Head in the Clouds

Kitsumi found himself walking in a daze of sorts, the last thing he had remembered was speaking to Queen Ryuko, before heading to the gates of the village on his way to the land of Iron to reconnect with his Samurai lineage. Though he doesn't even remember making it out the gates and then the next thing he knows he is being held down in a hospital bed while the staff tried to calm him from a panicked wake up, being told that several years have passed and the Queen was no longer in power, Kitsumi would feel as though a sword had pierced through his chest. Sure, he could go ahead with his journey to the Land of Iron as he originally planned, but his whole reasoning for going was now no longer needed, nor did he know if whoever was currently in power would allow him to leave as Ryuko was going to. 'It might be better to stick around, see what has changed' Kitsumi would think to himself as he walked down the streets of Kumogakure. From what he had gathered from the hospital staff, the Ryuzoji clan had not been seen much over the years, causing Kitsumi to wonder if there was something going on that the main family was trying to keep quiet. As a lowly branch member, he would not have been missed and he doubted that they would even care that he returned, still it probably would not hurt for him to check in. Just not yet. First, he wanted to see what all had changed about Kumo, before he went digging into something he might not want to. Though the Ryuzoji was one of the few clans that did not have their own district within the village, too few were its members for such a feat to be granted to them by the village. There were those that had resented the village for that reason when he had last been around, though now even after all this time had passed to still not have a clan district, those that resented the village must have gotten over it or moved passed it in some way or another considering the nurse didn't say anything about them starting a riot or anything over the years he was in a state the nurse called a coma.

The Platinum haired Ryuzoji would move through the crowd of the street, his right hand resting upon the hilt of his Super-Vibrato Sword strapped to his hip as he moved. Even though he was left-handed, which was why the sword was on the right side, resting his hand on its hilt relaxed him, as well as helped ensure that no one would swipe his blade from him. Of course, that was not really needed, with his Denkanryū he could sense anyone before they would be able to get close enough to be a threat. He didn't need a line of sight on them or anything, if he wanted he could be walking down the street with his eyes closed and still be able to see everyone in the street, though he might walk into a wall or two if he did. Kitsumi did not blend in with the crowd by any means, between his Platinum hair that reached down to his knees and the fact that he was wearing black boots and pants with no shirt but was wearing a black leather and fur coat that hungs down to his shins, his Steel pauldrons reflecting the light from the sun as he walked, he was easy to spot.

Making his way through the crowded street Kitsumi would find himself in front of the training grounds wondering if he should go and see just how bad his skills had gotten since he was bedridden all these years, though he would like to say he was still in his peak form, the man knew this was not true and would of course need to train to get his skills back.

Yasuka was just heading out of the Ground One training grounds with her arms wrapped around the ninja scrolls she'd been studying from, in such a hurry that she nearly runs over someone standing at the gate to Ground One. She side-steps him on her way past, but she stops and looks at the stranger with a sideways glance. He was definitely out of place; the brightly-colored hair made her almost think he was another Inazuma clan member, but they didn't all have hair that close to white unless they were older. The steel armor and the sword certainly made it clear that he was a ninja, as there were extremely few civilians that would go about armed and armored inside the village, much less be on their way to the training grounds. She's definitely never seen him before, though...

She tilts her head at him and holds the three technique scrolls under her left arm, making her clothing visible. Her white Kumo flak jacket under her orange fur-lined jacket made her look quite brightly-colored, although underneath she was just wearing the typical tight black second skin that most ninja wore. Her matching orange pants were fairly loose and made to let her legs move unimpeded. Yasuka uses her free hand to brush a strand of dark blue hair behind her ear while she looks at the stranger.

"Hey, you're a ninja, right? I haven't met many other Kumo ninja that aren't my classmates from the Academy. I'm Yasuka of the Inazuma Clan."

It maybe wasn't very common to just let out the fact that you were a part of a clan, but for Yasuka, it came naturally; her parents had been somewhat close to nobility, after all, though they weren't at all related to the Ryuzoji clan. Besides, it made sense to greet other Kumogakure ninja, and there was no reason for her to hide her family name from someone that was, for all intents and purposes, a comrade.

Kitsumi would sense the woman approaching the training grounds through he wouldn't react right away, her electrical current much larger and more sporadic than that of a normal person. He knew something was different about her, but it wasn't until she introduced herself that Kitsumi would make the connection. Her being from the Inazuma, meant that she held a true connection to lightning through the power of the storm that her clan's kekkei genkai. His crystal blue eyes would look to the younger woman as she spoke, he would take in her entire form with his eyes, from her orange pants and jacket to her white flak jacket she wore over it, her dark blue hair accentuating her light blue eyes in contrast with her outfit. The first thought that would pop into his head when he looked at her was that she was rather beautiful, though he knew better than to judge a book by its cover, it was always the pretty ones that turned out to be crazy in the end.

"Why yes I am, what is it that gave me away?" Kitsumi would ask with a chuckle to the woman's question of if he was a ninja, his voice calm with a hint of nobility that he was known to have. despite not being from the main branch of the Ryuzoji, his life was held to the same standards of the noble house, and he ensured that his etiquette was always proper and reflected his position, or rather former position. "My name is Kitsumi of the Ryuzoji Clan. It is a pleasure to meet you Yasuka." Noticing the scrolls under her arms he would add, "I take it you are coming here to train, I do not wish to stop you from doing so." His eyes looking back to the building in front of him, still unsure if he wanted to go in or not. His right hand would grip tighter on the blade on his hip before looking back to Yasuka, "I have been... well I guess you could say I have been away for a while now. I don't suppose you could catch me up on the recent activity of the village over the past few years, could you?" He had gotten a brief explanation from the nurse at the hospital, but was hoping that a fellow shinobi might hold more information on the matter of the state, or at the very least know who to talk to.

Yasuka feels quite happy with herself for making the stranger chuckle at her observations, which were apparently correct. She's also conversationally aware enough that the question doesn't really need an answer; that's the nature of conversation sometimes. At the mention that Kitsumi is from the Ryuzoji clan, it's only due to her childhood of political upbringing that keeps her face rather stony and straight, while inwardly she somewhat grimaces. The previous Queen of the Kingdom of Thunder and the previous Raikage was a member of the Ryuzoji as well. This would require just a bit of careful wording, but after all, he was asking for a discussion of current events. Or somewhat current events, she supposed.

"Ah, the past few years... There was quite a lot of political turmoil, I'm afraid. Not to mention international and even intercontinental problems. This would be better discussed at a table where we can both sit and I can talk about it in detail, but I can see if it can be summarized..."

Yasuka takes a moment to think back on the previous years, though some of them she had been in the Academy and somewhat more removed from the political side of the wars that came and went, but the Academy had been abuzz with rumors, and sometimes (or rarely) rumors have a bit of truth in them. Besides, her father still wrote to her sometimes with news, although her mother never answered any letters...

"Kumogakure involved itself politically with several wars involving Konohagakure and Kirigakure, with both of the other villages opposing Iwagakure's independence. Kumogakure and Iwagakure lose the war, but Iwagakure is allowed an eventual path to independence in the treaty. After the Mizukage assassinates the head of Darhk Industries, Kumogakure again declares war on Kirigakure, which pulls Konohagakure into declaring war on Kumogakure once more. The war is called the Great Dying for the huge number of ninja that are killed, almost enough to stain the ocean red. The Mizukage is then killed in a coup, and after a short ceasefire, a Kage summit was held and the war was ended. One of the Otsutsuki was sent here to be executed for their involvement in a political attack, although I'm unaware of much in regards to the Otsutsuki. There was an attack on the Heavenly Emporium that resulted in an attack from an artificial bijuu, resulting in an alliance of all four remaining shinobi nations to take it down, but despite the victory, the Heavenly Emporium crashes into the sea. Queen Ryuko has since retired, along with the ANBU captain, and as far as I am aware, neither one has been heard of since then. Also, there's been some sort of a genocide in Sunagakure, and it's probably best not to go anywhere near that ninja village at the moment..."

Although it was a summary, it was likely a lot for somebody who hadn't been aware of the changes in the world for several years. Now that Yasuka thought about it, there had been quite a few wars in the past few years, and it was a miracle that her parents had been able to keep their own meagre nobility through it all, although the trade routes of their ships had been quite stunted by many of the wars.

"It's really quite a lot."

It was quite late for Ligtning to head towards the trainings area, but Lightning wasnt an ordinary woman in any regard. Going to the trainings area at such a time certainly wasnt the weirdest thing she had ever done. Wandering throught the city, it sure enough wouldnt take too long until Lightning was getting closer and closer towards the trainings facitlity before finalyl she was able to see it in a few hundred meters in front of her, together with the known face of ehr new friend, the girl she had defeated in a spar only a few days prior. Coming closer to what seemed like a conversation of sorts, she would call out from afar: "Hey there, servant... what are you up to today?", before letting her eyes wander over the other person, greeting them with a nod as she gave out: "And hey there you... Did i see you before? My name's Lightning and you are?" Leaving hte question for the stranger open in the air.

Wachting Yasuka for her expression how, she would give out in a slightly more relaxed tone: "I hope i am not bothering you at the moment, am i?", as she brought her hand up to her chin in a thoughtful pose.

Kitsumi would listen intently to the woman as she gave him the cliff notes of the past few years, so much had happened, and yet somehow he slept through it. She didn't mention the samurai of the land of iron which would lead the man to believe that the samurai's did not involve themselves in the wars that the Shinobi had, this would be a relief to the man, though hearing Ryuko had retired and had not been seen since was rather disappointing for him. Kitsumi had only met the queen once but held her at great respect for all she had accomplished for the land of lightning. He felt a pain in his chest that he had not felt since Yasuhiro had died, he didn't know why considering he barely knew the queen. It was still there and he was doing his best to process through that pain. "Yes, it rather is." Kitsumi replied to the woman's comment of it being a lot, it was then that he felt the presence of another person's current enter the range of his Denkanryū.

They were approaching from behind him, though it wasn't an aggressive approach, so Kitsumi would not react as it could have very well just be someone passing the pair by. This thought however would be replaced with a brief flash of rage when he heard the word servant, as he assumed it was a member of the Ryuzoji main family calling out to him. To the man's surprise however he did not recognize the woman that approached as he turned to face her, and it was clear that she was speaking to the woman that he was currently engaging in conversation with. He was pondering whether the woman he was speaking with was the property of this woman like he was to the main family of the Ryuzoji, when he heard the woman introduce themselves and ask his name. His crystal blue eyes falling upon the pink haired woman that had joined them, Kitsumi resisted the urge to explain proper etiquette to the woman with how her introduction should have been. 'easy now, you just woke up. Don't go making a bad impression, that's the last thing you need right now.' he would think to himself before replying to the woman. "I am Kitsumi of the Ryuzoji clan, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance miss." Adding a small head bow towards the pink haired woman, before gesturing to Yasuka. "Lady Yasuka was just catching me up on the past few years that I missed, though I'm afraid I interrupted her trip to go train." Kitsumi would state in his typical aristocratic tone as he spoke, "I will not keep you further though, I think I will go find some place to eat." He would take a step before pausing and looking back to both women, "unless that is you two would care to join me for a nice meal?"

Yasuka nods once, grimly, having seen that Kitsumi hadn't been particularly happy with the news that the Raikage had all but disappeared from the world of ninja. Her family and herself wouldn't really have been aware of much that had happened to or in the Land of Samurai; her parents dealt mostly with trade routes, and the Land of Samurai rarely needed much intercontinental commerce, and of course in the Academy, most of the news they received had to do with the war that they assumed they would be immediately thrust into. The only reason she knew about the Sunagakure genocide was the abrupt and complete end of trade with that ninja village. The genin herself had been lucky to miss all those wars, as she had clearly proven to herself in the one spar she'd had with Lightning. Speak of the devil...

Yasuka has, at this point, become accustomed to being called "servant" by Lightning, so the word barely registers a darkening of her face at this point. However, she's still quite aware that it's not really socially acceptable to call someone by their occupation instead of their name, even if you are their superior.

"Ms. Lightning, 'Servant' isn't my name."

She would have introduced the two to each other, but Kitsumi took care of the introduction himself. That was fair enough, she didn't know his rank and so he could have been a higher rank than she was. He mentions again that she must be on her way in to train, and realizes she'd never corrected him on which way she was going; out of the training facility, not in. But it didn't really matter much. She instead responded to his request to go with him to have a meal.

"No, sorry. I've got quite a lot on my plate, as it were."

Yasuka gives a sideways glance at Lightning, who was, in fact, her mistress, at least for the rest of the day. The thought made her embarrassed again, as did the memory of their actions in the steakhouse only a few hours ago.

cant delete that for whatever reason

Lightning would chuckle pretty obviously as she heard the reasonse and saw its physical appearance to it in the face of the storm-clan genin in front of her. Oh how much she would be going to enjoy making her call her mistress or the likes for the rest of the day. Showing strangers their agreement was included in this, as natural. Playing into the other womans acting she would lay her head to the side as she gave out slowly in a confused tone: "But you are my servant, right...? Why wouldnt i call you like that for today?", before her face shifted to the other shinobi, mustering him shortly before nodding happily at him and raising her right hand: "Oh hello there! My names Lightning. Nice to meet you i guess."

Catching the glance from Yasuka, she would shrug her shoulders as she said: "I could go for some food now but i have no money  with me at the moment so i guess that will have to wait until i am a bit more... liquid."

While certainly it would take away a bit of her time with Yasuka, it would be acceptable. After all, the day still was long and even with that hour or those 2 hours gone, she still would have enough fun. Aside from that, Lightning had the suspicion that the inuzuka would maybe accept to another bet like this, whether to get payback, or to have another opportunity to serve and be rewarded for good service. On top of that, should the other person invite them for a meal, free food was always good.

As Kitsumi listened to the two women talk he couldn't help but wonder just what kind of relationship the pair had, it was an unclear one at best the way the pink haired one mentioned today, causing him to wonder what it about was today that was different from every other day. Though obviously it would be something that Kitsumi would not draw attention to by bringing it up, if they told him fine but if not then he would just ignore it as their relationship was not his business.

"If money is the issue, I am more than willing to cover the cost of both of you. In all honesty I would rather enjoy the company, it has been a while since I have had those to share a meal with, let alone talk with." Kitsumi would reply to the Pink haired woman's comment of having no money, "though I understand if you are too busy to join." he would add in a knowing tone, directing it more towards Yasuka. Though at this point from how the two of them were both acting, and the fact that Yasuka had looked to Lightning as she declined, it would seem that if Lightning agreed to the meal, Yasuka would more than likely be along for the ride as well. He didn't mind paying for a nice meal for the three of them, considering he had been in a coma, he personally felt like he could eat four or five meals, one for each year he was asleep. The Ryuzoji were far from a rich clan, but he had money that he had earned and if absolutely needed he could get more from the clan, though he doubted he would need more than what he had. There was no way the price of three meals could have increased by that much in the four or five years he was gone. Though of course if they were not interested then that was fine as well.

Yasuka continues looking sidelong at Lightning as the pink-haired woman agrees to the free meal, and with a sigh, the darker-skinned genin agrees herself, now that Lightning has taken up Katsumi on his offer for a meal. Although she needed to get these scrolls back to the library where she'd gotten them from, she could just take them back later... She shuffles them under her arm a little, but she does feel a bit hungry, and two free meals in as many days is a pretty good offer.

"Although I'm busy, I can't really decline such a kind offer. Thank you, I'll join you for this meal."

Yasuka's face remains stoic, though she finds it odd that even Lightning doesn't know who this other person actually is; this means whoever it is, they're quite a bit older than she'd assumed. But he was definitely a new face, someone she'd also never met. She didn't really have enough information to make an informed guess as to how old he was or how long he'd been a ninja in Kumogakure, but she assumed he was older than he looked, and he looked plenty adult. However, he couldn't be high-ranking, because she had no idea at all who he was.

What a conundrum.

"What place did you have in mind?"

"Well if thats the case, i would be delighted to eat with you." Lightnign would give out in a grateful tone. After all not only did she get to strong arm Yasuka around in a harmless way, talk to a new person but also she just secured a free pass for lunch, regardless of what kind this would ultimatively be.

Looking over to Yaskua and expression her "surprise" over the change of mind she would give out: "Oh my... what a nice occourance that you are joining us for this meal, Yasuka. Never could i ever have forseen such a change." While her voice made it somewhat obvious that she was, at this point at least, not really holding back any more the fact that Yasuka and Lightning were engaged in some way, her face remained calm and stern. Lightning had learned to play this game a long time ago, starting at the academy where she would pull pranks ofn bullies adn then act surprised when they confronted her, or weak in the right moments to provoke them on setting themselfes up by attacking her in front of a teacher or the likes.

Looking back at Kitsumi, she would raiseher hands in the air and gave out: "Dont mind me while choosing. As long as its not disgusting, ill eat about most things happily.", which brought her favourite diet pretty clearly across, that being mass before class and just about anything normal that had proteine.

Kitsumi thought about where they would go to eat after hearing that they both were going to join him, ignoring Lightning's obvious sarcasm at the fact that Yasuka changed her mind. It had been a while since he had been in the village in a way, so it was hard to know if any of the restaurants that were around back when he was awake last was still around or not. "well I only know of two places really, only two restaurants I went to before. There's the steakhouse or there was an all you can eat buffet that dealt with fried fish and chicken as well as sushi." Kitsumi stated as he remembered where he had eaten at before, though he didn't know if either of them were still open, he assumed the two women would know. "If I'm not mistaken both of those places would take us by the library if you wished to return those scrolls," He stated motioning to the scrolls that Yasuka kept adjusting, assuming that those were one of the thing that was currently on her plate. Of course, if she didn't want to return them that wouldn't bother him any, she just seemed to be trying to keep them from falling out of her arms. "Though if neither of those sound good to you, we can go somewhere else." Kitsumi added looking between the both of them for a reply, "those were just the only ones I really know about. I am open for anywhere that has food really, either of you have any suggestions on a good place to go have a good meal and talk with friends?"

Once he had both of their answers, Kitsumi would start the way towards their choice, maintaining a pace that they could walk next to him if they wished, or they could walk behind him, either choice was fine with the man as he would still be able to sense the electrical currents that their bodies produced. In an attempt to make conversation as they walked, Kitsumi would brave out question though not to either one specifically more so that whichever one answered it would work and if they both answered all the better. "So how do you two know each other? other than the obvious that you live in the same village." his hope was that maybe he could gain a glimpse of what these two's relationship was like without trying to actually pry into their relationship.

Yasuka mostly ignores Lightning's sarcastic remark; if you wanted to teach a dog to avoid bad behavior, you did not provide them with the attention that their bad behavior would normally give them. She also knew that Lightning would be quite disgusted or unhappy if she took the opportunity to direct Kitsumi towards a certain vegan restaurant she knew, just to spite the other genin... But she also knew that the vegan food wasn't exactly tasty, and while Lightning might be quite unhappy, all three of them would be disgusted. That would be a horrible time, and she didn't want to get on the bad side of this new stranger right away; not a great introduction, and she was sure to get some payback from Lightning if she tried.

"The seafood place sounds good. We've already been to the steakhouse recently, and it's good to eat many different kinds of nutrition. Although... is it really safe to have seafood sitting out in a buffet style like that? I would think that would be dangerous..."

Yasuka was already following the other ninja with the silvery hair, and she shifted the scrolls to her other arm as she lets Lightning walk next to her on the way to the buffet. Despite her words of caution, she was curious about the seafood place anyway. The question about their relationship was obviously coming, and she was prepared to answer as soon as the question was asked. Yasuka answers before Lightning has a chance to embarrass her further.

"She and I are colleagues of equal rank. For today only, I am serving Lightning due to a failed bet; I suppose we could be teammates, but we'd have to find a jounin willing to train us both or take us on as a full team."

While the lack of reaction coming from the Kump shinobi was a bit of a drag, it was enough for Lightning to give the stranger she had just met, a bit of a glimpse regarding their unique agreement for today. Besides that, even if Yasuka was as stoic and calm s it was often, Lightning was willing to bet that underneath the inzuma was boiling. After all, who wanted to be called "servant" in public? Even moreso, who of Yasuka's highborn behavior would have liked that?

"Seafood sounds nice... Id actually like that a lot" Lightning would chirp in from the side before looking at Yasuka, stating: "I wouldnt say its any more dangerous then chicken or being a shinobi at that..."

Copying the movement of the silver haired man, she would walk next to him as he guided her towards the place he stated he knew. Listening in to the inuzuma's explaination of what was between them, Lightning youw wait until Yasuka gave her explaination before she gave out:

"Oh thats right. But i assume you just wanted to be close to me the entire day... after all, you had me right there and then you surrendered..." Looking at Kitsumi, she would give out in a chuckle: "You know? She is stronger then i am... so normally i should be the servant. But... i guess she just likes to be someones elses servant."

"I would have to agree with Lady Lightning, there are far more dangerous things in the world than a little seafood." Kitsumi would add with a smile after Lightning's comparison of dangerous things.

Kitsumi would listen to Yasuka's explanation of their relationship, followed by Lightning chiming in after, and while he himself could not understand the purpose of betting such things he could not see anyone wishing to be a servant, even temporarily. Though that was probably from his years of forced servitude to the main family of his clan, "Perhaps the Lady Yasuka, has a kind heart and could not bring herself to hurt you." Kitsumi would say as he looked to Lightning, though in truth he had no idea why someone would intentionally throw a fight, he would attempt to help Yasuka in this situation, giving her the benefit of a doubt. Of course, if this was the reason, it would cause Kitsumi to worry about the woman as he knew far too many with soft hearts that have met their end due to being unable to deliver the final blow. His thoughts would briefly flash back to Yasuhiro, his soft heart was the man's fall, if his friend had not hesitated as he had perhaps, he would still be here today. "I appear to be in need of a sensei myself, though I am far from back to peak performance," Kitsumi stated returning to what Yasuka had said about the two of them needing teams, "I had plans, five years ago I was to travel to the land of Iron, the place of my ancestors and connect with them. Unfortunately, that never happened as I did not even make it out of the village gates. I fell into a coma, having just woke up just this morning in fact. Which probably explains why I feel so hungry." Kitsumi would add with a small laugh at his mention of being hungry. While he wouldn't mind still traveling to the land of Iron, he couldn't help but feel that his sudden coma upon trying to leave as well as him waking up now of all times, had a reason. A purpose as to why he needed to stay here, he just had to figure out why.

As they passed by the library, Kitsumi would stop so that Yasuka can drop off the scrolls, so she did not have to deal with them while they were eating. After which they could continue on to the seafood shop, provided it was still open after five years.

Yasuka feels at least somewhat validated when Kitsumi mentions that she had a kind heart and hadn't wanted to hurt Lightning during training, although she wasn't aware that Kitsumi would also think less of her for having a kind heart and being unable to deliver a final blow.

"Thank you, Kitsumi. Yes, Lightning, even though I'm stronger than you, it doesn't mean I should hurt a fellow Kumo ninja just during training. The enemy, on the other hand, won't hesitate to kill you. Keep that in mind."

The Inazuma clan member listens intently as Kitsumi tells them both of his history, short as it is, especially with the mysterious coma he'd fallen into just after leaving the Kumogakure gates. That was curious, but if it was a widespread thing, then Yasuka had never heard anything like that; of course, if Kitsumi had been released from the hospital, it was apparently just a one-time thing that they didn't think would happen again. It was around the time that the genin was considering this new revelation that they reached the library, and Yasuka hurried in so as to not keep her acquaintance and Lightning waiting. She returned only a few moments later, having handed off the scrolls back to a library receptionist with a quick reminder of where they belonged. Not that Yasuka would need them again, she'd already mastered the jutsu on those scrolls today.

After her quick return, she continues to follow Kitsumi and Lightning towards the seafood buffet, picking up where the conversation had momentarily dropped.

"Hopefully, nothing has changed much in those five years..."

The statement wasn't even convincing for Yasuka herself, but she follows it up with a more firm statement.

"Although the Raikage has left, Kumogakure still stands. That means there have to be Jounin around, and if there are enough to train us, we'll find them."

Lightning would chuckle happily as she heard Kitsumi talk about Yasuka's potential reasons for having lightnig wong the spar. It was somewhat sweet how he tried to excuse her loss in the duel, that was for sure, however Yasuka's answer certainly was able to bring the mood down to some extend. While one part of her would have performed the raiton clone technique then and there and would have asked her "You fooking wot, girl?!" another part of her showed enough restraint to let her engagena dcounter it with words as she leaned over to Kitsumi and "whispered" in a voice that could be clearly heard: "Of course Yasuka is strong... but i dont think it was because she doesnt want to hurt me... you know... be were betting that the loser has to be the other ones servant for a day and i think she just wants to serve me... its kinda cute."

Lightning was sure that even if the inuzuka would let anyone know that the was boiling on the inside, this comment was likely going to get her going just nicely, in all the right directions. After all, people tended to make more rash decisions while agitiated, and hers were often more delightful then hurtful.

Listening in to Kitsumi's story afterwards, Lightning would nod as Yasuka gave out that nothing much had changed. At least, Lightning hadnt notieced any change either, so chances were, he wouldnt feel out of place. And even if he did. At least Lightning and Yasuka were here to make him feel welcome.

Finally, after having passed the library and being at the seafood restaurant, Lightning would stand outside, waiting for one of the others to take the lead.

Hearing Yasuka say she would put down an enemy without hesitation was a slight relief for Kitsumi, though the thought would still nag at the back of the man's mind. What if your enemy was someone you thought was your friend? Though of course he would not say it out loud least he darken the mood of this first encounter. Lightnings words would however bring a small chuckle to the man as she said she thought what Yasuka did was cute, "Yes, cute," would be all the man would say.

After the library stop and they were back on their way to get food, Yasuka would mention that nothing had changed in the years before adding in the part about finding a Sensei despite the Raikage's absence. As Kitsumi would look around he did notice that the woman was right not much had changed, with the exception of new buildings among other small things the village looked in the most part exactly as it was. "Well, let us hope that we do not have long to wait for that. My muscles are still tense so I could use the training, though the prospect of having to wait is slightly annoying." Kitsumi would reply simply to the remark about a Jounin to train with, the thing Kitsumi hated most was waiting, his former sensei constantly told him that he was the man's most impatient pupil. Though he would like nothing more than to get back into practice, his stomach was the one in control right now, and it demanded to be satiated.

As they rounded the corner of the street, the group would get their first look at the restaurant that Kitsumi had mentioned. Cloud Catch, while the name would leave something to be desired, Kitsumi knew from first hand experience that the food was delicious. "Well ladies, here we are, the Cloud Catch. Don't let the name fool you though, it really is good food." Kitsumi would state as he lead his two companions into the establishment, inside they would find several tables with more than half of them empty. On one wall would set two buffet lines one for the cooked seafood and then the other cold line for the sushi, both with cook/servers behind them to help guests. As they entered they would be greeted by and elderly woman that looked to be in her sixties if not seventies. "Welcome to the Cloud Catch, how ma.." the old woman would pause before adjusting her glasses on her face and looking at Kitsumi again, "I'm sorry you just look like somebody that I use to know... Three of you, ok follow me to the table."

Once they were at the table the woman would explain that clean plates were up near the buffets as well as what to do with the dirty plates before leaving the table to go get the three drinks. "Well it's a little less than what I remember, but like I said good food." Kitsumi would let out a slight nervous chuckle under his breath as he looked around.

Yasuka is good enough with keeping a stony face and has apparently gotten somewhat used to Lightning's antics that she doesn't facially react to Lightning suggesting that she wanted to be the other genin's servant for a full day. She blinks once and then stares at Lightning, hoping to make her feel uncomfortable with the completely unreactive expression on her face while they continue to walk. Knowing the pink-haired woman, though, she'd likely just completely ignore her.

Yasuka breathes in the scent of frying fish and tempura shrimp as they get closer to the seafood buffet and feels quite eager to start eating by the time they reach the restaurant, despite her initial misgivings about the concept of seafood sitting out under a heat lamp all day instead of being completely fresh. Cloud Catch is... quite a name, but if it's been open for more than five years, it likely relies on its food quality to satisfy their patronage. She notices that the older woman seems to somewhat recognize Kitsumi, but the old woman doesn't quite react; he really was gone a long time, so Yasuka didn't blame her for not recognizing him. With it being so long ago, though, the fact that she almost did remember him proves that he must have been a frequent customer... And he didn't mention getting sick, so that completely dispels the genin's hesitancy to eat the fish.

She grabs a fresh plate and gets herself a bit of a sampling of most everything available on the cooked fish side of the buffet. After a few years in what her parents would have called "the riff-raff", she had become accustomed to their less refined diet, so although the sushi would have been the more aristocratic dish, she had gravitated toward the fried food instead.

"Mmmm. It doesn't seem like poor quality, that's certain."

Waiting for yasuka at the library luckily didnt take too long and it wasnt long after that that the trio coninued its path through the city in the mountains, the restaurant their destination. Lightning couldnt help but to feel quite ecstatic. Free food. It sounded like a dream come true. And the best thing about it was that Kitsumi wanst expecting anything out of her then to look pretty and to talk to him, maybe speak abou thtings that had happened before he had gotten the thing he had gotten. Thinking back to it, she had already forgotten the reason for his absence. She for sure needed to ask him what it had been that had managed to take him out of the race for so long, but in a respectful way that would make her not seen as someone that didnt care.

Once the three arrived at the restauran, and they were given their introduction, Lightning would choose to follow Kitsumi, "accidentally" bumping into him with ehr warm body as she gave out an innocent "oops...", before she began to load her plate up with various seafoods, ranigng from cooked mussles, ofer to shrims and finally the thing she liked most, octopus.

Upon reaching their tabel once more, her seat of choice would be next to Kitsumi, where she was sure to have more minor "accidents" throughout their meal. Once she sat, she would order a drink in the form of lemonade when she began: "Mhm... it looks quite nice. And buffet is always good. I for my part could eat an entire bull now. Or... an entire fish? Whats the largest water animal around here anyways?"

As they gathered the food for their respective plates, Kitsumi following Yasuka to the cooked side would grab a variety of different types of cooked fish from grilled to fried, as well as some shrimp and an octopus tentacle. As he reached for the tentacle he would feel lightning bump into his arm before saying oops, as he was sure it was simply an accident Kitsumi would simply smile and say, "it's quite alright Lady Lightning, accidents happen." Finishing loading his plate and heading back to the table and taking his seat as Yasuka mentioned the quality of the food not looking poor, Kitsumi would nod as he bit into his food wiping his mouth quickly afterwards. "Oh yeah, the old woman really knows her stuff. Only accepts the best product and demands her cooks be as attentive as a guard when it comes to cooking as well as making sure no food is left out too long. She is a regular little tyrant in her own right." Kitsumi would explain hinting at the fact that he had at least a little knowledge of how the place worked, though not any details into how he knew this information.

As lightning chimed in with the question of the largest water animal, "Well they aren't very big around here, even an octopus is a rare find in the mountain area like this, but the White cloud fish, is the largest and most abundant of the fish in the area. Though they are only around 40cm so you will have to eat quite a lot if you could eat an entire Bull." Kitsumi would answer with a slight chuckle, he didn't even want to think of the math of how many fish made a bull, though he could probably eat about that much if he wanted to considering his stomach was empty all this time.

Kitsumi would do his best not to draw attention to the fact that every time he moved his arm or something he seemed to bump into Lightning, 'she is sitting rather close, but it doesn't seem to bother her that we keep bumping into each other, so I will just try to not move as much.' Kitsumi would think to himself as he continued eating.

Yasuka nods once while she eats when she's told that the old woman clearly knows what she's doing, her mouth full of fried and cooked fish as she goes through her plate, giving each of the different seafood a sample. She occasionally gets refills of her simple lemon water, washing down her food with the water evenly. She also watches Lightning in her peripheral, somewhat hoping that the fresh octopus was alive and looking to grapple with her face, but it didn't seem that the old woman would let the cooks serve living octopus. What a shame.

In any event, Yasuka was already starting to get full by her second plate. She didn't often eat so much since she'd been removed from her parents, meaning she was no longer an aristocrat by any means, and her diet had become much more lean the past few years. The genin had eaten more richly than she had for more than half a decade. Yasuka waited for a break in both her eating and Kitsumi's before she tried to strike up a conversation.

"Mmmm... So, Kitsumi. Do you remember any Jounin from when you were awake? Maybe we could try meeting up with them to see if any of them have become interested in training genin."

Lightning would continue to go through her meal, listening in into the conversation or rather explaination of the kumo shinobi about the predominantly ecistent fish species around here before she nodded and praised him: "Wow... how do those look? you know, i didnt see those before... i think at least. How comes you are so smart anyways? Did you study something?"

Waiting for his answer, she would enjoy more of the "accidents" that would make their skin touch from time to time, even if she noticed how Kitsumi seemed to be more careful now in the way he moved. Asking him in a tone that feigned general disinterest, she would give out: "Say, do you have poeple that were happy about you waking up? I mean family sure but friends and the likes?" , in an attempt to find out if he had any girl or boyfriends or maybe another type of arrangement that was fulfilling him in a certain way.

Lastly, her eyes would go over to Yasuka as she asked her: "Well, count me in to that too id say..." Training under a sensei seemed like fun, even if her last training against naganori, one of the jounin she knew within kumokagure, hadnt really taught her a lot except the raiton shadow clone, a tech which of course was rather powerful but not really something she was able to use in spars againt other genin, both because of the immense cost and its effects on them, that being its lethal raiton current which was able to outright kill people.

"Well I suppose they look like most fish, gills and scales and the like." Kitsumi replied to Lightnings question of what they looked like with a chuckle in an attempt to make a joke of it, before adding, "they have darker scales on the top, shades of black and brown, to help them blend in with the rocky streams up here. They call them cloud fish because their underside is completely white like a cloud almost reflective in the light enough to hurt someone's eyes." Kitsumi would pause for a moment taking a drink of water as him and lightning seemed to again bump into each other. "I wouldn't say I was smart at all, Miss Lightning. Though I do enjoy learning what I can, the reason I know about the fish is, well, I used to work here when I was younger." Kitsumi explained as he lifted his hand to behind his head, once again bumping lightning. 'This is getting ridiculous' he thought to himself, while he didn't mind it himself the last thing he wanted was for either of the women to think he was some kind of pervert touching them after just meeting. "To be honest with you, I would be surprised if anyone even knew or cared that I was in a coma. So no I doubt very seriously if there is anyone that is happy that I am awake." Kitsumi would answer solemnly to Lightning's question of if anyone would be happy he was awake, the truth was with his parents dead and his friend Yasuhiro gone as well he had no one. His closest relative would probably be considered the old woman that ran this place, and they weren't even really related.

Kitsumi would finish his first plate, returning to the buffet and grabbing more before returning to his seat, as Yasuka asked her question though his face would drop slightly. "Unfortunately, no. I did not keep up with the events of the village back then, more out of my own stupidity and pride than anything else. I was so focused on my travel to Iron that I ignored what was going on in the village around me. The only Jounin I ever met was Shimiko and even that was only in passing as I left Raikage Ryuko's office. So I am afraid I won't be much help on that matter." Kitsumi would answer slightly ashamed he had been so quick to dismiss the village in the past, "though I will gladly assist in the search for one now." He would add in an attempt to provide some use to the quest for a sensei.

As the three would continue with their meal however a thought would occur to him, well technically two. The first being that these accidental bumps seemed to be happening more frequently and more than him moving, leading him to assume the woman next to him had some kind of thinking behind it, but he didn't know what. He wouldn't object to the accidents, though he would allow himself to relax slightly and accept that if they were going to happen they would. The second and more relevant to the conversation however he would share with the other two. "You know, who says we need a Jounin at all? We can just form our team now the three of us, I mean yeah sure officially by the village we wouldn't be a team and wouldn't be allowed on high rank missions like we would with a Sensei. But whose to say that should stop us from training together learning strengths and weaknesses of each other and working together to overcome them?" Kitsumi seemed to have a slight excitement in his tone as he spoke, but his volume would not be any louder, as he kept himself calm with the exception of the hint of excitement behind his words. "I'm sure the village would even allow us to do missions together if we want." He would add taking another bite of his fish as he waited for the other two to answer.