Hanging by a Moment (Private Vivi)

Akina's cheeks reddened suddenly, and she had no ramen to blame it on. She listened to Viper's vow and nodded deeply, nearly bowing toward him, showing that she accepted his words. Fate was definitely dealing her a difficult hand, but she would do her best to carry out her duty honorably. She sighed slightly. She realized that she was quite hungry as her stomach betrayed its feelings by roaring loudly.

She laughed. It was a laugh that she thought she had forgotten long ago. It reminded her of her days with her father, which brought a twinge of sorrow into her eyes. She shook her head slightly as she realized that they were holding hands. Instinctively, she began to pull away from him, but she chuckled lightly and decided to squeeze his hand lightly, showing that she wasn't quite as rigid as she appeared.

"That sounds like a good idea...Viper...kun." She smiled warmly and she seemed to be grateful to be spending some actual time with him, instead of training.

Viper's smile is soft as he feels her grip his hand tighter, he then hears how she says his name, for the first time a soft blush forms on his cheeks for but an instant before he notices it, quickly turning his head away so she can not see.
He stutters a bit, "C-chef, two more bowls of ramen!" his head is still turned away from her out of embarrassment that he blushed, his grip tightening since he turned his head although it just becomes firmer, nothing extreme.

Viper breaths in softly then exhales, his right hand makes its way towards his hood, sliding his fingers within he pulls it back, with a shake of his head his long raven black hair is freed from behind his wet cloak, "Ah, that is better" he says with a slight chuckle trying to change the subject a bit. "Looks like the rain has stopped, that's a good thing." he says looking back towards her while the chef prepares their next meal.

Akina's eyes thought she saw Viper starting to blush, but he turned away too quickly for her to be certain. She chuckled softly as he stumbled over his words. It was comforting to know that this was likely his first date as well, and seeing the Hokage "blunder" made her relax more. "What's your favorite ramen?" She asked partially to break the ice and partially to begin getting to know the man she had pledged her fealty to.

Seeing Viper remove his cloak caused her to remove her hood as well. It was very liberating. "Yes, it's certainly a good thing." She said with a slight smile and an elbow that was aimed at Viper's. If it "hit", it would be very soft despite her training. It was a symbol that she was having a good time.

Viper chuckles when he nudges her, he hears her question about his favorite ramen, he actually has to think about this.
He tilts his head to the side thinking, he speaks, "To be honest, I rarely eat ramen. I only came when my brothers would drag me along after training, even then I would only get basic" Viper shrugs his shoulders.
"What is your favorite ramen?" Viper asks, he wants to learn more about her if he plans to spend the rest of his life with her.
Just them both having similar pasts is not really enough to go off of, they need to learn even the small likes of the other one.

Akina sighed as she eagerly began eating her ramen. "I like so many that it's hard to choose...there's fried pork...beef...teriyaki beef..." She giggled contently. This was a fun way to get to know one another, and Akina was really enjoying herself. She slurped away at her noodles quickly and thought of something else to say. She wasn't sure what to ask exactly, so she just sat for a moment and thought.

"Hmmm...what do you like about me?"

Viper watches as the bowls are set down in front of them, he grips his chopsticks breaking them before digging in, he hears her list all the types of ramen she likes, Viper chuckles a bit, she really liked ramen it seemed.
Viper scoops his sticks in the broth gripping a good chunk of noodles, bringing them to his lips he slurps them slowly, he then hears her new question, "What does Viper like about her?" Viper out of surprise begins to choke on the noodles, his teeth clench slicing the noodles separating the ones in the bowl from the ones in his mouth, he coughs and chokes a bit before he turns his head away from her only to spit what was stuck in his throat outside the curtain, his breathing now slow as he pats his chest a bit.
Viper chuckles embarrassed a tad as he looks back towards her, "Well, one thing I like is the fact that we are so similar. Both our pasts sucked and we both have our fair share of troubles and problems we struggled through.
With you, I feel you are someone who actually understands me and can accept me for who I really am, not for stereotypical views, or for my position like everyone else seems to do."
Viper sighs a bit, he decides to say something to tease her a bit, "Not to mention your pretty cute also." Viper says with a smirk and a teasing wink as he stabs a piece of pork in his ramen with his chop stick and brings it to his lips. He is starting to enjoy this food everyone seems to have so much of a hype over.

Akina stared intently into her ramen broth. A contemplative, sorrowful gaze. She found herself thinking of what her parents would think about her choice, but she dismissed the thought with a sigh. If she asked this question, it would ruin the mood, so she decided to wait for a more convenient time when talk would be more serious and less lighthearted. She drank down her broth quickly.

"Well, you act tough, but I really think you're a nice guy...people don't seem to understand that about you. You are burdened by leading the country; it has caused you to see things that you didn't want to see...and yet...you like power. Despite all of this, you relate to me honestly." She smiled slightly, but reddened somewhat. She liked observing people to try and get a read on who they were. "Oh, yes, and I find you handsome." She finished with a giggle.

Viper chuckles a bit when she calls him handsome, he thinks over her words however and how she sees him, does she really think he wanted all this power to begin with?
Viper grips the edge of the ramen bowl and brings it to his lips, tipping it back and drinking a bit of broth he then sits it back down.
"I wouldn't say I like power, it is more over a necessity.
How can one get the respect they need to lead their troops if they do not first have the power to command such a force? Alas, in this warring era, power means everything." Viper shrugs.

This is quite ironic for him to say for anyone who knew him when he was little, Viper wanted to be the best at everything, if he wasn't he would train until he was.
This is mostly what led him to the power he obtained to be recognized as a fitting candidate for Hokage, however after obtaining the position his need to get stronger turned from a more selfish goal, in to one that was required of him to obtain with the other nations clawing at his borders waiting to destroy Konohagakure no Sato once more, something he will never allow.
"I guess leading Konohagakure no Sato has changed me" Viper sighs, he scoops up a few noodles slurping them down while he takes a break in his words to select the next thing to say.

"It seems it has changed everyone, my brothers and I used to have fun, but not everything has to be all top secret and serious, I can not even leave the village for extended periods without fear of the village being attacked while I am away, which is why everything I do is kept secret.
I guess you can say that is why people do not see me as a normal person," Viper looks up towards the ceiling of the ramen shop stopping his words for a moment. "You could almost say I do not want them to, it is better that people think I am "scary", that at least acts as a detour to keep people from invading."
Viper lips up his bowl once more, before tipping it back he speaks, "The Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, that is all they deserve to know me as, for in the end, I can only trust my family and those I love to stay with me, everyone else is destined to stab me in the back should they get the chance."
The bowl tilts up as Viper's eyes are filled with anger, he drinks a good chunk of the broth making the contents visible, pork and noodles seen with only a tad bit of broth at the bottom, the bowl is sat down.

It is surprising to hear Viper speak of this, it is not something he has ever brought up.
Ever since he was little he never had anyone to rely on, it was only him and his brothers, even growing up he had no one to show him the way, he became Hokage all on his own.
You can say that Viper grew almost a hatred for those he was not related to, feeling that he could never trust any of them, that they would try to kill him at the first chance they got just to get his seat, or to burn his home to the ground for their own selfish goals.
This has proved to be partially true with how the villagers of Konohagakure no Sato looked at him before, how allies he made spoke ill of him behind his back only to plot his demise.

The Hyuga girl shook her head slowly. "It only recently became a necessity, and that's because you're not too secure with yourself...like me, minus the stubbornness." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "You have trained recently, from the look of things." The girl stopped observing Viper, noting that he had gone over to the darker side of things in life.

A light sigh escaped her lips. "The past, Viper-kun, is the past...don't dwell on it, or it just may consume you. If that happened, you would be wondering who you are all over again." From the tone of her voice, it sounded as though she was speaking from experience, but she dared not carry the topic any further. His eyes spoke of anger, and his hand began squeezing hers more viciously. The girl merely gritted her teeth slightly, until the feeling passed. "I'm sorry. I observe people quickly...if I had gone too far, I apologize." Her words held an air that was more befitting of an old sage rather than a Genin.

"Viper, there is nothing you could do to scare me...at least not that I know. You could kill me with less than a twitch of your body, and I acknowledge that." Silver eyes looked calmly into black. "But that doesn't mean I fear it. If anything, it pushes me to be better...to excel until I am the best." Resolve moved over her kind gaze.

Viper sighs softly trying to push his feelings aside once more, "You did not go to far, in fact you made me question why it is I have power in the first place, to be honest not even I know that answer."
He releases her hand feeling that his grip tightened on hers, he places the tip of the chopstick in the bowl and spins around what is left.
"When your a kid it just seems so much easier, that you can do whatever you want with no repercussion for your actions."
Viper's facial expression look to be that he is deep in thought, "In the beginning my drive was simply to be the best, now however, my drive is to reach the point I never have to worry about not being able to protect the ones I love like before.."
Viper's tone gets quiet near the end, the reason he is doing all of this now made known.
In reality, he is scared and hurt, he does not want to lose one more thing in his life, he never wants to feel defenseless where he can not be there for the ones that truly need him.
"All while Echo and I were growing up my father kept me away from him, during this the clan abused him every single day and treated him like trash, while I was primed and groomed to be the next head of clan. I can still see Echo's face in my nightmares, the blood stained clothing, the marks on his skin.
That is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life because I was not able to prevent it.."
Vipers grip tightens with a surge of anger which serves to snap the chopstick clean in two, it is a good thing he removed his hand from hers or this would of hurt.
"If I was not selfishly lusting after power like a stupid little kid I could of seen what was going on, and prevented it.
Now because I was not strong enough once again war took my other brother away from me, I still have not found him. Dad died in the attack as well but it serves him right."
This is the first time Viper audibly spoke ill of his father to others, deep down he hated his father, after finding out the truth he wanted nothing more than to kill him with his own two hands, the only sad part is that Nate beat him to it.

Viper tries to calm himself further as he looks towards her when she says how she will never fear him, "I would never want you scared of me, in fact I am scared of you. For you hold the one thing that could break me.." Viper pauses. "My heart.." his lips curl in to a soft smile.