moving forward, thinking back{open}

[Suzumiya Inari]

Inari sat on the edge of the Great Naruto Bridge, his feet dangling over the edge as the waves from below crashed into the stone foundations. No doubt his mother would yell if she saw him right now, declaring that it was too dangerous and he would fall in any moment. Even just thinking about it made him want to roll his eyes. They lived on an island, so it's not like he wouldn't be able to swim, and more over he had way better balance now, after all his training. Still, he knew he would always be his mother's boy...it was natural for her to nag and worry, but that didn't mean it couldn't get on his nerves.

The brown-haired boy set his arms behind him, leaning back slightly as he watched the sun set in front of him. A part of him worried that is was a bit girly of him to be watching it, however another part of him couldn't deny that it really was just peaceful. Being on the bridge always brought back memories, especially considering who it was named after. That meeting seemed like such a long time ago now, but he remembered it so clearly. For Inari, it was a day when everything changed for him, and perhaps effected him even more than Kaiza's death (which was saying a whole lot).

"Still, there's a lot left to do," he wondered out loud. The completion of the bridge had been a big step for Nami no Kuni, and it bugged Inari that the council still seemed content to just leave it at that. They were a minor country, but this was there chance to really make there presence known in the shinobi world. It was the perfect time to build a ninja academy, but all they could talk about was that stupid cloaked man. "Che, wish I could give him a piece of my mind," he muttered against, tensing his hand.

(( Lol, don't really know if anybody it even living in the land of waves currently, but I wanted to post anyway =P ))

[Suzumiya Inari]

Inari sat in silence for a moment longing, just enjoying the peace, before he did a small back flip off the railing and landed feet first on the bridge. He straightened up, brushing off his pants, and slightly proud that he had been able to keep his balance for the little stunt, one of the many things he had worked on with Bukyou-sensei. With a small glance around, he realized that nobody had actually seen him do it anyway. It wasn't too surprising to find the bridge pretty barren at this time though. As the town grew in size, the number of troublemakers it attracted grew to, so people started heading inside earlier. "Yet another reason why a ninja academy would be helpful," he thought, with a small shake of his head.

Resting his hands in the pockets of his dark green cargo pants, Inari started to walk away, when a loud yell caught his attention.
THAT IS SOOO COLD
The brown haired boy spun around, slightly startled by the voice. Still, there was nobody behind him on the bridge, and no one in front of him either. "Then where..." he trailed off, his expression puzzled. Suddenly, he heard someone speak again, though much softer this time so it was really only muffled sounds. Still, it was enough for him to realize that the sound was coming from below.

Inari rushed back over to the railing, his hands gripping the edge as he looked over into the water below. "What the-!" he exclaimed. In the middle of the blue water, he could make out the figure of a woman. He backed away with another jump, a small flush creeping onto his features. If she was in the water...was she clothed? Kami, he hoped she was. Taking a small gulp of air to settle his nerves, he peered back over the edge. "Um, are...are you okay miss?" he called down hesitantly, waving his arm in hopes of getting her attention. "I mean, did you fall in or something? You need help?" Inari continued to explain. At the moment she didn't look like she was drowning or anything, but he thought it was better safe than sorry. If a woman needed help, it was part of his own ninja code that he couldn't just leave her alone.

[Suigetsu]

The small ripples created from the advance of Suigetsu's footsteps moved over the surface of the water before they were cancelled out by the turbulent action of the waves as they broke against the bridge piers. His white, blue-tinged hair almost seemed to shine in the slowly dimming sunlight before returning to a pale white as he entered the slowly elongating shadow of the bridge. His dark, purple eyes contrasted sharply with the light colored hair. For anyone from the Land of Waves, it would most likely appear rather odd to see someone walk so effortlessly across the water, especially when they had a rather heavy-looking sword strapped to thier back.

The sword which he currently carried with him was none other than the great Beheader Sword which had once belonged to his former Sempai, Momochi Zabuza of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Of course, it was rather unlikely that anyone in this part of the world would know much about such things due to the country's peaceful nature, but Suigetsu had come here simply to find out more about this mysterious 'cloaked man' that he had heard of. He believed that the man was in fact one of the Seven Swordsman, but because of all his previous failures, he knew it was unlikely.

Turning around and looking up at the bridge as he walked out from under it he noted that there was not a single person on the water country side of the structure.
"Heh, I guess I'll have to pay the people of this place a little visit if I want to learn anything." he said with a wicked grin. As Suigetsu was about to jump on top of the bridge, he suddenly heard a scream which shattered the calm silence and quickly turned to the direction where it had come from. From the voice it was obvious that it was a woman possibly not much older than himself. Since the woman was somewhere on the Fire Country side, it was possible that she was not from the Wave Country, but it was only a possibility.

"So there is someone here then." he said as he leaped up, grabbed the railing and flung himself over and onto the bridge. After a few quick dashes with shunshin, he was close enough to see a person up ahead who looked a little younger than himself and was peering over the edge at what must have been the woman.

'So there's another one here then.' he thought as he silently appeared behind the kid. "Well hello there." he said with his usual grin on his face.

[Suzumiya Inari]

Judging from her reaction when the woman found out she wasn't alone, Inari guessed that she actually had been without clothes, thankfully he was too far away to see anything in particular. Still, he spun around quickly again, turning away as he felt a light flush return to his face. "S-sorry for interrupting," he apologized, realizing it was probably a little uncomfortable for her to suddenly be spoken to like that. "Don't worry though, a lot of people like to go for a swim now and then, but it does get pretty cold as the sun goes down," he said with a small chuckle, hoping the joke might put her at ease.

Inari heard her swimming back to shore, and after giving her some private time, he cautiously turned back around. With a sigh of relief, he saw that she was dressed again, and on solid ground on the Land of Waves side of the river. "Wait a minute for me miss, I'll give you a hand," he called out to her, offering a friendly smile even if she wouldn't be able to see it. He was assuming that she wasn't a native of this country, so maybe she would want directions or it would just be a good idea to check up on her.

The brown-haired boy turned around again, this time actually expecting to leave the bridge, but he was stop in his tracks when a voice greeted him. Inari looked up to see a man, slightly older and taller than him, with striking pale features, from his hair to his eyes. The newcomer was grinning, however his appearance concerned him for two reasons. One, Inari had been positive he had been alone just seconds ago, and then this guy appeared from nowhere without making a sound. Two, there was a rather large sword strapped to his back...that looked a bit familiar for some unnameable reason.

Now, he didn't want to immediately jump to conclusions just because he was carrying a weapon, however that didn't change the fact that almost every single muscle in Inari's body tensed when facing this man. "Hello..." he replied, trying his best to sound polite though he couldn't completely hide the wariness in his tone. "Can I help you with something?" Inari's hand was already hovering slightly over the weapons holster tied around his upper thigh. It wasn't filled with much, considering items like shuriken and kunai weren't easy to come by in his village, but it was enough...usually.

((I'm not sure how much of a bad guy Suigetsu is suppose to be on this site, if at all, but either way I was assuming he still wouldn't give off the best vibe, lol))

[Suigetsu]

The kid was lucky to be living in a place such as the Land of Waves with it being so peaceful and all. Since there were still many hunter-nin after Suigetsu as well as likely a few bounty hunters, he unfortunately couldn't cause too much of a scene here. There was no guarantee however, that he would still be left in one piece if he decided to attack Suigetsu, no matter how innefective said attack would be.

From the boy's response, it was obvious that he was very much afraid which was exactly what Suigetsu had meant to do. With him being frightened and cautious, he was less likely to piss Suigetsu off and more likely to tell him whatever he knew. Even if the kid didn't know anything, there was still the woman and after that there was still many people left who might know something.

"Don't be so tense. It'll make it harder for me to tell whether or not you're lying." he mocked. Suigetsu inwardly scoffed when he saw the him reach for the holster and wondered if the kid actually believed that he could take him with just a kunai. Perhaps living in such a calm place had caused him to think that he could really become a ninja just by carrying around a few likely old and rusted kunai and shuriken. "Maybe," he replied at the inquiry. "It depends on how much you know of this 'Cloaked Man' that some people around here have been talking of."

[Suzumiya Inari]

Inari didn't like the mocking tone in the man's voice, but he tried to just let it slide off, giving a humorless laugh. "Somehow, telling me that doesn't really help much," he replied sarcastically. Still, he knew the man had a point. It was a mistake on his part to make it so obvious that he was uncomfortable, it would have been better to at least try to appear confident and poised. The comment that followed also threw the boy off-guard, however this time he made sure not to show it in his expression, or any other type of movement. 'Great, that idiot that the council thinks is so good at protecting us is now gathering attention,' he thought sourly to himself.

Inari looked at the man straight on, and merely gave a light shrug. "Never heard of him, and if I were you I wouldn't really trust the local gossip. People just talk when they're bored," he explained casually, trying to play it up a bit by rolling his eyes. "That kind of business is more the fire country's thing if you really wanna investigate," he continued, gesturing to the opposite side of the bridge, away from his village. He knew that he had had two options. Inari could have told him the truth, and then hoped that life would be easier with this cloaked guy gone (assuming the white-haired man wasn't just asking about him for a friendly visit). More importantly, though, he wasn't about to lead an armed man into the village, without knowing what his intentions were. Protecting the land came first, and he could only hope that this guy wasn't that serious, and that he would take the hint and go.

Inari had been still staring intently at the man, when suddenly he was snapped out of it by a small kiss on his cheek. If he hadn't already been so surprised, he probably would have blushed again, but instead he just stared at the woman with wide, concerned eyes. 'No, no, what is she doing?' he thought nervously. Well, with the words that followed it became quite obvious as to what she was doing. His mind was racing, but still slightly dazed the brown-haired boy stumbled behind her for a few step as he pulled her back towards the village. "W-wait!" he finally protested softly. As he gathered his thoughts though, he gently tugged his wrist out of her grasp, and shook his head lightly.

"Thanks for trying to help, but I can't leave him alone," Inari spoke in a low, quiet to her. He really did appreciate the thought, but he did not at all trust the man, and he didn't think a ruse like this would be enough to throw him off. Plus, he really didn't want this woman to get involved, especially one as kind and as pretty as her. "Just keep heading on this main road, and you'll reach an inn; you'll be in good hands there," he said with a small smile, taking a step back. "And I'll be fine here," Inari added, turning his head back around to face the man, a more serious expression returning to his features.

[Suigetsu]

After patiently listening to the boy's answer, Suigetsu quickly wrote it off as a lie. Not because he didn't believe it though (which he didn't), but rather because he simply didn't like how the boy had tried to lure him away from the country which had in fact, made him seem slightly suspicious at first. Then again, he reasoned it would be perfectly normal for one to not want someone like Suigetsu in thier village so it was obvious why the kid had done what he did. Still, Suigetsu knew that it was best to get every bit of information out of him which meant: he would have to be a little rough. "Heh." he said as his smile dissapeared and was replaced with a cold indifference. He slowly reached back with his right hand and grasped his sword's handle, while at the same time giving the kid a rather cold glare.

Just as Suigetsu was preparing to chop off a few limbs, the tension was suddenly broken by the appearance of what was likely the girl that he had seen from the other side of the bridge. He merely ignored the girl's comments and watched as the kid was reluctantly dragged a short distance away. With a sigh, he unlatched the sword from his back and let it drop to the floor. Despite the short height of the fall, the sword was still heavy enough to sink nearly a foot into the bridge. "Time for a break." he said to himself as he took a water bottle from his belt and began to drink. With a bored expression on his face he watched as the boy talked to the woman before he turned to face Suigetsu again with a serious look. Despite the boy's attitude, Suigetsu ignored him completely as he continued to drink from the bottle. The kid shouldn't be one to complain. He wasn't the one that had carried a huge sword on his back all the way across Fire Country, so in Suigetsu's mind, it was perfectly fine.

It wasn't until he finally downed the very last drop that he returned his gaze and attention to the boy. "I know you think you're so brave trying to protect your home and all, kid, but if this cloaked guy really is who I think he is, then you're better off letting me get rid of him, ya know?"