The Peculiarity of Weather and Foliage

The iridescent colours of sea and sky melted together into a painting that would forever remain on the back of her eye lids. The deeper shades of green, gold and rich brown that the forest represented would always blossom in her heart at the mere scent of bark and pine. The blue and grey mountains, paying silent homage to the rain filled sky as it spilled its woes reflected on her very soul. The rainbow colours of a grassy field filled with summer flowers pained her most, for her very being cried out to see that beautiful image just once more before the end of her time.

Time was a curse; one could hear it ticking by second by second with each foot print laid down into the earth, with each maturing cry of a child or death wail of a forest creature. She could steal these sounds, keep them for herself, but their owners continued forward always. Fools dancing too close to the cliffs edge to enjoy the view until they slip, fall, into sudden and violent change marked only as future. Some found gold at the bottom, most found death.

Kiyo stared with violet eyes unseeing at the brilliant array of fall colours that shifted and danced above her head. The canopies of leaves were a brilliant display of fall beauty. They whispered sweet songs of the failing beauty of summer and the reign of cold winter. Sweet songs, lovely songs; how they mocked her.

“I believe I may have missed, in the admiration of the multi toned array of colour, the complexity of the leaves themselves. Each individual leaf in itself is a contribution to the whole shape that builds up a tree. When there is color it is simple to make a tree one great shape with smears of colour within it but take it away and each leaf becomes intricate and important in order for us to differentiate one gray blob from another.”

The gentle wind picked up a moment, plucking the most weakened leaves from the trees to be scattered among the many others to have fallen before them. Like a willow tree in the wind, she bent gracefully. Her slender fingers caught up one of the fallen leaves, a golden, lovely little thing; which she cradled gently in her palm.

“I wonder where you used to belong, which tree you used to cling to and nourish. Were the others around you as lovely as you or was your tree dying slowly from the inside; able only to produce one of such perfection. Did you sit at the very top, able to feel the sun’s burn and the rains sting or did you have a gentler existence protected by the others. I wish I could put you back. Now all you’ll be is nutrients for the future. How unfair. ”

Another bend and she placed the leaf back on the ground to rest amongst its fellow fallen. The foliage around her bare feet had turned ice cold with the last rain and the soil beneath was no better. Not that the ground here often became warm; the trees tended to steal all the sun so that only beams of glow were capable of breaking through but it was particularly chilly at this time The layer of dirt that coated her toes kept them guarded against the temperatures but soon she would need to constrict her feet against the snow.

The thought of needing to cover her feet at all sent shivers down the auburn haired girl’s spine. Grounding one’s self with the energies of the world was a need like breathing to her. Winter was being cut off from her child over the taste of a few seeds. Winter left her starved and needing. Winter blanketed sound, stole whispers with howling wind and denied the world its color. Yes, the loose, warm binds that constricted that protected her from frost bite and chills would feel no better then walking on glass shards to her but then she’d learned her lesson before.

“Is fall a homage to winter or a goodbye to summer? It tends to be so plentiful but is that a way of apologizing for its inability to fight away the chilly air and snow that attacks each year? Winter is so much death, I hope for an early birth of spring.”

Awareness of the leaves melted away as she moved shuffled through the leaves to sit sullenly on a fallen tree. There Kiyo seemed very much a creature of the forest. Her pretty, aristocratic face held smudges of dirt she wouldn’t have ever allowed to exist in her a past life. Her hands, finely boned and graceful picked at the tattered sweater she’d acquired at some time previously in her travels and had been made for a woman larger that she. The dress was no better; it was faded in color with need of repair and the pants under that sported a good sized tear up the leg. Despite the grime her eyes shone through, the most exquisite feature placed in the most proper way to make her face seem most beautiful. The violet remained dull, sad, and made those who gazed too long wish only to have had the chance to seem them in glory with the spark of sight. Oddly she carried no belongings beyond that which filled her pockets, making it seem all the more likely that she might only be out on a stroll had her appearance not be so untidy.

Kiyo could hear the bugs within her seat knawing, knawing, knawing at the wood inside. Each rustle of leaves made the world becomes clearer to her greater sense and yet there still existed blanks in her ‘sight’ but what did that matter to her? She was in a forest, who came into the forest?

Suzuka:

The soft crunch of the crisp autumn leaves echoed through the forest softly as a figure moved through the blanket of the fallen ones, along with the sounds made by the person was the sound of the wind weaving through the trees which sent the grounded foliage rolling as if to escape the icy chill the breeze would leave in its wake. Anyone catching a glimpse of this figure slowly strolling through the forest would probably run away half afraid that it was some kind of murderer or pervert, that could not be farther from the truth but people often let their minds work overtime when they are unsure of who or what something is, Suzuka is of course one of those people though that wasn’t entirely her fault, for years now she has had medical problems that concerned her brain. Just a few months ago she was almost incapable of having a social life through her sheer paranoia and shyness, never a good combination let me tell you, lately though all this had changed, she wasn’t sure what had prompted her brain to allow her this relief but she didn’t really want to question it to much in case prying into it made her revert.
Regardless, the slender Kunoichi pottered through the forest with no real goal in mind, her overly large hooded jacket covered the whole of her upper body along with the hood over her head to hide her identity from no one in particular, her breath left no mist as she exhaled, almost as if she were a lone ghost trying to find its way to the afterlife. The kunoichi suddenly came to a stop, her snow white hand reaching out from its hidden state beneath the large sleeves of the jacket, she reached out and placed her hand on one of the trees, there appeared to be nothing special about the tree but she proceeded to run her icy fingers over the rough bark as if to comfort it.

”This tree is not only a tree, it is where everything started. It is the tree of life.”

Her voice was but a whisper as she recited a line from a poem she had read recently, she had been reading a lot of poetry as of late, especially ones corresponding with the current village climate, she was hoping to find some inspiration whilst walking through the forest so she could write some of her own, alas it seemed more difficult than she had imagined. She continued to stroll through the golden layer of fallen leaves, being as silent as the rustling would allow, she ventured deeper into the trees until something caught her eye, was it a person? She couldn’t quite tell at first and proceeded forward with until her eyes could make it out, there was a dark haired female sat on a fallen tree, she looked a little messy and seemed to even be missing a couple of shoes, curiosity got the best of her and she decided to go over and say something. She looked down to the stranger from her standing position with her hood still over her head, Suzuka at this point was only a few feet in front of her so she would have certainly been noticed.

”Hey there… are you okay? You look… troubled…”

Her voice was soft as ever, her speech, stuttering as usual with the meeting of a new person, but the female seemed to be a little bit of a mess, maybe even homeless so Suzu wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Samuru:

This particular day was average but in Kumo all days seemed to be average. The common consensus of the universe was that a good day would be a beautiful sunny day when the sun seemed to illuminate all surroundings and bless every individual with its delicate light while a bad one would involve some sort of clouded darkness as a storm approached that seemed to foreshadow some type of disturbance or negative presence in the atmosphere. However, today seemed average. Not too many clouds… well not too many clouds for a village located in the lightning country. And though it was raining it seemed to be light, nurturing rain that Raiden used to nurture the environment that he had created while aiding his people in providing proper nourishment for themselves… It was average. Too average. Average to the point where it became ominous in the eyes of the Kannagi clansmen. Maybe he was paranoid but his feelings were usually correct as he was more in tune with nature than any of his fellow peers.

They say eyes can deceive… Samuru barely used his so deceiving him was quite difficult.

”This place. I cared so much about it but now it seems like it has forgotten about me. It seems that the place that I loved… That I grew to respect has turned a blind eye to my feelings and my suggestions to battle these troubling times. Negligence… Negligence is what it is. And why should I remain loyal to something… No… To people that would negligently run this village to the ground simply because of their own overdeveloped egos or personas. Am I to perish along with this place?” he thought to himself as he arose from his slumber in the forest near the shrine of Raiden and began to walk randomly in a nonspecific direction.

The man seemed trouble but no one could tell unless they were a good judge of body language. Why? Samuru wasn’t talking. He also was decked out from head to toe in ANBU gear which covered the majority of his body which made it hard to tell where his joints and muscles were. His ANBU mask was also black and had no eye holes or any sort of design on it. From an external point of view he was a complete stoic and had no emotions or even thoughts of his own but internally his mind was running rampant about what he should do next. His unwavering loyalty was… well… “wavering.”

The relatively average sized man happened to overhear two women talking as he randomly walked through the forest and decided to listen in. People usually didn’t visit this forest which is why Samuru camped out here as he had no real home of his own so two women talking in the middle of it was relatively strange… At least to him it was. Gracefully walking up to the women he cleared his throat as if he were interrupting some deep rooted conversation.

”What brings you out here?” the ANBU questioned as he put his hand on his chin and faced the woman sitting down. ANBUs and their questions right? Too bad they’d have to put up with his for now

Kiyo:

Time moved meaninglessly when one had no concept of day and night. The air held a chill that deepened and wavered but never gave insight to the state of the sky. If she listened hard and concentrated on remembering the birds she could tell by the hoot of an owl or a robin's song if the day had grown late. Morning bird's were her favorite but time had passed too deeply into day.

Besides, the birds would all have fled by now to seek warmer days; why had she not followed them?. In the past she'd avoided this place, not just the forest but the very land she walked upon and the soul beneath it. Borders could waver with war and yet she could mark the vary step she had taken and the indescribably feeling of 'home' that came with it.

'They don't want you here, they are not yours anymore Kiyo. A fools game to play sight seeing and now here you are unable to pull your feet from the land. This feeling of being needed, you're disillusioning yourself. '

Her brow creased as her thoughts continued to attack one another. Oh but there was not distracting in the forest, nothing but her own mind to speak to. For a single moment she wished for the soft words of her disciple or the cruel words of her hunter.

'Stop being a fool, they are gone like memory of you.'

Kiyo was aware of her visitor before a normal human might see them through the trees. The tell tale crunch of heavy human steps, muffled to those with normal ears but clear as a chime in hers, spoke of a lighter weight and a casual pace. She tried to smooth away her troubles from her face in preparation while wondering why she didn't just hide away instead. Weeks ago she would have hid, weeks ago she hadn't existed.

"Trouble is as we perceive it. I'm fine darling. Odd for you to be out this way," She didn't speak of wanting to be alone, of having wanted to be alone but had she then it would have been a lie, "I was just admiring the leaves, don't you find them a little sad?" Yet the blankness in her eyes were obvious even as she turned then up towards the canopy of leaves.

The seconds more graceful steps caught her by more surprise and yet she was still aware of him when she needed to be. A proper tilt of her head and what she thought was the right direction to turn her eyes and Kiyo was able to seem to see him. Anbu her other sight told her as bits of sound refracted about. She felt a muscle tense in the back of her neck as the old command to be left alone nearly came from her lips. These weren't hers anymore either.

"We were just about to start a philosophical discussion about the fall leaves. My opening argument was to be their abandonment by the trees the once nurtured. Sine it seems the land had turned me some company you might as well both join me." Casually, as if she were meeting old friends, Kiyo patted either side of the tree. They could sit, stand or walk away for all she cared but manners dictated when one sat to at least offer a seat. It might have seemed assuming to them but truly the world brought minds together for a reason."If leaves are not your taste certainly feel free to move the conversation on."

Suzuka:

Suzuka watched the girl, focusing on her vivid violet eyes the most, she did notice the dirt on the females face but, she couldn’t just blurt something rude out about hygiene or something, it would probably be more sensible to fin out a little bit about her before assuming the worst. The woman’s answer to her question was a polite one so it didn’t seem she had interrupted anything which is always good, It was quite strange for the blonde kunoichi to be so far out in the forest, but she had her reasons, perhaps talking about it with this woman would work out quite pleasurably, especially after hearing her beautifully worded comment about the leaves of the autumn trees.

”Yes, I wouldn’t normally venture this far, but when searching for inspiration you must be willing to look for it anywhere. I to had been admiring the effects of the season on the forest, but this sadness you speak of, I cannot see it myself, I find it almost romantic that the leaves would sacrifice themselves to protect that which breathed life into them”

She was of course referring to the fact that the leaves would now provide nutrients to their previous homes so that a new generation of leaves might grow again in the spring. It seemed that it would not just be the two of them enjoying a conversation in the forest, Suzuka heard a voice coming from a different direction to the girl, not only that but it was a male voice, she looked around and spotted the owner of the voice, a male decked out in full ANBU attire, immediately she began to panic a little, had he come for her? A mission maybe? Or did she do something wrong that she was going to get punished for? Once again her paranoid mind began throwing all kinds of things at her, making her quite nervous, how troublesome. She pulled down her hood hastily revealing her pale skinned face and pale emerald green eyes to the pair, her golden hair flowed in the wind softly, she immediately bowed to the ANBU as the dark haired girl finished speaking to him.

”It is as she says ANBU-sama… Though it is surprising to find even one person in this place, let alone two…”

Whilst talking Suzuka obliged the woman’s invite and sat down next to her, her right side to be exact, the fallen tree was far more comfortable than it looked. Suzuka would wait until the ANBU sat down or if he didn’t he would probably say something, after that is when she would properly introduce herself thusly.

”By the way, my name is Kitetsu Suzuka, it’s pleasure to meet you both”

She gave then a small smile, something she wasn’t very used to doing with other people. She placed her hidden hands onto her knees and gazed around silently, soaking in the sights and sounds that surrounded her.


Samuru:

”Eh? Fall leaves? Is she lying to me? What type of topic for a conversation is that?” Samuru thought to himself as he remained where he was to further gauge the situation. Lately, the young Kannagi clansman was always on edge. He didn’t trust anyone and he didn’t want to. He felt that the very fundamental values that he held on to were beginning to slip away and there was nothing that he could do to grab hold of them. Though the topic was weird and he didn’t want to compare himself to a tree, in many ways he was the tree of the story while everything he held scared were leaves.

Time was beginning to move forward…

The season was beginning to change…

The tree was beginning to lose its leaves…

And when it loses all of them…

It withers away… It dies.

”Is this my fate?” he wondered as he stood there motionless… frozen in time. The woman’s question and topic wasn’t even posed toward him but the moment he overheard, his mind automatically molded it into a makeshift model of where his life was headed. Though Samuru was very mature for his age handling being left behind was hard to take and who knows what would happen should the village leave him behind. The very thought was beginning to consume him and gradually he was beginning to act out more and more. Whether that meant being overly strict or overzealous about his ANBU duties, Samuru’s very subconscious was changing. For the first time in a long time he was questioning the very fundamental values that he was brought up on.

His mind could’ve wondered on and on but suddenly a rather frantic voice broke his concentration. As he looked up he saw the other girl remove her hood and introduce herself. ”Kitetsu Suzuka? She doesn’t quite look like an ANBU but I can tell she’s been trained by someone in the corps. A new recruit?” he thought to himself as he began to walk over toward the tree.

Honestly, he didn’t want to accept the woman’s invitation. He didn’t want to introduce himself to either of these women or be cordial to them. But… Something told him he should. Maybe it was the nature he was so in tune with. Or maybe there was something in the air on this average day. Or maybe it was because he had something to say about it all. Whatever it was… he began to uncharacteristically act as he removed his hood and black ANBU mask revealing his rather young face and slightly tanned skin.

”My name is Kannagi Samuru.” he replied as he took his place to the unknown woman’s left. Disgusted with himself he dropped his mask on the ground and leaned his back up against the tree as he shut his eyes and said his opinion. ”Maybe the tree isn’t being abandoned by these leaves. Maybe he's throwing them away.”

His comment was probably a very uncommon thought but if Samuru thought of himself as the tree then maybe it spoke volumes about his current mind state… his perception of his relationship with Kumo.

Kiyo:

Kiyo smiled and turned her head up then back down towards them. By now it would be obvious her eyes did not focus on them or anything else in particular it was difficult not to try to still use her eyes in day to day life still. So many expressions were dictated by a level gaze or the turn of an eye. A blush needed a pretty gaze at ones hands; happiness needed a fond gaze at ones friend.

Pretend to see or feel the strong, unwanted sympathy. Among ninja the pity was not so rank but still it brushed against her nerves. The very way they dealt with their own, in sad acceptance that they must have lost such a great part of their lives for the betterment of the whole was wrong. Apathy disguised as love with a figurehead that did not feel under the guise of a god.

"I don't find it very sweet or romantic. The leaf spends its days working hard for the tree; giving it the light that is impossible for it to take in itself, only to be shed away when things turn cold. Do parents expect their children to one day sacrifice themselves?"

The wood creaked beneath her as Kiyo pulled her bare feet from the earth and pressed them against the dying tree. The wood wasn't near as chilled as the earth and like this she was able to wrap her thin hands around her toes and rest her body against her legs. She pursed her lips, momentarily in deep thought. She'd not thought of a tree as a person; only as a large whole but in a forest wouldn't that make more sense?

"But now our Anbu friend has given me something new to think on. Throwing away is a possibility; I suppose one can't grow new leaves while the old ones cling on. Perhaps spring's leaves will be even finer and the tree has gotten all it could," she paused, freeing one hand to push back a long auburn strand then replacing it again to the heating of her feet, “I am mulch, Suzuka is a romantic and caring leaf and Samaru a tree sadly watching or throwing his leaves fall away."

She used their first names casually, a fond smile playing over her lips as if they had become in only a few words old friends but then... hadn’t they always been. As quickly as the though came she batted it back away to the corner of her mind. Past was past, perhaps the next leaf to shed was those feelings. Her eyes turned from the place that the anbu had chosen to stand to the girl beside her then fell to her knees in a shy expression.

“No matter the sadness of autumn there will be new leaves in spring. The birds return, the world comes alive but it is difficult to remember this some days. People are very much like seasons too but not just one turning of them. There are many springs, many autumns with their goodness dictated by the weather,” she paused a long moment, calculating the likelihood of them recognizing her name then decided to make the gamble in face of such freely given information, “My name is Kagetsu Kiyo.”

Suzuka:

Suzuka leaned back a little and looked up at the sky through a gap in the canopy, she couldn’t help but smile at the girls response to her comparing the autumn fall to romance, Suzuka was just about the last person you would expect to find talking about love, especially out loud with a group of strangers. She continued to listen on to the woman’s opinions and views, she seemed to be a very intelligent person, if a little cold, Suzuka assumed something must have happened in the past to cause her to be like that but since they had only just met she wasn’t about to pry into her personal life. Soon after the woman it was the ANBUs turn to give his views and opinions and it was indeed something to think about, what if the tree truly was just abandoning those leaves that served it so faithfully? Why would it so readily toss away the ones that adore it so much? The blonde kunoichi leaned forward and reach down to the ground with one of her hands revealing her slender, pale fingers once again, she picked up a single random leaf by its stem and brought it to her eyes, she gazed upon it curiously and after a moment let it fall from her finger tips and watched as it drifted to the floor, spinning along the way.

”…These leaves do not seem sad or lonely to me, perhaps they fall for the greater good. During the winter they can not survive and begin to die, maybe they realise the inevitability of that situation and instead of clinging on to their mother tree, they fall to the floor and give themselves back to her as energy through its root, perhaps even the leaves that grow back in spring are the same ones reborn… this nature s not as cruel as mans nature, they aren’t forced into doing something, they just do it for the preservation of life…”

Once she had finished talking she slumped forwards and rested her elbows on her knees, she removed her glasses and placed them inside her jacket and then just held the sides of her face as she shook it from side to side as if she disapproved of something, if man is such an advanced species then nature must be even more advanced then that, they seem to be at peace whilst humanity is constantly warring, that was not the life she wanted to live, war does not breed peace it simply brings more war, eventually mother nature will take back her land after all of humanity dies, and it will be a far better place because of it, she let out an audible sigh that the others couldn’t miss. They probably thought she was ignoring them but honestly she had been listening to every word they said, perhaps the three of them had a lot more in common than they imagined. Suzuka remains silent for now, pondering the causality of her own past and how she came to be what she is now.

Samuru:

”Sweet? Romantic? It isn’t. It’s harsh and almost downright disgusting just like this world is. Shades of beauty but a lifetime full of scum.” Samuru quickly replied to the woman as he opened up one eye and looked toward the woman. What he said was what he felt. He didn’t see the world as a beautiful place. In fact, he felt it was far from it. To him the slight number of things that can be described as beautiful was nothing more than a waste in the current world. Why? Because all things considered beautiful was nothing more than an excuse to cause destruction over it. It was true in every sense and stage of life… He spoke from experience.

”These women are all roses and daisies. Do they not know the state of the place they live? This dark world that many die just to escape from. This world where people fight to protect simple ideologies, egos, and worthless possessions instead of people and nature. This world is pure and utter darkness. The shades of light that you do see are created just to shade the truth.” he convinced himself as his hands began to shake by his sides and his foot began to tap impatiently.

Suddenly the wind blew and everything around him illuminated itself before him in a greenish hue as his ears picked up the sound of their surroundings. His ears picked up a rather large leaf whizzing past his face before Samuru swiftly reached up grabbed it. His eyes suddenly opened as sound became visible around his closed fist and before you knew it his hand was already opening up to reveal the debris of what used to be a leaf…

”I’m not sad Kiyo. Not all. Far from it. My ears have just given me the ability to see the truth. My body has shut off my ability to see with my eyes to cope with the mass amount of illusions that it had received. Everyone in this world. No. Everything in this world is a lie. And theres only slight moments of truth that can be seen with the naked eye. However, my abilities allow me to see the truth vividly… So vividly that it’s toxic to me.” Samuru said in a rather malevolent voice as he dropped the debris of the leaf to the ground.

Surely he hadn’t proved his point yet but in time he would. They needed a demonstration. They needed to physically see this vicious world for what it was and since they seemed to enjoy using leaves and trees as metaphors then he would do the same.

”Take this leaf for example.” he said using the same tone as before as he reached up and grabbed a leaf. ”This leaf is slightly green but mostly brown. Why? Why would the tree discard this leaf? Simple. Because it’s toxic like cancer. The seasons are nothing more than the vicious cycle that trees go through before they discover the truth before death.” Pausing he dropped the leaf and walked away from the tree before turning to the girls and making himself completely visible.

”Us as humans naturally cling to new and exciting things that distract us from the truth. In the spring, the lies are new so we allow it to distract us because it’s satisfying. In the summer, we become addicted to the point where we can’t function without them. In Autumn, things get interesting. Some of these leaves fall of on their own but the others cling on and your life away. Soon you become aware of the deceit and start tossing some of them away but it’s too late. Winter comes and by the time all of the leaves are gone so is your life… Depressing isn’t it. But that’s one person’s opinion.”

Kiyo:

Kiyo's stomach twisted as she perceived their lack of recognition of her name. Wasn't that just the way of things? Forgotten already, forgotten like last fall's leaves on the ground. It was easy to be poetic about the current leaves in all their glory as they fell around their ears but they only covered years of rot. She was rot wasn't she? Not yet a nutrient for the tree but not a leaf either. All she was good for was muffling foot steps.

Kiyo smiled indulgently at Suzuka, unable to argue against the purer feelings of the youthful. Sacrifice was a glorious thing to the young, a sad tail but a memory that would live on forever. Die for the future of the next leaves that will fall for the next leaves and be remembered always as just one more leaf.

"Neh, Suzuka? That’s a wonderful thought but isn't it just perpetual death under the guise of the better good? The leaves must go but wouldn't one day it instead have been more fair for the tree to grow in a warmer place where it would not need to shed it's leaves until the leaf itself was ready? Why do the seasons get a say in anything, isn't there sunshine in winter too? Couldn’t the tree try harder to protect it's leaves? Pine trees are brilliant for that, they don't give us fall's beauty but they never shed away their needles."

Heat rose to her cheeks and Kiyo pressed her fingered to the offending place to hide away her embarrassment. Samuru had so completely mirrored her own thoughts with words and yet it wasn't a very kind thing to say. As he spoke she curled in on herself, almost as if in pain and the hands that had hidden guilt pressed against her ears now to block out the words.

"Green and brown don't exist, brown is just the colour the leaf turns when no one has a need to look at it anymore. It might as well look like dirt if its to be stepped on like it is. I think you're right on many grounds and yet that’s such a sad way to exist don't you think? there is the option of not being a tree at all but that road is far too dangerous.”

Kiyo combed her fingers through her tangles hair; the appendages getting caught at each knot until the length of their strands reached longer then her arms. It was a calming gesture, whatever malicious creature had turned these two reflected hearts towards her was cruel to have set her heart so on edge. She could see herself in both of them, past and present with the future still left unknown to her. Her brow creased with thought and for a long moment she studied Samuru and then Suzuka.

“The difference between us is levels of hope isn’t it? Suzuka has a bright future still open to the world, she’s not seen the ugly things and as it should be. Happiness should be drawn out as long as possible for youth. So she is still in spring and while she knows she’ll be a falling leaf one day it seems so very far off. Samuru is bitter, he’s falling apart in a rush towards the end and wants to change the path. You don’t want to be what you are anymore and trying to step out of that is tearing you apart. But you still hope to change this, that is why you’re angry. And I am mulch, a leaf admired years before and hardly worth calling a leaf anymore so shapeless I’ve become. “

Another wry smile, another tug through her hair and she let her feet fall back to the ground. The earth felt pleasant, a constant as the weather changed around it.  It wasn’t the earth that grew cold but the air that chilled it. It wasn’t the earth that dried but the sun that baked it.

“I think I’d rather be a stone, a shame it’s impossible.”


Samuru:

”Pine trees? I guess they never truly shed their leaves but who gets to decide which tree they are? Aren’t you born as a type of tree and are forced to live that way? Isn’t that the way of the Shinobi world?” he questioned in his head as the woman before him spoke. She seemed to be quite inquisitive and almost poetic as she dug down deep into their souls and pulled out their innermost feelings without even using a special technique or ability to help her… Or at least that’s what it seemed. Usually when a person used a jutsu they had to concentrate or move in a particular way but Samuru was watching intently for any type of suspicious movement. He couldn’t find any…

Was it just women’s intuition? Or was this woman simply more experienced in this world than the Samuru and Suzuka.

”Shapeless?” he said to himself aloud. Samuru wanted to talk about himself more than anything. He didn’t think he was bitter. He didn’t think that he had to struggle to change. No not at all. He felt that he was just being realistic and truthful. Surely he was angry. The village he loved dearly was changing and moving forward in a way that he felt was unsuitable for people protected by Raiden. The ANBU corps that he had dedicated himself to seemed to be taking a more pacifist, wishful approach where they sat back and allowed themselves to be stomped on while the rest of the world seemed to solidify their power.

But. Her words…Her description of herself had him perplexed. Why would she call herself shapeless as if she had no place in the world? In a way, she seemed to be calling herself forgotten in some way or even worse, she could mean that she had forgotten what she was.

”Why would you call yourself shapeless? I don’t understand what you mean.” he questioned with a rather puzzled look pasted across his face. ”And what do you mean by a stone? Most stones have different shapes but apart from the size of each stone, the differences are so small that they are hard to tell apart. Why pick a stone? Uniformity?”

Kiyo:

Kiyo's expression turned thoughtful, she cast a look towards the other girl, expecting some kind of response but it seemed their romantic heart had fallen silent. She hoped that the girl was tired, or perhaps the conversation had been too much for her to process with the crossing references. Had Suzuka realized she was reflecting herself in the description of leaves or had it only just now occurred to her. Ignorance would be better then having depressed her, purer feelings were hard to come by.

With a sigh she pushed herself up off the log. The old dead wood clung to her fingers and she could feel the distinct clawing of one of the logs inhabitants on her index finger. Strange how ones sense of touch increased with the loss of eyes, the ears were a blood right but she'd never expected anything else of it.

"About that…Well, let me give you an example of what I mean," she said, wiping her hands against the coarser fabric of her pants. With a graceful bend she brushed aside the newer leaves that carpeted the forest floor and pulled up a hand of the brown, wet, lumpy leaves from the years before. A stone was a little harder for her to find but careful patting of the ground yielded one quickly.

"In a hundred years, left alone, these leaves will be as much like dirt as you and I are, broken down into their base components and reassembled into new leaves only to suffer the same fat over and over," uncaring to the mess on her hands she ground the leaves between her fingers and let them fall away, "The stone will remain a stone at it will take a long time before it wears away to dust." Without really thinking about it she pocketed the stone, rolling edges over beneath her fingers. "So I would rather be a stone; at least then I can stay as I am instead of always changing and rearranging. I am as what I cast away."

A smile touched at her lips as the wind moved through the trees overhead and sent a new curtain of leaves cascading down around them, “Admittedly, leaves do make the sweeter song but the same is true for stones in a brook so it all comes down to wind and water. Cloud truly has the greatest strengths don’t you believe? You can’t cut clouds, you can’t break clouds. The sun may dry them up but while doing so it only creates more. Amazing. I sometimes wonder at our forefathers mastery of symbolism. A leaf? Burn it, Mist? Cannot survive the sun and its water source. Sand? Tiny scattered particles with no whole. Clouds are always there, they bring life and death in rain and storms. Oh, and they make such cute shapes some days.” Her smile broadened, becoming almost lecherous in manner but settled into something of good humour in the end,

“Do you ever take the time to stop and admire Cloud’s shapes, Kannagi Samuru, Anbu of Cloud?”


Samuru:

”I wonder what she thinks about this. She’s been pretty quiet for the past for moments. Is this conversation beginning to wear on her? Has it made her become weary and skeptical of the environment around her? Maybe… Maybe just maybe she’ll figure it out…” Samuru thought to himself as his eyes opened to focus on Suzuka’s image as she sat against the tree. He didn’t mean to force his opinions on her but he felt that his version of the truth was the absolute truth and the absolute truth should be heard by everyone. Not many could see the world without letting their emotions or certain learned misconceptions get in the way of their perception. Humans were gullible that way.

As his mind wandered, Kiyo had stood up and began to answer the question that he had posed earlier. Her answer was pretty much what he had expected from her. Each word of every sentence had to be dissected and interpreted in order to fully understand the meanings behind them. If Samuru saw the world in black and white then surely Kiyo saw the world as a place full of vibrant colors. However, they seemed to share something in common. Despite their different perceptions of the world, they both seemed to be wronged by the world that they saw in a very similar way. Whether it was the struggle of being forgotten or the struggle of realizing that being forgotten was inevitability the two happened to be one and the same.

”A stone because you have control over your changes? That’s a funny way to put it. I guess it makes sense. No matter the climate is or strength of influence that the environment has over nature, a stone will remain a stone. But…”

”But the stone can still be forgotten. The only difference is the amount of control you have over yourself but even that can still be influenced. Not to mention a stone’s prolonged lifespan… Being alone is inevitable. Isn’t that feeling worse than death itself?” Samuru responded as a half smile formed across his face. For a person whose job was to be emotionless, the young man was beginning to have a hard time controlling his. It seemed like anger was behind every one of his words but his mind continued to tell him to remain calm. The result was nothing more than a false, forced smile to hide the emotion called anger from appearing across his face.

”And about the Clouds. No. Sorry but I can’t say that I have. When I could see I barely looked up into the sky because I didn’t like being looked down on by these so-called gods. Now that I can’t see, I can only hear how disgusting they are. They shift into different formations within the sky but they seldom provide for the Earth below. You can almost say that they bask in the glory of their own supposed omnipotence while using the humans below as pure amusement. he commented as he clinched his fists while opening his eyes and making sure that Kiyo could see his rust colored hues. ”Where there is rain there is a storm but not vice versa. Instead, a storm brings nothing more than destruction while the ‘gods’ look down below on us… laughing. Surely, you can see the resemblance in Kumo.”

Samuru had been responding in kind to the woman’s words but his last statement was cut and dry. He barely left any room for interpretation and his eyes remained fixated on the woman just to see how she would react to such a treacherous statement.


Kiyo:

"Forgotten until its lodges into you're shoe. The stone is strong and someone will pick it up again if it waits long enough. The leaf is dead and someone may admire the tree it birthed if it lives long enough. I don't think either a stone or a tree cares what humans think so long as there is no axe or hammer,” Humour radiated in her voice and felling playful she pulled the stone she’d previously pocketed and tossed it Samuru’s way. ”They do not care to be remembered as the most beautiful or the tallest, they are what they are. They are the tree that sheds it’s leaves or they are the rock that makes up the earth; both are happy simply to exist," her expression turned inward and thoughtful as the last of her words cut through the clearing and she turned her head up towards the sky. Even in the small clearing it would have been difficult for someone with normal sight to see through the trees but Kiyo had no hope of seeing the clouds, clear day or no.

Kiyo had to wonder at the fact that he was still speaking to her of this. Such a conversation, held in such a place, and her just a ragged creature. Perhaps Suzuka was questioning them both, wondering why her superior was humouring her rather then questioning her very presence, with no identification or banner of alignment. As she wondered, his wording clicked in her mind and suddenly she felt a little silly for not having noticed before. She’d not paid attention to her own blood’s lineage on principle but she should have seen the echo’s of herself in him. ‘Greater Skill, foolish creature.’

"When I could see, hum? When I could see, when I could see the world held life, not shape. When I could see there was beauty, there was art, color. Oh color, my favourite was blue; there are infinite shades of blue; infinite colours that may be created with blue. Clouds are technically a shade of blue. I was very fond of Clouds too. The ocean was lovely too but nothing could beat watching Clouds," her laughter cut clearly through the clearing, the sound breaking free so suddenly that it startled a pair of birds perched on a near by tree. Did the birds judge the trees too like a human judges a house? They must, but only on a practical level. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes and for a moment even she feared hysterics had taken her; but calm returned. She was the sea swallowing a stone, calm returned.

"Gods, in the sky? Why would a god want to be in the sky and watch? No, no any real god would be bored. I think of Clouds as a representation of people and in that case so would be a god. Our size, color and shape dictate who we are. We group to become bigger and yes there are storms but those tend to be predictable or at very least you may see them coming for their sheer size. People are destructive. Why do you not place yourself in the sky as well Kannagi-san? Do you not like being a Cloud? But I am right; you are unhappy."


Samuru:

”So that’s the destiny of a stone then? Waiting for someone to pick you up and use you… Sounds lonely to me. Sounds worse than death to me.” he automatically responded in a whisper as he caught the stone thrown at him and moved closer to Kiyo as she continued to speak. The woman that stood in front of him was a beautiful one but she also had the traits of someone who was quite deceitful. Surely, she wasn’t showing this side to herself but one could only imagine the type of shenanigans she used to pull in her former life. It seemed as if she still longed for her former self or maybe even a previous position but couldn’t grasp it… Samuru’s situation was similar but still quite different.

She continued to talk and he continued to inch closer and closer to her, his eyes fixated on just her silhouette because of his diminished eyesight. ”Weird. I don’t want to just hear her. I want to actually see her. I want to see why she admires the clouds the way she does but not herself. I must be missing something.” he thought to himself as calmly took his hands out of his pockets and continued walk toward her until he was directly in front of her.

”Kiyo. None of that makes any sense. Trees are stuck in the ground while clouds float in the sky, choosing whether to nourish or destroy it. Trees have no sense of direction. Trees have no sense of purpose other than serving someone else. That is why a tree exists. To house animals, to store food, to be chopped down and used or to simply die when it isn’t used.” he said softly as he struggled to hide the sadness in his eyes as he looked into hers. ”And clouds cannot be people because of the sheer amount of power that they hold over this world’s destiny. No… If anything… If anything at all. A cloud is the physical representation of the grandiose desires of a normal human. They strive to become a god. They strive to have power so that they may dictate the fates of other humans… Their thirst for power becomes nothing more than a competition between those who chase these dreams and this chase becomes nothing more than calamity among those who just wish to live peacefully.” Samuru commented as he held out the stone in front of her.

”I loved this village. But ‘loved’ is past tense… There is nothing here for me anymore except my duty and even that is false.” Samuru finished as he reached down and picked up the mask that lay next to Kiyo. Simply holding it in his hands made him tremble with anger and sadness as he thought about what a fool he had become.

”This is nothing… Nothing but a dark void.”

Kiyo:

The calm she had acquired rippled but did not break and Kiyo forced herself to smile gently. Exhaustion was over taking her but then how long had it been since she'd danced words with another person. The unhappiness in Samuru was an echo of what she'd once felt and yet different. It was a note by a different instrument though it was still the same note. All that betrayal, did they intend to try and strip away everything from him as well? Perhaps he deserved it or perhaps he was a victim of circumstance as she had been. There are better, there are stronger. Passed over so that’s others could climb. Or maybe there had been death he couldn’t deal with. Anbu often succumbed to depression; he couldn’t know his luck in choosing whom he talked to. Pity churned deep in her heart but all she could do was smile and smile for him.

"I don't need to make sense when the world doesn't make sense. I only try to piece things together so that they are easier for me to understand. It seems that our minds work differently but perhaps that is simply a difference in years," a statement, not a question for she felt it was true. The boy couldn't know her age awhile she assumed his to be as she perceived it. " As for the trees, are we not happiest when we are needed? That is love; that is friendship. Need is the justification of our existence because we as humans cannot grasp the greater need of us. The tree is happy because it is needed to create the landscape around it. It's needed and wanted and does great good even in its death. As for the clouds, are ninja not those very powerful clouds? Have you ever seen the aftermath of a great battle?" She fell silent, aware of the closeness of him physically and not entirely sure if moving away was the right course of action. She was aware of Suzuka standing and leaving at that moment but she couldn't bring herself to break the conversation to say goodbye. There were a lot of goodbyes in her life anyways, why would missing this one be a loss? Instead, her hand wrapped around the stone he held out and she pocketed it once again. Perhaps she would have a used for it or she could always set it someplace nicer then in amongst the leaves; otherwise it would jump from her pocket when it decided.

"Don't run away; you'll regret your life if you run away. Everything will be as straws when even these unhappy moments are precious jewels. It’s just hard now." her hands reached out, the lengths of her fingers wrapping around the edge of the mask he held though she did not try to take it from him. "I knew a man once who wrote all the things he held dear inside his mask. That way he was reminded each time he was forced to place it back upon his face why he wore it at all. There is no glory in the mask, only what you make of it, why did you take it up in the first place?” She didn’t tell him that man was dead or that the things he’d fought for had flourished because of that death. The little girl holding her dead father’s mask and recognizing her name would always be a deeply ingrained memory for her.

Samuru:

”Is that my destiny? A tree that’s only useful when he is called on. What about when I’m not called in? When I’m idle? Am I just to be alone and forgotten until these people decide they need me again?! I don’t like being a toy. I WILL NOT be a toy! Samuru screamed in confusion as he walked past Kiyo and sat on the tree stump with his hands firmly grasped on his mask. What he said. The questions he had. They were all viable. They were all exactly what he felt the village was doing to him. It was funny how a simple conversation about trees, leaves, and clouds could turn into something much more. The topic became so heavy that the other woman… his subordinate had disappeared. ”I didn’t want to influence her with my own self pity but I couldn’t keep this bottled up for much longer.” he thought to himself as an image of the girl, Suzuka, flashed in his mind.

”Why I became an ANBU? Because of…”

”I only became an ANBU to protect the beliefs and values that my mother had. She wanted me to become this village’s protector as she did but those values and beliefs that she saw in the corp. are long gone. This generation has stomped on those very fundamental values and is crumbling this village at its very foundation.” he said in a low deeper voice than usual as a tear seemed to fall from his eyes down to the ANBU mask he was holding.

”I promised not to cry anymore when she died. Now I’m crying… Why? Why?! I don’t want to!” he screamed to himself as he dropped the ANBU mask on the ground and held gripped his head tightly with his hands. ”I know what she wanted but I can no longer do it. Not here. Not when the things she held dear are all gone.”

Suddenly he popped up from the tree branch and simultaneous kicked his mask into his right hand as he wiped the tears from his eyes with his left. ”Running away isn’t always a bad solution if you no longer match with the direction that the village is headed and lack the perseverance to change the direction of the village back on the correct path. I no longer have the perseverance.” the young Kannagi clansmen said as his voice completely switched tones. Instead of the whiny voice he spoke in before, his voice had switched into a monotone sounding voice with almost no emotion behind it.

”There is absolutely nothing holding me back.” Samuru claimed as he held out the mask for Kiyo to take. ”Take it if you want it.”


Kiyo:

A twitch at the corner of her brow was the only betrayal of her annoyance with the suddenly peaked volume of his voice. She smoothed her thumb over the rough surface of the little stone in her pocket and thought of nothing but it; only for a moment, and brought back the calmness that was definitely needed for this situation. He was an emotional wreck, the moments before this had only been a dip into whatever troubles he'd wracked up over time. This wasn't uncommon for ninja be definitely something that needed dealing with quickly. She has some experience but that was shadowed by her own troubles but as of now it was probably best she push those aside. "Yes, that is exactly as you are."

Wary of the situation now at hand she moved and occupied the space next to him on the log while maintaining a respectful distance. He wasn't searching for pity, at least she didn't think so, but had instead spilled over to the nearest person. As he spoke of his mother she felt that same pang of sameness that wasn't entirely true. Of course it hadn't just been mother at the time but the entire village that had seen her in their eye. She was aware of the tear, she even heard it fall as he must have too. His breathing was irregular now and Kiyo wondered if his mother had been the correct choice to somehow dig into.

'How could I have known.'

And then suddenly he seemed to come to another resolve and she 'watched', fascinated, as he grabbed hold of himself and the mask once again. For a moment she hoped that he would shrug the entire thing off, even apologise, so that she may report the issue quietly and no longer need to be the one dealing with something so personal. Her hopes were dashed as he continued in a different tone, one that spoke resolution was at hand for good or bad. What was the village up to for an Anbu to have fallen so far in his own head. Hadn't there been signs before?

'He doesn't have a reason for himself, just others. Mother is truly a powerful force.'

And then the mask was within her reach. She, some dirty looking earth child that they'd stumbled upon it the forest and he was offering up his mask. Think of the troubles she could cause while hiding behind this mask, they would assume her to be one of them. Clearly he'd lost reason.

Instead of the mask she grabbed for his wrist and though her grip was not loose, Kiyo would not fight him if he meant to hurt her to get away. With care she pulled herself back to standing then wrapped her free hand firmly around the edge of the mask. her eyes were lovely this close; not that either of them could appreciate them. "Please, sit with me awhile longer." Her voice was tired, weary and finally matched as she looked; a tired young woman whom seemingly homeless had been asleep on a tree trunk. She was no longer a child in body but one could not call her old either.

"I do not want your mask, lovely as it is. It's meant for you; its yours to wear. It unsettles my heart to think you might leave, the rest of the world is no better then this place. A ninja's life is a ninja's life no matter where you take the job, it is only the people you’re protecting that makes the difference. If you do not wish to be Anbu anymore then leave the Anbu, cast away their beliefs but don't leave the people." Her fingers uncurled from the mask’s edge then joined her first in the holding of his arm until she was sure he would not go. " Do you have no one to protect?"

'Was I once like this?'

Samuru:

”No. She doesn’t get it. Maybe she understands my situation a little more and maybe she even understands me a bit more but she doesn’t get it. There’s a key factor that she’s missing… the lies.” he thought to himself as he allowed himself to be grabbed by the wrist and made no sudden moves to alarm the woman. The woman was surely nice but her niceness was completely contradictory to his experiences with human nature… his overarching perception of human nature. He didn’t believe that humans had the capacity to truly be nice to another human being. No… Instead, it was nothing more than a façade used to coerce you into doing their bidding.

”Niceness followed by a favor. That’s human nature. What does this woman want from me?” he questioned in his head as he dropped the mask on the ground again and looked up at the sky though it was blocked by the trees that surrounded the twosome.

”I have no one to protect. I have nothing to protect. Not even my own life is mine. I’ve acted recklessly just to end my life but fate continues to allow me to live. Seems like the gods enjoy a man that is broken and beaten down by the life they have given him to live. But… They massacre those who actually fulfill their dreams.” Samuru commented as he snatched his wrist away from Kiyo and proceeded to make eye contact with the woman again. He wanted to know what she was thinking but he could not. He wanted to know what she wanted but he probably would never find out the truth. He wanted to know who or what she truly was but then he probably wouldn’t believe her even if she told him.

”What do you want from me?” he questioned with a rather annoyed look on his face. Truthfully, Kiyo didn’t annoy him at all. She actually intrigued him but he was at a point in his life where her intriguing aspects just made him suspicious of her. The annoyed look pasted across his face was nothing more than a façade. A clever little ploy in order to forcefully get her to open up under the threat of him leaving the forest.

”Seriously. Just what do you want from me? You barely know me but you talk as if you need me to stay here. Perhaps you think you’re doing the ‘right thing’ but do you know how wicked this is?” he asked while maintaining the same look on his face. ”Do you know how evil it is to ask someone to stay in a place that he despises? It’s almost disgusting.”

Though his voice was still rather mellow, the words he spoke were rather harsh. The man that stood in front of Kiyo was conflicted. He genuinely enjoyed Kiyo’s company but he hated everything she stood for or at least most of it…

Her devotion to Kumo reminded him of his oldself…

The person he wanted to kill…

Kiyo:

"You came to me," Kiyo stated quietly her voice willed with sadness. He stole his arm away from her and for a moment she looked a little lost with her hands still hovering where they had been. She set them in her lap, it was no use pursuing contact he didn't want. The crunch of the leaves under foot allowed her to watch him and old habits found her head turning as he moved. His voice echoed all over the trees, the wildlife had fled away at the first raised voice but she was certain even the sleeping creatures were annoyed by now.

"You remind me of Aion," laughter bubbled up behind the words, a hysterical edge behind what would have been a lovely sound. She pressed her fingers to her lips in an attempt to calm herself but could not until she collapsed against her own knees in a fit of giggles then suddenly turned silent. "He ran away because he did not agree with the way of things. Told not to kill those who would run away from this village and that order conflicted his ideals." She wondered if he knew of the younger years of Raiden's avatar. Few knew of the demeaning existence that man had led in his younger years, his puppeting for a puppet Kage based solely on duty to a dead man. With her dirty fingers she wiped away the tears that had formed but the moisture would not go away and the sting in her otherwise dead eyes told her she was crying now.

"There is no happiness to be found in the world, Samuru, there is no perfect place that will mould to the dream you wish for. There is only what we make. Perhaps I am as you say, maybe I am being selfish. I could just be locked up in the past, you and Suzuka reminded me well of old friends I never got to express to how dear they were to me. Ah I see the connection now." her heart sounded loud in her own ears and yet beyond her tears there was no outward sign of her distress. Why did this always happen? She had only meant to talk of material things.

"The clues and all the things you want to know were evident when we were introduced. I've been erased, something forgotten as a failure. As for what I want, company is fine. Those with nothing do not seek very much and your voice is kind, though you probably cannot hear it any longer." She turned her awareness out towards the trees, grasping at straws for a change  in the conversation. He was right, she had no right to ask his to stay. "How far gone is your sight?"

Samuru:

”Aion? I don’t know the guy but his beliefs weren’t entirely incorrect. A person who runs from the village is a traitor. Nothing more, nothing less.” Samuru thought to himself as he took a deep breath and faced the realization that his mind was putting in front of him. ”Even if that traitor is me. Even if I’m the traitor than Cloud Shinobi should come and hunt me down based on the rules of the village. There is no sanctity of life in the eyes of these people and their philosophies so why try to find some deeper meaning… some deeper truth. I’ve seen it. There is none.”

Being one of the only people in the world who saw things the way Samuru saw them was definitely a lonely, depressing place. He wanted to talk with someone like this more often but he feared that his words would only be perceived as “treacherous” rather than inquisitive or confused. Kiyo was the only person he could be himself around which was extremely strange considering she was a stranger. I guess sometimes strangers are the best people to talk to when you are confused. Most of the time they won’t judge you because they don’t know you and even if they did you’d probably never even see their faces again… even if you lived in the same village.

”If there is no perfect place then I shall have to mold it into that place… right? Isn’t that a human’s nature? To dream of a better place. One without deception. One without all the lies. One where I can sleep in peace. Is that really so much to ask!?” he responded as he looked down at the ground where his ANBU mask remained stationary. ”This thing in front of me is not beautiful. Instead it’s just a mask. It’s the physical embodiment of everything that I hate. Wearing one of these masks means you have to lie on a day to day basis. It means you have to blindly follow the orders of someone who simply higher up in the food chain. It means that you have to blindly enforce rules that don’t make any sense and it means you can’t question those cowardly bureaucratic bastards who call themselves council members.” Samuru screamed as the air around him began to intensify as his bloodline power seemed to activate itself.

Grabbing onto his head tears rolled from his eyes down to the ground beneath him as he shook his head, trying to rid himself of this pain. Suddenly his eyes shot open and before Kiyo could stop him his fist slammed into the ground, causing a minor shockwave but the complete destruction of the mask that laid there.

”Sorry for rambling but I’ll answer that question you proposed earlier. he said softly as he pulled himself off of the ground and turned toward Kiyo. Though his voice seemed soft it wasn’t the least bit calm or kind at all. Samuru couldn’t tell but his voice had become rather dense. Just by casually listening to him talk, the listener could hear the anger… the rage… the darkness… the intensity behind the man’s voice.

Standing up right Samuru would answer her question…

”My sight has been gone for a long time now but now that the veil has been lifted. I can see pretty clearly.” he claimed as the calm, brownish eyes from before seemed to redden and stare directly into Kiyo’s eyes…

It seemed like Samuru was finally done holding back…

Kiyo:

An exasperated sigh came from the the girl and she shook her head at him though he wouldnt have gotten the meaning. To utterly disregard her name dropping, could it be that the village forgot their Kage's so quickly or was this one simply uncaring enough to not know the names of his Kage. 'Dawnbringer' might have roused a greater reaction but the moment was lost. her anger spurred on her tears and she scrubbed at her cheeks mercilessly until they must have been a bright, irritated red.

Her hands moved over her ears as his voice rose to that offensive level again. He was like the ocean, building, building, building, then crashing against the land in such a roar only to calm and build again. Her offence was plain on her face but she did not bother to glare at him. Strange, she'd had so little interaction with her own kind, there was much in the way of movement that was needless.

The sharp sound of the mask breaking as his fist fell upon it produced a startled cry from Kyo and she fell backwards over the trunk onto her back. The cushion of leaves saved her injury, not that there was much in the way of nature that could hurt her. She heard the first of the rain approaching and was certain he would to be Kiyo did not bother moving to find cover or even sit up. The first of the drops were sweet, refreshing and she glad to have them hide away her distress and cool her face. Carefully Kiyo tilted her head back, allowing the light rain to wash over her face and neck. "??ste t?a???? p??sµa," she whispered melodically, the sound only able to reach their own years. "There is no need to apologise, I felt much the same way. It it hard to understand, each persons pain is their own and yet same. You are the killer of yourself, but then anbu often seem to be the quickest to grow unhappy." there was so much noise now but the sound of the water falling was beautiful.

"I'm happy for you that you can see. Would you follow me instead of them?", she did not know why she posed the question, she'd be gone soon and an extra set of hands would be difficult to deal with. "I don't know where I'm going from here but would you follow my actions as the very best course?" laughter bubbled up from her, of course he'd say no!  She sounded like the devilish temptress from one of the story books her mother had read her as a child, the missing nin who stole the good man away. "Oh and coucils are all a bunch of windbags, heres to hoping they are runed over on their head soon. You did not mention the Kage..."

Samuru:

Almost synonymous with the moment that he plunged his fist into the ground, the sky began to become tense. Before a single rain drop fell to the ground, Samuru could already hear it. He heard the sky growing denser and felt the storm beginning to form while the two remained in the forest. ”I wonder Raiden. Are you summoning this storm to destroy or is it to nourish your lands after I damaged it? Which type of god are you?” he thought to himself as he looked down on Kiyo.

It was weird. The raindrops seemed to softly fall onto her face and slide down her cheeks while the same raindrops seemed to disintegrate when they were merely inches away from Samuru. Whether he knew it or not, sound waves seemed to ferociously vibrate around him. Usually something like this would be invisible but raindrops that seem to land everywhere but on one person’s body made this particular bloodline ability quite evident.

”Follow you?” Samuru questioned in the same soft but dark tone as before. The question itself left him quite confused. Why would a stranger ask something of this nature to another stranger? Did she guess that Samuru was that desperate for an escape that she figured he’d go along with it? Or was it just a joke posing as a question?

Every time the woman spoke she confused him. Every time he thought that he finally figured out her true intentions… her true motives… He found that he was wrong. Samuru found her to be intriguing but quite annoying. She didn’t seem to hold any malice in her heart when Samuru seemed to bottle nothing but malice within his. Maybe she was the person he was destined to meet. The person who could calm his soul…

”Fine. I’ll ‘follow’ you but only because I want to see where it takes me and how you live. To be honest. I want to figure out what it is about you that intrigues me. I want to know why you are the way you are.” Samuru commented as he held his hand out toward her as if to shake hands on a deal that they had just made. ”I’ll follow you as long as I get to keep my own free will.” Suddenly Samuru’s voice had changed back into the tone that Kiyo had described as “kind”. It seemed that like normal people, his tone of voice seemed to go hand and hand with his mood but his bloodline simply magnified this effect to the point where it was extremely noticeable.

”And I think your friend Aion is the perfect example of why I didn’t mention the Kage. I feel like the title of village Kage is nothing more than a figurehead position with no real power. Instead they are nothing more than a symbol for the people’s morale. He couldn’t come to terms with being an over glorified pawn so he left.” Samuru commented in a calm tone as he looked up into the sky and allowed the raindrops to gently fall on his skin. ”In a way. The Kage is the king on a chess board. He moves the same as a pawn but if the king is taken then the game is over. Why? Because the king holds the morale and will of the people. So the council uses the Kage as a way to unify the people while they control the wield the real power behind the scenes.”

Kiyo:

Fromon her back she studied his hand, or at least the concept of his hand within her vision. In the rain everything was clearer except he had become some strange shape that her vision could not work out. She knew it was the sound and yet could not help but be a little intimidated by it. She reached out her smaller hand and caught his, just holding onto it for a long moment the assure herself he was still real."It is impossible for me to steal your freewill, even jutsu do not truely have that power. It's yours and I could never force you to do anything." rather then shake his hand she pulled him down towards the ground and its wet leaves. It smelled so strongly of earth now that it was impossible for her to be angry over being wet.

"I've picked you up then so now you must sit- or rather lay here with me and keep me company awhile. I don't care what happens afterwards, i'm certain we'll find one another when its important." Her grip became more insistant,at the very least he should sit down if he didnt want to join her amongst the dirty leaves.

His opinion of kages stung. It was true that the power of council determined the power a Kage held as well, weak coucils often gave way to their leaders but the same could be said for the Kage under pressure of a council. Nodoubt with the frequent chaneofhands kage had become more of a puppet role, exactly what she'd fought against."Not really my friend, I meant before he was Kage, before he had any hope of ever being Kage. That sad soul grew up in service of a master he adored, one of the elder Kage. When that man died he was passed down to the next in line, they were too soft for the ideals he had up held and continued to uphold after the power shift. He was so full of rage."

She dropped her arm across her eyes, enjoying the warmth of her own skin across her face,"You're right though, Kage is a King but has a power non the less. The people back them and thus they can choose to ignore the council and back what the people want. the great ones are strong and are able to fight against the coucils that would run thembut... not ever Kage may be like that. If every single one was then there would be so much turmoil." She shifted, the wet leaves after her plastering the any surface they could find. She'd be filthy soon but that was of no matter. Appearances were only important when there was someone to impress.

Samuru:

”I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on it. I didn’t realize that Aion was a kage until you confirmed it which means you have some pretty high profile friends. I figured something was up when you kept reiterating that you had been forgotten and by the way you carry yourself.” Samuru commented as he held continued to hold his hand out toward the woman until she accepted it. ”You’re mannerisms are that of a bureaucrat and your attitude is one of a commoner but not a natural commoner. Instead it seems like you were for—“ Samuru had let his guard now. He was in “talk” mode and simply didn’t pay attention to the expression on her face or the intent behind it. His hand still pointed in her direction and almost in an instant she grabbed his hand and pulled him down.

All of a sudden he was covered in mud as she continued to speak to him.

”Lay here? IN MUD!” he questioned as he pulled himself to his knees and looked down at his ANBU attire, watching the mud drip from them. ”Then again… I did say I’d follow you didn’t I? It’d be a shame to go against my word so early in the game.” Samuru said as he answered his own question before Kiyo had a chance to respond.

Before he even realized what he was doing, was laying down in the mud next Kiyo with his eyes fixated on the sky above.

”I understand his rage.” Samuru commented softly while he allowed the woman to finish her thoughts.

Although he was calmer than before, he was still quite angry by the situation his fate had thrown him in. He was an ANBU captain but he was only a captain in title only. Instead, he was simply another pawn for the council to use and dispose of at their whims. It was disgusting to him… What he had become… He had to change it… The mask was off…

”I suppose I’m just naïve. I’d lost my resolve to live before now but now that you’ve given me a reason to live. Where am I following you to? Or are we just being spontaneous?” Samuru asked comically as he looked over at her with a mischievous smirk on his face.

Kiyo:

The corner of Kiyo's lip twitches in amusment as he spoke with ease for the first time since she had met the other. She was glad he had calmed down a little though she had to wonderif it wasn'r that shattered mask rather then herself. It was with a great deal joy she pulled him down to her level. Samuru's distress over being dirty brought a laugh from her that cut clearly over the sound of the rain. "Yes, Samuru, in the mud. Mud is good for you" She lay quietly a moment, her fingers laced through his lightly and took that timeto smooth over the nerves hed set on edge. Anger was so very unpredictable and she had become unpracticed in dealing with it. Aion had been very long ago and Kiyo had not allowed much human contact since. In fact, shecouldn't remember that last time she had, had such a lengthy conversation with someone.

"People are people, we are only as great as we make ourselves but yes; my friends were once highly regarded," she pulled away her arm and turned a smile towards him then turned back to gazing blindly at the sky. "I understood but couldnot agree with himand thus I watched him go. Such an evil creature at heart that one, I am happy he found his place yet disgusted that it was Kage. That such radical change..." her words died off and rolled over to her stomach and switching the hand that held his.

"I will fix it," her free hand clenched then loosened; the tiny tattoo on her wrist well visable but it was unlikely he knew its meaning. Obviously there was some sort of importance however as she pressed the colored skinagainst her forehead for amoment in thought. "I only hope that my heart is strong enough for what may come. We'll find one another no matter what happens though, I'm certain. Until then I believe it is best you home soon, Suzuka left us and if you are found out here talking to a woman of questionable repute then we'llboth be in trouble." Kiyo pushed herself up from the dirt and leaves, looking very much like a creature of the forest and smiled broadly at him. He couldn't know that he'd helped her as much as she had helped him. He couldn't have known that she'd been unable to even enter that village until now, odd that she would be so brave for someone who reminded her of a man that had terrifed her so completely. "You should take a piece of that mask and keep it with you, it is improper to lose grasp of your ideals and this is animportant change."

Samuru:

”And what about an ANBU who discarded his mask and consistently breaks rules because he lost the will to follow them. Won't you get in trouble for hanging around with such a person but I guess we both need some rest so I’ll head home and think about things so I won’t go crazy. … Or crazier.” Samuru commented comically as he sat upright while holding the woman’s hand. ”A piece of the mask to remember the ideals that I hold dear? To use it as a symbol? Personally I think that’s a very weak thing to do but right now that might be the best thing for me. I can’t believe how far I’ve fallen but maybe there still is a chance for redemption… For the both of us.” he thought to himself as he let Kiyo’s hand go and ripped off a piece of bark from the tree that the conversation had started from. ’I’ll make something that both of us can use as a symbol.”

The long strip of bark that he ripped out was rather rough but it was the perfect starting point. First, he started to pick up all of the pieces of the mask that he could find and placed them into two separate, equally distributed piles. Then he molded chakra on his thumb and index fingers and used them to smooth out the piece of bark from before. Using the same technique he used to smooth it, he cut it into two different pieces and placed them next to the piles of debris from the mask. A simple transformation jutsu turned the debris into two black orbs and another combination transformation jutsu turned the bark and the black orbs into a matching ring and necklace.

Placing the necklace around his neck, he walked over and stood in front of Kiyo before doing something that most would define as the epitome of a romantic gesture… the very act that man takes when he feels that he’s found the other half of his soul.

”I…I felt selfish not giving you anything to symbolize the same thing.” he said with rather nervously as he frantically struggled to wipe the dirt off of his face.

After he felt that his face was clean Samuru dropped down to one knee and gently reached down and grabbed Kiyo’s right hand. Customarily when a man did this it meant that he was about to propose but this was a little different. Same concept, different meaning.

Taking a deep breath he spoke in a kind voice that he normally wouldn’t speak in.

”I figured that we should both have something that symbolizes our bond with each other and our dedication to our ideals from here on. It’s like a promise… A promise never to forget this bond.” Samuru said as time seemed to stand still in his head. Moments felt like hours but he refused to force anything on her. He’d only place the ring on her finger if she accepted it and if she didn’t then he would just think of something quirky to say.

Kiyo:

"You'd be the cherry on the cake in that regard. Do not worry about me nor my reputation; I promise there is very little you can do the damage it." her eyes twinkled with mirth and she squeezed his hand again. In comparison her other hand felt ice cold under the moisture and the dirt and she curled it back within her shirt to warm it against the body heated yet damp fabric. Her other hand soon followed it in the quest for warmth as he stood and walked away to the trees.

Kiyo winced visibly as he tore away the bark of the tree, for all the personification they had done of the tall standing giants it was painful to see one maimed so. She'd said the mask, in no where had that been in her instructions yet the auburn haired woman stayed silent and simply watched him as he worked. The finer work of crafting with chakra was amazing and it was almost sad that the world the wielders of this power created for themselves revolved around death. The mask turned into something beautiful, it was something completely different to behold; a reworking of something designed for death into art.

Careful of the wet leaves, Kiyo stood as he approached, her eyes on the necklace he had created for himself. The importance of this moment was easy to grasp and though she might have blushed or moved back from such a forward approach it seemed wrong to do so now. His words washed over her and Kiyo found herself smiling in response. "Then it's a promise." Without hesitation she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his temple. The smile lingered on her face as she focused on the ring, she couldn't know the color but there was something special about something made by someone of her own blood.

"Thank-you, but you really should go."

Samuru:

”So it’s settled then. This is who I am from this point forward. This is Kannagi Samuru...” he thought to himself as he slipped the ring on her finger and accepted the kiss planted on his forehead. He was quite nervous but all of that nervous tension had been released when he felt her lips touch his face. If her words weren’t enough to release him from that strain then the kiss definitely did.

”I guess this is it. This is who we are from this point forward. It’s almost as if we’ve been given a second opportunity to live our lives and mold it into our wildest dreams but it’s different… It’s more than that. We didn’t receive this second chance by the gods. We made the opportunity for ourselves which speaks volumes about our character. And…” Samuru spoke as he slowly stood up and looked into the woman’s eyes while still holding onto her hand. ”I’d like to thank you. Thank you for giving me the will to live again. This time I’ll do so without regrets as I follow you down your path and see it through until the end.”

After his short speech about their changed lives he turned away from Kiyo and began to walk deeper into the forest.

”You’re right. I should go. I forgot all about a previous obligation. I’m sure I’ll see you soon though.” Samuru said kindly as he waved back to Kiyo and went on his way.

END

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