Rediscovery [Private]

[Akikou]

I was lost, that much was for sure. Who I was, where I was, when I was, how I got here, and why I'm here were all things that were beyond me. Well, that's not technically true. I was a fighter, I knew that much. My name had been... or was, Akikou. It meant Autumn Scent, but my current attire didn't match that. Remarkable blue eyes and heavy winter-like clothing said that I had been born elsewhere, or else traveled from elsewhere...

Ugh, this was just a giant mess. This town, where it was, seemed so ridiculously familiar that I knew that I had to have come here at some point in my life. There were minute changes, tiny little things that bothered me, but I couldn't pinpoint what those things were or why they bothered me. Living like this was simply awful, awful! I couldn't hardly stand it anymore.

To take out some of my frustration, I decided I would go for a walk. I knew that I liked physical exercise, although I wasn't entirely sure why I did. My body responded well to it, and soon I found that I had progressed from walking into jogging, and I was leaving behind this strange little village and making my way out into the grand forests that surrounded this entire nation now, it seemed like.

I came to a halt as I stood next to a pool of water. It had rained recently, and the water had yet to evaporate. It hung, suspended on the grass and the trees and whatever other foliage existed in this place, and I found myself thirsty. Bending down, I'd reach out my hands, cupping them together, and dip them into the water.

I gasped as images began to surge through my mind, moving too quickly for me recognize them or make any sense of them, and I found myself falling backwards, away from the pool of water, and landing with a thump. There was only one image that I remembered clearly. Me, much younger than I was now, standing next to a pool of water quite similar to this one (No, was it this same one...?) and bending down, dipping my hands into the water.

I had heard a noise. I had turned my head, saw the sharp gleam of metal as something flying straight towards me and...! I had crouched further, rolled, uncoiled my body and sprung upwards, making a mad run towards the tree line... the same one that I saw before me now.

But what had happened...?

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[Akikou]

I couldn't remember what had happened after I had run off... but the answer seemed to be clear. I had been in this spot before, and it had triggered a memory from my past. I had run into the very tree line that was before me now, and with a groan I pushed myself off from the ground and began to make my way towards it. I moved slowly, cautiously, for the first time since I could remember anything again I was afraid. Afraid of what I might over here... afraid of what I might not.

As I moved through the treeline, another wave of memories washed over me.

I ran, and as I ran, I heard the sound of pursuit. Whoever had thrown that Kunai towards me had meant to kill me. But who was it that would seek my death? I was not a trespasser in these lands - my Kusagakure headband that I wore around my neck marked me for one of those Shinobi! But could it be that someone from one of the Great Nations had been sent to play war with us? Why couldn't they ever just leave our nation alone?! We were not their playthings!

Rage built within me. I reached into my belt and pulled out a kunai of my own. Extending my left arm, which did not hold a kunai, and channeling chakra into both of my feet and that arm, I found myself quickly ascending the trees. Although I moved quickly, I took great pains to be silent, and upon reaching the top of the branches I would wait. It wouldn't take long, though, before I saw my pursuer, and I knew that my initial instinct had been correct.

The man, wearing a Konohagakure headband, was after me. But he hadn't seen me take to the trees. However, right as he passed me, I heard him come to a halt. He could no longer hear my escape, which meant that he knew that I was hiding. Into my pack once more I went, pulling out an explosive note, and I attached it to the kunai. With a strong arm, I tossed the kunai to my left, while at the same time I slid down the back of the tree, on the opposite side of where my pursuer had last seen me, and on the same side from where I had just run from.

With a single seal as my feet touched the ground, the explosive note would detonate, knocking over a tree and causing a great amount of noise. It was sure to draw the attention of the Konoha shinobi, and I was going to take advantage of that. Gathering all of my speed, I took off in the same way that I had run, counting on the noise of falling branches and brambles to cover up the sound of my own footsteps. I moved, and willed every ounce of my energy into it.

After what seemed only minutes, the gates to Kusagakure no Sato revealed themselves to me and I entered, safe. The Great War... upon us. These would not be good years...

As I snapped out of the theatre that my mind presented to me, I sighed. So I HAD been a Kusagakure Shinobi at one point. That was why I knew that I pledged my allegiance to them. But what else had happened? Would I ever know?

With a sigh, I retraced the same steps I had taken that day that I had escaped with my life, and I found myself back inside of the village. This process of remembering who I am was going to tough.

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[Akikou]

Back inside of the village, I had gone to my bed, my body remembering the way there. I groaned, lost in confusion, and darkness overtook me.

When I woke up, I wasn't sure where I was. Again.

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-Exit