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Post by cookie on Jan 8, 2008 8:23:39 GMT -5
With a whole day ahead of him and not much to do, a young, geen-haired youth found himself stolling aimlessely. Hissori's lips emitted a small sigh; he would've thought in a busy village like this there would be more for him to do... Truth be told there probably was, but his lazyiness seemed to always get the better of him, and thus, he din't bother to actually find something to do, most of the time, he just expected something to come to him. Which it usually did.
Eventually, the Chuunin's pointless stroll lead him to the forest, his narrow pupils eyed up the towering trees, most of which seemed to be loosing their leaves thanks to the cold weather. Without much hesitation, the boy entered the woods, almost tripping over a few twigs on the ground from time to time as he explored the new surroundings.
Before long, the boy sighed again... He must've been strolling for hours, and it was probably time to admit, that he was infact lost.
"Hmm..." He hummed to himself, eyeing up one of trees that seemed to loom above the rest, perhaps from the top he would be able to see whereabouts he was. It seemed reasonable enough, and soon Hissori was making his way up the tree, his hands occasionally slipping on the bark before he was able to grasp a branch to steady himself again.
It must've been odd from any other ninja's point of view, so see another ninja not using chakra to climb a tree, but Hissori only saw this as 'training'. His lean frame and particular kekkei genkai meant that muscle training was vital if he were to ever get any stronger...In a way, he saw using chakra as cheating.
Finally the boy reached the top, he supposed his lean frame and flexibility came in handy when it came to swinging from some of the branches without them breaking, but nevertheless, he needed to be stronger.
"Wow..." He murmered, taking in the picturesque view from his place atop the tree, even though the winds seemed to have a cooler edge to them from this height...He could see so much from here, even a few grassy clearings where others where training... It was a good place to 'people-watch', and it wasn't as if he had anything better to do...
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Post by Ikara on Jan 8, 2008 10:01:38 GMT -5
Soaked from the recent showers, Ikara abandoned her plan to return to her hotel room. It would only lead to Gaara and Kita poking fun at her wet, lanky hair and saturated clothes.
Finding sanctuary in the woods, she squeezed her ponytail and rinsed the water out. It hit the ground, splashing onto her white boots.
She concentrated hard on the small puddle, trying in vain to make the water move.
But alas, it was useless. Ever since she had stabbed her eye in a moment of adrenaline-fuelled anger back in the Hidden Time village, Ikara had been unable to use any of her abilities. Occassionally, she could manipulate a few droplets of water but since her clan's Kekkei-genkai seal had been broken, her fighting days were pretty much over.
She could still use taijutsu if she wished but the days where she was a feared kunoichi were now a thing of the past. It pained her so that she had been reduced to travelling with Kita, her brother, her sworn enemy, just to avoid being targeted by foes of Sunagakure.
She touched her bandaged eye with a trembling finger; the texture of it was familiar and could only mean one thing. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out another cotton-pad and bandage.
Carefully, she removed the old ones and looked at them with her one healthy eye; the blood-stains were worse than usual.
It had been over 2 weeks since she had inflicted these injuries on herself, why weren't they healing? Could it be that by damaging the seal behind her retina, she had caused irreperable damage to a blood vessel?
Silently she cursed her mother and father; it was their fault she was different to the other clan members. Her brother and cousins had their seal on their lower back yet she had to be born with a defect that put it behind her eye.
Wrapping the fresh bandages around her head, the solemn kunoichi knew that in the long haul, she had done what was best. She had stopped Gurisetzu getting his hand on her abilities and for that, she knew Gaara-sama was thankful.
But still, the frustration of not being able to fight or kill was too much to bare.
She clenched her fist and pummeled the towering tree behind her; the bark cracked and left a gaping dent in the wooden trunk.
She rubbed her reddened knuckles and slouched against the tree, sliding down onto the dusty ground, burying her head in her knees.
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Post by cookie on Jan 8, 2008 12:13:11 GMT -5
Hissori was still watching the people in the clearings as they trained, it was interesting to watch techniques that he had never seen, or even heard of before. There were people training with weapons, using taijustsu, and a lot of unusual ninjutsu too. This village certainly had a lot of powerful young ninjas.
Although a few of them made a lot of noise, it was actually quite peaceful, and somewhat ‘soothing for the soul’ to just sit and relax, and watch other people’s lives unfold rather than just thinking about his own. Up here he wouldn’t be pestered about doing chores or training…
He had been watching the distance so carefully, that he failed to spot a young girl heading towards the tree that he was perched upon. It was only when he could feel vibrations through the tree that he felt something was wrong. His eyes saw the branches sway vigorously, as the last remaining leaves dropped off due to the force. His raised a brow, wondering what on earth could be going on, the winds had died down by then, so it couldn’t be that.
He leaned over, making sure he didn’t fall down as his eyes scanned the ground below him, and there he saw the girl taking out her anger on the poor, defenceless tree. “Hey!!” He said, as shards of barks flew from where her fist landed. “Do you mind? That’s really kind of annoying…” He said, but his voice was relatively quiet and from his height, perhaps she had failed to hear him.
Eventually she stopped, and sank down to the ground. ‘She looks pretty miserable,’ Hissori thought inwardly, stating the obvious to himself as per usual. His brows arced into a frown, his wasn’t particularly outgoing and overly-kind, but at the same time, he didn’t think it was right to just ignore someone when they were upset.
He jumped down, from tree branch to tree branch before he was at one of the lower ones, but not too low. Using his legs as hooks, the male swung from one of the branches a few feet away from her so he was upside down, it may have looked odd but it was surprisingly comfortable, even with all the blood rushing to his head.
“You OK?” He asked, an obviously stupid question, anyone could tell she was down. But to be honest he didn’t know what else to say, and with her head buried in her knees, he was unable to see the wound on her eye, nor had he been able to see it from up above.
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Post by Ikara on Jan 8, 2008 13:10:37 GMT -5
"Do you mind? That's really kind of annoying...." a voice called from above; it was only a faint whisper by the time it reached the ground but nonetheless audible.
Ikara ignored him; she was free to do as she pleased here as long as she still had diplomatic immunity and some local shinobi wasn't going to change that.
The owner of the voice swung from a branch above her; hanging upside down, and asked if she was ok.
Ikara looked up and shot him a glare; her cold blue eye piercing right through him.
"Who wants to know.....?" she said in a low growl.
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Post by cookie on Jan 8, 2008 13:54:37 GMT -5
He blinked in surprise and shock, as she looked up to face him, his attention was immediately drawn to the bandage on her eye; no wonder she looked so upset. He knew it was rude to stare, but at the same time he found himself unsure of what to say, should he comment on it or pretend to ignore it when it was quite obvious that he’d noticed it?
He frowned hearing her tone of voice, here he was just trying to be polite and she was just shoving it back in his face; but he supposed she’d probably been though some horrible ordeal with that injury… It would make sense if she were cranky.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to just leave without saying anything else.
The teen unhooked his legs, causing him to fall into a handstand before he stood up properly. He could feel the relief in his head as the blood returned to the rest of his body.
“Hissori,” He mentioned, outstretching his hand in a friendly gesture, even though it seemed like she wouldn’t accept the handshake. “And you are?” He asked, wondering if he would even get an answer.
“Sorry if I disturbed you, but you did kind of disturb me with all that tree punching.” He sufficed, hoping she wouldn’t get too mad at him.
Hissori took a seat about a metre away from her; it seemed like she wanted some distance… “That looks pretty painful, I guess you’re a ninja?” He asked, if he had any idea about her past experiences, he probably wouldn’t have said that…
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Post by Ikara on Jan 8, 2008 14:03:54 GMT -5
Ikara was astounded as he outstretched his hand. She had only ever been met with hostility before so for someone to show some form of kindness; it truly was a breakthrough as far as her approachability was concerned.
Not wanting to risk losing the only person to speak to her in 3 days, she took his hand and shook it.
"Ikara...." she muttered, though somehow finding some the confidence to speak louder
"My name's Ikara Hyukari!"
She watched him cautiously as he sat a few feet away from her; it appeared she still wasn't completely approachable.
"You can stare if you want..." She refered to his obvious attempts not to look at her injury
"It's self inflicted so i deserve everything i get....and to answer you're question; i was a ninja....."
Dejectedly, Ikara pulled the battered forehead protector from her pocket; the Suna emblem scratched and chipped through wear and tear.
"You local?" She asked, trying to feign some sort of niceness.
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Post by cookie on Jan 8, 2008 14:20:32 GMT -5
He was happily surprised when she accepted the gesture, maybe she wouldn’t be so aggressive after all, Hissori mentally sighed to himself; he shouldn’t judge people so quickly all the time…
He smiled widely at her when she said her name with some confidence; she looked as though she might actually want to talk to him, which was always a bonus when meeting new people. “Well its nice to meet you Ikara.” He said before he had sat down next to her.
He looked away with guilt for a moment or two, he knew he had been rude to stare, and although her comment wasn’t angry or aggressive, he still couldn’t help feeling as though he may have made her feel insecure. He soon snapped out of those thoughts when she said it was ‘self-inflicted’, man…something really bad must’ve happened to make her do that…
He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask her about it, but soon he decided against being nosey, and instead he stuck to being friendly… Maybe if they were to become actual friends, he wouldn’t feel so awkward to ask her about it, and perhaps she would be more at ease to answer him…
His eyes traced the worn looking forehead protector, noticing the pattern and the village it belonged to. “Ahh, you’re from the Hidden Sand…” He mused out loud, he’d only been there once on a mission, and it had failed miserably since all the sand particles would get into the pours on his hands and block them up. If she was still a ninja, she could beat him for sure, well…if she used sand techniques anyway.
“Yeah, I’m local.” He replied, showing her the forehead protector, that he actually kept on his left arm, it was still in quite a good condition, but that was probably just luck rather than anything else. “So what brings you to Konoha?” He asked curiously.
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Post by Ikara on Jan 8, 2008 14:30:35 GMT -5
Feeling a little bit more at ease than normal around someone else, Ikara decided to open up to come out of her shell a little.
"I.....I'm not a ninja any more but....I'm on a mission" She muttered,
"The specifics are confidential but i'm assissting the Kazekage and the Hokage with the Chuunin exams," She delved a little into her mission but kept the specifics about the Hidden Time and their threat hidden; she was glad he hadn't pressed on about her injury as vital details could have accidently been revealed which would cause unneccessary panic throughout both Konoha and the other villages.
She clutched the forehead protector tightly, reflecting on the days when she had been happier; sure she had been alone but back then, she had something to preoccupy her from the loneliness.
It may only have been 2 weeks since her last battle but to Ikara, it felt like a lifetime.
She no longer felt the intense thrill that came with leaving someone bloodied and incapacitated, the look of horror on peoples faces as her ice spears impaled them. She missed that bloodlust but at the same time, it was a welcome change to have some normality in her personality.
Not wishing to bring her companion down, she attempted a smile
"So will you be entering the exams?" She asked, unaware of what ninja rank he was
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Post by cookie on Jan 8, 2008 15:04:39 GMT -5
Hissori listened intently to Ikara’s reasons, at first he had assumed she would just be anti-social towards him, but she was actually being quite friendly, and she was defiantly an interesting person to be talking to. He assumed that from the brief details he gave her, that when she was a ninja she must’ve at least been a jounin, since they were usually the ones who helped out with Chuunin exams…but he didn’t want to pry too much, it might just irk her if he kept pushing for answers.
“No, I’m already a Chuunin, not that I did all that well in my exams mind you.” He said with a slight chuckle. “It would be nice to re-take it so I could at least say I passed with flying colours…but I guess we can’t change the past.” He sufficed with a small sigh.
“I actually passed second time around, on my first exam I had an opponent from Sunagakure, I guess I was no match for him…” He said with a slightly disheartened look, but not wanting to dampen the mood even further, he soon cheered up, it didn’t matter anymore, he had passed and that was all he needed.
“Have you been here before?” The teen asked, “I could always show you around if you want…” Hissori offered, hoping they could sway the conversation to more light-hearted and friendly things.
((COLOURS!!! =DDD))
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Post by Ikara on Jan 8, 2008 15:40:44 GMT -5
OMG! Colour works as a tag! Hurrah!
Anyone else notice that it changes suoicipsuS on its own?
(read the bold word backwords)
Ikara was taken aback by his gesture; he seemed to want to spend time with her. Still suoicipsus of his motives, she pondered the choice briefly.
On one hand, he could be a spy from the Hidden Time trying to use her to get close to the Kazekage. But then again, he could just genuinely be a nice guy.
"I've been here several times but....never once have i looked around the village," Ikara stood up; she brushed the dust from her black jeans and adjusted her studded belt. She was thankful she had worn her boots today as the wedged heel added a few inches onto her height making the height difference between herself and Hissori more obvious.
"Would....would that be ok if you showed me around?" She asked him, her voice full of an innocence that hadn't been heard since she was a toddler.
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Post by cookie on Jan 8, 2008 15:58:02 GMT -5
((*gasp* NYUUU!! *cries* xP HUZZAH!!))
He was surprised that she had been here before, he’d never seen her before…Mind you, it was probably when she was a ninja, doing things that were too important for local chuunins to catch a glimpse of. “It’s a pretty nice place, and if you’re gonna be here for a while, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to get to know it a little better, right?” He said, hoping he could persuade her, Hissori could do with some company, he was never overly-keen on being alone in the first place.
He saw her getting up, hopefully that was a sign that she would join him. He too lifted himself from the ground, and briskly wiped down his attire. His eyes noticed the heeled boots and he cringed, she was probably taller than him already without them…and so…He looked up, and yup…she was defiantly taller than him, who wasn’t really? Although he wasn’t fond of his height, there wasn’t really much he could do about it.
“Sure! I wouldn’t have offered otherwise!” He said with a soft chuckle, he was happy to see her in a better mood, and hoped that perhaps they could have a friendship after all. “Come on, I’ll show you my favourite place first,” He said with a smile as he began to walk… Usually he went to this place for some peace and quiet, but Ikara was hardly loud, nor did she seem like the type who would annoy him…and besides, she might need some stress relief with those chuunin exams coming up as well.
“How long do you think you’ll be staying in Konoha?” He asked as they continued to walk. “If I’m honest, I don’t even know when they’re starting!”
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Post by Ikara on Jan 8, 2008 16:23:51 GMT -5
Ikara had misjudged the shinobi; it became clear when he stood up that, for the first time since she had fought Reisuke, she was taller than someone.
She walked an inch or so behind him, still cautious of his intentions.
"Im not sure...it all depends when Gaara-kun, i mean Kazekage-sama sees fit that we leave,"
The weather had certainly become calmer and the heat of the sun had dried her hair off; she pulled the band from her ponytail and let her brown locks fall down the back of her neck; the damp tips of her layers flicked out.
"So where are we going?" She asked inquisetivly; he didn't seem to show any of the common traits of an espionage-nin so she felt she could be more at ease around him.
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Post by cookie on Jan 8, 2008 17:00:39 GMT -5
“Ah, right.” Hissori replied, he supposed it was an obvious answer really, but he had still asked the question anyway. He wished she could be more specific, but that was hardly her fault…the teen wondered if he’d see her again, or would this be their first and last encounter before she left? She seemed like a nice person, and so hoped that he wouldn’t be bombarded with any long missions so that he could at least say goodbye to her before she left.
“You’ll see, we’re almost there,” He told her, after weaving his way through several more trees, and walking through some of the clearings, he finally came across the place that was like his sanctuary.
In front of them sat a large natural lake, the sun’s ray danced upon a few gentle waves that made the water look like it was glistening. Nearer to the bank, the water was almost clear, and tiny fish could be seen happily swimming around there. “This is my favourite place, it’s just a really calming place to be…” He told her with a smile. “I don’t know what the lake is called or anything, but I like it all the same…”
In the distance, just beyond the lake was some foliage that was difficult to see through.
“Through those trees over there is the giant memorial stone, dedicated to all of Konoha’s deceased ninjas…If I ever want to visit there I usually walk over this lake as a shortcut.”
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Post by Ikara on Jan 17, 2008 17:39:20 GMT -5
Ikara's eyes widened as she saw the sheer beauty of the place.
The lake glistened in the sunlight with water so clear that she could even see the many creatures that inhabited it.
She heard Hissori tell her about the Hokage carvings but her eyes were fixated on the lake.
She stepped forward and knelt down beside it, running her hand across the top of the water.
Once upon a time, she would have been able to freeze this entire lake just by touching it; now all she could do was make the water splash and ripple. Anything that touched the lake could make it achieve the same feat, thus was the natural reaction of water at being touched.
"Why.....Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked him, the hurt she felt sticking at the back of her throat.
"I'm a terrible human being. Im dishonest and everything i touch ends up getting hurt and wrecked!" a tear formed in her eye, slowly trickling down her cheek.
It traced her lip and she tasted the saltiness of it, hating herself for showing such emotion to a stranger.
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Post by cookie on Jan 19, 2008 13:38:59 GMT -5
Hissori smiled as his eyes traced the patterns in both the rippling water and the pastel coloured sky. Even when he was in a bad mood, this place usually cheered him up; his eyes flickered towards Ikara before he began to frown, she didn’t seem too happy, had he done something to annoy her?
Suddenly his eyes widened at her question, surely it would’ve been stranger if he’d been mean to her (personally, Hissori couldn’t understand why some people were nasty to those they didn’t even know).
"I'm a terrible human being. I’m dishonest and everything I touch ends up getting hurt and wrecked!"
Hissori’s heart ached at her words, to think that there were people out there who had such low self-esteem, to think there were people out there who blamed themselves for everything. How could a person live like that?
The teen crouched down beside her, noticing the tears falling from her eyes, he frowned once more; he’d never been good a dealing with people crying.
“Well…” He began “I don’t know you that well, I don’t know the good or bad things you’ve done, I don’t know your good or bad qualities either. But I know that you haven’t treated my unkindly, so why would I do that to you?” He questioned, in a tone that was a little more serious than his usual one. “Treat people how you would like to be treated, right?”
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