Somewhere in Nox Forest of the Hidden Moon Village there is a little creek that winds it's way through the foliage and trees until it comes past what one would think a hill, covered in grass and a boulders, but there is an opening to reveal the cave inside. There is also a sign not far from the cave to direct lost and weary travelers.

The new Genin of Tsukigakure had decided to familiarize herself with the layout of the country and when it seemed that Nox Forest was popular with the locals, though the only traveled through it on the main roads. She however decided to forego the usual paths and hike into the thick of the forest. Shinoe had never seen a forest before and all of the trees were daunting. Holding up a hand above her eyes to shield them she craned her neck back and peered up into the canopy that glowed from the sunlight that couldn't quite break through all of the leaves. However that soon changed as darkness swept over the area, a large cloud front passing over the sun. Frowning slightly, the brunette shrugged it off. She could take a little cold, Tsuki had mostly the same temperature as Shippuugakure had, though the Skovos Isles never got snow, just wet. Speaking of wet...

Cocking an ear, Shinoe tried to listen past the sounds of rustling leaves, buzzing insects and chirping birds. And she heard....water. Walking down a slight slope, she parted a bush and smiled to see a bubbling creek. Approaching it, the genin crouched next to the creek before putting her hands in the water and cupping them, bringing it to her lips for a drink. The water was cold and clear, refreshing her. At least until she felt something drop on her head. Frowning, her right hand immediately placed itself on top of her head, only to find nothing. But as more water droplets began to fall she began to understand. It was starting to rain.

Perhaps it was time to turn back then. She stood but that was when it started to pour down and Shinoe decided that it would be better to try and find shelter from the rain and hope it passed as quickly as it had come. Running along side the creek, she skidded to a halt and almost slipped on the wet rocks as she blinked in surprise at what she was seeing. An odd little hill made into a cave. 'Well that's convenient.' The brunette thought as she approached the opening and made her way inside.

Misora had been sitting inside the cave for awhile, somehow ending up here without her even knowing. The smell and sound of the rain pouring down outside seemed to quieten the noise made by those noisy insects. She could hear footsteps thudding on the rocky ground, indicating that someone was apparently entering the same cave he was in, movig closer and closer towards her. "Who's there?" she said, turning her head left and right helplessly, her velvet blindfold covering her sightless eyes. Though she couldn't see, her sense of smell and hearing had been greatly enhanced, and she shoved her hand into a small pouch attached to her thigh, grabbing ahold of the handle of a kunai, ready to launch it at the person if necessary. She couldn't 'see' the way normal people do, but she could definitely sense people's chakra and even if he or she had no chakra, Misora's added keen sense of smell and hearing would help, so it wouldn't be that hard for her to swing her kunai at the person, if he or she was to be an enemy.

The travel had been long but it had been an interesting one. He had found a unusual set of bugs and unwanted critters along his path but with the help of his own blood, was able to protect himself from unwanted bites. It was nice to be able to use such a skill in the simplest of ways and he wasn't sure if that would be considered abusing or not. Whilst thinking of this, he turned his attention to the sounds of a running stream and he came to a halt. Water was always a welcome guest to him but something else grabbed his attention and he looked upward and raised a hand just above his brow as if to look at the sky with his slit-like eyes and as if on cue, water began to fall from the sky.

At first, it was a simple rain but, progressively, it began to grow more and more till it felt as if the sky would open up a great flood. But, he was already wet and felt that panic or running wouldn't help him at that point. He just needed a place to keep from the rain and dry his clothes.

He continued to walk through the woods and found that the steam was starting to quicken its own pace with the added water from the rain. But to this, he was more interested in the sound of a voice mixed with the rainfall. "Who's there?" It wasn't far if he could hear it but he still wasn't sure as to where it was until he finally came to a stop and looked around, it would seem that he found himself above the stream and looking down on a sign of sorts. He would crouch down and follow a small worn out path that seemed to lead somewhere. His current sight would show nothing from such a high stand point but he would surely find someone near by and wondered, would they put up a fight again a foreigner?

1/30

Shinoe brushed her dripping wet bangs out of her eyes as she entered the cave but immediately froze when she heard a voice which drew her eyes to the form of a woman sitting down a little further in. She had dark purple hair, that did not obscure the sight of her eyes being covered by a soft looking cloth which made the genin wonder why the woman was blindfolded. Water colored eyes noted the other woman's hand in a pouch and stated in answer, "Shinoe. Though I don't suppose that really says much. What about you?" Shinoe had a hunch that this woman wasn't just some villager caught in the rain. Her clothing was wrong, as was her posture, though the blindfold did cause curiosity so she simply asked flat out, "You blind? Or are you just trying it out or something?" Manners weren't really her strong point nor did she care. For now she contented herself to squatting down as the cave's ceiling was a tad low, never suspecting there was a man on top of the cave, eavesdropping.

"Shinoe. Though I don't suppose that really says much. What about you?" seems the person wasn't a threat at all, for now. "Hachūrui Misora." her reply was blunt as usual, while she stuck a hand out infront of her, expecting the girl to shake it. The thing was, she was sort of facing a wall, so yeah, she wasn't going to be having her handshake unless she turned around. "You blind? Or are you just trying it out or something?" Wasn't it obvious from the way she reacted to the footsteps with the head turning thing? Well, clearly she was often mistaken of fooling around with her blindfold, but meh, she was really blind. "I'm pretty much blind as you can see." she said, swinging her hand around. Okay, so the girl wasn't in that direction. She turned herself around, hoping that she was facing in the right direction. She couldn't help but use sensory this time to check if the girl was a kunoichi like her. "You're a Genin I suppose, by the looks of the chakra thing." Misora sniffed the air for a short while, before turning her head to the suppose direction. The girl didn't really have any scent on her, since the rain had washes everything off. How was she even going to locate Ayame if she couldn't even use her nose? Scouring the whole forest would take a long time even with her sensory skills. Never mind, she'd yell out loud if she had to. All that mattered was that Ayame would either hear her and cone after her, or she found Ayame first.

Lee kept his posture atop the mound, no reason to leave it just yet. The rain, ever falling seemed to keep him company at least, for the time. That, and the voices within the...cave? Cove? Hole? He wasn't rightly sure what they were in but it seemed that it was dry and they were seeking refuge, that and they were not known to one another from the conversation that broke between them. One Shinoe and the other Hachurui Misora. The Shinoe spoke of Misora being blind and he was surprised that she was, interesting to say the least. She must of had something over her eyes or she didn't wear anything at all from her response of how obvious it was.

What was spoken next was of equal interest. It seemed Misora was a sensory ninja, picking out that Shinoe was a genin. Which made him wonder, was she right or was she wrong. He surely wouldn't be found out unless he was looked for directly but maybe it would be better that way. Maybe he would let himself be found. But till then, he would enjoy their conversations further.
2/30

Shinoe raised an eyebrow as Misora held her hand out to be shook...to a wall. But she soon realized her mistake and turned towards her and responded that the other girl should be able to see that she was blind, which only made the brunette smirk. "And how do you know that I'm not blind too?" She wondered if the other girl had even thought about that. Poking some mushrooms growing in a corner, Shinoe tilted her head as she looked back at the blind girl as she spoke of her being a Genin based on the 'chakra thing'. "Chakra thing huh? And here I thought you were blind, but you can see 'chakra things' just fine. Maybe I'm a genin, maybe not." She shrugged, not caring that the other girl wouldn't be able to see the gesture. Teasing this girl was just too easy and it came effortlessly to Shinoe, without thinking. "What about you?" Then she caught the slight raising of Misora's face and her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air which made Shinoe ask monotonously, "Smell something good?"

How would she know if Shinoe was blind too? Exactly, how was she to even be able to see if the Shinoe girl was blind like her? A rather moronic question to ask someone who clearly couldn't see a thing at all though, but she did have a point though. An awkward silence was what came next, before she replied. "Your not blind cause you wouldn't have been able to see the blindfold I was wearing." True enough, the girl had asked her if she was fooling around with the piece of velvet cloth that was tied onto her eyes, somehow giving away the answer beforehand. "What about you?" What about her? Oh yea, the girl was asking her for her rank. "Genin as well." she replied bluntly as another question was asked, this time ticking her off a little; "Smell something good?" If she was at a dango stall, then yes. But in a cave sheltered from the heavy downpour outside, no. Every single trace of smell around had been washed out by the rain, which made everything worse. Besides, Ayame could be out there walking around in the rain and searching high and low for her, unable to find her mainly because she was sitting in the middle of a cave. Again, she checked around for any of Ayame's chakra, and even the tiniest hint would mean Ayame was nearby. Nope, there wasn't any of that medic-nin's chakra, nothing but Shiroe's and a third party's. "You brought a friend here?" she asked, pointing her index finger upwards, indicating someone with a large amount of chakra had been there for eavesdropping on their little conversation without them even realizing it, until now.

Lee had found the small on goings of the females below him more than interesting. The small trip in the rain wasn't a wasted effort after all. He could easily get past the rain with this sort of entertainment to keep him preoccupied. This Shinoe was a rather feisty one from the sounds of it, asking if the other girl even thought of her being blind as well. It was then that Shinoe also threw out the wish to know the rank of the blind girl, Misora to which she answered back with similar rank of genin. Then the talk of smells came back into play as Shinoe asked if her new found friend had smelt something or not.

The answer that came from Misora's lips caused him to pause as Misora spoke of Shinoe bringing a friend along with her to which Lee glanced upward and from one side to the other. He didn't think there was any one else around, surely they would have shown themselves by now by entering the cave....right?
3/30

As Misora pointed out that Shinoe wouldn't have commented on her blindfold if she hadn't been able to see it, the brunette's mouth widened in a pleased smirk. "Good you have more than a three second memory." She praised teasingly. After the blind girl replied that she was of the same rank, Shinoe hummed. "There are more genin in Tsuki than I'd thought. It's good to have a lot of equals though I suppose. Are you participating in the Chunnin exams as well?" The girl squatting in the dirt tilted her head and noted that Misora seemed too preoccupied to answer her question about what she was sniffing at and sighed. Such wonderful company. Shinoe glanced out at the mouth of the cave and wondered how long it would be before the rain would let up.

But then her head whipped around in surprise as the blind girl asked if she had brought a friend. "...Not that I'm aware..." She stated cautiously before standing and facing the cave's entrance. "Oooooyyy! Come out come out whoever you are!" Shinoe tried to lure the other person out. "Marco." Her hands placed themselves on her hips as she asked the blind girl, "What, did you smell someone else? Or are you using your 'chakra thing'?"

"Good you have more than a three second memory." what was she, a goldfish or something? Yeah right, this girl definitely had a flawless talent for teasing others. "You make it sound as if I'm a goldfish. Being blind doesn't mean I'm a failure at memorizing things. I could run backwards down the street without any guidance." She boasted, trying to outdo that witty little Shinoe. "There are more genin in Tsuki than I'd thought. It's good to have a lot of equals though I suppose. Are you participating in the Chunnin exams as well?" the exams were starting? Why hadn't anyone even bothered to tell her about it? Surely Ayame would've heard about it, but why didn't she notify her about the upcoming exams? "Not heard of it yet, but I'll join for sure once Ayame gives me an explanation." she said, before pushing herself slowly back onto her feet, her head thudding against the low cave. She let out a soft grunt, before bending down and moving towards the entrance without any problems. The wind was blowing in through only that direction, somehow giving away the location of the opening to the cave. The Shinoe girl clearly didn't know who had tagged along with her, her reaction and the 'ooy' thing explaining everything. "Come out from wherever you are, don't worry, I won't bite. But Shinoe might try doing that." she blurted out randomly, before shoving her hand out of the cave, swinging it around to see if that person was there. Definitely not, she'd sense his or her chakra above her, so that third party was presumably somewhere above the the cave, getting rained on by the massive downpour which was now becoming nothing but a slight drizzle.

Lee sat listening to the ongoings of those below him in an almost comical fashion, almost completely forgetting that there might be another out and about. The comment that Shinoe spoke about Misora's memory capability caused his smile to grow ever more but Misora responded with the words that she could run backwards without a hint of help from anyone. Then, the Chunnin exams were brought up and they surely would be something to see and Lee would aim to try and go and watch the fights for up and coming ninja.

Though Misora did not even know of the exams herself, seemed that her ears had their limits but she spoke of joining it anyway. A blind fighter, it reminded him of an acquaintance he had met and wondered what the two would think of one another. But then, it came. Shinoe walked to what he could only assume to be the mouth of the cave and speak about the person coming out and calling marco, a popular pool game. Misora soon joined in the calling of the person, speaking of not biting though, did not make the same promise toward Shinoe.

It seemed that his sitting and enjoying was at an end but that did not mean all the fun had left. He leaned forward and pulled himself up into a standing posture and walked to the edge and jumped off to land a few feet from the edge of the cave entrance, soaked to the bone but with his ever present smile over his lips as he would then raise a single hand toward Shinoe "Polo?" He then looked toward the blind one that would have to be Misora "One can never be to careful."
4/30

Shinoe's eyes raised in surprise, smirking as she replied, "I never said being blind meant you can't remember things. And I can't help but point out that we're not on a street. We're in a cave. In the middle of a forest. So forgive me if I doubt your blind backwards running prowess." The brunette was trying very hard not to chuckle, though it more difficult than one would think. She couldn't tell if she was making the girl hate her or if they were getting along swimmingly. She was about to ask who 'Ayame' was, but then came the issue of a new member to their cave party. As Misora called out that Shinoe might bite, said girl stuck her tongue out at her, knowing that she couldn't see her.

But as she looked back at the cave's opening and suddenly a tall man dressed in black clothing dropped down from above, her fist raised instinctively before she halted it as he spoke. "...Wise words for a guy that was stalking two girls." His smile creeped her out and only did so more when it didn't fade. He was creating a puddle beneath his feet, proving that he had gotten drenched from being out in the rain for however long, which didn't set her at ease any less. If he was near enough to the cave for long enough for Misora to sense then why hadn't he just said something himself and entered the cave to take shelter? Shinoe was not letting her guard down any time soon around the stranger.

"...Wise words for a guy that was stalking two girls." Actually, he was eavesdropping on them. If he'd stalked Shinoe earlier, she would've noticed his chakra along with Shinoe's. But Shinoe could be right as well, and like the intruder said, one could never be too careful when meeting someone completely unfamiliar to her. She backed up a little, again reaching into her pouch for a kunai, ready to swipe it at the third party if needed. The thing was, his chakra was at a higher level, much more stronger than her's and Shinoe's. "What are you here for and who are you?" Misora demanded calmly, her focus all concentrated on the man's chakra. If he started a fight with them, it would definitely not turn out well and it could even mean death for them. But that was if he was an enemy, though he could also be some lost traveler who happened to be a ninja from some village, otherwise known as a foreigner. Still, she couldn't let her guard down that easily, for he wasn't known to her nor Shinoe at all.

Misora made her way over to where Shinoe supposedly was, whispering in a hushed tone to her, "Sure you don't know him? Maybe you forgot about him or something." yeah, she was sort of treating her like a goldfish right now, with the memory span of 3 seconds but meh, she didn't really mean it actually. Her hand was still hidden inside her pouch just incase and was ready to yell out anytime for Ayame to come running down at her. Sure, Ayame wasn't a combat type, but was a young prodigy in medical ninjutsu as well as a talented strategist. Most of her plan always managed to work out perfectly, which was why Misora saw and respected her as a genius. She had an IQ of about 150 in fact, and knew all her herbs and stuff. Stuff that Misora had never been interested in.

Lee stood in the midst of the rain as it continued to fall without pause. It seemed that his presence was noted...highly. The brunette seemed to be a fighter that favored her fists and the blind one less likely to be physical...at least, that is what he was to assume. He would surely take his sweet time in the current situation. He slowly held his hands up in a more peaceful posture, his hands to show they held no weapons in them nor would he reach for any "I not stalking anyone, I just showed up a little bit ago. Listening in is more like it, we are out in the middle of the forest so listening isn't a punishable offense."

He kept his hands up as he then let one of his hands form themselves into a light fist but pointed one finger in the direction of the two females "You, Shinoe. What do you think would happen if you hit me with that well formed fist you have there?" He then let his attention turn toward Misora "And you, Misora, what do you think of me from your acute guessing?"
5/30

Shinoe did not lower her fists as the stranger explained that he hadn't stalked anyone, having only shown up recently and pointed out that listening in wasn't a punishable offense, but tightened in annoyance. "Maybe not, but it's still creepy." Her sea colored eyes did not leave his slits as Misora posed two questions to him which he seemed to ignore, instead posing two of his own for them. The fact that he had been around long enough to have heard their names being spoke when the girls had first met only served to anger the young shinobi further. "I think that you'd be in pain and I'd be just a little bit happier for it. Now answer Misora's questions." The last statement was spoken with a growling undertone, as Shinoe was just itching for an excuse to punch this guy now. What was the point of asking them such questions anyways?

The way Shinoe answered the man's questions obviously showed that she was rather ticked off with him for whatever reason. Misora felt rather surprised to hear Shinoe demand an answer from the man about her question, since she thought that hot headed girl was more of someone who loved teasing others, but it seemed that her judgement was completely wrong. "From my 'acute guessing', I suppose your someone of a higher rank than us, Jounin perhaps. So where are my answers now? " this time, her voice switched from calm and relaxed to something more demanding and threatening. Ok, she wasn't supposed to be that rude to people whom she'd just met, but this was sort of an exception. This guy had just popped out of nowhere without even notifying them, and she couldn't help but admit that she herself was just as impatient as Shinoe, only thing was that the limit to her patience was a tad bit longer than hers. Well, maybe not but what the hell, it didn't really matter that much anyways.

Lee continued to stand amidst the rains of the outer cave with little worry or care at that moment as they answered him. Shinoe seemed the aggressor, very hot-blooded and quick to anger or at least, that would be his first impression. The other, Misora was less to anger but that was not saying much in terms of scale with her partner at the time. Lee nodded his head only slightly "I guess creepy would be a word you could use."

He then placed his hands just a little lower, still their fair way up and in sight as the answers were given and returned that he answered their questions. "Alright, alright. Fair is fair, you answered my questions so I'll answer yours. I'm here for the destruction of the Hidden Moon Village and my name is Blank." He let one of his arms lower itself over his stomach as the other held itself out as he bowed to the two as if to present himself in some grand fashion.
6/30

Shinoe continued glaring at the smiling stranger as Misora answered his question posed to her, guessing that he was around jounin level (much higher than either of them), before also demanding that he answer the questions posed to him. It seemed that since they had both answered his questions that he was now willing to answer theirs and spoke of the reason as to why he was there as well as his name.

...Not that Shinoe believed a word of it. Her sea colored eyes bulged in indignation as she watched him bow mockingly to them. "What the fuck?! Do you actually expect us to believe that crap? And if the first bit's true then I swear to God I'll make you regret finding this cave. I may not have been in Tsuki for long but I'll be damned if I have to move again." As the brash brunette spoke, she would step boldly forward and grab the front of 'Blank's' black jacket and raise her right fist, preparing a good solid punch to his face if she didn't like his next answers.

'Blank's' answer was just... Unexpected and... Well, not really something she wanted to ear. A few words of vulgarities escaped from Shinoe's lips then, before she spoke about having to move again. So she wasn't a villager like her? But still, she could've maybe lost her home or something, but this wasn't the right time to ask, for she had something more serious to worry about. Like what Shinoe had said, if what the blank guy said was true, then he'd be a serious threat to the entire village of Tsukigakure. But then, how was one person going to destroy Tsukigakure single-handedly? There had to be an explanation for that, maybe he was someone from an organization, or maybe he was damn powerful, like a Jinchuuriki or something, but if he was, then he'd have chakra of a higher level, and she'd have already sensed the tailed beast's presence in him. Ah what the hell, that wasn't really important. "Seriously, your name. No more blank stuff or anything like that. And if you're really going to destroy this home of ours, do you think the we would let you off with that?" her voice somehow sounded serious then, her patience already reaching it's limit. If he started giving her nonsense again, then Shinoe might give him a good slap in the ace. In fact, Shinoe could already be right in front of the nameless guy, ready to send her fists flying into her face.

Lee rose his head up slowly from the bow to greet the words coming from Shinoe in complete and utter disbelief. She not only refused the answer he gave but threatened him in turn for saying such things which would cause her to move yet again, implying that she was a newcomer to the land. He was about to speak when Shinoe came upon him and took him by the collar and aimed to threaten with a closer and more well placed punch to which he quickly held his arms up yet again and shook his head

"A joke, a joke that seems to have been taken a bit to seriously. If I was going to, why would I just outright tell two people that hail from the village and not just do it and be on my way. I'm not much of a name person and I'd like to keep it that way. As for why I'm here, I just came for the sights and to see if I could find anything of interest, you don't have to go violent, it's unbecoming."

He laughed hesitantly and looked over Shinoe's shoulder toward Misora and spoke a bit louder for her "You said that you know how strong I am, if I wanted to do anything, would you really be able to stop me? Let's just calm down..." he turned his attention toward Shinoe "...and wait this storm out with friendly conversation."
7/30

Shinoe glared at the stranger's slits and wondered if he was ever going to open his damn eyes properly. Almost everything about him annoyed her which didn't make it easy for her to hold her right hook back as Misora attempted to persuade the man further. Apparently it worked as he raised his hands in a show of giving up, saying that while he preferred not to give out his name, he was joking about destroying Tsukigakure. ...She hoped. When he said that he was just here for the sights, the brunette sneered before roughly letting go of the front of his jacket, but regretted it as he said that her violence was 'unbecoming'. "U-Unbecoming?!" Shinoe spluttered in indignation and disbelief before her expression settled for a glower as she cracked her knuckles. "Oh I'll show you unbecoming..." She muttered.

But then the silver haired man raised his voice for the blind girl's benefit, mentioning that she should know how strong he is and how futile an altercation would be between the three of them before settling his slitted gaze on Shinoe again. "Oh yeah." The water user snorted before continuing, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "You're a real pal I'm sure. Let's all gather around the cozy fire and chat about our funnest ways to kill someone! I'm sure you'll have lots to offer into that conversation Mr. Creeper." As she spoke, she turned and walked closer to where Misora was, plopping down with a huff on the ground with her legs crossed but parted.

She could hear someone's cracking of the knuckles, most probably Shinoe's. Yeah, it seemed pretty clear to Misora that Shinoe was more of someone who resorted to violence when pissed off. It somehow reminded her of that cousin of hers, but his fists were way to small to cause any damage. Still, that brat was an excellent pincher, and any pinch you got from him would seriously hurt. Then, the nameless guy supposedly raise his voice on purpose talked about knowing how strong he was and the predicted outcome of engaging him in battle, before talking about being friendly. Oh yeah, she should become best buddies with him. That way, she could die faster. Pfft, as if she would fall for that. Even if what he said was true, why should she even trust him? That 'joke' of his already got her guard up, and there was no way she was going to ever listen to him. Having heard Shinoe's reply, the girl heaved out a sigh before giving her response. "I've got nothing more to say, nameless. And please, I'm not deaf. I can hear perfectly fine from here." she said with a slight hint of anger in her voice, before hearing some kind of thudding sound infront of her. Meh, Shinoe must have walked off from that nameless guy, maybe because he was starting to creep her out from the way she addressed him. What was he doing? Smiling at her in a weird way? Eating bugs? Picking his nose? Naah, that was just far too awkward.

Lee continued to stand as he was released from the grip of the brute that came in such a small size. She seemed to dislike the 'unbecoming' part he added and began to crack her knuckles as if to say war was about to be waged. He quickly held his hands out in front of him and shook them in a defensive manner "Now, now, I've already shown I have a poor knack for words."

Shinoe then began to speak of his chummy way of speaking toward them and that they could sit around a fire and share death stories to which he gave a flat lined face at the sarcastic remark. He then watched as she walked back into the cave and Misora spoke of having nothing else to say and that she was blind, not deaf to which he laughed hesitantly "I apologize, I'm not used to being around people with a lack of sense...I mean, lack being minus one...one being one of the five senses...respectively."

He took in a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head before taking a step inside the cave and finally out of the rain. He wasn't entirely sure what to do next but decided on something regardless. "So...are we still doing that fire or what?"
8/30