The Rat and the Bear [NK, I]

Thorfinn Ragunaroku walked down one of the many streets in the more urban area of Kirigakure. Bjørn was strapped on his back and Stål hung from his left side. He was heading to no destination in peculiar, his mother was on patrol due to the Bijuu attack and he came out here to witness the damage. While the attack was largely on the docks, derbies were flown and many districts were burned by the fire storm. As he walked down the road he can see many homeless huddle together in the alleyways and now orphan children wandering the streets crying for their children.

Thorfinn was greatly sadden by this and disappointed by this. At first he was awestruck at the Bijuu massive power that even miles away he can still hear the roars, shortwaves, and especially the killing intent. He felt like a puny insect and all he could do was help the villagers evacuate the area. There was injuries in the evacuation process as people trample over each other and there was small scale riots that he had to put a end too before they got out of hand. In the aftermath Thorfinn was shell shocked, for it was not everyday a person sees two bijuu and survive. Adjusting his wolf pelt he took another turn down the street

WC: 220

Rēnin couldn't stand the reality of the downtrodden it was too horrid to describe with words and supernatural disasters like Bijuu made things even worse. He had read everything he could get his hands on and none of it satisfied his search for answers. Why did the poor suffer? Why couldn't every person go to bed with a full stomach? Why must some live in castles while others slept in gutters? The thoughts were like splinters in his mind and they were beginning to drive him mad. Rēnin heard voices where no one was there, one in particular was louder than the rest. If no author presented a solution then he'd have to find his own. Rēnin walked down the streets of Kirigakure with his hands in his pockets and his signature cap on his head. He rubbed his swollen blood shot eyes and mumbled to himself as he walked around aimlessly. He was exhausted from helping those who need it most but he could not sleep knowing the hordes of homeless that suffered in the wake of the Two Tailed and Three Tailed attack.

Rēnin was so tired that he didn't even see the young man walking in front of him. The Uchiha bumped into Thorfinn and almost fell over from weariness but instead he took a step back and looked up. He saw a young man with white hair standing before him. A shinobi by the looks of it but of what rank the street rat was uncertain. He looked at Thorfinn's clothes and felt ashamed at his own rages. A genin of Kiri ought look like a member of the military and not someone who had just been dumpster diving. It couldn't be helped though as Rēnin spent all of his money on food and housing for him and his blind father. The Uchiha experienced a moment of covetousness before he snapped to his senses and realized he was out of order.

"My apologies" he said hastily with a sad smile. Rēnin placed a hand behind the back of his neck and scratched. The damn lice had come back.

His pondering was interrupted when something bumped into his shoulder. Startled he spun on his heel to see what he bumped into, cursing himself for not paying attention. He is suppose to be a Genin and a warrior, what's a warrior that does pay attention to it's surroundings? Thorfinn saw who he bumped into and was immediately disappointed in himself. Not only was the person a good foot taller than he is, but from the condition of his rags he assume that he bumped into a homeless person. Thorfinn father would have never approve his disrespectful and dishonorable act.

"Nay lad, this fault is mine to carry. My name is Ragunaroku Thorfinn, I hail from the Land of Iron and I recently graduated from the Kirigakure Shinobi Academy."

He held out his hand to shake hands with the lad he bumped into. Intent of easing any ill tension between them. While he was speaking he was getting a sense of familiarity from the child like he met him before somewhere. Thorfinn was getting the feeling that he could have seen him somewhere in the academy but he could not be sure. He can remember the faces he sparred with in the ring but not this one.

The genin was nice at least. Thorfinn apologized for the bump and introduced himself. Rēnin normally had to fight people who so much as caught him looking at them sideways. It was a pleasant surprise after years of being a street rat. Rēnin smiled and shook Thorfinn's hand returning the introduction:

"Uchiha Rēnin. I just graduated from the shinobi academy as well, I took some time off here and there due to some family issues"

By family issues the Uchiha meant that he and his father were homeless and living a hand to mouth existence. It was only recently they scrapped together enough to make it from lower class poverty to upper class poverty. Once the hand shake and general pleasantries were exchanged, Rēnin decided he was curious about what life was like in the Land of Iron. Maybe people were treated better in samurai country.

"Land of Iron eh? How is it over there?" Rēnin inquired.

A child of House Uchiha? Thorfinn have heard snippits of the great house but he gets a feeling that that Renin is not on good terms with them. The nordic warrior gave a smile as he was question about his homeland but at the same time was a bit stump on the question. How does one describe a land to a outsider who never seen it before? He could go on about their blots and caribou hunts. His face was a thoughtful one before he spoke back to the Uchiha.

"You want to know about the Land of Iron lad? It depends on who you ask. My mother claims it to be a very beautiful place full of mountain peaks and auroras, more so than Kumogakure. Father states that the earth is a very good teacher and the mountains forge those into a warrior. To me it's my home, We gather around the hearth in our mead hall and we sing stories in the comfort of one another."

Sounds like paradise Rēnin thought to himself as Thorfinn explained what the Land of Iron was like. Kirigakure was misty, the climate tolerable but the overall geography quite drab and depressing. The structural inequality was bad but it didn't help if you lived in a society that didn't value revelry as much as it did savagery and coldness. The genin nodded thoughtfully as he wondered what it would be like to visit. He couldn't leave father behind but perhaps he could arrange for some time off at some point in the distant future. If he saved up enough cash once he made Chuunin it should be possible, after all there was some upward mobility in the shinobi world. At that point Rēnin began to wonder why Thorfinn would come here. The kid sounded like a foreigner and no doubt leaving one's home to be a foreigner in another country was not ideal.

"Sounds like an incredible place. Why did you leave if you don't mind me asking"

Rēnin put his hands in his worn pockets eager to hear the story. He loved learning about other places and seeing if there was something that could be learned from the experiences of others. The weight of the world felt heavy on his shoulders if he was to make a better life for his family and those who would come after them then he'd need knowledge that couldn't be gleamed from mere books.

"Leave? Well in a sense I did left, but I debarked my home to be with my mother here in Kirigakure. Before I was born my mother fell in love with my father. But as a shinobi she was honor-bound to Kirigakure so I would only see her every so often as I was growing up under my father care. As I became six I wanted to become a shinobi like my mother so I can be closer to her and get to know her better."

Thorfinn spoke in a wistful and reminiscent tone. Thorfinn remembered the the first days he lived in their apartment. All he could smell was sea food and the sea. The humidity was strange to him first as he was use to dry snow and the warm fires of the mead hall. But at least he forged a closer bond with his mother. They would feast together everyday and he learned more about his mother life as a ninja of Kirigakure.

Rēnin was pleased to hear that Thorfinn's parents were capable of bringing him to Kirigakure so he could follow his dreams. It was nice to pursue that which made you happy. Reading and social justice happened to be Rēnin's calling in life and he felt that being a shinobi was the only vocation that would give him the financial means to do so. He was looking for someone to partner up with for missions and to help him with some projects he was working on.

"Well, its great having you here. We could use all the help we could get after the attack....I don't know if that was ever a concern in the Land of the Iron" Rēnin mumbled the last part but continued in an even voice "I hate seeing this place become a glorified refugee camp. I know what its like to lose everything and I'm trying to prevent it from happening to these people" He gestured those living in the streets and alleyways, burnouts who had lost family and livelihood in the attacks. They had nothing else to live for except a bottle of sake.

Rēnin nervously looked around and took his hat off his head. He reached in and grabbed a small pamphlet. He gave it to Thorfinn and put his odd cap back on his head.

"I'm holding a meeting. Just a kind of forum for genin to talk about he crisis or whatever, help organize the people so we can better serve them. There'll be food or whatever..." Rēnin was a bit ashamed of the crude paper with the time and the place. It was the seeds of his labor and it wasn't much to show but in time he hoped to get the village concerned about the safety and security of the poor that lived within and without its borders.

Thorfinn happily accepted the pamplet, not caring its a scrap of paper since people write runes on stones in the land of iron so it does not matter what material people use to write with. He open the pamphlet to read it's contents while listening to the Uchiha. Thorfinn nodded in agreement as Rein makes his points, he had seen the lifestyle in the village and he is not impressed. Yes the Land of Iron is harsh and unforgiving but every child, women, and elder were the first ones to be fed when the hunters bring in their meat. "Well we do have dragon attacks now and then but those are usually fun times." Thorfinn mumbled as he read the pamphlet. He was interested in the meeting because he does want to help people. It was something that the mountains taught him, that companionship is a person lifeblood. Closing the pamphlet he tuck it under his chest plate and looked back up at Renin. "I'll be honored to attend this meeting Renin, I could help provide venison. I used to hunt Caribou back in the Land of Iron to provide meat for the mead hall, so I could probably catch a buck or two in a nearby woodlands."

Rēnin was glad to have his first official attendee to the meeting. It emboldened him to start asking others to join the meeting. It would be great to have the Kirigakure youth sit down and discuss real proposals to change the world they lived in. After all, there wasn't much use to activism if you had to do it by yourself. Solidarity was a key concept he was working with, people needed to connect and organize together to work towards a better future. Even better the Land of Iron native offered to bring some venison which would lessen his burden in terms of supplying the food. He quickly accepted the offer:

"Thanks! It will be great. There will be some workers and people from around the community too. I'm trying to get shinobi and civilians to work together closely. Venison would be great too, bring loads!" Rēnin chuckled nervously and wondered if he might find a squad mate in this young man. He didn't want to ask just yet though I mean he had already gotten Thorfinn to commit to a meeting with people who had never met before.

Thorfinn gave a nod in approval as he look around them. As Kirigakure is an port village the destruction the the docks will have a major impact on the economy and trade. As fishing is a major industry for the village. So he liked the prospect of the community working together to get through the future depression. Back in the land of iron people had to work together in harsh winters when food are scarce. Sometimes they would have to track herds miles in the snow and over mountains. He focus his attention back on Renin and his rags. Sympathetic he spoke to the Uchiha in a cheerful manner. "So lad since we are both Genin do you want to train together sometime later?" Thorfinn was in need of a training partner as his mother is away on missions and he is not in the academy anymore so he does not have anymore sparring partners.

Rejoice! Thorfinn asked to train rather than Rēnin having to go through the arduous process of asking for a training companion. Rēnin nodded his head vigorously and spoke up again with much more vigor than he had for the earlier portion of their conversation "Yeah absolutely and if you aren't busy we could team up for some missions too!" He hadn't had a normal friend in awhile. All his other friends were either dead, in jail, or still roaming the streets aimlessly. He couldn't blame them as poverty was a tough thing to escape and the only reason he was accepted back into the Academy was because of his last name. Thorfinn seemed to be carrying weapons on his person meaning that he wouldn't pussy foot around but Rēnin wouldn't have it any other way.

Thorfinn smiled at the Uchiha enthusiasm, it is a good trait to have In a warrior. He obviously does not show the same broken spirit that he sees in many people in the same condition as he for he can see the embers in the depths of the Uchiha eyes. "I am in need of an shield-brother so I would most appreciate the extra blade at my side. Where would you like our meeting place to be?" Thorfinn spoke in a slightly happy tone as he was eager to have someone at his back during missions. The only jounin in Kiri already has a full team and his mother certainly can't take him on missions so Thorfinn would need to find a team on his own.

Rēnin smiled but was confused. He didn't use a sword and shield. Genjutsu was his specialty and while he wanted a blade he was too poor to afford one but he didn't want to let Thorfinn down so he said nothing and instead answered the question "Ground Zero". He didn't want to get all serious like but it would be a good place to meet because he'd be spending a lot of time there gathering people for the organization he was planning to make. It would be better if he could simply be in the area when they came together to perform their mission.

"Ah so that's our gathering of choice, I have no problem with it." Thorfinn spoke in understanding for the ground zero would be the docks where the Bijuu invaded. It was a good place since with a lot of carnage there is a lot of lumber that they can use as building supplies or training equipment. He had built structures before out of wood back home so he knows how to build effectually. Not to mention the left over chakra residue could help their process in training a little bit.

"Alright then! It's a date!" Rēnin blurted out without thinking. "I mean like a date where we do the missions not..." The Uchiha stared and rubbed his eyes and decided that it was best if he blamed it on being tired. "I'm sorry I'm just tired but yeah next week at around noon" Rēnin would shake Thorfinn's hand again if so allowed and would take his leave. The next time they met up they would complete a mission together.

"Tis okay lad, next week would be fine. It will give both of us time to prepare" The Norsemen chuckled at the Uchiha antics. He gave the Uchiha a firm handshake and said his farewells. With a smile he continued down the street to his apartment that he lives with his mother. Thorfinn was happy to share his retelling of the event of meeting a new acquaintance. She would probably be happy that he is making companions around the village. Ever since he came from the land of iron all he really did was spar students and really never form bonds with any of them. It's not like he is shy by any means, he was just spending most of his time with his mother. She was hardly in the first years of his life so it would not be fair if he was out all of the time. As he walked he thought about the Uchiha and wondered what the Fates have in stored for them, Odin must obviously have had an hand in their meeting as they would have never have met if they had never bumped into each other.

WC: 1511 words total