Her First Step Home

[erika]

Across the dark velvet sky, hung high up above its thick curtains were sparkling silver stars, forming constellations and dreams stretched upon the village of Getsugakure No Sato. A pale crescent moon complimented the background, emanating a silver glow, casting faint shadows of a young girl perched atop the cliff at the outskirts of the village.

Her dark hair danced to the rhythm of the pulsing wind and her eyes glittered with the stars above her. Brushing aside the hair from her face, Shinzuki Erika looked down at the village beneath her. Spiralling grey smoke rose from the chimneys, reflecting the colors from her eyes. It had been the first time since Erika had returned home ever since her parents sent her away. The memories flooded back in, forming a black and white film that now flashed in her mind ever so quickly.

She missed Jun, her sensei. And all her friends she once played with. She even missed her siblings, Ai and Mayeko. Although Erika had no idea where they were now, she believed they still had a place in her heart. It wasn't their fault. It was her parents' fault. In fact, Ai and Mayeko had tried telling their parents that Erika had to be taken care of, not like a servant maid that had to obey their orders.

Erika sighed with a slight touch of melancholy. Maybe she was never meant to work with a family anyway. She was on her own now. And the world, would be her center stage.

Now, she was much stronger than what she was last time. Defendless, unable to protect herself from the dangers that life had threatened her with. Erika was ready for anything.

Touching the porcelain pendant that hung around her neck, she smiled at the small roll of paper in it, and looked up at the sky, full of hope; a mask of deceit that would help her along her journey.

[Morisawa Santai]

Ugh, he cursed mentally.

This was already the second time he had set foot here, and he had never liked this village very much. A tad too boring for him, maybe something he was so used to back home. The typical hidden village, peaceful and calm ever since the wars had ended. But instinctively he was tempted to return by the mere thought of having the Shinzuki family technique in his grasp.

Unfortunately, he yielded to that very thought. And had forgotten it after a short battle with a dangerous hunter-nin, overusing his kekkei genkai. Such were its disadvantages. He was lucky he hadn't surrendered to death just yet. It was dangerous, overusing his gifts. He was not a master of it, not like his predecessors. But he was learning. The memory lapses were painful, and now he just wandered aimlessly, hoping to recover the memories of how he had even ended up here. His left sleeve had been ripped almost completely off, and now the remnants of silk and tattered cloth wound round his bicep like a serpent.

The air was calm and silent as twigs snapped rhythmically under his feet.

He, however, remembered exactly where he could get an excellent view of the entire scene, and decided now that simply walking past houses was not it. It seemed that the entire place was dead. No one was out in the streets at all. The sickly pale light from the moon filtered downwards, hovering eerily over the village and casting a distorted shadow on the dirt ground. Turning round, he headed towards the cliffs that overlooked the place. The winds were freezing cold, and his already deathly pale hands felt like they were encased in ice. In response, he slid a finger up the blade of a kunai hanging at his belt. The kunai was icy cold. Normal for nights such as these, he told himself.

The gravel crunched beneath his feet once more as he made his way up the slope leading to the overhanging cliff. Long grass licked at his calves, rustling in the midst of the haunting wind. Finally, trudging up to the precipice, he was startled to find someone else already there. He approached catiously, keeping a finger on the kunais hanging from his belt. Then it came, the first memory jolt.

Shinzuki...technique? Was that it? He rubbed his temples, cursing his lack of skills under his breath. He would've remembered had he not run into that cursed hunter-nin and overused his strength. Still, that person looked oddly familiar...

[erika]

"Frssh..."

The breeze caught into the night of silence. The sound broke through Erika's thoughts as she glanced around, looking for signs of anyone that had wanted to gain the upperhand of an attack. Standing up, she cautiously reached for her triple-bladed kunai, using her index finger to smear poison onto the sides of the blade. Her eyes glittered with an aura of danger, afraid of what might appear before her very eyes. But then again, Getsugakure had always been a peaceful village. None of this sort of attacks happened too frequently. But Erika couldn't help being paranoid. The hairs at the back of her neck stood up as the cold wind blew hard against her skin, like iced needles piercing into her body.

Biting down a pang of anxiety, Erika stepped forward, shifting her weight to her left leg due to slight numbness because of the cold autumn wind. The breeze halted, and her hair stayed still against her alabaster skin. Something was not right. An ominous feeling gathered in the pit of her stomach as she took a few more silent steps forward, looking from left to right.


"If anyone's here, show yourself. Only cowards hide in the shadows of the night."

She said boldy, her poisoned weapon now hidden behind her back as she stayed still. The wind stopped blowing. The calm before the storm. And now, the storm has arrived.

[Morisawa Santai]

The young woman perched upon the cliff addressed him, and he snapped out of his thoughts. His mind was still relatively empty. His eyes still had that burning sensation reminiscent of the previous fight. He took another step forward, yet another leafy twig snapping as he trod upon it. He realized that the wind had abruptly ceased. Strange. Still, she was in no danger, unless...unless...he still could not remember.

'Only cowards hide in the shadows of the night'. She said, and he felt a strange prickling creeping up from beneath his skin. Had she just...insulted him? He willed himself to move out of the darkness, appearing in full view. The moon seemed to cast a spotlight over his tall form, illuminating the creases of his outfit and his warm chocolate brown eyes. The light also showed very clearly the tattered remains of his left sleeve and the layer of dried blood that had caked over his arm. The wind picked up again, causing his coat to blow back and flutter in the breeze. He did not speak yet, for he saw the poison that glimmered upon her blade.

Yet the moon also outlined the slash across his forehead protector, the very thing that declared him a missing-nin, and therefore a traitor to Kusagakure.

He wondered why her presence still felt so familiar.

[erika]

Startled by a man's sudden appearance out of the twilight, Erika felt a jolt of sudden panic rise up in her chest, but she held back the feeling.

"Must not...have double emotions.." she muttered to herself, tightening the grip of her kunai as she suddenly lifted the blade up in his direction, her arm pointed straight at him.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here in Getsugakure? If you are a traitor or a troublemaker, I implore you to leave. Otherwise, I might have to take some action." she emphasized on the last word. Erika was in no mood to fight. However, if this man tried to harm the villagers, Erika would have to fight back. She was one of the most renowned in the village, and she must do her part even if it means dying for her hometown.

"He means danger. His forehead protector tells everything. Missing-nin...Most probably an S-Class criminal." the thoughts swirled in her mind as she did a quick scan of the man from head to toe, her eyes flashing with fury as she readied herself for combat. She did not expect this to last long. But looking at him again, Erika felt that he was no threat at all. Sure, there was something ominous about him, but his eyes...they tell a story.

At that slight moment of time, Erika lost her thoughts into those eyes of his, brief images of a past flashed in her mind. Shaking her head, she realized Erika had let the enemy gain the upperhand this way. Looking around, the man was still before her as he was.

"Is this his plan to attack me? Use some kind of dojutsu?" she wondered, determined not to lose her concentration this time. But he had not approached her. He stood still as the wind blew against his tattered clothes. That was when she noticed the dried blood on his arm.
"He's injured. Oh, how nice. That'll make it easier." Erika thought with a small smirk forming on her face.

[Morisawa Santai]

"My profound apologies. I'm just...lost."

He struggled to find the right word. But eventually he realized that "lost" just about clinched it. He was about to approach her when his head started to pulse. The memories flooded in one big wave that threatened to take his sanity. Of course, this was not the first time. The hunter-nin's masked face glowered at him as the rest of his comrades watched from the bushes. He remembered, running...pain...something. He grimaced as the large cut on his arm stung incessantly.

He was just about to utter yet another pointless sentence when the first glassy memory fragment rammed violently into his mind, causing his head to pulse as if it would explode at any moment. No, not now. He could feel the vines previously embedded in his skin twitch, and remembered how the hunter-nin had forced him out of his concentration, and forced him to run. He swore at himself for being so weak. The branch in his flesh curved slightly and the stabbing pain cut through him. But he was used to such things. How had he even made it here in the first place?

His eyes flashed with a glint of reflective green, and the glow increased as the nearby twigs and leaves started to draw towards him, as if attracted by some kind of magnetic force. Soon his irises completely turned a metallic, poisonous, luminescent green. He swore at his ill luck. Why did he not have control of this? It had already taken his memories. He should not have overused his Shirugan.

The abilities he had were completely at his advantage, and yet they destroyed his sound of mind at times. It was a tough life, yet he was sure that there were those who were more unlucky. Fate did not smile dearly on them both, he was sure. Sometimes he still dreamt of blood as if it was a river, a gentle river. He would push his boat out to the scarlet waters and wait for the current to take him somewhere. But there was never a destination, never an end to his nightmares. There was never an end to this mission.

The stinging sensation continued, almost like the prickling of a thousand needles beneath his skin, taunting him like the memories of Ritsu taunted him. He had never trusted anyone, nor would he do the same to this girl. The glow in his eyes increased as the overwhelming change in emotion grew more imminent by each passing minute. Then, it happened. The thing he had dreaded most.

At that very second, his nerves started to burn as the memory jolt rushed back. Yet they were still in fragments which he could not comprehend. Clutching his injured arm, he fell onto his knees and collapsed face down. A few vines uncurled themselves from his chest and tore a gash through the front of his robe, sending more ribbons of satin flying outwards from his form. The vines unfurled themselves from his skin and crawled like snakes upon the ground, slithering helplessly when all power left him. Then they collapsed limply. The intimate caress of the wind rustled the rapidly dying leaves on the vines.

Blood immediately spurted out of his wounds, forming an eerie red carpet upon the mossy rock of the cliff's edge. The wind whipped at his hair, sending locks of raven black tossing over his cheeks. His eyes were closed now, facing the rock on which he lay. There was no response from him, despite the breeze's constant whispers. The last thought he had was that familiar weapon the young woman held. The kunai bore three blades. Three very familiar blades which he was sure he had seen before. He remembered it from somewhere...he just could not place it. Then his entire world went black, and there was no more.

[erika]

Watching him fall seemed like a slow motion movie playing right before her very eyes. Her supposedly 'opponent' had now fallen and seemed unconscious. Or was this an illusion? It was hard to tell. Armed with her poisoned kunai, she approached him very carefully. Bending down, she placed her kunai down on the cold, hard ground and pressed her fingers against his temples. His body had gone numb and he would die from excessive blood loss if he wasn't treated immediately.

She watched him carefully, grazing her hand over his well-toned skin. Then, closing her eyes, she gathered the chakra in her body as a bright blue glow shimmered from her palm. She pressed it to his chest, where his heart was, and concentrated on the healing. Although he was an enemy, a medic-nin must do her best to help whoever was in need. And at this moment, she doubted that this man could even stand with his arms and chest badly wounded.

Removing the white pouch hung around her waist, she took out some bandages and laid them on the ground. Carefully, she shifted his body weight onto her lap and tended to his wounds, afraid he might lose more blood if she continued to move him. Her other hand still pressed to his chest, she wound the bandages around his arm with her teeth and tightened them in a knot. Soon, the wound began to heal, but the internal damage had been done.

"If this works, he should survive. But if he should do strenuous movements in the next few days, his life may not be guaranteed..." Erika thought. With all her might, she dragged his limp body inch by inch to a nearby tree for him to rest and ran to the nearest lake to bring back some water to bring down the upcoming fever.

Icy cold water dripped down her hand as she pressed the wet towel against his forehead, at the same time, wiping beads of perspiration away from her face. Slowly, she put the towel down and brushed her hand against his forehead to feel for his temperature, as a sudden flash of memory came to her mind. She removed a small part of his sleeve from his shoulders, to find a long scar that extended from his shoulder to his leg. It had three lines. Three awful lines.

Erika grimaced at the thought, imagining the harsh steel blade of the weapon tearing open her own skin and splitting them into three bloody sections. She cringed, and put his sleeve back on. The night was still young, and cicadas chirped in the midnight choir.

She leaned back against the rough bark of the willow tree and rested, heaving a heavy sigh. Taking care of an injured being wasn't as easy as she thought. Turning her head to check on his breathing, she gently lifted his eyelids to scan for any life threatening symptoms. Erika saw the most beautiful eyes. It reminded her of those times when her parents used to make hot cocoa for her siblings to drink. Oh, how she longed to have just one sip of it. Closing them, she leaned back once again and looked up at the sky through the leafy canopy of the tree, silently wishing upon a star.

[Morisawa Santai]

No...
You're worthless.
Why don't you go out and train some more? ...
You're not strong enough...

Santai. Santai...? It's me...

Morisawa Hayate's face swam into view. His elder sibling's face was as kindly as ever, from the gentle gaze in her chocolate brown eyes to her silky lengths of green-streaked hair. She smiled at him in what seemed like the first time in many years. He was in his home, just like he remembered it. The thatched walls, the smell of cooked food. Slowly, Hayate got up from her crouching position and stood up, the smile never leaving her lips. Her face glowed with an ethereal light. She held out a hand to him.

"Come on, little brother."

Santai held out a shaky hand to take his sister's, and Hayate proceeded to pull him to his feet. But still, he could not believe it. "I...I...thought you were...dead." He managed to choke out, his voice a frightened whisper. Hayate's smile widened. There was something not right about it. "I am...dead." She said, just as static-like imagery cut through the entire scene, sending him once again into the nightmarish whirlpool of dreams and memories he hated so much. Through it all, he saw a still image of the three-bladed kunai.

His eyes abruptly snapped open as cold water trickled down his forehead. He was leaning against a large tree. From here he could see that he was still at the cliff's edge, overlooking the beautiful scenery of Getsugakure. He scowled as his vision adjusted completely, before he realized that his wounds had almost completely healed. A part of his sleeve lay on the ground near him, exposing his old scar to the tickling cold of the air. Surprised, he looked around to see that the nin he had been conversing with earlier was sitting nearby, looking at the sky. It looked as if she was addressing some kind of grievance.

Realization hit him. She was a medic-nin. Hayate had been a medic-nin before she was murdered. The assailant had yet to be discovered, but when he did, Santai swore upon his own blades that he would show him the meaning of pain. Hayate had been the only sibling who had cared about him. His other sibling had been so dearly praised and adored by his parents that Santai could only loathe him. Memories of his older sister threatened to overflow, but as a shinobi, his features only showed a soft, cold smile. Maybe, after all, Hayate was lucky. She did not have to suffer the world's pains any longer. Santai wished her well.

The once grass-nin closed his eyes for a moment, before attempting to sit up straight. His joints ached, but he was all too used to these symptoms. He was tempted for a moment to check his Shirugan, but that meant activating it, and he did not want to activate something that had almost taken his life just about an hour ago. "Hayate..." He murmured, hoping his sister would come from the sky and take him away. She was the only thing in his mind now, he could not remember much else.

Yet...somehow, this medic-nin reminded him of her.

[erika]

"I'll sing you a song to sleep...
A song, a tale of a little girl...

The soft melody of a sweet lullaby drifted in and out of Erika's ears. It soothe her anxiety and calmed her down, bringing her to a place far beyond reach, where only dreams would take you to the end of infinity.

Slowly, slowly, her sparkling silver orbs glowed in the starlight, before gently falling into a deep slumber. The night chorus sang her to sleep. Drowsy and exhausted from her journey and also because of her effort put in to save the injured man, all she needed was just some rest. Just some rest will do...

"Hayate..."

The slight mutter out of nowhere jolted Erika out of her nap. She turned around and noticed that the man had now awaken, and he had tried to sit up straight. Rubbing her eyes groggily, she moved towards him and took his arm gently to help him. His skin was smooth, but she could feel the intense muscles underneath it. It was strange how he someone like him could fall unconscious so easily because of some wounds. But still, those wounds would be fatal if not tended to.

"Are you alright, sir?" she asked quietly, her voice calm. Erika stared into his dark brown eyes once again, reminiscing what had just happened. Fatigue overwhelmed her as she felt her eyelids drooping heavily.

Just some rest...

And with that, Erika crawled back to her place under the tree and fell asleep, hair blowing in the autumn breeze as it took her to the unknown lands.

[Morisawa Santai]

Santai blinked rapidly as his sister's face once more entered his vision. Her eyes smiled at him, shimmering with the light cast by the stars above. "You're dead, Hayate. Please, just...leave me alone." He murmured, tired. The face before him distorted itself, and then transformed into the face of the medic-nin who had saved him. "Oh..." He muttered, realizing his mistake. He hated those memories. "I'm sorry..." He told the medic. "Thank you...for saving me." A brief memory flash further increased his initial suspicions about this girl. She had the strangest eyes, something familiar buried in the recesses of his memories.

"I'm...fine..." He said as he watched her crawl back to her initial seating spot. Minutes ticked by and soon she was fast asleep. Her hair was caught in the breeze, its lustrous strands dancing in the air, fluttering like strands of silken thread. He could not help but admit how the seeing of her asleep reminded him further of his dead sister. It had been a night just like this one. Maybe it was the memories of Hayate that prevented him from remembering what had been so familiar about this girl.

He tried to stand up this time, and found that despite a constant throbbing pain in his right knee, he was able to do so. Shuffling over to where the girl lay, he took his seat next to her. She was just an intially hostile stranger he had met while he was trying to remember the reason for coming here. How had they ended up like this? The wind ruffled his hair and the temperature dropped further, the chilly winds increasing in pace.

Removing his silk outer robe, he lay it gently over the girl's sleeping form and returned to the tree. His black under-robes would keep him warm for the time being. He just needed some sleep. Leaning his back against the rough bark of the tree, he released a sigh to the winds as his eyelids grew heavy. Soon all the painful memories were forgotten, and he slept.

[erika]

I hurried to my table and grabbed the nearest weapon I could find to use for defence; the three bladed kunai once passed down from generation to generation. Reaching for the bottle of poison hidden underneath the table, I smeared it onto its six sides and watched in horror, as the wooden door of my hut came crashing down like a loud roll of thunder. It was dark. All I could see was a pair of glowing green eyes. What kind of creature or monster of man was this?

"Stay back!" I yelled. It was useless. I felt like I was swimming in a pool of mercury. The liquid so thick, it fills my lungs and choked my windpipe. I couldn't breathe. I tried to move, but I couldn't. The kunai lay limp in my hand as the creature approached. I had no idea what happened, but I lunged at it and drew a clean mark onto its body. I felt the liquid splashing onto my face. Warm, crimson blood trickled down my face as the creature shrieked in horror.

And before I knew it, it came.

"AHHH!!" Erika screamed.
She sat up straight, her face stoic but hid her feelings of fear. Glancing down, she noticed that someone had placed a robe on her. Lifting the soft fabric to her face, she recognized it. It was the injured man's robe. Glancing behind her from the tree, she noticed that the man had yet to awaken from his sleep.

Rising from her spot, she stretched as the early morning sun greeted the village of Getsugakure with its gentle rays of sunlight casting drowsy shadows over them. She shook her head, trying to shake off the aftermath of the late night dream she had. It wasn't her she was dreaming of. She was in someone else's position. Someone, that resembled her sensei, Jun. Sighing, Erika shrugged. It was probably just the effects of exhaustion.

She tidied her hair and retied her braids before leaving for the market. Finding a piece of old black cotton fabric lying abandoned on the ground, she covered herself with it like a cloak and set off. If she wanted to survive she needed fuel to carry on. Erika wandered through the market and bought two waterskins filled with chilled mountain spring water and some bread. It was all she could afford, considering the measly amount that she had after spending some a few nights before at a hostel.

When she returned to the cliff, she removed her disguise and sat down besides the man. He looked much better in the light. With his beautiful dark locks of hair and perfectly sculpted face, he was considered quite good-looking.

She untied the waterskins from her belt and set them on the ground, taking a gulp from one of them. It has been a long time since water ever tasted this good.

[Morisawa Santai]

The soft twittering of birds charmed him from his sleep, and Santai stirred as the first ray of sunlight filtered through the crack in his eyelids. Forcing his tired eyes open, he observed the full effect of light upon the beautiful village, every rooftop and gold autumn leaf luminescent and almost unreal. His throat felt strangely parched. Standing up from his spot against the tree, he realized that the medic-nin was already up and about, rapidly gulping down some water. Walking over, he sat down next to her, noticing the extra waterskin.

"You...didn't have to."

Santai said, blood rushing to his usually pale face. Had the memory lapse done something to his mind? He shook his head for a moment, the lock of green-streaked hair dangling from his fringe brushing against his cheek. His eyes had lit up with something he hadn't felt in years. Something that vaguely resembled joy, and it bubbled up from within him, moving steadily up until he wanted to weep at the sheer beauty of it all. But the medic-nin seemed troubled.

"Nightmares? I have them too. Don't worry about it."

Santai said quietly, placing a comforting arm on her shoulder. Glancing at the tattered mess where his sleeve had once been, a scar had now been formed where the crusted dried blood had broken away from his skin and disintigrated. A chatter of voices ascended from the village below, bringing to him a warm feeling of family that combated the cold of his surroundings. It was so quiet up here, yet below the village was alive and bustling. But he knew he could not relax, for hunter-nins still lurked nearby.

Reaching for the waterskin, he opened it and began to gulp down the water, the feel of the liquid soothing to his dry throat and replenishing his lost energy. He smiled for the first time in many months, the lingering feeling in his cocoa-hued eyes becoming more obvious as new emotions set in. But he was afraid. Afraid that the memories would return. Who exactly was this medic-nin? How had she managed to stir up these emotions in one night? It was deplorable.

But for once, the memory fragments failed to pierce his mind.

And for once, he was glad that he had nothing to remember but that strange, yet fulfilling night.

[erika]

"You're awake." Erika said with a slight tinge of shock in her voice.
"I didn't expect you to wake so early. Afterall, you still need some recuperation before you can continue on..." that was when she stopped.

What exactly was this man doing before he came here? How did he get injured? And most of all, how did he get to Getsugakure? The village's security system was top notch. Unless if he snuck in by some back alley from the nearby forest... She pondered. Staring up at him, she finally came to a conclusion; he was just an innocent civilian. He might have come from some faraway land in search of this village...Maybe to fulfil a quest or mission?

A shiny sparkle of silver caught in the sunlight, as she noticed the scratched forehead protector around his forehead. "Missing-nin...That must be how he managed to get in. He must be highly skilled."

His sudden volume of voice caused Erika to jump slightly. "Um, sure. This is for you. I mean, you looked pretty tired and of course, you're wounded. As a medic-nin, it's my job to help you." she added with a small smile.

"Nightmares?"

The word echoed in her mind like an endless chant. She had been thinking about her dream. Was it a recollection from sensei's mind? Or was it just her imagination? Or something she just conjured up due to her exhaustion? It was too much of a coincidence. And how on earth could her sensei's memories end up in hers? Sensei was dead. And her spirit should be resting up in heaven. Unless...if sensei wanted her revenge.

"That scar..." she muttered to herself, glancing over at the man at the corner of her eye.
"It had three long cuts. Like the weapon sensei used to defend herself in the dream. That means..."

Erika shook her head. No. I don't believe in this 'coincidence' nonsensical rubbish. She took a long sip of water, and continued to drown into her thoughts.

[Morisawa Santai]

"I couldn't sleep..." Santai said simply, reaching for the remnants of their breakfast. The sunlight glinted off his scratched forehead protector as he leant back on his palms in order to admire the glorious village view. Even though he could not remember how he had gotten here, he seemed to like it. For once he was glad that he had nothing, nothing at all to remember, he could not feel the maximum pain his nightmares dealt to him. All he could remember was that this girl held a place in his memories...along with a strange woman in her fifties. She was getting old, but strong. Maybe...just maybe...

But he shrugged this off as a matter of mere coincidence.

But then she mentioned something about his scar, and Santai frowned, the rapid feelings of joy dissipating and settling slowly within him. A brief imagery flashed in his mind and he scowled and clutched his head. The three-bladed weapon again. Shaking his head to regain his focus, his tousled locks fell over his eyes as he stared into the distance.

"It doesn't stop there...I don't...remember how I got it."

Santai tried to gather his memories, but they were too painful. The Shirugan came with its quirks, he thought. Laying his outer robe over his lap, he unsnapped his inner robe buttons and pulled it aside, and then rolled one leg of his trousers upwards. Now clearly visible in the faint sunlight were three slashes curving down his neck, across his chest, diagonally down his abdomen and ending at his calf. It was outlined by a white layer of new skin, and it looked horrible, and the person who had done it had obviously been very strong. He was, after all, a missing-nin.

Closing his inner robes and rolling down his trouser leg, Santai slipped on his outer robe and softly touched the largest kunai dangling from his belt. He hadn't rememberd the last time someone dealt him that serious a wound. Even the hunter-nin from earlier hadn't done such heavy damage. He looked away from the medic-nin and across the cliff at the lavish landscape overlooking the village.

[erika]

"You should've been able to rest well. The chakra power from your body was drained as you were injured quite severely. At least, you didn't rest until you couldn't wake from an 'everlasting slumber." she added with a small tinkle of laughter. Erika smiled at him, and closed the lid of her waterskin and tied it to her belt. It had been quite a while since she could smile. Sure, she hid what she felt, but dark memories of her past pelted her like stabbing knives in her mind and heart prevented her from doing so. She needed to be free. Like those swallows flying high up in the morning sky.

The sun grew higher and cast its multi-colored rays onto the horizon. A breathtaking view of the sky was before them, and the village beneath it, bustling with people moving to and fro. Even in the daylight, Getsugakure was amazing. In the night, it was even better. Afterall, this is the village under the moon. Erika leaned backwards a little, supporting her weight with her arms as she closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of the sunlight coming her way. It felt so good against her skin, better than the icy cold wind of the autumn season.

"You don't remember how you got that scar...?" Erika questioned, her eyes still closed. She had not faced him, for she was merely enjoying her moments under the sun. It was rare to have such an opportunity like this. She had never been up to the cliff before. Maybe only once, but that was when she was really little and was never allowed to look down from the cliff.

"I apologise, if I said anything concerning that scar. I didn't mean to. It just seems familiar..." she said to him, opening her eyes as the shimmering silver from her eyes sparkled like iridescent clouds drifting past lazily.