Thoughtless

[Kira]

Akiyo slowly trudged through the sand glaring at every sight before her blue and green eyes.

Only minutes ago, she was a hyper, young girl, with only one name passing over and over in her head. If she had opened her mouth, surely she would've said, "I love Kazekage-sama!", over and over again.

The young fangirl was long gone after she had hit her head, and she was now replaced with a cold, glaring girl. She was thoughtless as she continued to walk, instinctively heading towards her apartment.
She had spent so much time cooped up in her small room that her skin paled to a milky color, although if you looked hard enough, you would see a trace of tan mixed amongst the pale color.

She'd spent more than enough time thinking about what she lived for, and she always came up with the same answer: to serve her home, Suna, until the day she died.

Most likely, it was pointless to think so much into it, but Akiyo didn't know what else to think about. Her thoughts about her family grew blurred because of the passing times, yet something in her heart seemed to long to find her family. She often shook off thoughts about her missing friends and family.

Of course, all those thoughts only crowded her mind when she was isolated in the darkness of her apartment. She remained thoughtless in public, in fear of someone somehow finding out about her thoughts and finding a weakness in her. She didn't think that she could afford to have any weaknesses, she didn't think she could allow any mistakes to happen, she didn't think she was allowed to grow attached to anyone, and she didn't think as she made the mistake of turning at the wrong street and headed, unknowingly, towards the tall building before her.

[Ikara]

Ikara crouched down on the ground, trailing her finger in the sand, drawing a spiral. The shape fascinated her and she continued to trace i, burrowing her finger deeper into the sand; the yellow grains becoming embedded underneath her purple nail.
She was exhausted having spent the last 5 hours training; both Kita and Gaara were trying their best to help her regain her once flawless battle style but she no longer had the motivation to make her put the effort in. Fighting bored her now and she saw no reason as to why she couldn't live out the rest of her life battle free.

She sat down on the sand, her legs spread out in front of her. A small gust blew the sand across her bare legs; she pulled the belt on her black shorts tighter and lay down on the ground, resting her head on her hands.

Her stomach was bare and the silver hoop piercing her navel rattled as the wind caught it. She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to recite handsigns in her mind.

Towering over his sister, Kita held in a laugh at how positively corpse like she looked lying on the ground. Her pale skin was unnatural in a village like Suna.
"Tired?" he looked down at her, holding a hand out to her.

"Just a little....." She mumbled, quite enjoying the warm rays bouncing off her face. She knew when Kita was towering over her as it suddenly became quite cold
"You're shading me; move it!" Her quiet voice was tinted with steel and she knew that Kita had immediately obeyed her when the warmth from the sun kissed her skin once again

"Im heading off now....you coming?" Kita asked her, knowing that if she said yes, he'd be left with his least favourite task of carrying her home. It astounded him that for someone so small and slender, she could weigh so much. Her silence told him that she was staying; Kita turned his back and began walking down the street
"see ya then," he waved his hand before putting it in his back pocket and striding down the street casually

[Kira]

Akiyo snapped out of her dazed state at the sound of two voices. She hissed slightly and scowled. What astounded her the most was that, out of the many times she relied on her instinct over thinking to guide her home, this was the first time she’d ever made a wrong turn.

She knew that the upcoming two would most likely be Suna villagers too, and would cause to no harm her, yet it was a built-in instinct for her to rely on only herself and trust no one. Once again, she preferred isolation over having to cross the paths of the other two, but she wandered what choice she had other than to turn around and go back, but she had no clue when she made the wrong turn in the first place. She did, however, know how to leave these streets to get back to the right street that would guide her back to her favorite place—her home.

Her glare grew sharper as she reminded herself to pay more attention to where she was going next time. She criticized herself for allowing her instincts to be clouded by idiotic thoughts and thoughtless walking.

As she arrived closer to the other two, she could make out the two voices. One was a male, the other was a female, but she didn’t bother trying to hear what they were saying. It didn’t matter to her, and she found busybodies a nuisance.

Her thoughts were cut through again, when she heard a guy approaching the area she was at, and because of the sound, she couldn’t make out whether it was the male or female from the sound of the footsteps, depending on how heavy they were, based on the heaviness made by the footsteps. Once again, she scowled at how inconvenient the sand was right now.

Sure, she loved how the tiny, light-colored grains felt against her skin, but she would’ve also loved to know more about the upcoming stranger.

She shook out all the useless thoughts taking up space in her head that could’ve been used for evaluating her situation. Perhaps she was over-evaluating what could’ve been a situation where she just silently passed the other, but in her mind, everything could be turned into a dangerous event one way or another.

She walked a brisk pace, making sure her footsteps were as silent as they could be in the sinking sand and approached the direction of the up-coming stranger.

Her breath nearly caught in her throat as she got a far away look at the two she saw. The guy looked just like Kita, the Kita she remembered slightly and hunted for.

She knew little about her relationship with him, and even less about whether it had to do with her mysterious, blurry past. All she knew was that the face brought back the memory of an orphanage and bitter feelings and the name 'Kita.' It brought back the memory of how she had to go through so many events in the orphanage that turned her into a cruel, hate-filled girl at her age, when she could’ve been what people defined as “normal.”

The only conclusion that came to mind was that perhaps he could’ve taken her from the orphanage, but just chose not to.
Either way, she only remembered that as a child, she’d sworn to have her revenge on a boy named Kita, and looked exactly like the guy approaching her direction.

As for extra bad timing, her conscience decided to come back 10x stronger than usual, saying that she should just pass him and leave behind her reasons for wanting revenge. They felt a bit irrational, especially since she couldn’t even remember her reason, when it could’ve been for a good reason, or a child-ish grudge that could easily be forgiven for, now that she thought of herself as more mature.

She still wasn’t positive who the approaching man was, but what else struck her as weird was that something in her brain seemed to scream out that she knew the other girl who was lying in the sand.

It struck her as odd that two strangers seemed familiar to her—or at least that’s what her brain said—when her present day memories held no recollection of the two she saw before her.

She thought back and thought that maybe the girl was from her blurry past. She was positive that even if they did recognize her, they would pretend she was just another stranger; they wouldn’t want anyone to know that she—someone who felt disliked by many—had any connection with them, for fear that if others found out, they would start to think badly of them, too.
Everything from her looks to her personality and to the rumors that went around about her made people want to stay away from her or deny any possible connections they had to her.

The rumors included how she would mercilessly kill people who annoyed her, which she thought was perfectly ridiculous, because there were too many people to count that annoyed her, yet, they were still alive to this very day.

Already, society judged most by appearances, and at first glance, she was definitely abnormal, tempting people even more to stay away from her. It was fine already for Akiyo, because her attempts at isolation easier to accomplish.
No one wanted to approach a young girl wearing mostly dark colors that contrasted against her pale skin with a sour look on her face.

On the other hand, when she was in her first personality phase, there was a friendly aura emanating from her, that made approaching her much easier, especially since there would be an inviting grin plastered to her face, but still, her personality changes were unpredictable and if you were hanging out with her first personality, and she accidentally bumped her head, you would be tempted to back away and leave, just from the new look on her face that said, ‘Get away from me. I hate you all.’

Because no one knew that the secret to her personality changes was a hit on the head, the changes were unpredictable.
She heard the man’s footsteps get close to her, and once again relying on instincts, she stepped out of her protective shadows to glance at the upcoming guy, although in her case, every glance or look she focused at others was a glare. Her arms were crossed around her chest, in case a fight were really to take place, she’d be partially ready.
Her normal defensive position was just her legs a bit more apart than usual for balance, her arms held in loose fists across her chest, while the other arm was in a tighter fist at her side, ready to take any chance she got to strike, and slightly crouched for faster movements.

Despite the fact that her concentration was focused mostly on the approaching man, she never forgot about the other girl. What she didn’t bother to think about was what her appearances had in common with the other two.

The guy also had two different colored set of eyes, and the girl also had pale skin, despite the scorching Suna sun. The two also wore dark clothes, although it wasn’t much to think about, because, now-a-days, it was getting more common for the villagers to wear darker clothes.

Her eyes stayed a familiar glare. It seemed that the situation was just where a highly defensive girl turned at a corner, only to notice the pair and become interested, but defensive when she noticed one of them heading towards her.

The truth was much deeper than that, though—her instincts were wrong for once, making her get slightly loss, only to have her attention diverted to a pair when she noticed her mistake and something in her brain clicked, making her curious, but defensive because of instinct, and that the man seemed to look too much like the man she was hunting for.

Part of her wanted to keep her past blurry, worried that her past might not be the reason she was so...different, but perhaps a mental issue. She didn’t want to find out that her past was great, but it was just that she was stupid and made her life go down the drain, or became retarded. She wanted to keep on believing that she was sane and as happy as she could be. Akiyo was positive that if what she worried about was the truth, than she would lose what she thought was her sanity, and ruin what was left of her shredded up life.

The other part of her was just so curious about what her past was like. She wanted to be able to savor the fact that she would know how her past was, instead of always remembering only blurry images and wondering what happened to make her the way she was now. She wanted to know why sometimes she felt as if she just wanted to curl up and cry her heart out, because it seemed to ache for people she could only dream of. She wondered if she were really sane for having such various feelings, and hearing rumors that she acted nice to many, just so she could hurt them, when she had no memories of ever purposely befriending anyone for such reasons, but rather they attempted to befriend her.

Deep down, Akiyo knew that the only thing she yearned for, other than protecting her home, was to know about her past. Perhaps, it would be the answer to many questions she fought hard to ignore, like, why her family abandoned her, why her past was so blurred, why she couldn’t be like the person that were defined as “normal.”
Then again, it could be that there was absolutely no chance that the pair knew her, or had any idea of her, or her past.
It also occurred to her that maybe it was the fact that the pair reminded her of people in her past that brought back her selfish wanting of intelligence over the old events.
She’d felt the familiar longing of the knowledge before, so perhaps it was if she saw people that reminded her of it that triggered the want, that she wished she could ignore easily.
At times, it made her wonder if she could just forget all these wants that filled her daily and become “normal.” She wondered, could she be happy with friends, would it make her forget all the feelings that made her weak, and most of all, would she be fully happy, even if her past would remain blurred and allow her feelings to be known by others.

Quickly, she shook away all feelings and buried them under her cold exterior again. Her body seemed like an empty shell, once again. The seconds it took for her to feel her selfish desires and get rid of them again, felt like years to her, while it only made the guy a few steps closer to where she zoned out a bit. Her concentration had wavered, but now, it was focused on the pair before her, again.

[Ikara]

[omg im so sorry i completely forgot about this thread. i've just had so much to do lately >.>]


Lying motionless, resting on the warm grains of sand. Ikara had always found this a comfort; the one place she felt truly relaxed.
She rolled over onto her stomach, resting her chin on her arms and watched her brother walk away.
She had to admit she had been wrong about him.
Once upon a time, she'd never have given him the time of day because of what he'd tried to do to her. But they were equally to blame for the sibling rivalry that had simply gotten out of hand.
She watched him walk cooly back to the village, occassionally brushing a hand through his blond hair. His skin had gotten slightly darker in the sun; Ikara often wondered what it was that made her skin stay so pale.
Perhaps her mother had been part albino and she simply had no skin pigment for which to color.

As her eyes trailed over the horizon, Ikara took a few minutes to try and re-focus her injured right eye by closing her left eye. The vision was still shadowy but at least she was able to now pick out objects rather than complete darkness.
It was when she opened her other eye she noticed her. A shinobi in the distance seemingly spying on her brother and herself.
Ikara recognized her somewhat; she couldn't make out her face but she knew her from somewhere.

And the memories this vague recognition brought back were nothing good. This girl was trouble and Kita was her target.

"KITA LOOK OUT!" Ikara scrambled to her feet, calling to her brother. She leapt into the air and hurled 4 kunai in the direction of the kunoichi, each of them landing in a perfect square surrounding her.



Kita whistled to himself as he walked along, clasping his hands behind his head.
He was completely open to attack right now but the hostile element of the village had disipated when Gaara-kun had come into power. It was almost as if people were afraid to fight out of fear of what he would do to punish them.
Most people hadn't taken the time to get to know the Kazekage; if they had, they would have known he was a rather gentle and fair soul now, a complete tangent to the murderous monster he was long ago.

The village was pretty quiet at the moment and the only person who was in visible sight at the present time was a young female ninja.
Kita looked at her curiously and noticed that she looked around the same age as his sister.
So caught up in his own affairs, he didn't pay closer attention to the girl until he heard an alarming call from behind.

KITA LOOK OUT

Kita spun on his heels to find his sister hurling a quad of kunai in his direction.
No.
They weren't aimed at him. They were aimed at the other girl.

Kita was confused. Ikara wasn't like that anymore. She had stopped taunting and goading others into battle a long time ago. She didn't even like to fight anymore.
Surely that wasn't just a charade.
A doubt played on Kita's mind as he recalled the time Ikara had conned him into battling Haruka, only to give herself an easier shot and bumping him off.
But surely she couldn't keep the same facade up for several months. She wasn't that good. He'd kept his eye on her at all times and she hadn't slipped up once.

Kita shook his head. There was something about this girl. Ikara knew something that he didn't.
He stared at the other girl as the kunai honed in on her. Why couldn't he remember her?
He dropped to the ground as the kunai hit, avoiding the impact of the sand clouds that formed in their wake.

[Kira]

((OOC: XD It's okay, just as long as you replied.))

Akiyo had decided not to waste energy by moving when she saw the four kunai hurled at her. She was positive from the way they were thrown that they would not hit her.
That and the fact that the whole time, her hand had been near the weapon pouch strapped securely at her thigh, ready to pull out any weapon to dodge the kunai, if her thought was wrong.

Part of her was confused, although no traces of it showed on her face. Surely, she had done nothing wrong by standing there, thinking, unless now it was suspicious to be seen in public thinking.

With her focus now on the other girl, she felt a strange, but slight stab of recognition. Something told her that she knew this girl, even if she couldn't remember her name, or where they met. But the thing that troubled her the most was that this girl seemed to have the same face as her's, with the exception of her wounded right eye.

Perhaps she was attacked because of the fact that she seemed to be spying on them, since she was looking in there direction while her mind wondered to feelings she had no use or liking for.

There was also the fact that by instinct and the fact that a complete stranger was heading her direction, that her hand wondered near her weapons-- hidden or not-- while she was thinking.

She stepped out of the cloud of sand to get a perfect view, although throat itched to be allowed to cough, she refused the rising need, out of fear that in the few second she closed her eyes to cough, she would be attacked.

Originally, she had opened her mouth to say she had no intention of harming anyone and was simply thinking, but she snapped her mouth shut. She wouldn't explain herself to the two people that she seemed and most of all, she refused to defend herself from what people thought of her anymore.

From her childhood to present day, she had changed. The happy child she once was disappeared, replaced by a dark, distant girl. Perhaps she would've cared about what people thought of her back then, but after years of isolation and attempts to change, she knew that she should love herself for who she was.
She was still learning to love herself, although she was able to accept herself the way she was.
Because of those days alone, except for the provided company of her shadows and thoughts, she learned to find peace within the darkness that usually surrounded her bedroom. In sunlight, however her peace seemed to leave her.
Outside during broad daylight, the only way she could find peace was by closing her eyes. Then, she would see the darkness that she loved to have engulf her. Perhaps it didn’t make sense why she stayed in Suna if she hated sunlight, but it was because her first personality loved the sunlight and showed off her trait of being able to stay pale after hours and hours in the sun. That, and the fact that her “precious Gaara-sama” lived here. The first personality, however, just simply loved her home village. It was her birthplace and she loved it here too much to move, even if she wasn’t a big fan of the sunlight.

With her peace and self acceptance, she also learned to ignore what was said about her. There was simply too many people in the world for her to have to go around and please, if she worried about gossip and rumors.
Besides, she learned that society judged most people by looks and their past. Although few people, including herself, knew about her past, she could try to imagine what went through people's thoughts when a seemingly cold personalitied girl wearing dark clothes, even though it was hot in Suna, with pale skin, despite the always shining sun, and two different colored sets of eyes walked past them.

No, there was no way she would change herself to be accepted. Not even for the small part of her heart that always cried out for acceptance and longing to be liked, or possibly even loved, by others. She learned to ignore that part of her heart, or so she thought.

She wondered if her face softened while another rush of distracting thoughts found their way into her brain, but with her sanity brought back, she felt the same old, familiar glare still plastered on her face. She also wondered if her face got stuck that way from glaring so much.

With more emotional effort, than physical, she pushed all the thoughts to the back of her head, focusing, once again, on the possible, upcoming fight.

She slid one hand quickly and swiftly into her weapon pouch and pulled out a kunai, sliding it into the fold of the wrappings around her wrist, carefully, hiding her hand behind her back, the slightest bit, as to not arise any suspicion. If it resorted to violence, she would have a weapon in handy if her instinct to react was slower than the other two's.

Her chances of victory were less than half, since it was two against one, and there was a high chance that these two were strong. Somewhere along the line, her expression was was set into a slight grimace and her glare darkened.

It was times like these that she hated. Sayings went around about her and her mischievous ways as a child-- although she remembered little about her childhood-- caught up to present day and people made judgments about her, when they knew nothing about the present-day, more calm version of her. It could've also been her first personality causing mischief while the second wasn't in control, but it was nothing she remembered now.
It was those suspicions that made others cautious around her, as if scared that she would all out attack them.

Truthfully, most of her change was due to Gaara becoming Kazekage. She knew most information about her would get relayed to the Kazekage, including the rumors about her, and because of her "slight" crush on him, she wanted to make a good impression, although it was unlikely.

All he would most likely know her for, was someone who went on many missions, and possibly someone he wouldn't want to ever meet unless necessary.

It was things like these that hurt her the most, but she comforted herself by this one thought:

Who am I kidding? There's no way anyone can ever like me anyways, so why try anymore?

Despite her icy exterior, her interior was like one of a sensitive child. Each bad comment made a wound on her fragile heart. Each glare sent at her made her feel insignificant to everyone.
Half of her was a confident person, passionate about fighting to use as a getaway from the comments that made her heart hurt. The second half was fragile like glass. She had low confidence, longed to be liked, and rough treatment could tear her sanity apart. Mostly, it was the half of her that loved to fight that overpowered the sensitive side.

It was from those two feelings that contributed to the development of her split personality. The fighter side contributing to her darker second personality and the sensitive side contributing to her happier first personality.

The only thing she would've wished for was, most likely, a way to get rid of every emotion she has. If she had no emotions, then the glares and rumors wouldn't hurt her, she could stay cold for the rest of her life, and curiosity would never get the better of her ever again.

She, like everyone else, longed to be liked and to have at least one person accept her, although she learned not to let feelings show on her face. Even though those feelings were usually smothered under her image of a single flame of isolation and independence, the feelings still popped up once in a while.
Despite that, she knew longing for friendship was a weakness. Her kunoichi way was to show no weakness and fight, loyally, for her village. Other than that, nothing else mattered. Simply, her way was, fight, fight, and fight.

As more thoughts filled her head, with a final effort, Akiyo shoved every thought to the back of her mind. She could have the first personality feel them later, since the first personality was good for at least getting rid of these feelings.

It was the way they worked. The second personality was good at fighting, but felt distracting emotions, so with effort those emotions would be pushed to the back of her mind. Then, later on, her first personality would take over and be upset because of these thoughts at first, but due to her carefree ways, she would easily rid herself of the despised thoughts. After this, the emotion was never felt ever again. This process was like a way for her to get stronger. At times, Akiyo wondered that if this process repeated enough times, does that mean eventually, she'll be rid of emotions? It was true that every single time this process was repeated, she felt a bit more rid of emotions every time.

Letting out a breath of air, she was glad to be finally rid of distractions. She refocused her concentration on the impending battle. With the same icy expression, she held her hands near the weapons near her thigh. Her legs were set slightly apart for easier movement and she felt ready. Her chakra was mostly focused in her arms and legs.

If the two wanted a fight, that's what she would give them, but if they were willing to leave her alone, she would pass by like a ghost. In her point of view, they started the fight by sending kunai in her direction while she was minding her own business.
The kunai were like a sign that they wanted a fight, and she was letting them make the first move, other than the flying kunai.
She had no clue what was so threatening about her thinking, but she would defend herself. Maybe they knew her in her oh-so blurry past, but she'd changed and needed no more ties to friendship nor family ties.

She wasn't sure if they were family, but if they were, she wanted to know why it was like they'd abandoned her. If they were past friend or enemies, she felt now was the right time to end those unneeded ties.

There were many questions she wanted to ask them, but each while piling up was more of a distraction to her. Hoping to go back into focus, she meant to lightly smack herself on the head, but she forgot about the concentrated chakra in her arm.

The smack that was meant to be light and gentle was harder than she expected and sent her flying off her feet.
She landed in the sand, coughing slightly from the dust and wincing from the impact of her arm to her head and her body to the ground.

However, the impact to her head sent a reaction into her head. Like always, any impact to her head was the trigger to her personality changes. The glaring girl became the other happier girl.

She sat up, looking different in ways. The glare was gone, like it’d never been on her face. Instead, her eyes were set at an innocent expression. She looked around her and pouted like she would’ve if she were still in an academy.

In mere second, the pout disappeared and it was replaced by a look that told you she was slightly scared. From her background, she drew a conclusion. If there were two other shinobi who were not fighting, that obviously meant they were not enemies. The four kunai in a square shape, near her, and the fact that the two were staring at her, meant that they were her enemies.

For far, she was outnumbered and hadn’t a single clue what was going on, meaning she was a pretty big disadvantage.

She pushed herself off the dusty ground and dusted herself off, but when she looked up, the innocent, yet fearful expression on her face made it seem like she was scared of the two hurting her.
It was enough to fool anyone, since the expression on her face was genuine, and obviously, the first personality wasn’t as good a fighter as the second.

((OOC: >_< Sorry, Ikara, I got really carried away again!))

[Ikara]

[dont apologise for good RPing i like long posts better!
Im working on reply just now. I'll post it up later ]

[Ikara]

Ikara landed gracefully on her feet with a thump; a small dust cloud billowing upon the impact. She knelt down, running a hand across the ground, feeling for vibrations of an underground water supply. She knew there was a spring under Suna somewhere as she’d used it in previous battles. But it had been so long since she’d needed it, she was unsure if it would still be running in the same place; the geography may have shifted slightly causing the water to take a new route.
She was certain it still existed somewhere as the people of Suna were still able to survive; if the village had lost it’s water supply, Gaara would have surely evacuated everyone in order to survive the drought.

She smiled as a bead of water trickled to the surface; at least now she was able to defend herself if a battle was to commence.
Her stamina was still not 100% but this girl not only didn’t seem particularly strong, she also was outnumbered.

Ikara stood back up and tried to contain a small laugh as the girl suddenly sent herself flying. Ikara’s worries about the battle dispersed; the girl was clearly a klutz who stood no chance.
She stepped forward, ready to rejoin her brother in the confrontation.
A hand rested on her shoulder before she could go any further.

The owner didn’t even have to make a sound for Ikara to know who it was.
“Yes, Kazekage-sempai?”
She turned to face him; her heart skipped a beat briefly as she stared into his cold green eyes. She recomposed herself before he noticed and bowed to her superior.
[/colour]


“I thought you had ceased this behaviour……” Gaara sighed, gesturing over to the spot where the 4 kunai had landed
“I thought you had changed. You were no longer bullying weaker ninja; you were making a better life for yourself….”

Gaara rarely liked to admit he was wrong and this was once situation where he was adamant he wasn’t going to.
Ikara had made so much progress these past few months. She’d rebuilt her life from scratch and become a new person.
She’d overcome all the anxieties she’d suffered as a child that had made her turn out the way she had.
He was sure she’d become a better person and that perhaps one day, she could perhaps succeed him as ruler of Suna.
She had the knowledge and the drive to do it. It was just finding a way to re-channel that bad temper of hers.



Ikara gasped at the accusation thrown at her.
“But…Gaara! I wasn’t!” She pleaded,
“I know her from somewhere; I can’t recall where at this moment but all I know is she’s a threat to my brother! I was defending him after all he’s done for me! You have to believe me!”

Once upon a time, Ikara would have scolded herself for pleading her case in such a way. She once saw it as desperation and would never lower herself to such a state.
But she was desperate not to lose the trust and respect of Gaara.
Aside from her brother, he was the only one who hadn’t given up on her.



Gaara sighed. He couldn’t be 100% sure whether to believe her or not but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“I believe you” He rested a hand on her arm, trying to comfort her in someway.
“But if this is really Kita’s problem, then I think it would be in your best interests to leave with me and let him handle it. You are in no fit state for a fight right now,”

He pulled at her arm, his hand trailing down her arm to clutch her fingers. He tried to drag her away but her feet remained fixed to the ground, watching the girl she’d attacked.
Gaara looked over in the girls direction and silently gasped as he looked at her face.
Impossible.

Gaara was unsure of what to make of the situation. He had no idea who the girl was but the fact she was near enough identical to the fragile young woman standing beside him surely meant bad news and she was in no fit state to handle anything like that right now.
He pulled at her arm harder
“This is an order; you’ll leave now!” He said with a more authorative tone.




Gaara had been sly and played on one of Ikara’s few weaknesses; she couldn’t disobey an order from Gaara; she respected him far too much.
Begrudgingly, she followed him; her hand trembling slightly as he clutched her fingers. She looked over her shoulder at the girl who was in the process of standing back up.
If she had been on the ground that long, there was no chance she had spotted Gaara and thus they could leave in peace without the girl running crying about her behaviour.
She felt guilty leaving Kita but knew he was capable of handling himself; still, this provided no comfort in trying to piece together her memories of the girl



Kita looked over his shoulder as Ikara was lead away by Gaara.
He was a little annoyed that he’d been left to deal with this on his own but at the same time, thankful that Gaara had stepped in and protected his sister from further harm.

Withdrawing a kunai from his back pocket, Kita waited anxiously as the girl stood back up.
The girl looked directly at him and immediately, Kita threw the kunai to the ground.
There was no need for it. She meant him no harm.
She was simply a terrified young girl who had been the victim of a random relapse of his sisters.
But staring into those eyes, those binary eyes; he could see the fear she was feeling.

“Wait a minute….”
Kita frowned. Had he just said binary eyes? That was a trait unique to his clan.
No other shinobi had this trait except the Hyukari clan of Kirigakure.

He stared at her, confused by the situation.
It had been a mistake to let his guard down.
He knelt back down, his eyes permanently fixated on her, and picked up the kunai he had just discarded.
He remained in the crouched position; one hand clutching the kunai, ready to attack; the other flat on the ground, discretely searching for a water source.

“Who the hell are you?” He hissed

[Kira]

Too confused to be squealing over the fact that she just saw Gaara, Akiyo struggled to keep from collapsing from the sudden flurry of events and the few memories that returned in her mind.

That face....it was exactly like her own face. The resemblance was undeniable.

She took a deep breath, but at the sight of the kunai, she winced the slightest bit.

As if it was another instinct to trigger the switch the the split personality, Akiyo brought up her arm and slapped herself on the back of the head.
Although it seemed like a light tap, the chakra released from her fingers was enough.
She closed her eyes, and the once innocent expression was once again replaced by the face of the icy girl.

Still, the memory that the other girl's face and words sent a memory through her head.
This time, it was a clear image, though. She remembered, the orphanage where she'd stayed with the one relative she knew. Her own younger twin...the one who went by the name Ikara and the one who always seemed to hate her. How she hated Kita for ditching her, or so she thought.

She re-opened her eyes and scowled the lightest bit. It turns out she was right. She didn't find a need to hold any grudge against Kita anymore. what was done was the past and back then, she was simply a naive child who thought revenge was something fun.

Still, she couldn't help but to feel guilty. Somehow, she was able to remember the events that recently happened, even though her first personality was in control.
Although the pieces still didn't fit together perfectly, she knew she just got one of her probable siblings in trouble.

She ripped the kunai hidden in her bandages out and shoved the weapon back into it's original spot, roughly. The bandages on her right arm hung loosely around her hands.

She didn't need the weapon, but she had more important things to attend to right now, such as explaining to the Kazekage that he was wrong. The girl didn't attack her for no reason, but rather her actions just seemed threatening.

Even if she still wasn't positive if the girl was really her sibling from her memory, she DID know that either way, she had to take some sort of responsibility and get the girl out of the situation.

First, though, she had to make sure that Kita wouldn't suddenly attack her.

Lowering her dignity and pride, she turned to face him with the same emotionless look on her face and snapped, "I could say the same to you, but call be Hyu-....Akiyo..."

She chose purposely not to tell him her surname...it would only cause more trouble while she was in a rush like this.

Although she would've loved to fight, she instead, tried to think of a compromise. He probably wanted an explanation that she could not provide, but she hoped that when she pulled away the kunai, he would've seen that as a sign of truce.

Truthfully, she wanted answers, herself, but she wouldn't be able to get any, if she couldn't catch up to the girl that reminded her of Ikara.

She inaudibly sighed, knowing that this was more than she'd bargained for in one day. A bit of her ever regretted making that wrong turn and stopping to think, instead of just turning on her heel and walking away.

Finally, she decided to explain, in a less harsh tone. "I'll explain this to you quickly. I don't know all the details, but your friend seems to remember me. All I know is that I can barely remember anything about my past, but your friend seems to have brought back some old memories again."

She paused a second, remembering the face of her used-to-be-beloved younger twin.

A slightly pained looked crossed her face, before it was replaced with her old look of distrust and iciness. She went on again.

"All I remember is the face of my younger twin, and how I wanted revenge on someone named Kita. Of course, by now, I realize how foolish I was for wanting revenge for such a childish reason, so he would have nothing to worry about...wherever he is."

She paused again, wondering why she was telling so much to a mere stranger. Then, she decided it was for the sake of meeting the one who could possibly bring back all her lost memories. It was a good plan, with the exception of one thing.
She wasn't positive if she really wanted to find out so much.

So far, the things she did remember, weren't very pleasant. All she remembered was that her very own relative hated her, and that she was an extremely naive child, who thought of revenge as a disturbingly good thing.
Still, she felt that she was at a disadvantage, knowing nothing about her past, which was pretty much the only reason why she still cared to know more.

Deciding to go on a bit more, she explained. "I think your friend might know more about my past, than I do, so first, I need to explain to Kazekage-sama that she did nothing wrong, and then I need to ask her about it, without her attacking me."

Considering how he must've felt about what she said, she added, "You don't have to believe me...but either way...do you want to come with me to explain? It seems she doesn't want to lose Kazekage-sama's trust, and I don't want to be the cause of it... "

She felt so unlike herself today, at this moment, but she hoped that the change wasn't permanent, and a very small part of her hoped to find a friend, at the end of this situation. True, she'd been lonely for years, and it wouldn't affect her much if she really didn't find a friend, but she did wonder if she would be condemned to isolation for the rest of her life.


((OOC: Sorry, I think this was my worst post yet, but I was in a slight rush to get it done, so if you don't like it, then tell me and I'll rewrite it.
And sorry if the ending suffixes are wrong, but I'm not exactly a "master" at them.... >_< ))

[Ikara]

Kita nodded along as the girl hastily gave him an explanation, very little of which he was taking in.
He had other, more pressing matters on his mind.
Why on earth had Ikara attacked this girl in the first place? It was completely out of character for her nowadays.
In a moment of denseness, Kita struggled to understand who this ‘friend’ was that the girl kept mentioning.
Putting a hand on his forehead thoughtfully, he contemplated the situation.
His friend was in trouble with the Kazekage……
Feeling extremely stupid as the answer came to him, Kita smiled gently.
“Friend? Oh no you misunderstand, that is my baby sister!”
He laughed.
He silenced again as he replayed the girls words in his mind for any significance of the situation.
” I wanted revenge on someone named Kita”[/color]


Wait a minute…..

“Why would you want revenge on Kita?” He played it coolly so as not to stir up any more conflict. If he gave away his true identity at this point, there was a chance things could turn uglier and whilst he could likely easily defeat her being twice her size and likely higher ranking than she was, he wasn’t in the mood for avoidable conflict at this time.

Until he got an answer, there was no way he was letting her anywhere near Ikara or Gaara.


“It seems your ‘friend’ has some issues to raise with us…” Gaara mused, listening intently to the conversation.
His heightened senses caused by Shukaku were one of the many benefits he had retained after his extraction.
Gaara felt that there might be some remuneration if he was to allow Ikara to stay and witness the outcome.
There were certain events in her past that she had clearly blocked out of her memories and he knew that either Kita had suffered some selective amnesia or he was keeping it from her.
Ikara could have accessed the information regarding her past at any point given it was stored on record in his office which Ikara spent much of her time in but he felt it would be a lot better this way; less impersonal and less likely to send her off the rails.
He turned and looked at the young girl.
She was fidgeting coyly and still clutching his hand tightly.
Whilst he liked having a less angst-ridden and more temperamental Ikara around, he felt it a tad too quiet not to have her fiery temper and outbursts to liven up the place; especially when Kankuro was in the room.



“Um……Should we go over?” Ikara asked.
She didn’t want to have to deal with this problem but she had ran from things all her life and it was now the time to face up to her past.
She had set the record straight with many other things so it was just the matter of her childhood she had yet to clear up.

Blushing as she realised she was still clutching Gaara’s cold hand, she quickly let go of it and rushed towards Kita, the sand dunes slowing her running considerably.
As she reached him, she clutched his arm and nestled herself against him, seeking protection from whatever harsh truths she may be about to hear.

With pseudo-confidence, she stared the other girl down, blanking the fact it was like facing off against a mirror.



Kita wrapped his arm protectively around his sister, pulling her in close to him.
Petting the top of her head, he knelt down to her level and whispered in her ear
“It’s gonna be ok, right?” smiling at her reassuringly.
He had never known his sister to be like this but in a situation such as this, he was highly doubtful of how well he could keep his composure.


[Hehe, again, sorry it took so long >///< just been uberly busy!]

[Kira]

Akiyo watched everything that was happening before her. When she heard what Kita had said, she felt like scoffing and walking off, conceitedly. She did say that she could barely remember her past, didn't she?
Although she did remember why she had wanted revenge, she was too ashamed of her reason to say it aloud.

As she thought back, she realized how pathetic the reason was. Simply because he ditched her? It was a pathetic reason. Even at a young age, she'd predicted a lonely future. There should've been no reason she felt mad at him leaving her at the orphanage.
Maybe it was that she wanted to keep her beloved younger twin from being lonely? No....she was never that kind. Most likely, it was for her own selfish reasons. That, and including the fact that the girl had hated her, no matter what.

When she looked back at the fragment of her past, she labeled herself as a selfish brat,thinking the world was her's. It sickened her to look back.

Often, Akiyo considered everyday of her life to be the worse, but she had to admit, this one topped it all.

Too ashamed of the truth, she lied, "I told you I didn't remember my past, didn't I?" She bit her tongue to avoid spitting out insults, knowing that this was not the time to be a brat...especially since she was outnumbered.

She felt that girl come back, who she found out was Kita's sister, and stare her down. She sent back an icy glare, although it wasn't the smartest thing to do. First, because she could be deemed as threatening. Second, it seemed hard to glare at someone with her face.

From their expressions, Akiyo concluded that they wanted to be in the situation almost as much as she wanted to be. Mostly, she saw it easier to run way and leave Suna, but being her, fist, she loved Suna, one of the few things she loved. Second, she couldn't stand if she had to leave her only home. Third, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself for being a coward, if she ran away.

[Ikara]

Kita frowned at the girls cheeky attitude.
It was a very simple question that only required an ‘I don’t know’ answer.

“Now, now, tetchy aren’t we?” He removed his arm from around Ikara’s shoulder and placed it on his hip, walking towards the girl and pressing his index finger against her forehead.
He forced her head upwards to look directly at him.
He stared into her eyes; those cold, mismatched eyes.
There was no doubt about it. She was related to him and Ikara.
Not only did she have the trademark eyes and a face almost identical to his sisters, but she had the same fiery and cantankerous personality.

Kita let out a sigh and took a step back, brushing his blonde hair out his eyes. He whipped out his cellphone and placed it to his ear; he was going to get answers if it was the last thing he did.
“Miyuki……do me a favour and look up the files regarding myself and Ikara from the Suna Orphanage records…..Gaara has given me permission” He shot a look of anticipated approval at Gaara, who simply nodded.
He snapped the phone shut and put it back in the back pocket of his black combats.




Ikara felt her blood begin to boil with that old feeling of anger and antipathy as she met the cold icy stare glaring back at her.
She clenched a fist and gritted her teeth,
As Kita stepped aside to make a phone call, she saw her chance to get even.
It had been a long, long time since she had had a decent battle and the adrenaline was pumping inside her.
Whilst her brothers back was turned, she made a swing for the other girl, sending a punch in her direction, 3 kunai gripped between each finger.
As her hand cut the air just a few inches away from the girls face, it was swallowed up by a warm sandy barrier.
Ikara turned to glare at Gaara, snarling through gritted teeth.
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!” she bellowed; it was the first time she had ever raised her voice to the Kazekage.
She was physically shaking with frustration.
Letting out a melodramatic grunt, Ikara stormed off towards the village, ignoring everyone.




Gaara simply shook his head at Ikara’s tirade. He was used to her temper-tantrums by now. He had witnessed too many of them in the past to be shocked by them. Nothing surprised him about her anymore.
He cared for her deeply but he knew that sometimes, she needed some reminding that she wasn’t the centre of attention and that there were consequences to her actions.

He allowed Kita to give Miyuki orders as he knew, at the end of the day, they wouldn’t make any difference.
They would only reveal the truth which by now, he was convinced the relevant party members had worked out on their own


Ikara slammed her room door shut, the walls of the apartment shaking under the force.
She threw herself onto her bed, burying her face into the soft pillow.
Counting silently to 10, she calmed herself back down.
A few tears formed in her eyes as she tried her best to remember.
What was missing from her past? What was so big that it had to be hidden from her?
All her life she had only ever remembered one thing; she grew up in an orphanage alone until she discovered a few years later her brother actually resided there too and she hated him for abandoning her. But now that he had been there for her in her time of need, she loved him more than anyone and would die for him.

Rolling onto her back, Ikara stared at the ceiling, trying to make sense of things.
The only conclusion she could draw was that she was sleeping and that she’d wake up soon and everything would be back to normal.
She had simply fallen asleep after training and her overactive brain and formulated this tale of missing chapters in her life.

[Kira]

Akiyo nearly snapped when the guy had walked over to her, mostly it was the fact that he'd even had the nerve to touch her, even if it was on the forehead.

To her, it felt like she was a lowly specimen being examined under a microscope. It made her feels likes bugs were crawling underneath her skin. She was tempted to go to the brink of insanity and rip the skin off her bones. As soon as the thought passed through her head, she asked herself, "I've really gone to the brink of insanity, haven't I?"

Another possibility formed in her head that perhaps, she would get sent to an asylum for the insane and there, she could live in a cold, dark room, in peace.

It surprised her when the guy flipped open a phone to talk to someone, but the main words that struck her were the words about their past files. The very thought made her wonder if it was too late to run away. Perhaps knowing her past wasn't as important as she always thought.

Right after she considered being a coward, she noticed a fist and two kunai coming in her direction. She stayed still, planning on deriving some facts from how hard the other girl could punch and throw. It was worth the wounds. Unfortunately, an older sibling's instinct remained. Could she really risk the chance of striking back at someone who could be related to her?

As if fate was on her side, suddenly sand moved up to dodge the attacks. She mentally thanked the Kazekage. Still, she nearly laughed at the fact that the other girl threw a tantrum over the fact that her glare was returned.
Wouldn't a glare be meant to be returned?

What amused her the most was when the girl blew up like a volcano and stomped off like a small child. She thought that someone that age should have the common sense not to act so immaturely. She hope that she would at least be able to keep a straight face, even if she was boiling underneath.

Suddenly, she crouched down and winced, covering her head with her hands. Another memory found its way into her brain.
She saw a blurry image of a small girl with shaded red hair and a blue eye and green eye, faking a laugh as she caught a ball. She gently tossed it back to a slightly older, brunette. The game of catch continued, but when no one was looking, she'd look at her mirror image, wondering what she'd done to be hated.

It was like she was glad that everyone was too blind or naive to notice anything wrong with her. It kept her safe from cruel criticisms and endless teasing. it was just like school, where you would be bullied would being "different."

The voices rang in the old room, and kids often befriended each other to fill in the painful hole caused my the departure of their beloved parents. Sure, the child Akiyo felt lonely at that age.
She had no parents after all. She didn't have someone who she felt she could trust. The one person she did want to get along with hated her.
It's why she acted happy, like nothing was wrong...just so she could fit in and fill that hole.
It never worked, resulting in who she was now. she couldn't be proud of who she was now, nor could she be ashamed.

Perhaps if she knew about her past, she could make a brighter future...would she want to, though? Wasn't she satisfied with the way her life was now? She'd never doubted it before.

[Ikara]

"Ikara!" Kita called after his sister, frustrated at her temper but at the same time, sympathising with her. She was already more screwed up in the head than any other teenager around her, she didn't need anything else coming along and tearing apart the normality she had managed to salvage.

He turned his back to the now crouching girl. Perhaps touching her forehead wasn't his smartest move, if the venomous daggers she drew at him were anything to go by.
Staring into those eyes was just like watching a movie of the first time he encountered his younger sister for the first time in a decade. The hatred pouring out in the forced back tears.

"I apologise for my sisters actions," He spoke solemly, not even looking down at the girl.
"She's a troubled child as you can see....i've tried to do my best by her but there's some wounds not even time nor care can heal...."

His eyes watched the horizon for sight of the pink-haired secretary to the Kazekage. He didn't expect Miyuki to arrive any time soon. As useful and kind as she was, she wasn't the most graceful of young woman and he could only envision the tower of files she had likely buried herself under trying to reach the top shelf without a ladder.


"Stupid....fuck.......bastarding.....go to hell...."
Ikara mumbled incoherently in her sleep. Wishing the days events would just disappear, just like everyone she'd ever cared about, Ikara slowly woke up.
She fluttered her eyelids as the sun beamed down on her, blinding her momentarily.
Sitting up right, she wandered over to the window barefoot, hands in pockets and slouched melancholically.
She gazed out at the city below her. Sun was setting in the horizon and the winds were picking up; it would soon be time for the monsoon of sandstorms to start up again as the summer season ended and the autumn began.

"Why's it always me?" She asked herself pitifully, resting her head in her hands.

Knock knock[/b]

The gentle pounding on the door felt like a thousand hammers thumping on Ikara's head as her migraine became worse.
"Who the fuck is it now....."

She cursed under her breath; she hated being disturbed, especially in a foul mood.

"What?" She snarled as she swung the door open, slamming it against the wall; a picture hanging on the wall came crashing down under the impact.

[/color]


"Your mood is refreshing as always Ikara...." A sardonic voice laughed derisively at her.

Teorau forced his way past his cousin, knocking her shoulder deliberatly.

Pushing his blond hair out his eyes, he placed his glasses atop his head so as to keep the bangs from blinding him.
"I got a text from Miyuki," he folded his arms,
"Well well well, little Ikara's happy family is about to be upheaved again," He snickered arrogantly.

He had nothing personal against Ikara. In fact, he was rather fond of his younger cousin. It was her brother that was the problem and Ikara was Kita's achilles heel. By taunting her, he caused his rival pain.


"Im in no mood for you today," She growled, walking slowly towards her cousin
"In fact...." She grabbed him by the throat, pressing a finger into his Adam's Apple,
"You might just want to watch your pretty little behind today...." She tossed him across the room and laughed as he hit the wall with a thud.

"See you Teorau...." She laughed once again, walking out the room and flicking a kunai behind her. The piercing scream as it stabbed Teorau through the shoulder filled Ikara with an ecstasy she hadn't felt in a long long time.

[Kira]

Akiyo stared at the boy, whom she, by now, thought must've been Kita. After all, wasn't it a hint when she heard the other girl yell Kita, earlier before?
Now along with that, she took note that the girl was the boy's sister.

When she heard his words, she couldn't help but to start thinking. She knew a bit of what it felt like to be troubled. Her troubles consisted mostly of how she often believed she was on the brink of insanity.
She never meant to cause so much trouble, but it seemed a bit too late for her to go now.

She sat down in the sand, no longer crouching. She brought her knees up to her chin and rested her arms on her knees as she stared vacantly at the yellow grains below her.

Before she realized, she mumbled, "I can't pity, nor give your sister sympathy...I abandoned those useless feelings long ago."

She was positive it was true. Silently, she allowed her eyes to scan over the uneven terrain. She looked at Kita and followed his gaze to the horizon and kept a steady, but solemn gaze on it.
She silently wondered if she was supposed to be waiting for something, but decided to voice her question.

Finally, without looking at him, she mumbled, "Tell your sister I said sorry. I didn't meant to ruin her day or bring back any old memories, that re-open those wounds."

as she watched the horizon, she allowed her mind to review everything that happened to her, so far.

[Ikara]

Kita’s ear pricked up as he heard a blood-wrenching scream in the horizon. Simply brushing it off as a newly promoted genin finally getting into some real ninja training, he turned to face the matter at hand which was now sitting on the ground.

Towering over, Kita felt almost intimidating to the girl; if he was going to succeed in understanding anything, he was going to have to make her see they were equals. Crouching down so they were at eyelevel with each other, he gazed into her eyes, trying to come off as approachable and non-threatening as possible.

”Don’t say things like that…..” He said empathetically.
“You’re far too young to have given up on the world,”

He felt saddened to see his sisters previous self reflected in this young girl. Perhaps if she allowed herself to open up, he would be able to help her too.
Of course it took a near-death experience to fix Ikara. No, not fix; she wasn’t broken before. She just needed guidance and care.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her the older brother treatment.
”Listen squirt,” he affectionately used his nickname for Ikara,
“Don’t you worry about Ikara; she’s strong minded like you. Nothing she can’t handle. Yes a few people will likely die in her PMS fury, but she’ll get over it.”

Kita brushed a stray golden hair out of his eyes, squinting as the sun beamed into them.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow appear behind him.
“Kazekage-sama….I don’t mean to be disrespectful but would mind giving us some privacy?”


“Alas, I think I’m a long way off of achieving the title of Kazekage; im pretending to be a genin after all….”

Kita cringed at his case of mistaken identity.
”Sorry Teorau…..” He turned to face his cousin, who incidentally also seemed to consider him a rival, and looked in horror at his condition.

Blood stained the black and grey striped jumper he wore, a fraying rip in the fabric revealing a bloody gash in his left shoulder, his right hand clutching it; he was clearly in pain but Teorau was far to proud to admit this.

His cold eyes stared down at Kita through the white bangs that covered the majority of his face

“I’ll forgive you since it’s an easy misperception to make(!)” Teorau retorted, his voice drenched with sarcasm.
He hated the man crouched before him with a passion but his hatred wasn’t so wrathful that he wished death upon him.
“I bring you a small warning…..” His voice was cold, but bitterly amused.
“My youngest cousin has slipped into old ways….” He removed his hand from the wound and showed the gaping slash to his cousin and his female companion.
“Whilst I do not consider you my favourite relative, it goes against my principles on killing family; to put it quite bluntly and in a language you will understand, your sister is majorly pissed off”

Kita’s eyes widened at this information. He turned to look at Akiyo; this girl was equally dangerous. If he got caught in the crossfire between their exchange, he could be in trouble

“Im guessing right now, you’re fearing for your own life rather than for the safety of these 2 young girls; how typical” Teorau spat, folding his arms and smirking, giggling silently to himself.