<span style="font-weight: bold">"Yes, that is it. We are shinobi Kenta we know that one day we might die. We have to accept the fact that the day we die might come before we are ready. Be it on a mission or in battle defending our village,"</span>Like a broken record the words fell on deaf ears. He'd heard it over and over from every ninja. All preaching to him their superior philosophy. Kenta looked back at the scene, not caring that the two had already set off for the village. A friend sat, peacefully watching the dancing grass. He refused to pretend it didn't hurt. His hands clenched tightly into fists and he gritted his teeth.<br/><br/>"Fucking Cowards," he made his way back to the village alone.<br/><br/>Jumichiro stood outside the Hokage's office while Chaz gave the report. No amount of training could hide his pained expression. Kenta leaned against the wall next to him. He looked over at him and opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Kenta regarded him with a smile, holding a few stones and a cup out for him to use "Hey," he spoke softly to him. Jumichiro gave him a puzzled look as he placed the cup against the far wall. A hard wind up followed by an overhead toss sent the pebble behind his head to hit the back wall. The stone soared through the air and bounced into the cup "Beat that,eh?" Kenta smugly remarked with a grin. Jumichiro surprised him by sliding the cup with his foot and tossing the pebble as it moved. The two passed the time, at first quietly doing trick shots, but it didn't take long for the pair to get very into the game. Jumichiro was surprisingly competitive and also quite creative. Kenta let out an impressed laugh "Man, Jumichiro! I can't keep up! hehe,"<br/><br/>"Jumichi" he responded<br/><br/>"What?"<br/><br/>"You can call me Jumichi" he added.<br/><br/>"Jumichi, huh?" Kenta considered the nickname and gave him a shoulder pat "well Jumichi, you've got some serious skill, we should train sometime, that flurry you did was intense!" Jumichi's face slowly drained of joy and hardened into a blank melancholy. It was obvious that his thoughts were tearing him up inside. He and Akibara did become chunin at the same time. They must've been close.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry,"<br/><br/>That was the moment Chaz walked out of the Hokage's office, gently closing the door behind himself. The pair turned their attention to Chaz expectantly.<br/><br/>"What's goin' on? Are we good to go?" Kenta's asked without a great deal of interest. He just wanted this day to be over.