For all of his thinking on how to best blend into the crowd all he could really think to do was take off his head band, which he did. He took it off, folded it up neatly, and slid it into his left pants pocket. Hareegh, who sat to his right, eyed him nervously. It was not often that a shinobi of any village took off their head band in the middle of the day. The little salamander was worried that if some other ninja who knew him or even of him came by and saw him without his head band that he may be accused of something. Hareegh took tiny pencil to tiny paper to ask his owner, "R U SURE?" Michio nodded and said, "Yeah, Hareegh, I am sure. If lord Fubukikage or somebody asked that my explanation would be more than good enough!"

He was also told to do some simple recon as an initial part of his training as a village hidden in the glacier scout ninja. Michio Jiin did not really know who he was going to be doing recon on, because everybody here seemed just be an average villager.

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Spoiler:

The land hidden in the glacier was a comforting place for some. Though, that 'some' were usually the inhabitants of the land, the cold weather tended to push away those that were from other villages. Simply wandering into the village as himself was something that he wasn't truly able to do anymore. It was mainly due to the own fact that he did not wish to be known. The mask upon his face was there in order to keep him from being recognized. On top of that, he had a dark hood pulled over his head to further hide himself from prying eyes.

The figure would keep himself toward the darker corners of the village, he had left his massive swords back at the base and just his katana at his side. If something were to happen, he figured that he would be able to keep himself well with just it.

The masked individual continued to move with none the wiser. There was the occasional glance in his general direction but most immediately turned their gaze as to not draw the figures attention to them. It was not completely unheard of for ANBU to wander the village though at that very same time, they were usually only passing glances if that. The figure did not give way to much else, so long as it wasn't anyone of special import to take note of him, everything would be fine and well. He was sure that in this section of the village, someone running off to get the kage would be really slim and he would like to keep it that way.

The figure would come to a slow stop and turn its attention toward the buildings. He made sure to only visit the inside of Hyouga in wide intervals. With that being said, it meant that many things could change within it whilst he was gone and it would make directions confusing and the vendors just as much. Though, he saw a small shop that seemed to be selling bento's and had enough places to sit inside. While it was against his better judgement, he did feel like getting off his feet, if even for a moment and so he gave in to his lesser desires and made a B-line for the establishment.

Once inside, he would find a nice spot toward the back, his seat facing the entrance and off to the side to make sure to have a view of the entering individuals for a preemptive attack if need be.

Michio continued in pursuit of the mysterious man. A headband, a golf pencil, a tiny note pad, and a fire salamander rearranging two of the above ever few moments were the only things that he had in his front pants pockets that were not usually there, but they somehow made him feel slower, heavier, less safe, and a thousand times more vulnerable than had the headband been tied securely around his forehead to denote his position in the village, working to serve and protect the wonderful village that he called home, and had the little amphibious lizard been scurrying about between the soft fabric of his dress shirt and the warm fabric of his vest, carrying with him the golf pencil and tiny note pad that he used to communicate with the humans who dominated this world.

When the figure in the mask and cloak with the katana at his hip came to a slow stop, Michio made sure to keep his pace the best that he could without losing track of him. Since he had managed to stay back a bit he could outpace the mysterious man or woman without running out ahead of them and losing them because of it. Michio Jiin would not allow this to damage his skills as a scout. Though it was not displayed, but instead hidden under his vest, Michio Jiin was a member of the village scouts, and that meant understanding some basic recon. He had no intentions on failing lord Fubukikage Sama.

Michio saw the strange figure under the mask and hood suddenly dart off toward a local bento shop that had plenty of room for a wandering shinobi, or any wanderer or any sort, to rest for a moment and be off of their tired feet. The food there was not nearly excellent enough for an ANBU of any sort to be stopping there for fun, and no ANBU would be taking off their mask to eat in public, so Michio assumed that if the man or woman who concealed themselves so well was not out very quickly, as any real ANBU agent would be, then the individual was stopping to rest, which would insinuate that they had no other place in the area to stop. Instead of charging after the shrouded person like an angry fool, Michio kept his course steady and marked in the map that was in his mind where the man had entered, and slowly and casually made his way in that direction.

Michio was equally careful not to seem suspicious to the hooded as well as masked figure who was also carrying a deadly weapon when he entered the eatery. Well armed and probably foreign people with no reason to worry about burning bridges and an assured place to run to from the authorities were not the types of people that the young shinobi felt he should be making angry quite yet, not until he was at least at the rank of Chuunin or Special Jounin. For now, as an inexperienced Genin, he would just be tracking targets. A part of that was getting information, which would include innocently getting him to take off his mask. Michio had an idea to do that without arousing any suspicion from anybody.

He walked up to the counter and held up two fingers and said, "Two bento boxes, please, Sir!" to the man at the counter, who quickly handed over the bento boxes and accepted payment from Michio, who went back to the back of the establishment where the robed figure, as well as any ninja who didn't want to have somebody sneak up from behind them would be. He placed one bento box on the table to show that he was planning to take the risk of sitting across from him, with his back turned to the entrance, and then placed the other bento box in front of the masked individual. He was not a young scout training his skills in recon as far as appearances went; he was a villager honoring somebody who appeared to be in an elite task whose job was to keep him safe. "You excellent shinobi and konuichi of the ANBU forces do a truly exemplary job of keeping our village this wonderful and safe place for all of its inhabitants to enjoy! Please," he said as he entered into a very deep bow to mark his very deep sincerity intended with the sentiment, accept his bento box as my thanks for all that you do!" Michio was feeling especially proud of himself for how he was handling the whole, pretending not to be an active shinobi in hopes of getting information from mysterious strangers, thing was turning out even though this was his very first time doing it.

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The establishment was the epitome of normal in terms of a restaurant or food buying place. There was nothing really special within the place but this did not mean it was a bad place. It was actually the opposite, it was fitting and meant that it would not offend or attract bad things or people... at least for the most part. The figure sat in rest for more than a standard moment, no real problem looking individuals coming into sight. The occasional customer but no one that gave the sign of a threat.

The masked individual did not expect to be approached by anyone but it seemed the world had its surprises. The figure would let the mask tilt down as if to look at the box that was placed before it. It would listen as the man would begin to praise what he would only assume to be him in association to the ANBU and it wasn't anything uncommon with the mask. The gesture seemed sincere enough and the figure could only assume that they had done something in his life to gain such respect.

The figure would raise an arm and aim his hand at the chair opposite to him in a sign for the boy to join him "Please, sit." The figure would then open the box before him and raise a finger up to push the mask up just so much that the lips of the man could be seen, this obviously in an attempt to eat what was placed before him. It had been what seemed like forever since he had any sort of food from Hyouga which was something he never really missed till this very moment. It looked more than delicious but before he would start, he would speak while breaking apart his chopsticks "You seem the be one of few to outright approach what most would deem a dangerous shinobi in all regard. The Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai are usually very antisocial."

Michio smiled widely and sat down across from the, what he now could assume from the voice, man wearing the mysterious mask. Some of his training as a server came out when he lifted the chair a little as he scooted it forward to make sure that he did not make any unattractive noises or do anything to damage the floor of the establishment. When he sat down on the chair he got up a little and lifted it from below as he scooted it back in. He leaned over the table on his elbows and opened up his bento and snapped apart his chop sticks to eat the one that he had bought for himself. It was nothing amazing, but Michio still was glad that the man that he was following came here. They could have done much worse.

He leaned back and lifted up his elbows, as resting one's elbows on the table while one was eating could be viewed as extremely rude. "Well," he said to the masked and hooded man with the katana, "I was raised to believe that a well trained ninja was only dangerous if you're committing a crime or doing something wrong. The Hyougagakure shinobi are here to protect, not to harm. So I see no reason to fear, just to respect you."

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The half masked man now began to eat slowly with the chopsticks. Slowly taking small wads of rice and slowly bringing them up to place the food into his maw, making sure not to put to much so as to keep a respectable demeanor. The man would watch as the other would take a seat and begin eating as well to which he would seemingly ignore. When he began to speak as to why he thought as he did, it came down to simple and good upbringing. After eating another bite, he would give a pause and stab into a small bit of what looked to be a hotdog of some kind and begin speaking.

"A blade is still a blade. Be it for better or worse, it can harm just as much as it can protect, sometimes the two are one in the same. But I still appreciate the gesture and for that, you have my gratitude. What is your name, if I may be so bold as to ask."

Michio slid a slightly larger than he normally would chunk of the sticky rice before him into his mouth so that he could chew it while he thought about the best possible response to give. Though he had initially been extremely suspicious of the man, he could not help but find him likable. An extremely important factor in this was whether or not the man would recognize his real name, which not a lot of people outside of his clan knew. He first had to review who knew and did not know his name. The only three ninja that he could think of who knew his name were Seijuuna, Hosi, and Xavier-Sama. If the man was an ANBU then maybe he would know the names of all of the genin, because they were in charge of most of the village hidden in the glacier's intelligence. If he recognized the clan name then he would probably recognize that the Jiin were not often shinobi. He decided that he was going to be entirely honest, omitting the part that he was actually a fresh shinobi of this village.

"You need not be bold to ask anything of me," he said, leaning into a sitting bow with his right hand placed over his rapidly beating heart and his left arm folded behind his lower back, "My name is Michio, of the Jiin clan. I am a butler by trade and about myself am always open to questions that do not pry into the privacy of those I work for. As far as my own privacy, I have none. I understand if you decline, as your position is one that requires a lot of private information and not a lot of openness with others, but might I inquire into your identity? Name, maybe?" Openness, Michio thought, is the true key to avoiding questions.

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The figure sat upright and seemed to move as few times as possible, his mouth seemingly the only visible sign that he was in fact a human being. That and the movement of his arm which was moved so that the food could be placed within said mouth. The figure then placed another bit of food into his mouth and then would move his other free hand onto the edge of the table, simple letting it rest on the edge. He would listen as he began to speak and that was when he would activate his blood release, simply the Kotsuniku, the Blood Relations jutsu.

With his eyes already being hidden and blinded by the mask, it did not change much aside from any kind of light being snuffed out. He soon began to see, one by one, red colored figures appearing in many different ways. Some sitting on air, other walking and some forming masses together but what he was more focused on was the one before him. As he said his name, everything seemed clear. He had heard of the Jiin and their bloodline which made him a person over interest right away.

As he went on, the figure would simply listen and tune into the rhythm of his heart beat and it seemed that he spoke the truth. The figure would nod his head lightly "Well met Michio." It was only normal that he would ask for his own name to which he would reply in kind. "I am afraid that my identity is a safeguard but you may call me Mr. Mask or simply, Mask. The Jiin are relatively new to the land hidden in the glacier if I recall. Have you found your place in its society?"

Spoiler:

Not only his training as a ninja in the village hidden in the glaciers, but even more so from his years as a servant for the Jiin clan elders, had taught him that the best way to convince somebody of something was to use sincerity and just push it in the direction that you want instead of telling a direct lie. In those days it was about convincing an elder woman that her clothes were flattering when their figures prevented anything from being flattering at all. Now it was about getting to know more about a man who he really did not think was in the ANBU, but seemed even more dangerous than one.

He just nodded along with the first answer as it could easily have been something said by an ANBU agent or by an extremely dangerous nukenin. Either way Michio had to respect that Mr. Mask was not going to reveal much right away, almost definitely not in this little meeting. Michio respected a tight lipped individual, because he was trained to have that same skill. Michio was excited as well as kind of frightened and even frustrated to a degree when Mr. Mask spoke about the Jiin clan. He was excited that his family was either respected by ANBU agents or foreign threats, because either meant they were finally starting to get the respect that a clan with a blood line ability as powerful as theirs deserves. He also found the sympathy misplaced as their clan quickly made came into nobility in the area. Though the eyes behind the mask would be able to see all of these mixed emotions, Michio was not aware of this and would not let any of those feelings surface into expressions.

"I respect that you need to keep your identity a secret for your own reasons," he said, really meaning what he said there, "and while the clan is relatively new to the land hidden in the glacier, as well as these familiar lands, but we found our niche quite quickly both among the aristocracy and the nobility. I thank you for asking, however!" the last part was more of a polite gesture than an honest sentiment. Remembering to always return to sincerity, he found something else to say that was true as well as safe to say to this individual. While I don't know your family history well enough to know how long it has been around, or how long you've been here yourself, nor do I feel I can ask about either, but I hope you have a nice niche carved out as well."

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The half masked individual let the chopsticks come to rest softly on the boxes edge. He would continue to listen intently to what it was that Michio was saying, keeping the jutsu active for the duration or until he found that it wouldn't need to be used any longer. He would keep the hand on the table and use the other hand to take hold of a small cut up piece of meat and ever so lightly place it into his mouth. He would chew and swallow as he was asked about his own clan.

This would cause him to give way to pause but he would speak "I do in fact hold clan and name. Though because of my current path, I am at ends with my family because my ideals concerning Hyougagakure's overall well being and its future. I can not blame them for my own choices."

Michio of the Jiin clan felt his heart beat speed up as he started to fear that he had acidentally over stepped his bounds, which could quite definitely very easily cause a lot of problems for him while he was doing this sort of thing. He put some more rice in his mouth for a reason not to talk while he rethought and calculated his next move. Something very spontaneous and sincere was going to have to happen soon to keep him from totally ruining the facade that he had gone through so much trouble as to even hide his precious shinobi head band in his right front pants pocket.

He tapped his lower lip with the tip of his right index finger as Hareegh started to wiggle out of his front left pants pocket. The cold blooded creature left his golf pencil and tiny note pad in the front left pants pocket that he crawled out of instead of taking it with him as he scaled up Michio's dress shirt, darting under his vest before he was high up enough to be in view of somebody sitting across from him. All one with normal vision would see was a little lump under the brown vest over Michio's torso. He crawled all the way to the top of the vest and poked his head out from behind it to get a good look at the masked individual was would be referred to as Mr. Mask by his own choice.

Michio was a little bit frightened by the idea of a ninja pet showing himself in front of the man, but he realized then that there was a reason that Hareegh had not brought up the writing utensil and the pad of little tiny sheets of paper. The intelligence of the black amphibian with the yellow spots would never cease to amaze him, and he would make sure to be rewarding the little fire salamander later for appearing as a normal pet and as a conversation piece. Hareegh crawled entirely out from under his vest and then down his left dress shirt sleeve, walking over his cuff, onto his wrist, and sliding onto the table from his hand. There the little creature crawled up into the bento box and grabbed one of the meat pieces with its long, pink, sticky tongue before crawling back out to do his very best to tear it up and eat it with his little hands that had no claws and his mouth with no teeth. The little monster had made him look less professional and taken some of his food without asking, but he was not going to get mad at him. He was probably acting like a normal animal to put on a good performance. Though, Michio did not doubt that the blasted creature was enjoying himself. Michio held on to that thought because it would make no sense for a pet owner to be proud of their pet for stealing food.

"I apologize for my pet, Mr. Mask," he said, with a shallow bow, because every apology should be viewed as a request, in the sense that the person who is asking should be humbling their self. "A fire salamander is one of those animals that is smart enough to always find food but not smart enough to be easily trained or controlled." He did not take the food away from Hareegh, as he really did want it to serve as an aware for how well he had done in showing himself in a non suspicious way in his little recon mission, but he slid the little animal into this front pocket again.

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The heartbeat in member of the Jiin clansmen began to escalate, the masked man becoming more focused on this. He would let his free hand come down to lightly take hold of the chopsticks once more but simply pushing around some of the contents of the box in front of him rather than eating. Before he would go off to say something, there would be another beat that he didn't noticed at first. He was so focused on Michio that he didn't even take into account that he might have some sort of pet.

Upon taking note of the lizard, the masked individual would tilt his head down ever so slightly so that it would look as though he was watching the lizard as it made its way onto the table. It seemed like quite the pet and might even look cute in the eyes of the owner. Speaking of which, Michio would apologize for the actions of the small creature. "It is quite alright. It seems like a fine companion and I am surprised that such a creature would be able to survive in such climates. I'm actually impressed more than anything."

Upon hearing of the difficulty of its nature and controlling it, the masked man would take a small bit of rice into the grasp of the chopsticks "All the more interesting that you choose to that on that responsibility. Does it have a name?" He would then put the food into his mouth and begin to chew whilst he awaited an answer.

Michio reached back his hand and scratched the back of his head, laughing a little bit nervously thinking back to his use of fire style jutsu to keep the cold blooded animal from dying when he was out in the cold air. Michio had used his Jiin clan specialty over fire to use himself as an inexpensive heat lamp for his pet without wasting an excessive amount of his chakra. The teeny tiny fire salamander and the young fire Jiin shinobi had a very nice symbioses going on. The other acted both as an espionage and as an almost endless supply of poisons in case, as Michio figured he eventually would, he were to be given an assassination mission. Instead of explaining that, Michio told Mr. Mask, "I suppose that he is a hearty little creature!"

"The little fella is named Hareegh. Michio would repeat the name once more, slowly, making sure to give proper emphasis on each syllable, not to insinuate that Mr. Mask was at all unintelligent, but to emphasize that it was a foreign word from the former home lands of the Jiin clan. "I did not choose him as much as he was left to me. Make no mistake that I love having him, but they are a traditional pet."

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Michio's heartbeat seemed to slow down from its once rapid pace at the subject change to the salamander. The masked individual would then stop the use of the jutsu as he felt at the current time, learning if the one across from his was lying had become irrelevant, at least for the time being. He would remove his hand from the table as the world began to return to its normal state for his own eyes though, with the mask positioned as it was so he could eat, it was blocking his own line of sight.

"Hareegh. That is an interesting name to say the least but no doubt unique for a favored companion." He made the statement as he would raise his hand up to take hold of the mask and slide it down as he had finished the large majority of his meal with the few exceptions of vegetables that seemed uncooked and was to be eaten raw. That of which would not be for the likes of the man.

Michio nodded politely, with the words of the masked man concerning his precious animal companion. As the meal in front of Mr. Mask was already almost entirely devoured, Michio was aware of the fact that the man he was trying to practice his spying skills on was about to get up and walk away. He was considering that he could maybe use that as an opportunity to track him after he left, but that also sounded like a dangerous game. This man was obviously a powerful warrior who would have little problem cutting down a genin. The level to which he was armed and the way he carried himself made that pretty clear. In hopes of keeping himself in one functioning piece of Michio Jiin, he decided to just hope that the man with the mask was going to sit and stay after his meal to relax. One could only hope as for now. "It is a tradtional name for a traditional pet," Michio said, pointing down at his front right pocket as he spoke concerning the little amphibian who lived there, "and it means spare of fire, because he is a little spitfire!"

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