Is It True What They Say? (P, NK)

Altar lay in the plains, back to the ground, head against the sole tree that grew there, the soft glow of the moon flowers illuminating him. He was staring out across the vast, rolling hills that seemed to stretch into oblivion at this angle. He was always surprised that when he lay down, they seemed to roll into forever, but when standing, they ended and dropped clearly. Perspective was a funny thing, he guessed. Rolling flat on his back, resting his head in his hands, Altar would close his eyes and gently smile. Tonight was a good night to be outside.

Star gazing, a favorite pastime of Aki Nara-one of the newest genin in the village of skyscrapers. She could spend hours and hours watching the sky above as a single comment danced through the sky or as a barrage of meteors streamed down. Her love for the stars stemmed from her father who would spend hours on end with her ass a child watching the stars and their many formations. However, as of late, her father had become more busy than usual leaving the young Nara to gaze at the stars by herself.

In fact, it was where she was now bound, the open plains of the Moon Country. The plains were the perfect place to see all the stars-far away from the diluting light of Tengakure. Walking under a star laden sky, she did not require a single lantern or light-the stars were that bright. Furthermore the rampant growth of the moon flower lit the ground right up as well. Making her way through the rolling hills, Aki neared where she often watched the skies from. With her hazel eyes on the sky she was oblivious of most other things.

Perhaps it was a brief moment of clairvoyance or sheer luck, but Aki glanced down at the ground in front of her spying a.....body? Ew, was that really a dead body? With a soft yelp that sounded much like a wounded animal, the traumatized genin approached what she was a dead body until she was standing over it. Unbeknownst to her, the body was that of Altar Shinkou who was not dead, but he had closed his eyes. If Altar did not stir, Aki would reach down and try to put her two forefingers to the boy's neck to check for a pulse-she was well versed in medical procedure, well, sort of.

Altar was near his REM state, about to fall soundly asleep in the peaceful plains. However, seeing as it was very quiet, and Altar had trained his ears to be acute to the slightest noise, he heard footsteps approach him. They seemed to belong to someone petite, probably a young girl. They didn't hold very much disturbance or weight. Still, you couldn't be too careful. Altar would remain "sleeping" until the footsteps took a sudden stop, and a soft, surprised noise came to his ears. Yeah, that wasn't anyone lethal. Besides, anyone with lethal intent wouldn't have made the noise. So, he was in the clear. Normally, Altar would have opened his eyes now, but he was feeling like a good joke would fit nicely, so he decided to keep his eyes closed.

Next, he felt two fingertips placed gently on his neck. Ah, so she was a med nin. That was always good. They could never have too many med nin, and Altar had only ever met Haru, so meeting another may prove to be fun. Altar's pulse would run past the girl's fingertips, as normal for a living body. But, as it did, Altar would take advantage if his speed and grab hold of the girl's wrist, and snap open both of his eyes, looking into the girl's hazel ones. His mismatched eyes had a chance to scare her, his right being a vivid crimson, and the other a milky white.

This should have been enough to scare the girl, however Altar would release her hand almost immediately, being too busy laughing to notice if she had actually been scared. Once done having his small laughing fit, Altar would stand up, and assuming she was still there, turn to her.

"Apologies, that was just way too tempting. Anyways, what brings you out here, miss..." Altar would say, trailing off as he didn't yet know her name. He hoped she would fill him in.

In an instant the genin was able to discern the 'body' she had found was actually a living person, that was good to know. Much to her surprise,  she was not given much time to fully grasp the gravity of her discovery, because as she was drawing her hand back the boy's hand shot up and grabbed it. Whats more, his eyes snapped open in an almost snake-like manner to reveal. Naturally, this all came as a shock and elicited a shriek much louder than the one she had let out before. One second he was possibly dead and the next he was grabbing her hand, it was plain weird. Of course, she pulled back her hand and held them both over her chest in fear. Taking a few steps back she listened to what her once dead man had to say while she fidgeted with her hands.

She then stammered out a response, "I, well, I came out to watch the stars, I always do. Isn't that why you are here?" Aki figured it was the only reason anyone would be out be out here at such a time. After all, there was nothing around here for miles. Perhaps she had found a fellow stargazer? The genin watched the boy with interest, he was an interesting one.

Altar's eyes would gather a light behind them as the girl told him she was out to seek the stars in the sky. Ah, another stargazer. The girl hadn't told him her name, which he guessed was either because she didn't like him, ir didn't trust him. After all, he had just gone out of his way to frighten the poor girl.

"I come out here for peace, quiet, and the like. It's much more tranquil out here than it is in a city full of bustling streets and skyscrapers. Though, I do enjoy seeing the stars above me as I lay out here. But, I like seeing the shapes they make more than the stars themselves." Altar would say, walking closer to the girl. Altar would attempt to take the girl by her wrist again, more gently this time, and lead her over to the crest of the hill. From there he would point to the sky, tracing the various shapes that the stars made, naming them as he went. After naming his favorite four, Altar would stop and look at the girl.

"Well, do you see them?" Altar would say, awaiting her response. After he got it, he would continue on. "My name's Altar, by the way, and I really am sorry about scaring you earlier. Really bad idea in hindsight." he would finish, his gaze dropping to the stretches of plains below the hill, being illuminated eerily by the moon flowers.

Allowing herself to be taken by the wrist, Aki's eyes danced through the skies from constellation to constellation with ease as she looked upwards as a result of Altar's directions. The boy most certainly knew the skies above the earth, such was a rare person. Aki had never met anyone, aside from her father, who had such knowledge of the heavens above. So, of course she responded to Altar, albeit timidly, "Y-yes, I see them. You have quite the extensive repertoire of knowledge about the stars."

"My name is Aki Nara. I've seen you before haven't I?" Pausing to think with a pouty face it dawned on her as she continued with her face redden ever so slightly, "Wait...you were the boy who tripped over my leg...I am so so so so sorry about that........." Yeah, she was kicking herself for that and immediately tried to change the subject with a few awkwardly hasty words, "So, are you from Tengakure?"

Well, that was a stupid question. Instinctively, the small girl brought her hands behind her back. Naturally, once her hands were hidden from view, she wrung them around nervously. Social situations, such as this one, especially with boys made her exceedingly uneasily-she wasn't too used to such things.

Aki's first comment was one commenting his knowledge on the stars.

"Yeah, I used to spend nights outside a lot as a kid, and when you have insomnia and nothing to do, stargazing kills a miraculous amount of time." Altar would say, giving a small hint about his past. He next learned that the girl's name was Aki, and she was a Nara. Altar had heard of them, but never met one before, or at least not that he knew of. He knew their basic idea was manipulating shadows, which was funny to him. As a Shinkou, he had complete control over the basic essence of darkness itself. As a Nara, she had control over shadows. A strange pair on a lone night. Oh, the irony.

Then she flushed as she told him that she was the one he had tripped over in the market, and immediately apologized for it. Trying to cover, she rushed out a question, asking if he was from Tengakure, hiding her hands behind her back.

"No need to apologize, Aki. It was a simple mistake, and my fault to begin with. I wasn't really watching where I was going...sorry, tend to be a bit of a klutz in crowded places, never been a people person and i'm mildly claustrophobic. So, no need to be sorry, Okay? Okay. As for being from Tenga... no, actually. I'm not originally from Tengakure. I..left home at a young age and traveled from place to place. I found Tenga a few years back, and this has been home since." Altar would say, pictures of memories from his home life flashing in his mind. His eyes would darken slightly, and his face would take on a slightly sad appearance. Memories of those times held no happiness to them. Not anymore, at least. Altar would look up now, at Aki. The nervousness was practically pouring off of her. The way she talked, acted, moved... He could read it off her easily.

"Oh, and one more thing now, Aki. Stop being so nervous. I'm not going to jump you, I have no reason to hurt you. I'm not going to judge you, i'm not like that. You have no reason to be nervous around me. I'm a very relaxed, laid back person. Just calm down, alright?" Altar would say, his voice a mellow, soothing and calming tone. He hated it when people were nervous and jumpy around him. It made him feel like a bad guy of some sort.

Insomnia, that was an interesting reason to look to the skies. Aki always did it to be with her father. She did not get much time to see him during the day as he was always off at work or on a missions of some sort. Despite her young age the young genin fully understood that her father, as a shinobi, lived a dangerous life. One day he might not come back from work. So, she cherished each moment she got with him. Alas, he now worked nights as well. He only came him between watches and missions. Thus, the genin was forced to go on these expedition by her lonesome. In the end, she did not mind it all that much as she felt closer to her father just by watching the stars and, for now, that was enough.  

Oddly, the Altar's answer about how he came to Tengakure only brought up more questions. Of course these questions, were not ones easily asked especially to a stranger. Did he travel by himself? Does he know his parents? Where did he come from in the first place? How did he find Tengakure? All these questions and more flooded the small girl's mind, but Altar was not done. No, he was far from done.

The boy commented on her shyness and, naturally, this sent the kunoichi's hue into a deeper red-no longer a light pink. Glancing down at her feet for a second she realized his mentioning it made her all the more nervous, damn emotions not staying in check. So, much for all that training the academy had her do with suppressing them. All the same, she knew she could not simply say nothing: that would be awkward. 

"I, oh, well, yeah, sorry..." Taking a breath she attempted to compose herself and pull out of the rather flustered stage she was now in, "So, do you have family here? I mean...did you travel to Tengakure with your parents or anything?" With her small reserves of bravery used up, Aki fell silent once again. Looking at Altar's face she waited for a response, hopefully not an angry or dismissive one.

On Altar's comment and attempt to drag the girl out of her shy, nervous state, the girl's face only grew into a deeper red. It felt strange to have a girl be so shy and nervous around him, he was used to people being very open and straightforward with him. It certainly was a complete change from what he was used to and comfortable with. She seemed to gather her bravery, though, and after apologizing asked if he had any family remaining, and if he had traveled with his parents.

"N-no. No family here, or anywhere that I know of. And I left my parents and sister when I left... I left alone. My parents wren't the greatest and my sister... well, we didn't have the best relationship. I think they're all dead now, though." Altar would say, his eyes darkening further, and his gaze would fall to the ground. However, he would soon recover and look back to Aki.