maskormenacelogs | tis the season for RP catch-alls

[This is, by all accounts, a terrible idea. He's meeting some stranger he's never met, who's seen his face, but he hasn't seen hers. Danzou would certainly let him have it for being so careless, if he were here.

But that's just the thing. He isn't here. He isn't, the Hokage isn't, Yamato-taichou isn't. Konoha does not exist, nor does the concept of shinobi in the first place. It's more freedom than he's ever had in his entire life, and he hasn't known what to do with it.

And sometimes, it's frustrating. Sometimes he just doesn't understand how civilians work, how people could just relax and make merry while they were supposedly in the midst of war, or why wielding weapons in public places was seen as dangerous.

But then there are moments like this. People like Lizzie Temple, who ask him if he likes his new job, who tells him decency and civility is worth celebrating and things can always be better than they are, and he finds himself taking an absurd, impractical risk because he thinks of Naruto every time he speaks to her.

(Thinks of his "brother", too. They're all very alike, he thinks--he idly finds himself wishing the three of them could have known each other.)

It's thrilling in a way he wouldn't have imagined possible just short of a month ago, before he was given this name and placed on Team 7. He doesn't understand the odd, fluttery feeling bouncing around inside his stomach and chest, the impatience as he watches people walk through the streets in front of his government-assigned housing, but none of them stop in front of #10. It's nothing like anything he's read in his books.

Even more strangely, he finds that he doesn't dislike it.]

[ It's a risk, being in this area. Kitty doesn't know for certain where Mandrake lives, but it's probably around here - and isn't that just all she needs, getting caught now, already, just for doing a good deed? She does her best to look unobtrusive and unlike the Kitty Jones that had lived back in London: she's wearing clothes that make her look like an ordinary eighteen-year-old girl in this world, with a sweater and a big wide skirt and a kerchief tied around her neck, loafers and white socks, sunglasses. She's definitely a far cry from the black-clad revolutionary that anyone from home would recognize - but even so, there's just a bit of nervousness curling in the pit of her stomach as she knocks on the door.

She does so briskly, though, and confidently. And she steps back, and adjusts the shopping bag hanging from her wrist. ]

[It's probably a tiny bit creepy how quickly the door is answered. That same eager yet slightly nervous smile from before likely tempers that, however.]

Hello, Lizzie.

[The attire is certainly different from what the kunoichi of his own world wear, far too loose and inconvenient for battle, but he supposes that is something else that comes with being a civilian; the ability to wear impractical clothes.]

[Sai has been attending Heropa High for just shy of a month. Ever since the grand impression he made on his first day, pulling a sword on the captain of the football team, there's been no dearth of rumors circulating about him;many of them are overblown and ridiculous, the way teenage rumors often are. Some suspect he's actually a robot, what with his blank expressions and speech largely lacking in much inflection. Others say he must be some kind of demon, and suggest you should look away when he smiles, because that's how he sucks out your soul. More mundane rumors run the gamut from secret agent to serial killer, though shockingly few actually guess ninja. Maybe it's the belly shirt.

Nonetheless, Sai still attempts to interact with his classmates as he can, although most of his efforts tend to end in abject failure. He's as alien to them as they are to him, a child assassin amidst teenagers who have largely never even known danger beyond the threat of a car crash, much less taken lives with their own hands. Still, he's curious. The people here are as strange as they are interesting, and if he wants to learn about and experience bonds, he needs to learn more about the people who experience them as well.

So between classes, he can be found in various places, from roofs to benches drawing or people-watching or drawing while people-watching. Should one care to approach, they will find him to be polite and soft-spoken, yet blunt in the manner of someone who has no concept of social norms. He'll smile at anyone who chooses to speak with him, though a practiced eye may notice that the smiles are all far too polished.]

[ Nishi always keeps an ear out for the rumors. The ones that concern him he's not interested in, but there's nothing easier than following a trail of rumors to find the real messed up kids. People just seem to have a sense for who's fucked up and who isn't, and that's what Nishi's tapped in to, always on a look out to find someone as messed up as him.

So far the tail end of every rumor string has been bust, and he's getting real sick of people looking at him like he's some kind of psycho when he insinuates that they must like watching people die, right? He knows he's right, but he's not interested in the cowards who won't admit it, and try to hide behind their fake masks so as not to rock the boat.

Who cares? Things are so much better when you do what you want.

He finds Sai on the bleachers during lunch and sits down heavily beside him, offering a juice box (that he might have taken from someone else), sipping from his own. ]

Don't you have anything better to draw?

[Sai's gaze turns toward the other teen immediately as he sits down, even before he's spoken to; it's a reflex, even though there has been very little use for his training thus far.

He takes the juicebox with that too-practiced smile and a thanks.]

Like what?

Edited 2014-12-21 21:54 (UTC)

Who knows. Anything would be more worthwhile than these wastes of space.

[ He understands what people say about Sai's weird smile now. It's pretty unnerving. Luckily they both have that in common (though people tend to refer to Nishi's as creepy or scary), and it doesn't bother him as much as it intrigues him. ]

Like something dead.

Hm.

[Sai tilts his head in consideration for a moment before he turns the page on his current sketch, to be finished later. And then he starts drawing....what looks like Nishi. He's clearly very much alive in the drawing, and as the details come to be rendered, he appears to be sitting by a campfire eating a roast fish.]

See? The fish is dead.

[That's a punchline, right? Something unexpected? The smile doesn't change, but you can still tell that he seems rather pleased with himself.]

That's creepy. You didn't even look at me.

[ It's also weirdly accurate, and he's a little impressed, even though he doesn't want to be. He tries to hide it to deny Sai the satisfaction.

Notice how he's completely ignoring Sai's joke? That's because it's funny like a brick wall, and Nishi hasn't quite decided whether Sai is worth sucking up to, or just another person to antagonize, like everyone else in the world. He shoves his hands into his pockets. ]

That'd make all the rumors about you false, huh. They all think you're something cool, when really you're just a stalker.

[ Because being able to draw someone after only having seen them once is creepy and weird. ]

[You haven't seen creepy until you see him transform into a perfect duplicate of you, down to the last strands of hair out of place on your forehead.]

You're mistaken. I could see you the entire time.

[He doesn't even have hax eyes like the Byakugan or Sharingan or anything; you just tend to develop excellent peripheral vision as a ninja. Sai tilts his head mildly at that last bit.]

"Cool"? I don't suppose you're referring to temperature.

[It sounds like an expression Naruto would use, somehow. A shame his teammate isn't here to ask.]

...But "stalker" wouldn't be an altogether inaccurate term, if incomplete. Though I'm not sure I understand what the ability to effectively tail another without being noticed has to do with drawing.

[Civilians are seriously so weird. That's a basic level skill for just about any mission above D rank, why is it such a big deal? That's almost as bad as the time he got into trouble for having a sword on him.]

[ Creepy? He'd kill to see someone make an exact duplicate of him. He'd be like a one man army.

He seems pretty satisfied that he correctly managed to peg Sai as a stalker though. He's... not exactly sure why someone would admit to that, but he's always been fond of weird hobbies. ]

Okay, I get it. You're some kind of idiot, right?

[ That's the only reasonable explanation for Sai's... everything. He's got a sneaking suspicion someone must have dropped him on his head at some point. ]

I'm from a very different place than this land. It stands rather to reason that I would not be familiar with all of its standards and terminology, does it not?

[Nah he was just isolated from society and trained to repress all traces of emotion and individuality, but a+ for effort.]

Edited (wording nitpicks forever) 2015-01-03 11:31 (UTC)

I'm from a place different from here too, but you don't see me bringing my swords to school.

[ Because Japan is a Very Different place. He's a little naive in terms of universes he's been exposed to thus far. ]

[Your world isn't comprised of societies that train their children to be soldiers by the time they're twelve.]

Good for you.

[Is he being serious? Is he being sarcastic? The world may never know.]

[ It is full of children being slaughtered and mutilated though, so the training probably would have done them all good.

He gives Sai a look then, like he's trying to work out whether he's being sarcastic or not, but loses interest within seconds and goes back to being moody and annoyed. ]

So, which rumor is true?

[ Please say serial killer. ]

None of them, really. Some come close, but none quite fit.

[He answers fairly mechanically; he's clearly not bothered by their incorrectness. It's just another fact.]

I've killed people in the past, but a 'serial' killer implies a pattern. I've killed those who I was ordered to. I've performed espionage before, but there's more to my duties than just that. I'm afraid I don't know what an 'android' is, and I'm certainly human.

[ There we go, that's what he wanted to hear. He sidles up closer to Sai, looking excited and bright, leaning in conspiratorially. ]

So you're a hitman. An assassin. Who'd you kill? How do you do it, what's your style?

I am a shinobi. Ninja.

I've killed enemies of my village, and those otherwise deemed to be threats. I cannot possibly remember how I murdered each particular individual, however. It depended on what was most efficient in the situation.

Edited 2015-01-11 10:39 (UTC)

Uh huh, a hitman.

How many, huh? What's your kill count? What were your top ten most memorable?

[Sai is mildly annoyed that Nishi ignored his correction, but he doesn't actually care enough to persist. That narrow view could even be useful someday.]

I've hardly kept track. We in Root are meant to exist only in the moment of each individual mission. Keeping personal track of our feelings about them would be acting against our training.

[....not like he, uh, didn't only just ignore Danzou's orders to kill Sasuke and decide to start living for himself, but well. He really doesn't remember. If he had his bingo book with him, perhaps, but otherwise....]

[ Ninja don't interest him. History doesn't interest him; there's no point in living in the past when the present is what's most important. The past doesn't help him at all. ]

That's stupid. What's the point in doing it if you're not allowed to enjoy it?

The security of the village, of course.

[He says this like it's completely obvious, and it's absurd for Nishi not to understand.]

Who cares about that?

[ What a stupid idea. There's no satisfaction in that. Protecting a bunch of weaklings? Snore. ]

Presumably, the village.

[lol smartass time]

[ He's going to hit him. ]

What do you care about a bunch of weaklings for?

[He actually sighs, which is possibly the most expressive thing he's done since Nishi sat down next to him.]

You're not understanding. Those of us in Root were trained to become effectively human weapons. A sword does not remember what it has cut down, nor does it care what is protected by its blade. It is merely a tool, guided by the hand of another, for a purpose. Nothing more, and nothing less.

So you're a killer who doesn't remember who he's killed, and gets no enjoyment out of it?

[ Bringing him back to the point of why even do it, but he's not about to go trapping himself in a full conversation circle. He's already losing interest. ]

Essentially.

Edited (wrong icon oops) 2015-02-02 08:22 (UTC)

[ The flattest look imaginable. He's suddenly lost all interest in this conversation, standing up without warning and crunching his empty juicebox in his hand, dropping it onto the ground. ]

Whatever. I'm outta here. Later.

tis the season for RP catch-alls

happy turkey day }} CLOSED to sai and "lizzie"

:> :>

i am the latest in the history of late orz

we interrupt your regularly scheduled cuteness for some terrible children }} CLOSED to sai & nishi

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i'm the slowest i apologize forever

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