Up on the cliffside

[smallstepstopower]

Rolling out of his bedding hadn't brought him to an unanticipated level of comfort. He'd been on his way back to the village and had been in camp with his teammates after all. No, the jarring part was the mad scramble needed to avoid taking a headlong dive over a cliff that hadn't been there when he'd gone to sleep, and it was more than enough to immediately put him on the defensive, back straight as he slowly scanned his surroundings.

No teammates, no -forest-. Where the hell was he?

Comments

[smallstepstopower]

"It's not that hard. Even Jiraiya learned to be diplomatic." He promptly shot -that- down. "And all he had to do was learn when to bite his tongue."

[orange_dattebayo]

"Bite my tongue down? Like this?" and he goes and bites his tongue. Pretty hard at it actually.

[smallstepstopower]

He reached out and grabbed his jaw, pressing with his fingertips to make him release his tongue. "If you need to physically do it you'll just bleed all over the place and that definitely won't help. It means to keep yourself from talking."

[orange_dattebayo]

He swats away his fingers:"I know what that meant!" he huffed, pouting. He did that on purpose.

[smallstepstopower]

"It's hard to tell and kami knows my experience with your mother paints her as painfully literal minded at times. How am I to know when you make a jest of it mm?"

[orange_dattebayo]

He pauses and looks at him for a second and then glances away:"So um... what else did my mom do? Except from being so openly and loudly honest?"

[smallstepstopower]

"More like save for being a bit dense about what sayings meant." He sighed softly and shook his head. "She has a temper. Please keep in mind she's younger than you."

[orange_dattebayo]

There's a secret smile on his face now. "She was huh? I wish I could have met her," he mumbled quietly.

[smallstepstopower]

He went quiet at that, staring at him for a long moment before turning back to his food. "Yes, well, perhaps in time."

[orange_dattebayo]

He glanced at him slightly confused, but smiles and looks away. He's already done with both bowls of his food so he waited for the other to finish.

[smallstepstopower]

Orochimaru was a neat eater, but something about the topic had visibly distracted him, and that made him pick at his food far more than he'd been doing before. Still, in spite of that, he finished in decent time and turned to go through his pockets to get enough money out.

[orange_dattebayo]

It was kind of weird that Orochimaru kept quiet after his question. He wondered what was that all about.

"Done?" he asked placing his own money on the table. He needed to save money even if he still wanted more ramen.

[smallstepstopower]

He nodded and quirked his lips. "Come, let's set about looking into lodging. Perhaps there are some abandoned houses instead of simply inexpensive apartments."

[orange_dattebayo]

He stood up, leaving the shop:"You think we are lucky to find something like that, 'tebbayo?"

[smallstepstopower]

"This place seems the sort that looks like it's between population booms, so it -is- possible."

[orange_dattebayo]

"Oh." He tried to follow him in step, but ends up running half of the time.

[smallstepstopower]

He noticed, but if the blond wasn't going to say anything, he wasn't going to slow down. "The best options for that are to check the edge of town first. Abandoned does not mean in disrepair either. Take note of overgrown yards and such and we can inquire about them to the locals."

[orange_dattebayo]

The main reason he falls behind is because he gets distracted by local people or shops and stores. He nodded:"Got it. Should we separate? Maybe it will be faster?"

[smallstepstopower]

"Do you even know what to look for?" He gave him an arch look.

[orange_dattebayo]

He scratched his cheek:"I think I do..." He wasn't sure, but he would try. "I will use my bunshins to help me out!"

[smallstepstopower]

He sighed and shook his head. "Very well, come find me if you need help, mm?"

[orange_dattebayo]

Makes a bunshin:"He will follow you. He will disappear if I need your location," he grinned before dashing down the street, making bunshins along the way and sending them every which way.

[smallstepstopower]

He stared after the teen for a moment before facing the bunshin. "Can you talk?"

[orange_dattebayo]

Bunshin bristled up:"Of course I can talk!"

[smallstepstopower]

"Kage Bunshin then as I didn't see him do any elemental signs. How many of you can he make?"