Late At Night.

[Hishime]

The young kunoichi laid silently. She enjoyed the cold, calm breeze that caressed her pale skin. Her black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. There were dark rings under her eyes, caused by a lack of sleep and smudged make-up. She was tired, very tired. But she didn’t want to go to sleep. Now that she was finally left alone, she had the time to think.

It was only at night, when Hishime could fully relax. When no one was around to stare at her. No one to spread any more damned rumors about her. There was no one to give her dirty looks, and no one who could pick on her. It always was a great relieve when the sun had set. It meant that she had survived another day. Another damned day in this fucked-up, forsaken world.

Hishime yawned loudly, closing her eyes for a short amount of time as she did so. She had to admit, it was way cooler at night in this place than in Konoha. But, it was quite logical. The village was in the dessert anyway.

The young girl sat up right, stretching lazily. She rubbed her tired eyes, smudging her old make-up even more. With her messy hair, ripped clothing, skinny figure, and sleepy expression, she really looked like a total wreck. But, Hishime didn’t care so much about her appearance tonight. She was just happy that she hadn’t had any horrible nightmares in the past two days. She felt like she was finally starting to get over the past, but only very, very slowly.

The shinobi dragged herself back on her feet, and once again, slowly stretched. She was just lazily taking her time, knowing that she was actually really letting her guard down at the moment. But she didn’t care, there was no one who would attack her anyway. At least not that she knew of.

Hishime took her time to enjoy the beautiful view. Not only would no regular villager spot her on top of the roofs, especially not at this time, but the breeze was also really refreshing and calming. Only sometimes, it was just to cold to be outside. But tonight seemed to be different, or maybe the temperature was only rising because the sun had already started to rise again.

[mayaku]

Kohaku dragged his feet through the sand as he walked, fighting to stay awake long enough to make it home. A yawn escaped his mouth. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. While it did fight back the sleep temporarily, his eyes were soon back to drooping. "Mom's going to kill me." he thought. Having just spent the entire night out training, he was almost certain his mother was in a state of panic at this very moment.

He stopped and leaned his head against the wooden paneling on the side of a house. He felt the sleep tugging at his eyelids. "Wake up!" he screamed in his head. He drew back away from the wall and banged his head against it. "Ow!" he muttered, massaging his now aching head. He looked at the wall, and an idea popped into his head. "Since I'm out training, I might as well work on controlling my chakra." he thought. He closed his eyes and concentrated his chakra in his feet. He stepped carefully up to the wall and placed one foot against it. One step at a time, he made his way up the wall. "Hey, I think I've got it!" he thought excitedly.

He reached the top only to find himself face to face with a girl, maybe a few years older than himself. Startled, his concentartion broke, and he lost his grip on the wall. He hit the ground, stifling a cry of pain as he did so. He got up and brushed himself off, rubbing a sore spot on his leg. He looked up at the girl, who seemed rather unphased by the incident, and smiled. "Sorry about that." he said. He noticed the sad look in her eyes. "Wonnder what's wrong with her?" he thought to himself.