A story once told...[open]

[Naiya]

"Kirigakure is a terrible place." sternly spoken by an young looking woman who seemed to be in her early twenties, though her true age is beyond what she appeared.

A young child she was when she had been told of Kirigakure. A place that had been described to her as a terrible place, not for it's lifestyle, but for what they had done to her kind. Ever since she was young she had lived alone with her mother. She never really knew of her father, all that she had been told was that he was a great and powerful man, but beyond that her mother refused to tell her more.

It went on like this for many years, though that aside, she had a great home life. She was comfortable with her mother and cherished her like no other. Outside of her home though was a different story, she, through her academy years, kept mostly to herself. It was put as a little problematic due to the fact that when one becomes a shinobi they would have to work with other people in groups.

Though this kunoichi seem quite focused on just keeping to herself. That aside she did quite excellent in her academy days. 14 years young, she currently was on her roof top merely laying there and gazing up at the night sky. Upon her chest rested a rectangular box with the konoha symbol drawn upon it. It was her new headband that would, from this day forth, symbolize her as a full fledged shinobi, but it hadn't been opened yet.

This fledging shinobi, though one with a strong head upon her shoulders, held doubts. She was certain though that others must have had them to...right? Well she really wouldn't know given that she never really bothered to get to know other people, but she preferred it that way. She knew of her families abilities through her mother, but she didn't know her families full history. The kind of people they were and so on.

All she knew was that her people were strong people and very prideful. Her mother always told her. "Love yourself, never be ashamed of who you are." Naiya only sighed after whispering that. Yeah, why should she have doubts? She prepared well to become a shinobi, to be strong like her family. To make her deceased father proud.

Stretching her arms out and stretching out her legs, she stayed upon her roof laying flat on her back. Gazing at the stars that twinkled so high in the sky. "A new day begin's tomorrow. As a kunoichi I will live my life." she whispered to herself as her amber eyes, seeming to twinkle along with the stars, stayed focused upon them.

[Naiya]

Sitting up her gaze now venture, as the box fell into her awaiting hands, across the villages ground. Its dirt covered terrain stretching throughout the entirety of the village. This place is all that she had ever known. She had many odd's and ends with this village. Mainly for it's friendliness, but thats primarily due to her own anti-social behavior. Maybe she'd grow out of it one day. Who knows.

Rising up to her feet she glanced about, the box held firmly in her left hand, as she gazed around. Looking for those silent moving shadows, those invisible beings that protect this village. Those shinobi's that are far stronger than she is that silently protect everyone. It was quite difficult trying to spot them, but be that as it may, she still attempted to find them with her eye sight.

It mattered not though, she wasted no more than five minutes trying to spot them, but failing ever so miserably, but the thing that made her smile, ever so lightly, was just knowing that they were out there watching and waiting. She jumped off the roof of her building and landed gracefully on her feet on the ground below and proceeded to walk without missing a beat.

This had to be her favorite time of night. when thing's are the most quiet and the place looks to be barren. There wasn't this constant clashing of people like it is in the day time. This place so full of life. It wasn't so much a bother if there just wasn't as much people there. Then again that contradicts the whole purpose of Konoha being bustling with life. Oh well she had to live and deal with it.

[purple]

Suzuka was up too late again.

She knew full well she had to be up early the next morning, had things to do and people to see, but here she was, strolling around aimlessly. It was hard to up and switch tasks these days, once she was doing something. Even something that would save her time and energy just felt like a huge endeavor once she nestled into a comfort zone, and tonight felt nice—not too hot, not too cold, just the temperature to melt into and not totally exist. She couldn’t entirely feel herself, and that was okay.

Life lately had been feeling particularly monotonous—wake up too early, eat, work, eat, sit, sleep. It would be one thing if she were just sort of floating through it without a care, but she was acutely aware of the crushing lack of variety. She’d begun to withdraw more lately, despite trying hard not to—she regretted that, and was starting to grow angry at herself. Stuck between feeling hopeless and feeling shameful, these last couple weeks had not been easy ones. Knowing she had reasons—trauma, stress, depression—did not make her feel any more worthy of the colorlessness blotting her life. But tonight was okay—okay was about where she peaked as of late, so okay tonight was as much as she could have hoped for.

Her eyes took in the scenery around her, coolly surveying the silhouettes of busy shinobi against the starlit sky. Keeping the village going, protecting their fellow ninja, responding to booty calls—truly, each and every one of these people moved with great purpose. Every now and then, one of them would blot out a small group of stars from her vision, making it seem like it was blinking in and out of existence. If there was one thing she was thankful for, one thing left in this village, it was the natural beauty it had. Sure, it’d gotten some serious nicks and scratches in the wake of war running its course, but this sky felt immortal to her—vibrant, shimmering—her own little light show. Well, as much of a light show as she needed, at least.

As she continued walking, however, she noticed a shinobi with skin maybe just a bit less bronzed than her own, her face framed with striking blond hair. In her hands were a box, and though Suzuka couldn’t quite see the decal on it, a familiar feeling welled inside her gut—the day she became a real ninja. Her mother had held her back for several years—the sheer excitement she felt was enough to tattoo that box into her mind, right next to the memory of ripping it open after a few stunned seconds and putting it on her forehead. That didn’t last long though—between the band and her hair, her forehead felt sweaty and generally unpleasant, and when she looked at herself later that night, her hair had scrunched up under it oddly and made her look weird. From then, it was usually a neck protector instead of a forehead protector for her, sometimes tied a bit more tightly in the style of a choker, sometime resting a bit more loosely like a large necklace, like it was tonight.

Of course, when she was asked, she explained that she could more easily move her forehead out of harm’s way than her neck, and that it was much easier to conceal something around her neck if she needed to on the fly for some reason. Bullshit, surely—but good bullshit.

Soon, though, Suzuka found herself lightly jolted out of her thoughts when the younger shinobi jumped off of her rooftop spot and landed not far from where Suzuka was. The glazed look in her eyes was replaced by focus on the girl falling from above, and though there was only one quick movement involved, Suzuka could tell the girl was quick on her feet. She began walking in the same direction Suzuka had, and the Chuunin couldn’t help wondering how the girl had managed to have the patience (and why she had the patience) to not put her protector on yet. That wasn’t any of Suzuka’s business, though. Not sure if the girl had heard her walking quietly a couple meters away (she, too, seemed to be in her thoughts), Suzuka spoke up and warmly voiced the only appropriate thing that came to mind: “Congratulations.” She smiled, reserved but genuine.

[Naiya]

Congratulations! The word's echoed through her. It was true though Naiya had been in her own thoughts, so while she normally would have taken notice of people behind her, she didn't this time. Only really aware of the ones she seen move past her from in front. She had taken several steps and had been halted by that one word.

Who else would be giving her such words? She honestly didn't have anyone that could call themselves friends of hers. So who could have said such a word? Curiosity is what drove her now to turning around to look back. Her amber eyes quite noticeable even in low lighting. This was a new thing to her, to be given such a praise by someone other than her mother, though she knew how her mother felt about her becoming a kunoichi.

Her eye's scanned for a moment as if trying to pinpoint who the voice came from, aside from the random people walking by, there was only one person there with such a pleasant look on their face. Naiya didn't mean to be rude in responding late, she was just merely confused as she looked ahead of her to see if there was anyone else responding to the word. She didn't want to end up in an awkward situation where, if she did respond, the girl would either look at her funny or run off to the people she was really talking too.

She saw no one else that looked responsive, oh how obvious it was that Naiya was confused, and she glanced back. What should she do? Well wait, no first off. "What was that for?" Naiya wasn't aware that this nice shinobi was congratulating her for becoming a shinobi.

[purple]

Suzuka kept smiling. It seemed the girl had indeed been thinking about something. Lost in your thoughts with the whole world passing around you—that was something Suzuka could understand. The girl turned around, looking a bit confused, and looked this way and that trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. Suzu almost felt bad for interrupting her now—maybe she had somewhere important to be. Suzuka just looked straight at her, though, continuing to smile to signal that she had indeed been the one to say something. Suzu felt a bit awkward herself—some rando congratulating you wasn’t necessarily something the normal person was prepared for, she supposed—but decided that one awkward interaction wouldn’t kill her.

“What was that for?” The girl finally spoke up, and this confused Suzuka for a moment, but then she realized that the girl probably hadn’t been thinking about her graduation right at that moment, even though Suzuka’s thoughts were filled with memories of her own. Silly of her to assume the girl would know just because she was holding the box.

“You graduated recently, right?” Suzuka said, nodding down at the box. “Congratulations!” This time she said it with more enthusiasm. “Though, I don’t know how you have to patience to keep it in that box. I remember when I got mine… I put it on straight away. My hair looked ridiculous, but I was so excited! I’d waited so long for it. I didn’t graduate until I was 14—long story—so I was raring to go. But here you are, with all the patience in the world, just holding the box.” Suzuka realized here that she was babbling a little. She cleared her throat. “Um, yeah, but… Congrats.” Third time’s a charm. Suzuka smiled again, tilting her head so that her earrings swung just slightly. She hoped she wasn’t overdoing it. She probably was.

[Naiya]

There was a moment of silence on Naiya's side. She merely just stared at this kunoichi and listened to her ramble on. While if she was in a different mind set, she would have normally just called her stupid for being excited about something, but she wasn't in her normal mind set. Slowly it happened, her lip twitched on it's right side, seemed like it was trying hard to keep a straight face, and it developed into a small smile.

But what was more surprising, really it'd only be surprising if you knew Naiya, was that she had started to laugh. "hahahahaha...." Naiya normally doesn't laugh, it's something, Naiya herself proclaimed, impossible to do. Which brought up the question to herself, when was the last time she really laughed. After a few moments of laughing, Naiya appeared shocked and she quickly, with her right hand, covered her mouth. Having a surprised look on her face and her eyes darted to the ground and her head arched down as if her body language screamed 'Forgive me.'

After collecting herself she lowered her hand from her mouth. "Many apologies, I didn't mean to laugh." Upon the removal of her hand from her face, one can see her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

Naiya didn't mean to insult the girl in anyway, it was just that she somehow found it funny and for her to ramble on like that it only seemed to amuse her, but it is probably the fact of the matter that Naiya is 14 and she just graduated.

[purple]

Well, the girl certainly seemed more comfortable now, though Suzuka couldn’t help feeling just a slight tinge of embarrassment. She had a nice laugh and seemed to Suzuka the type to enjoy life. Then again, Suzuka probably seemed pretty personable herself right now, though she wasn’t entirely sure she’d agree with that in other circumstances. The girl was having quite a moment to herself, Suzuka noticed, but the Chuunin kept smiling anyway. What else could she be, if not kind to the younger generation? Sometimes, that was all it took to salvage someone’s day—that, she knew from experience. Well, Suzuka had zoned out talking. She waited for the girl to finish laughing, chuckling herself and smiling pleasantly. Mainly, it was because she didn’t know exactly what to say next. She’d already exhausted her economy of speech, it seemed.

Suddenly, though, the girl stopped laughing and withdrew. Suzuka stopped chuckling as well, her eyes widening in concern. Her eyes scanned around cursorily to see if something had happened, but she didn’t see anything in particular. She moved them back to the girl, whose own eyes had lowered. Her expression was cloudly—Suzuka’s concern grew. She wanted to step toward the girl, but she already seemed a little bit jumpy. The somewhat uncomfortable silence, though it lasted for only a couple moments, planted itself in Suzu’s gut and tangled itself around all her words. The silence was broken when the girl apologized.

Suzuka exhaled in relief. She thought she’d offended the girl or something—but it seemed like she just felt bad for laughing. She took one step closer, beginning to smile again. Even though she herself wasn’t entirely at ease, she did it as a gesture that everything was okay. She remembered a time when she was more sheltered—when she, too, might have reacted the same way. She still didn’t know exactly what made the girl in front of her so jumpy, but she’d try to assuage it as best she could anyway.

“No, you’re fine!” she said cheerfully. “I’m normally not such a motormouth, so I can see how it’d be kind of funny.” She didn’t mention that she’d probably normally berate someone who’d started rattling off like that—without them noticing, of course—but that didn’t really need to be mentioned. “Sorry, I’m being rude now—I’m Suzuka. Hyoujikaze Suzuka.” She didn’t see any harm in reaching out to a younger shinobi. If anything, given what she’d been through in life, she was just paying it forward. Her chuckling had stopped and given way to a small, more genuine smile. “I hope I didn’t slow you down from doing something important.” She figured a fresh graduate probably didn’t have anything super important to do, but she said it earnestly anyway. You never knew what people might be going through.

[/blockquote]

[Naiya]

She shook her head in response to what she stated. "No, I wasn't doing anything in particular. Just having a walk." Naiya looked Suzuka over and focused on her eyes once she was done looking her over. "Right now, I'm 14, actually..." she shifted her glanced to the side as she tilted her head. "It is why I laughed..."

Naiya figured she would at least try to make a little change from what she was as an academy student. "by the way..." Her gaze met with a strong focus to Suzuka's eyes. "My name is Naiya. Kaguya, Naiya." Her hands moved behind herself as she now held the box in both her hands on either end behind herself. She gave a light bow. "A pleasure to meet you." It was true, especially after graduation, she didn't really have anything planned to do. Well she did have to take her ninja ID, but that wasn't all to important to her to take so seriously.

[purple]

Suzuka was pleasantly surprised. Though her own case wasn’t, of course, unprecedented, she hadn’t expected to run into someone who happened to graduate at the same as that she had. Then again, the girl did seem a little older—maybe even a little older than fourteen, but it was probably best to keep that to herself. Suzuka’s own body had only just managed to eek out some curvature, though she wore it pretty well, she thought. Regardless, she couldn’t help wondering what some of these younger girls were eating—while she liked her body, she wouldn’t mind having the odds more “stacked” in her favor like some other girls.

“Walks are nice,” Suzuka said vacantly, eyes back up to the sky. “Especially on nights like this. The bustle is nice, and everyone’s sort of doing their own thing…” Here, she decided against adding “instead of bothering you” for the sake of not seeming antisocial. “…which is nice.” She took in a breath of the night air, feeling refreshed and somewhat more calm. “Naiya… That’s a nice name.” She decided against responding in any way to the girl’s surname—given how people could be sometimes, she figured it might be a sore spot, and that it would come up further if it needed to. “So, if you don’t mind me asking…” And about this she was earnest—she wouldn’t be offended at all if the girl didn’t want to talk about it—“what caused you to graduate at fourteen? I mean, it’s no small secret that it’s a bit late.” Suzuka hoped, and sort of assumed, that the girl wouldn’t be offended—after all, Suzu had just mentioned being in the same boat. Still, she maintained a friendly expression, hoping to seem more curious than judgmental. "That is, only if you don't mind me asking."

[Naiya]

This person had quite the pleasant atmosphere about her, Naiya didn't feel the need to 'stiffen up' around her or stay stoic like she normally would be doing. Naiya's body did develop more quickly than girl's her age, though the only thing that she still needing catching up on was her height. She stood only at 5'4'' tall and this girl is much taller than her as it was quite obvious with how Naiya had to look up at the girl to keep a good focus on her eyes.

Naiya, honestly, didn't think much on it. Well she really didn't think about it at all, she never really had girl talk with anyone. Naiya really did take after her own mother in the appearance aspect, she just had her father eyes and hair. Naiya probably wouldn't even be good at this whole girl talk.

Night walks are one of her favorite things to do because of the serenity and the silent beauty that it held in it's darkness. Naiya, honestly, gave a small smile when she was complimented upon her name. "Thank you." she quickly retorted.

Her right brow arching as she had been asked a question about the time of her graduation. Naiya turned off to the side for a moment before looking back to her. Taking that brief turn away to think about a good way of responding to the question. "It's no problem." She started as she faced Suzuka again. "I was in private training for a few years, before I had been put into the village academy. My mother didn't feel right in letting me go until she thought that I was ready to."

Her mother protected her dearly and taught her many things, especially the things about her clan, which she needed to learn about one way or another before Naiya would end up finding out about it in an accident and freak out about it.

[purple]

Suzuka instantly felt a pang of understanding, and she wondered how similar this girl’s story was to her own. It sounded innocent enough, sure, but so was Suzuka’s version of her story, whenever she bothered to actually tell it. Her mother had held her back, as well—for maybe more sinister reasons. Her mother had essentially sold Suzuka’s life to the organization she’d been a part of—lied about her father, tried to plot the downfall of Konoha… Yeah, her mom hadn’t been the best person, when she was alive. The amount of trauma Suzu had to undergo because of her made it just that much easier to accept her death, though the entire ordeal had had lasting effects on her.

“Oh, I know a thing or two about protective mothers…” Suzuka said, carefully choosing her words. “Mine let me attend academy, but she held me back for about three years. Long story…” Suzuka didn’t really feel like going much into detail right now, in no small part because it actually was a pretty long story. Her eyes drifted away from Naiya and to the ground as she said this, and she played with her hair idly, lost in thought for a moment. “But yeah, it’s a good feeling to finally get that bit of freedom you get with the headband, even if it is a little bit scary at first. How do you feel now? Excited at all? Nervous?” Suzuka hadn’t expected this to turn into a full blown conversation, but certainly wasn’t upset at how things were going. After working for a few years—most likely in the ANBU corps—she sort of looked forward to having younger shinobi under her wing. Might as well be more active about meeting some of them now.

[/blockquote]

[Naiya]

Naiya loved her mother, it was the only family she had left. Her father died when she was very young so she didn't really have any memories of him. So her mother was quite protective of her, but as far as Naiya was concerned this was normal for her, so she didn't know if her mother had an ultimatum or not, but she didn't mind graduating late from the academy.

While Suzuka spoke, Naiya looked her over, watching her to see if she could gather any sort of body language that could indicate lying, but she couldn't find a thing. This girl was being genuine in her responses. There was some indication though that Suzuka seemed to have been bothered about something, or rather something that had been brought up in conversation brought about some unpleasant thoughts.

Her own feelings about this? Naiya gave a blink of confusion as she brought the box around to her front and looked at it. "Umm..." How could she put it? She wasn't really excited about this. She was more so... "Doubtful..." Her words laced with a tinge of sadness. She wasn't really all to positive about this, she had trained for this, she learned about her bloodline to help herself become stronger as a shinobi. No, it was possibly something other than her being a good kunoichi. "Something just feels wrong about putting it on right now." Naiya now held a stern look as if she were trying to burn holes into the box.

[purple]

So she had cold feet—well, that was certainly understandable. After all, it was easy as a student to get caught up in all the glory and action of it all, but this was a duty that required you to lay your life on the line without a second thought. It took a certain level of maturity to understand the implications of that—Suzuka sometimes wondered if letting everyone join this life so early was right. But then, anyone who would take part in it had to learn early, lest they be unprepared. No, Suzuka understood exactly why things had to be done the way they were done. That didn’t take away from the concern Suzuka felt for the younger generation, though. At some point, as a shinobi, you’d either lose your innocence or your life. There was no negotiating it.

“No, I understand that… It’s a pretty big transition—that much is true. It’s normal to have doubts… But don’t worry. I think you’ll be fine. You don’t have to put it on until it feels right… And I’m sure it’ll feel right for you, at some point. Just don’t sell yourself short, okay? As scary as it can be, I haven’t seen the academy officers make mistakes. If they think you’re ready, you’re probably ready. The way you feel about it will catch up with how they see you.” Suzuka hoped her words would, at the very least, make Naiya feel okay about not feeling ready. It was a big responsibility, and not feeling ready to step up was normal. Part of it was that Suzuka felt bad for making it seem more normal to be excited about it. She had to remember that not everyone had the same experience she had.

[/blockquote]

[Naiya]

Cold feet was probably what it was, though the concern that mostly littered the Kaguya's head was the fact that many missons, required, that you'd head out in teams. She knew she wasn't one for socializing and her interaction's with others had always been quite low. When they had test's upon what they'd do in team situations. Naiya usually responded with letting her teammates die, so long as the mission was completed. She stared at the box a little longer before her attention turned towards Suzuka, who was trying to give her words of encouragement.

It was...how was it put? Naiya couldn't find the word right away. "My concern doesn't lie with the fear of being of Kunoichi...but..." She stopped a moment and pondered on it as she had short flash prediction's in her head of many of her allies laying dead on the ground while she continued on without a care in the world. Naiya bit her bottom lip a moment as she looked away holding her silence a bit longer. "Maybe, you're right." she finally spoke as she lowered the box, back in her left hand, down to her side. "It could be that I'm scared." Naiya didn't understand why she couldn't just state what it was that was bothering her exactly.

Was she really concerned with what Suzuka thought of her? Naiya shook her head and gave a weak smile. "umm...I, may be a bit foreword, but shall we grab something to eat, right now?" there were some lay night food places that were still open at this time.

[purple]

((OOC: Traveled us to the restaurant… Hope that’s okay. Let me know if not!))

“Hmm…” Suzuka paused for a moment, thinking. She’d already been up too late, but then, a quick meal probably wouldn’t hurt… She was already going to be tired in the morning anyway. She knew she’d regret this thinking when she did have to wake up, but there was no reason to fret over it now. “I can’t stay long, because I have to be up early, but I could go for a snack… Yeah, that sounds good! I know a place near here. The most amazing grilled meats you’ve ever had.” Suzuka would probably just order an appetizer, though she would admit she had odd taste in “snacks.” She turned toward the direction Naiya had originally started walking and gestured in that direction. “It’s this way. I’ll lead.”

It wasn’t the most popular spot, and in fact, it was kind of a hole in the wall. Jinbei’s, it was called—though Suzuka tended not to remember this, as the sign had worn off years prior. She just knew to go there when she wanted some well-cooked, cheap meat; the ingredients themselves weren’t of the best quality, but oh was it prepared well. She hoped her relatively cheap taste wouldn’t offend Naiya’s sensibilities; after all, Suzuka figured she would be the main person eating here.

The walk was very short before they arrived. “Jinbei’s,” she explained, half to Naiya and half to herself. “Decent food, great prices. Some of the best prepared meat in this part of town.” She didn’t know how well she got along with her family, but if she was anything like Suzuka, she’d be floating on her own now. Then again, most people did get some kind of family support—regardless, the food here wasn’t bad enough that only the poor would eat it or anything. Just… reasonably priced. That was a good phrase for it. Suzuka pulled back the plastic strips that acted as a door and stepped in, taking in the familiar scenery. It was dimly lit with a sort of red tint to everything, and a few small tables were strewn about. They were well worn and scratched up, but very clean. A few people chattered at one of the tables near the back, but it was otherwise empty.

The smell of freshly cooked beef filled her nostrils, and Suzuka suddenly wanted more than just a snack. Maybe she would have a meal… But no, she was going to sleep soon… Ah, well. Wasn’t the first irresponsible decision she’d made that night. She’d figure it out over the menu. She sat right at the bar, assuming Naiya would follow suit. She greeted the cook of the night—it wasn’t Jinbei, she saw, but this guy still knew his way around a grill. He greeted her, not knowing her well but noticing that she was starting to be a frequent customer. She asked for two menus and handed Naiya one. “Anything from the grill is good… if you’re not big on meat, even the way that prepare the vegetables is amazing. I, however, am big on meat…” She looked back down at the menu, her appetite beginning to betray her. It seemed her plans to eat light might be thwarted for the night…

[/blockquote]