Desert Life

[hobnob]

The sun was shining... just like it always was. Not a single cloud in sight. The eleven year old was sat in the shade, wearing his usual ninja attire. Dark ninja sandals that reach only to his ankles. Bandage is wrapped around his shins and ankles, it is tucked into the sandals on each leg. It offers the youth support and keeps him comfortable. Towards the top of the bandage is where the brown ninja pants meet. These are also wrapped in bandage to prevent them from catching as the youth is moving around. There is a black kunai holster attached to his right thigh, and the pants are being held up by a black sheath. His upper body is wrapped with a skin fitting cloth that helps the youth to remain cool in these extortionate temperatures. Over this lining he wears a open shirt like top that is tucked into the pants and is held in place by the sheath. This outfit makes the youth look like a real desert warrior, although this is not what he would wear when venturing outside the village walls.

The little hut he was outside of, under a large desert umbrella was actually a café. At peak temperatures such as these it was not wise to do anything too strenuous, and so majority of the citizens retreated indoors and remained there until the heat receded a little. Itoshii was not the one to just sit inside and do nothing. He was a full fledged ninja, who was keen to make a name for himself in supporting the village in whatever way he could. Currently he was on a little mission. The task assigned to him was to simply help out at the café while one of the owners was away dealing with supply issues. This was his break, and a well deserved one. When the heat subsided a little, the hustle would begin once more, a part of him did not understand why anyone would chose this life over shinobi life. The stress of having to deal with people was a lot to deal with for the youth. He could not wait until this mission finished, and he was sent to deal with a real mission. For some reason, he did not think a task like this was worthy of a shinobi, although it was challenging - in a different way.

A few more minutes passed and Itoshii made his way back inside, it was about to begin. The sign was flipped back to open, and it would be a few minutes before the streets began filling with people.

[King of Cats]

It was early in the morning when Shiroyasha left his house with his father to board the Konoha Train headed to Sunagakure. They had a few transfers to take on the way but the trip would be fast for the duo. Shiroyasha's father had business in Sunagakure, official ninja business, and they were receiving first class treatment. Shiroyasha was going along to shadow his father and learn the ins and outs of international affairs. Shiro was expected to be quiet and simply watch, and that was what he planned to do. Shiro was ever so excited to get out of Konohagakure and visit the allied Wind Country. He had never been out of Fire Country before and with a responsibility to learn on his shoulders Shiroyasha felt determined to be an upstanding citizen.

Walking out of the train station Shiroyasha immediately noticed the vibrant sun coming down in the desert. Wind Country had a beautiful horizon and the breeze was invigorating. Standing with his father Shiroyasha was wearing his usual red jacket with a white v neck underneath. He didn't go anywhere without his jacket, usually. While he waited for his dad to configure their directions with his map Shiroyasha looked around. There were people all over the place walking around with turbans and different apparel that Shiroyasha wasn't accustomed to seeing. To see a different great ninja village was truly inspiring, the Nara-Awai halfbreed took a deep breath in and exclaimed to his father. "It looks like we made it to the right place!" Shiroyasha smiled widely and turned around to get a reply from his dad.

To his dismay Shiroyasha's father had disappeared. He wasn't standing behind him anymore and Shiroyasha was standing alone at the top of a hill. There were several flights of stairs leading down to the streets. Not one to be disturbed by unexpected events Shiroyasha cooly stuck his hands in his coat pocket. The kunai he had lined up inside of his jacket clinked together and Shiroyasha sighed. He started walking down the stairs.

"Well, I know where he's going.. I will find my way there. It can't be too hard to find the Kazekage's office.. who did dad say he was meeting? Bok-Choi? Something like that.." Shiroyasha thought to himself as he walked down the stairway alone. He really stuck out among the people in his black slacks and deep red coat. No one was wearing a coat in Sunagakure. On top of his dressware Shiroyasha also looked very foreign. He was kind of nervous but he let the anxiety cook on the back burner as he made his way through the increasingly dense streets.

With the sun blaring down and Shiroyasha walking a quick, steady pace he quickly worked up a sweat. To take a break and get some directions, he wasn't doing well reading the signs, Shiroyasha began looking for somewhere to stop in and ask for directions. As he was looking for somewhere not too busy with enough free time to help a visitor he came upon a quaint little cafe. Shiroyasha entered with a smile on his face. His white hair dangling in his face Shiroyasha crept in the quiet little place. It was a beautiful, tiny cafe with a fancy milk bar. Shiroyasha stepped over to the counter and ordered himself a pint of chilled milk. He was sitting there waiting for the maid to get his order when he noticed young boy, probably close to ten years old, wearing the appropriate ninja attire for a Suna warrior. Shiroyasha was impressed with the way the boy was tending to the cafe, he had a certain vibe about him.

After watching the boy for a brief minute the milk maid came over to him with a mug of milk. He paid her in ryo and took a sip. It was real tasty and Shiroyasha suddenly felt inspired. He figured he had a minute to find his dad and called to the boy, "Ayo!" Shiroyasha was grinning from ear to ear with milk sticking to his mustache. He really liked the time he was spending in Sunagakure.

[hobnob]

‘Ayo!’ Shouted an unknown voice from the café floor. Itoshii froze on the spot as he tried to balance plates and cups on top of one another. ‘Hello!’ The white haired youth replied. The voice did not sound like it was from the village hidden in the sand. The accent was foreign, that is all the boy knew. He had never been outside the Wind country, and so he was deaf to accents that came from the outside. It made him curious, he wanted to speak to this individual and get to know him.

Hastily he placed the dirty dishes and cups in the sink to allow them to soak before he shuffled back onto the café floor and made his way over the individual. It was a boy who seemed a few years older than him. From looking at him, it was obvious that he was not from the village, or the country. The teen was not dressed in a way the people here dressed, but he still did not know where this person came from. ’You’re not from around here are you?’ The boy asked, his tone was soft and kind. It may have been a very direct question to ask straight away so he tried to sound as polite as he could.

Itoshii pulled a chair from a nearby sitting area and sat down with the teen. There was so much he wanted to know. From where he was from, to what his country was like, to which country was better. Naturally, he believed that Wind was the best country, and he hoped that this would be the same opinion the teen had. But unfortunately Itoshii, although he was still a young kid very inexperienced with life, knew that was unlikely to be the case. The youth did want to travel around once he was old enough to look out for himself, once he was able to control his ability. Even after so many years of being aware of his ability, he did not know how to control it, or how it worked. All he knew that it seemed to be a subconscious thing he was yet to become conscious of.

Itoshii's gaze was placed firmly on the foreign teen. Firmly, but also softly. Looking intense might give the teen the wrong impression, and in turn might give the village a bad rep, ' filled with creepy eleven year olds,' was not the image he would like to give to the people of this guys country.

[King of Cats]

Giving the boy a wide eyed, toothy grin Shiroyasha grabbed the milk the maid had just delivered to him and held it in his hand. He was facing away from the bar and sitting at the fixed stool. Shiroyasha was living it up. No father to undermine his cool, no ROOT operatives to silence him. It was just him and his genius in Wind Country. Oh, and the boy he was talking to. Shiroyasha was so dazzled by the glitter of Sunagakure he forgot what he was doing there for a moment.

Speaking with perfect enunciation for his region Shiroyasha spoke in a strange accent to the boy. "Hey. C'mere." Shiroyasha took another drink of his milk. He wasn't sure what he was going to talk to the boy about but he was in the mood for some conversation from a ninja. Shiroyasha had never personally got to know a ninja from another village. He saw people from Kumo sometimes, and Suna too but he never got the chance to get to know them. "My name is Shiroyasha, call me Shiro. I'm from Konoha. What's your name kid?" Shiroyasha's eyes were twinkling with a glorious light. The Raitogan was a rare dojutsu and Shiroyasha's eyes were always glimmering with something mystical. If the boy were to look into them he would see a fabulous radiance of dormant Hiton.

[hobnob]

Itoshii approached the teen who seemed to be enjoying life right now. The maid had just dropped off the milk milked from Sunas finest dairy. Suna's finest dairy was something Itoshii had never seen, that is what was written on the bottle, but those cows were definitely not kept anywhere in the village, or anywhere near it. Maybe one day he would be allowed to venture out to find them, but for the time being that was not an option. Itoshii had already formed an opinion about this person and Konoha in general. It seemed their ninja enjoyed drinking milk thoroughly and seemed to enjoy showing off authority and power even more. They had just met and this guy name Shiroyasha was already barking orders at him. Itoshii did not mind for the time being. This lad wanted to show of his authority, and if Itoshii challenged him this conversation may even turn hostile... Not something Itoshii wanted. Izumi was always somewhere close by keeping an eye out for Itoshii, and if this turned sour she would break it up as quickly as it would have started. Itoshii did not want anyone thinking that he could not hold his own, especially on a first meeting.

The teens eyes seemed to have a very radiant hue, they were really soothing to look at. For a moment the white haired boy simply glared at the teen, glared into his eyes just admiring how nice his eyes were. Only to snap out of it a moment later, allowing everything that happened so far to fully process. 'My name is Itoshii, it's great to meet you. Your eyes are really nice by the way.' The boy said politely and then kicked back in the chair and relaxed a little. The time was ticking, it was not long before the café shut and he would be able to do as he pleased.

---

- Izumi -

While Itoshii was on his mission, Izumi had to stay nearby. Close enough to be ready for anything, but far enough to not impose on the café and its occupants. She was across the street at a grocery store chatting to one of the workers who was a friend from her childhood. She loved the fact that Itoshii was given a mission to assist at this particular café. With how busy she is, he hardly gets the time to visit her friends, so this works out perfectly.

[King of Cats]

Watching the boy named Itoshii kick back made Shiroyasha feel right at home. He slouched back in his chair and took a big swig of milk. Forcefully he clanged it down on the bar next to him, Shiroyasha was full of milk. He licked his lips with his tongue and let out a little burp. "Excuse me.." Shiroyasha said. He was bossy to be sure, but he was not rude. He listened to Itoshii introduce himself and gave the boy a smile.

"Those eyes will get you in trouble." That was what the Awai clan leader would tell Shiroyasha back home in Konoha, all the time in fact. Shiroyasha was lucky to be born with a sacred dojutsu and with such a bloodline limit he was also subjected to deep scrutiny from high up officials in the clan. The clan leader was closely involved in his upbringing and training, he knew Shiroyasha's eyes well. More than that he knew the rascal ninja well. Shiroyasha was the kind of kid that got a lot of attention. His eyes were first and foremost.

"Thanks Itoshii. They come from my mother." Shiroyasha winked. His mother was an Awai and his father was a Nara. The bloodlines joined together gave birth to the Shining Eye, the Raitogan. With his vision alone Shiro could produce instances of Light Release. With practice he could even shoot lasers, but he wasn't there yet. "So what are you doing here?" Shiro was still slouched back and staring directly at Itoshii. He was making eye contact with the person he was speaking to. Shiroyasha was very respectful and courteous but more noticeable than that were the bright, sparkling, golden eyes that seemed to stare into your soul.

While Shiroyasha was chatting up the Suna ninja his father was very close by. From somewhere in the cafe his father was listening. Shiroyasha had great eye sight, his visual prowess was unmatched in fact. He had not seen his father sneak in through his shadow though. Shikayasha was a very, very creative ninja with a very, very important mission. The genin didn't know it but he had been led to Suna for a reason, an international reason.

In ROOT Shiroyasha was still a begininer. He had only achieved his starting rank and though his display of ability to get that rank was impressive; Shiroyasha had many people to impress in his ninja career, this trip to Sunagakure was but his first test in international lands. Shikyasha was watching his son on behalf of ANBU: Black Ops official business. He would soon report every word his son said, every thing his son did, to a man in a chicken mask. Only time would tell if Shiroyasha would make his father proud, and prove to have a good name among ninja.

[hobnob]

His head bobbed backwards and forwards to acknowledge what the teen was saying. His eyes came from his mothers side, well if that the case then her eyes must be even nicer than his. Hopefully one day he would be in a position where he could go to Konoha and visit this teen once more. A hope that is pretty far from reality. But it does not hurt to hope. "I'm on a mission. One of the workers is off on some business meeting, so I'm here as an extra pair of hands..." Itoshii said and realised that over the past few minutes he has not exactly been making himself useful. His body jerked up and he quickly glanced around the venue to see if anyone did in fact need a hand with anything. Luckily everyone seemed to be managing with ease.

Now that the teen knew what he was up to, it was time to find out what the teen was up to! A Konoha-nin in Sunagakure, a little while away from home. It must have been something important or interesting to make him come all the way here, and Itoshii was young a curious, it wouldn't hurt to ask. "Hey, so what brings you to Suna? My geography isn't the best but I'm pretty sure Konoha is pretty far away." Once he said this, the youth reached out and grabbed a sugar cube from the little pot filled with them and placed it in his mouth. He was small, but still needed sustenance. And these little cubes of sugar did the trick perfectly.

The youth saw movement in line with Shiro, but it was far back in the grocery store across the street. It was Izumi, she offered him a gentle wave as she realised she had been spotted. They liked to play a game together, where Itoshii had to spot her. It seemed that this time she was pretty careless, the youth would most likely wind her up about it a little later when they were heading home, which was not far off now at all. His gaze moved back to Shiro after he offered Izumi a little smile to acknowledge her wave, and eagerly waited for the teen to answer his question. His family were very strict on his activities, he had never been outside the village, at least not that he could remember. Izaki, his father told him that he would one day be allowed to venture outside the village walls, but only when certain conditions were met. Itoshii is still waiting to be told about them, and remains obedient while doing so. But cannot wait until he can simply do what Shiro has, just go to another village, go into a café and order a pint of milk to enjoy.

[King of Cats]

As he watching Itoshii Shiroyasha noticed him to be a very active boy. He was constantly looking around and paying attention to his job. As a genin Shiroyasha knew the feeling of being at work on a simple D-Rank mission like Itoshii was probably on. The mixed blood ninja was smiling at him as Itoshii was looking around. Shiroyasha was completely lost in the moment and enjoying himself at the cafe. Surrounded by Wind Country natives he was totally out of his element but Shiroyasha had a sense of worldliness about him. He seemed to fit in as an outsider, he was someone that was easily approachable and his friendly eyes gave away his caring personality. Shiro let Itoshii tend to his activities without disturbing the conversation.

When Itoshii asked Shiroyasha about his business in Suna he silently realized that he was supposed to be looking for his dad. At the same time Shiro's father was hiding in his sons shadow wondering what his son would possibly say. The boy didn't know the true reason as to why he had been called to the foreign nation, but he did know it was confidential business. A genin was surely not cleared for international knowledge. Shiro didn't know if Itoshii was really just a genin, but he didn't figure a jounin would be dealing with a simple mission like taking care of a cafe.

Stuttering to find the words he was looking for Shiroyasha said, "W-well, I've come from Konoha on official business." The black ops trainee scratched his head with one hand and reached for his milk in the other. He didn't plan on saying anything more about it.

After he took a drink of milk Shiroyasha wiped his lips again and said, "I can't stay long. I need to find my.. chaperone." Shiro didn't want to let this boy know he was with his father. He wanted to be taken seriously, and a kid with his daddy was not a typically serious matter.

As Shiro talked his dad sensed the boys fear. Shiro suddenly realized he had lost his father. Satisfied with his boys performance Shikayasha lef this sons shadow and prepared to reveal himself.

[hobnob]

Izumi looked at the watch on her left wrist and realised it was time for Itoshii to finish. She said her goodbyes and made her way over to the café, although she would not approach Itoshii yet, he was technically still on the clock, she pulled up a chair nearby and waited patiently. Meanwhile Itoshii continued his conversation with his mate from Konoha. The way he spoke about the reason he was here was pretty vague. He did not give off any specifics about the business he was here for, it did not bother Itoshii all that much, if this person was any kind of threat the Suna security forces would have picked him up already, or so he hoped. Afterall he thought the security was pretty good. 'Well I'm about to finish up here so I can help you find them if you want?' Without really giving the teen any time to respond, Itoshii got up and made his way over to the kitchen where he would hang up his apron and let the café owner know that he was clocking out.

A part of him wanted to come back and do another shift, there was parts of this mission he really enjoyed, and there were parts that were not so enjoyable. Scrubbing dishes was one of them. The youth wanted a task that required more from him, something that actually required him to use his mind, not just be a processing unit. With all that dealt with, he turned back to the café floor and made his way back. With a mental note made about having to check back into the mission office to collect his reward he re-approached the teen to find out whether he wanted his help in finding the chaperone he mentioned. He looked over to Izumi, "I'm done, is there anything else we have to do?" the youth asked his guardian.

[King of Cats]

When Itoshii walked away from Shiroyasha the boy nervously grabbed his cup of milk. It was almost empty by now but he had a good swig left and he drank it up. Shiroyasha was developing a strong desire to find his father. He was in a mysterious, foreign country and despite the good time he was having he had important business to attend to. Shiro looked around with his beautiful golden eyes, hoping to find his father. To his surprise Shiroyasha watched a middle aged Nara clansman enter the shop and proceed to look around the populace. When his father spotted Shiro he waved to him and gave the boy a hearty smile. Shikayasha walked over to his son and proceeded to explain what had happened.

"I saw a one man band traveling the streets and darted off, I thought you saw me -" Itoshii had arrived back to the table. Shiroyasha nodded to him and gestured out with his hand. "This is my chaperone." The half breed smiled to Itoshii. He looked much more relaxed than previously and if Itoshii looked closely he could see Shiroyasha's stress melting away.

"Well sir," Shiroyasha was talking to his dad. "We should get to business?" Shiroyasha put his milk o ver the bar for the maid to collect it and then left a tip for the woman. She hadn't done much for him but Shiro was thankful for her service. "I guess I'll be off Itoshii. It was nice meeting you. If I ever come back to Suna we should meet here for a drink." Shiroyasha gave a friendly nod and stepped away fro the table. After Itoshii's goodbye Shiroyasha and his father left the cafe. They proceeded to the KAzekage's office where Shiroyasha watched over a psuedo-mission briefing pertaining to the psuedo-mission he was supposedly undertaking. He did excellent in the debriefing, and when no one was around his father gave an outstanding report of his son's behavior while alone in a foreign country. Shiroyasha did well but this was just the first of many outings to the allied nations of Konohagakure. The ROOT operative had much to learn.