Chapter V: New & Old Friends.

Kiyoko would be sitting under the Sakura tree at her home. Her brother loved to sit in the very same place but he was not in the village at the time to enjoy it. He had left her a note with no info other than he would be away for a few days. It was obvious that the girl wasn't new to the lack of info or the lack of notice. So, as she always did Kiyoko would cause no problems during the time of his departure and would keep his beloved tree company. Many people found it odd for the village to be peaceful for a few days, however they always knew it wouldn't last long. Kiyoko didn't mind to take a break from her havoc because it gave her more time to plan for her next big problem. It also kept her away from the people so they didn't have to see the worried look in her eyes that only came out after about the second day of her brothers departure.

There was one thing that the child had almost forgotten as she sat under this very tree wondering everything her brother was doing at the moment. She had almost forgotten that Karma had invited her to that boring tea shop she seemed to go to a lot with her mother. However when she did remember, Kiyoko didn't care that she might be late or that she had even forgotten. Sure, Kiyoko didn't mind taking some time out to be with Karma and have fun. It was just the fact that today there would most likely be many people out and Kiyoko didn't like to have to listen to their words. Most of the words were about her and the things she did. It made Kiyoko happy that she was being recognized but some of the things they spoke about her were quite rude. Nonetheless, the young Senju stood up and ent on her merry way.

Kiyoko walked throughout the streets of the village with a rather blank look on her face as she passed by people. As she got closer, the whispers became softer and as she got farther, the talking became louder. However, she tried to keep her mind on Karma and the tea shop. It had taken a bit of time but finally the girl made it to the small shop. She opened the door and heard the chiming of the bell. It had only been the second time and the child already despised the bell. The bell sounded making many people look her way and like always the whispers began. Kiyoko payed no attention though. Instead she looked around and spotted Karma. The young Senju would then walk up behind the child and tap her on the shoulder. "Hey there." Her voice would sound rather cheery and high pitched. Kiyoko sure hoped this would be fun.

The light was barely piercing the blinds in a dark room, so when a young man opened his eyes, he thought for sure it was still very early in the morning. He lazily lifted his head, and a paper that he was writing on slowly peeled off of his forehead and drifted onto the desk he was at. Letting out a large yawn, Keita looked at the time on the clock that was hanging above his desk, and his eyes widened.

"Crap, I'm late!"

He had promised his cousin Karma that he would go to the tea shop with her today, as he was usually so busy with his own projects, he didn't really spend much time with his family, so he wanted to go there and have some fun. He was woken up by his cousin yelling to him that she was going to leave him, but he didn't really make out those words, and instead it was just the sound that had woken him up.

He hopped into the shower for a few moments, just to make sure he was a bit cleaner than he was, as he had stayed up almost all night again to study some manuals and medical cases. He was going to start working at the local hospital soon, so he had to make sure he was up to date on what was going on. He rubbed his forehead to get the ink from the paper he fell asleep on off of it, and it seemed like he was finally ready.

Hopping out of the shower, he dried off and quickly put on some clean clothes, which was a simple white, short sleeved shirt that had buttons running up it and a collar. He wore cream colored pants that went down a little bit passed his heel, so that when he put his shoes on, they almost touched the ground. He then hurried off to the tea shop.

As he reached the shop, it seemed that there were plenty of people already in the shop now, and he decided that he was going to find and apologize to Karma for being late. He found the table she was sitting at and walked over to her. There was another girl that Keita had seen around but didn't really talk to, tapping Karma on the shoulder. He smiled a bit, glad that his cousin had plenty of friends and that she wanted to invite him to the tea shop as well.

Keita would let the girl finish talking to Karma before actually walking over there.

"Heya Karma, sorry I'm late, was studying all night again."

He had an embarrassed smile on his face and rubbed the back of his head a bit in nervousness, and hoped that she wasn't too mad. He would wait until he was addressed before introducing himself.

Kiyoko would smile as Karma greeted her. The child had learned to smile no matter how much she worried but she still couldn't rid herself of the look in her eyes. So, she would try to hide it by smiling with her eyes closed and keeping her attention on something else instead of making eye contact. When Karma asked how Kiyoko was, the Senju would blink and not say a word. She didn't know what to say and she didn't wish to tell the truth and she wouldn't have to. After a short few moments, another had appeared before the group. So as Karma greeted hihim, Kiyoko would slide into the side of the booth across from Karma but next to the wall.

Kiyoko would look to the boy as Karma introduced him. She had never seen him before but Karma claimed he was her cousin. Then, she would walk off as she told the two what she was doing. This would leave Kiyoko blinking at the boy. However she wasn't thinking of what to say to him or what he would say, she was thinking of what that long word Karma said meant. 'Presenteries? No that's not right. Peasent something?' The girl would think while she tapped on her temple as if that would help anything. Then, just like that she remembered the boy was there. "Oh. Oops. So, your name is Keita? I'm obviously Kiyoko. You can call me Kiyo if ya want." The girl would smile closing her eyes once again as she did so.

About this time, Karma would return with another person, who would introduce himself. Kiyo would blink as she looked at him and introduce herself. "Hello there stranger! I'm Kiyoko Senju! The best genin in this whole village. I've never seen you bebefore. You must be from... somewhere else. Anyway, you can call me Kiyo if ya want." The girl would say. She didn't care that she had just introduced herself she would do it ten thousand times back to back if you let her. Kiyoko loved to let people know who she was.

Keita was simply standing there, looking around the shop until Karma decided to introduce the girl she was talking to, and then left and said that the two should exchange pleasantries, and this left the girl simply blinking at Keita. He wondered if he had anything on his face, or something of the sort, but the girl suddenly introduced herself, reiterating what Karma said, and that he could call her Kiyo if he wanted to, and he took that as an invitation to call her that from now on. He bowed to her a little, and then decided to tell her his name, but before he could do so, another person Keita had never seen in the village before decided to join them, and he wondered who he was. He had a Biwa with him, which was a beautiful sounding string instrument that was really popular a while ago, and still sees play in that day and age, but it was just a rarer sight than he was expecting. He was hoping this man would eventually play them some music, but he didn't want to be rude.

He then remembered that he didn't introduce himself to the girl Kiyoko yet, so he felt that he needed to do that, and he might as well combine it with the introduction to this other random person as well, that introduced himself as Shige Miyamoto, and Keita bowed to him as well. He was wearing a less than normal outfit that day, but he liked the freedom that wearing a shirt without his usual vest gave him, and this was supposed to be a relaxing day. Keita made sure that no one was speaking, and then introduced himself.

"Hello, I am Furue Keita, wonderful to meet you Kiyoko and Miyamoto." Keita would then sit down with them, and would order some simple green tea with sugar. He just wanted some simple tea that day, as he was trying to relax. Ulong would have probably been better if he was doing something important that day, as it had a bit more caffeine than the green tea, and he thought about maybe having a second cup, and ordering a white tea, but he wasn't sure. There were a lot of types of tea that were floating around in his head, and he didn't really know if he had chosen the right one.

He decided to start up some small talk with the others in the group about how he was training.

"So, how is everyone doing? I just finished a mission walking some dogs, and one of them was bigger than me!" Keita couldn't help but keep glancing at the biwa, and he would most likely talk about the instrument in a little bit if the man didn't show it off himself, as he was just so curious about it, he had never heard it in person, he just knew random trivia about it.

Kiyoko would blink as Keita introduced himself. She was sort of confused, which could be noticed considering the look on her face. 'Is his name Keita or Furue? Karma called him Keita. Why would he introduce himself with a different name? Maybe, he's one of those people that says their name backwards. I think brother does that sometimes. Yeah, that's probably it.' Kiyoko would think all these thoughts in her head. The girl wasn't too smart considering she never payed attention in the academy and only liked to cause trouble. So, she found herself questioning a lot of things. However, her mind would end it's questioning for a moment and listen as Keita spoke again. Then, Karma. Kiyoko would find herself giggling a little at the comment the girl had given him. They seemed pretty close and we're about the same age. Kiyoko wished that she had someone her age like that that she could joke with. Maybe, she could be like that with Karma, when they became closer friends.

Kiyoko would smile at Karma as she suggested doing missions sometime. "Ya sure!" The girl would say with a bit of excitement in her voice. Kiyoko loved to do missions and she loved to go on adventures. To Kiyoko, they are kind of the same thing but she thinks of them as different. Her eyes would then land on the one she had never seen before. 'Traveling?' Kiyoko would ask herself. However, it wouldn't last long in her head because she was able to speak. "Well, I did some training! I ran up a really tall tree! I started with my brother but then he had to leave so I had to do it myself. I haven't gotten up to the top yet though. That's it for me." Kiyoko would say with a short smile. The girls attention would then turn to the new person as he spoke about his instrument, which she hadn't noticed.

Kiyoko now stared at the instrument. She was actually rather curious to hear the sound it made so she would wait eagerly. The girl thought about all the different sounds it could make and started to tap her cheek as she did so.

Keita was listening to everyone speak, and was simply thinking about the biwa, because he had always wanted to learn to play an instrument, but he never really had the time between his intense training that he always did, and when he wasn't training his chakra or his body, he was studying intensely, so he sadly didn't really play music a lot. He had heard a biwa once in his life, but the person was using it like a guitar and singing along with it, and it was made out of some sort of maple or other soft wood, so it had a more abrupt and echoing sound. This biwa that the man had was most likely one that was used without singing to it, as it was made of what looked like died ivory.

"Hey I'm not that short! Also, I'll grow big and strong, you just watch."

Keita didn't say that with hateful overtones or anything, and simply smiled and stuck his tongue out at his cousin before chuckling a little bit.

Keita also wished he could travel, and he would probably do that eventually, when he could get some time off, as he wanted to see everything the ninja world had to offer. Still, Keita simply smiled and nodded when appropriate, he liked to show respect to his elders, he the man with the biwa was definitely his elder, so he would let the man finish talking before he would speak again.

"Ahh, good job Kiyoko, when I first tried the tree climbing training, I almost broke my ankle, haha."

Keita would say this in response to Kiyoko saying that she had climbed a tree. Keita wasn't one to brag, and was a very humble young man, as his uncle had taught him to be, and so he would try not to mention that he was almost a chuunin. Still, he was glad that he advanced so far, and he could have a bit of a breather before continuing. He was aiming to become a jounin before or at the age of sixteen, that was his current goal. For that, he would most likely need to start training like crazy.

The man said when his tea came, he wouldn't mind playing them a tune, and Keita's eyes lit up, and he couldn't really contain himself, and he was going to ask the man about the biwa.

"Excuse me, is that a biwa that's used for gagaku? I see that the plectra is bonded right into the neck, and it also has the small tomoe shaped plectras as well. What is the material of the fret? Is that dyed ivory, or is that a harder wood, like ebony or boxwood? Sorry, I just love learning about things, and I've never seen an instrument like this played live."

Keita's excitement for the musical instrument couldn't really be contained, and he was happy, because the waitress would come back with their tea at this time and then ask the two other young ladies if they wanted anything.