, and then gave a little introduction to the dog. Seeing as he had not been bitten yet, Lee assumed it was safe to say that he was one of the people she liked, and therefore the dog had to tolerate him.
”It is a pleasure to meet you Aomidori.” Lee replied, greeting the dog (yes, he was polite and/or strange enough to greet a dog) to help defuse the situation. With that out of the way, it was time to get to the watermelon….that they had absolutely no way of breaking. Well, he could use his taijutsu, but that would probably be overkill. Might smash the thing beyond edibility. Hmm, that was going to be an odd situation. They had time though; it was not like the watermelon was going to spoil anytime soon. So maybe he would just talk with her a little more, figure out her situation and all that. She was most likely a Genin, considering her age and being from a ninja clan.
”So then Metsuki-san, is it safe to assume you are currently a Genin? Has your squad had any missions yet?” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
^^^Konoha’s Handsome Green Devil^^ [/font][/color][/center] |
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Post by stormecho on Jun 21, 2010 14:59:17 GMT -6
Metsuki wished he hadn't asked so politely to walk with her. Otherwise, she might have left before he got too suspicious, but she didn't really blame him for guessing at her words. The Inuzuka clan was well known and respected - not as high-ranked as the Uchihas had been, and surely nowhere near the Hyuugas, but her clan produced good ninja, built for reconaissance and speed. And as a result, her clan was relatively well off where money was concerned. Of course, she tried to avoid being connected with them at all, which sparked her troubles with money. Of course, she would rather die than reveal her... unique situation to someone outside the clan. It wasn't as if he would understand unless he knew a great deal about nindogs and the connection between them and their partners.
"I will make sure to do that, Lee-san," she promised as he told her to buy as much fruit as she could, hoping that she could keep that as the truth. In truth, she didn't know how long it took before she got sick from more than just strongly flavoured food or instant meals. Ao whined softly, alerting her to what was going on just as Lee decided to greet the dog as if she understood his words. Which she did - she was half nindog after all - but such respect and politeness to what was usually considered a dumb animal lightened Met's heart. How could she not like Lee after that? Ao even managed to dip her head in what was obviously a bow, if a shallow one at that.
She even managed to keep her mood where it was when he asked if she was a genin. Yes, she was but... was it that obvious that she was untested? "Yes... I am a genin, but my squad has not gone on any missions yet," she said quietly, her tone informing him that she regretted the lack of action.
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Post by Rock Lee on Jun 29, 2010 20:07:40 GMT -6
^^^Rock Lee^^^
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ”Right, because fruit is an important part of any diet.” Lee replied, sounding like some kind of health-advocate. Which he was, to a degree. It was all part of the youthful spirit; had to keep the body healthy and in top shape to fully let your youth blossom and prosper. Fruit just happened to be a very important part of that system. It was, however, time to get off the benefits of fruits and move on to more meaningful conversation and introductions.
Apparently bowing to the dog and being polite was of great help to getting Metsuki’s dog to like him. The dog even bowed a little bow, the best he could. So the dog had a polite side to him. That was great; Lee could respect someone who was polite. Besides, anything to keep the dog from trying to bite his head off had to be good, right? Now that he had the dog’s respect, and they mutually understood each other, it was time to get to talking and eating and all of that. He was a little surprised to hear that her squad had yet to go on any missions. His squad had done plenty, though they were now capable of C-ranked missions. Maybe there was just not any good D-ranked missions around?
”Hmm, that is a sad situation indeed to not have any missions. Very odd.” Lee mentioned, intrigued by this mystery of no missions for the newer Genin. As he rubbed his chin in thought, however, he remembered that he had yet to answer his own question by talking about his own team. Before he could delve into any mysteries had to be polite enough to inform his new friend about his own squad.
”I am a member of Team Gai. Gai-sensei is the greatest sensei anyone could have!” Lee replied, a little excited to talk about his favorite, well, person of all time. Still, he had to discuss his other teammates as well,"And my teammates are currently Neji Hyuuga, my all time arch-rival who I wish to surpass one day, and TenTen, an expert in weaponry of all kinds. We are still Genin ourselves but hope to take the Chuunin Exams this year.”
With that sufficiently covered, Lee found himself trying to yet again figure out what to do with the watermelon. Obviously there was going to be no way to cut it with all these bags on his arms. He had to use his feet to smash it, but that would be too messy and ruin the edibility of the food. His taijutsu didn’t have the delicateness that Neji’s Gentle Fist style had; Iron Fist was built for smashing, not cutting. Still, he wouldn’t be defeated by a simple watermelon; he had to find a way. If he could not make a watermelon edible, how could he ever dream of defeating Neji!
”Metsuki-san, do you mind standing back for a moment?” He was going to do it; he was going to attempt to split that watermelon with the sheer power of taijutsu and youth! But he had to make sure the girl was out of the way first; watermelon chunks were probably hard to get out of dog fur and such. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
^^^Konoha’s Handsome Green Devil^^ [/font][/color][/center] |
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Post by stormecho on Jul 12, 2010 11:24:11 GMT -6
The first thing Metsuki could come up with was "Oh...", as her mind struggled to keep up with what he was saying as he introduced his team. People had arch-rivals? Really? She knew her team dynamics were awkward thanks to Iwahashi Hyosuke's refusal to acknowledge that teamwork was important, or that anyone other than him mattered at all, but she had never thought anyone actually bothered to claim a rival, let alone an 'all time arch-rival'. That seemed befitting a comic book or a cartoon, not real life. Still, she was hardly going to point that out, as ninja in general tended towards being eccentric and she wasn't really one to talk about what was weird and what wasn't.
Besides, he apparently was going for the Chuunin Exams, which meant he and his team had to be strong, and strong ninja tended to be even more eccentric than weaker ones, since they lived longer. Or at least, she had heard this opinion several times from different people in her clan, and even when she was loath to trust or like them, they generally had some idea of what they were talking about. Just not with her. "The Chuunin Exams? Lee-san, you must be very strong then. I hope you enter," she said quietly. It seemed polite to say such a thing, and she knew it was very unlikely that her own team would go on enough missions to be considered ready for the Exams, especially since they were rookies, just out of the Academy.
That train of thought led in rather unpleasant directions, so she was grateful for the distraction as Lee politely asked her to move back. Blinking in confusion - she noted that she was doing that a lot around him - she obligingly got out of the way, watching him a bit cautiously. "Is there anything wrong?"
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Post by Rock Lee on Jul 13, 2010 21:09:16 GMT -6
^^^Rock Lee^^^
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lee did not notice at all that Metsuki wasn’t really paying much attention to him as he described his teammates. He was way too excited to talk about his teammates to really care. Even though Neji really hated his guts it seemed, he still respected him for his skill. Besides, being put down like that was just a better excuse to get stronger. He had to get stronger to prove Neji wrong AND to surpass him now. As for TenTen, she was a weapons expert, and he was getting help from her in learning how to use him. She was also much nicer than Neji was to him, yet still retained a high standard of taijutsu skill. Take that Neji and your cold philosophy. Then, of course, there was Might Gai, his sensei and almost a second father to him. Scratch that, he was a second father to him. Together, they were going to prove to the world that you did not need ninjutsu or genjutsu to be a splendid ninja!
By the time he stopped, however, he did hear Metsuki compliment him on being strong if they were going to be in the Chuunin Exam this year. Lee liked hearing compliments, but he did not let them go to his head. After all, an ego was a dangerous thing to have. Confidence, of course, was fine, but an ego only made you an idiot and reckless. Confidence just flamed the burning passion in your heart, giving you the courage to do what you did not think you could.
”Thank you Metsuki-san. I have worked long and hard to become the taijutsu expert I am. It is all in thanks to the regime given to me by Gai-sensei and my own, youthful passion burning inside me!” he replied, obviously rather worked up. He was hoping to serve as inspiration to this younger Genin so that she too could release her full potential and youth.
Before that, however, they needed to get this watermelon open. He got her to stand back so he had room to get the watermelon open, though she did question his motives. This, of course, meant that he should explain since she did ask.
”Since we have no tools to open this watermelon, I am planning on opening it up with my taijutsu, or at least my feet. I just wanted you to stand back so you did not get juice over you.”
With the area clear, Lee took a deep breath. Since he could not destroy it completely, he had to focus and not put too much into it. He just needed enough to it to break open the watermelon. Since he could get into his normal position, he had to be even more careful. Soon, however, his foot came flying up, and then flying down as he aimed at the watermelon….
(I’ll let you decide if he succeeds XD).
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^^^Konoha’s Handsome Green Devil^^ [/font][/color][/center] |
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