Kei
Kei had been up since early morning. Not in excitement like some, but out of sheer habit. An early morning hunt was no longer the necessity it once was. Instead Kei and his father, Haya, had been lightly sparring with wooden swords. Kei’s was a short blade, roughly 40 centimetres, while his father’s was a traditional double edged longsword. There was a slight bit of paint on the bladed edge of each wooden sword. Kei was on the back foot, as usual, but parrying confidently as he retreated, Haya graciously not using the Tonbo bloodline as a handicap for Kei.
“You’re far too used to using your shuriken, Kei. If you keep retreating like this you’ll never regain the momentum” as Haya pointed out he seemed to realise what Kei was doing and a look of concentration appeared on his face, his blade altering its trajectory mid swing to parry the three small stones aimed at his head before stabbing towards the ground, blocking Kei’s wooden blade just before it ‘disembowelled’ him.
“I win, dad. You had to use Jūjun'na karada to block~♪” the lazy grin on his face was deceptively childish when Kei knew full well that if he hadn’t used the stones he would have had paint stains on his shirt within another three moves, five at the most.
“You do realise that this entire sparring session was supposed to be a means of improving your swordplay, correct? What’s the point if you’re going to simply fall back on your bad habits? Oh well. That’s your teacher’s problem now. No playing dead when you’re with your team, understand? No stopping your heart and no skin breathing.” Haya’s own smile was more wry than lazy, but the family resemblance was uncanny. Ruffling Kei’s hair Haya sighed before sending Kei off.
“Now get dressed and go grab a meal before you go find your Jonin master, okay?” With that Kei was dashing off into his room and getting out of the white training outfit, grinning how he didn’t have to get it washed today. Pulling on his clothes he was so glad that he didn’t need those dumb shoes with no toes. What’s the point of them? Twigs and stuff keep on getting in there and it’s an easy spot for someone to stomp. Why is there some kinda ninja uniform anyway? Why advertise that you’re a ninja? Finishing lacing his boots, Kei dashed out of the house, pulling on his totally stealthy purple jacket as he went and grabbed his umbrella by the door. Shouting a goodbye out, Kei took a leisurely pace to get to town.
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With a yawn, and through half lidded eyes Kei finally made it into town proper. With a grumbling stomach, Kei decided to try and grab something tasty and probably bad for him to eat, he was honestly not sure where to look for either his team or his leader so eating seemed like a fine thing to do. Jonin are clever, right? And Kei isn’t really trying to hide or anything, so he was sure the super clever Jonin could find him. Arriving at Ryugamine Ramen, Kei did a half bow to the owner of the store. It’s important to be respectful to those that handle food, after all, you don’t want to find something unpleasant you didn’t order do you?
“Hello Mister Ramen, may I please have a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen? I’m in the mood for something unhealthy today” Kei’s lazy grin brightened a bit at the sight of the proprietor before he noticed the two Uchiha’s. One was a presumably Genin like himself, but Kei recognised the other one from her silhouette. That was Rai! Kei’s father had told him that he should take notes on her swordplay, while Kei himself took note of her shurikenjutsu. It was rare for the father and son to agree
completely on a subject but Rai was one such topic, she was a ninja to be respected and a goal to strive for. Still, Kei simply took his seat and waited for his order. The easiest way to be forgotten by an idol is to be a fan asking for an autograph or something. Plus, from the tail end of the overheard horned lady’s conversation, her team Jonin had just arrived. Poor timing over all. Still you wouldn’t guess such an intense line of thinking was going on under the kindly mask of sleepy eyes and a lazy smile.