Accidents (Odin)

"Arata, over here sweetie," Akihana called out, waving to her son from behind the gates of the Academy only to be replied with a small gesture and the mouthed words "one minute, mom." making the Kunoichi grin. It was hot out here, hotter than one would expect approaching evening but the sun was still holding court high up in the sky just as her own little boy seemed to be doing behind the gates. If Akihana had ever worried that the boy wouldn't make friends, all those fears were put to rest the first day she had come to pick Arata up from school. Not only had her son been delayed because he had to wave goodbye to all his friends but she too had been stopped by various mothers praising Arata for his manners and intelligence at such a young age. It was both a relief and extremely rewarding to have tangible proof that she hadn't completely messed up when it came to raising her child.

As she waited, the Chunin took the time to observe all the parent and children combinations, wondering if the girl from the hospital went to the academy too. No sign of the familiar purple hair but Akihana still kept looking, her golden brown eyes calm but alert. The heat of the day as well as her clocking out from the Raikage tower meant the blonde no longer looked as neat and proper as she did at work, her blouse half untucked and unbuttoned at the collarbone and her hair now in a messy ponytail on her head, tendrils of spun gold trickling down her shoulders and swaying softly in a barely there breeze. It didn't matter though. Soon after she would change from her office clothes to her training gear. Three nights out of five the Kunoichi spent at the hospital, the other two reserved for physical training at the expense that the weekend be hers and Arata's alone. It was during the weekends that she would cook, bake, clean and generally do things that, in Arata's words, made her a mom.

"Mommy," her son called out, waling otut he gate and barreling into her for a hug. The blonde smiled as she ruffled his ink black hair and then leaned to kiss his forehead. The young woman knew it wouldn't be long before Arata learned that letting your mom kiss you in public wasn't "cool" so she was going to get in as much affection as he could before that phase hit.

"Oh, you're getting so strong, you're going to knock mommy over one of these days," she laughed, noticing for the first time that Arata had been semi followed by another little by. "And who's your friend, sweetie?" she asked, smiling a the other little kid.

"Oh, mommy, this is Asana, Asana, mommy. Mommy were you with Yaju-sensei today?" Arata asked, his coal black eyes sparkling at the mention of the Raikage.

"Yes honey, I was. I work there now, I'm there very day."

For some reason, this made her son's grin multiply. The reason was made clear a moment later as he turned to his classmate. "See, I told you. And Yaju-sama is my teacher too, he talks to me all the time," Arata bragged while the other boy went red in the face. Akihana could only imagine the discussion that had taken place between the two children earlier that day.

"Alright sweetheart, say goodbye to Asana, we have to get going, Mommy has to train today."

Quick goodbyes and promises to meet tomorrow were made after that and Akihana took her son's handin one of hers, shouldering his superhero backpack with the other. With one last look at the Academy, the mother and son began walking carefully through the streets towards the training grounds.

Odin had been working on his jutsu skills for some time now.  He felt like today was the day he would be able to finally master something.....anything.  

He had come to the training grounds everyday, sparring alone.  He had made no friends in the Ninja Academy.  It never bothered him though.  He kept to himself, often entertaining himself somehow.  He often trained in order to not think about it.  

Today was one of those days that his mind wandered; his father and family haunted his mind, breaking his concentration.  He was practicing his kunai training, throwing his few kunai at a training dummy.  Not one would hit their mark, and haven't hit a single one since he started training today.  

The sun was beating down on him, making him regret wearing his whole ninja attire to the training ground.  
He took off his flak jacket, along with his over coat, in order to cool down.  
He gasp, regretting that he never brought along some drink to hydrate himself.  

He took a slight break from throwing kunai and sat down under a tree right beside the training ground in the street.  His breathe was heavy, he thanked his headband for blocking any sweat he might have on his head.  He closed one eye, trying to rid any foul thoughts and loneliness.  He began meditating, wishing for something to come break the cycle.

Once they arrived at the training ground, Arata made a beeline for the small group of children practicing with classroom kunai. The boy had been adamant about wanting to learn chakra just so he could walk on trees but he was young yet and Akihana liked it that way. Though it was obvious all his home lessons with throwing objects courtesy of Fenn made the five year old more advance than anyone in the group of kids clumsily tossing blunt shurikens at a dummy. Kissing him goodbye, Akihana headed to the changing rooms adjacent to slip out of her work clothes and into her training gear, emerging fifteen minutes later in her full training outfit complete with almst knee high boots, her blonde hair now restrained in a long braid to keep out of her face. Looking at the kids to make sure Arata was still safe and occupied, she kunoichi began by doing her usual warm up jogs around the training ground to work at her speed.

It had only taken the blonde once to see her employer in action to know she would have to increase her sped if she even had a hope of seeing a battle he was involved in let alone helping him in any way and so the young woman had made her regiment stricter. There was no shortage of fine shinobi in cloud and Akihana intended to join their ranks one day to whatever capacity she could. As she ran, the Chunin was able to focus mentally on the tasks lined up for tomorrow. Running always having been a state in which she could separate the mind and body, the medic went over tomorrow's schedule at the Raikage office, what dignitaries were expected and where particularly insistent diplomacy would be required to forge a deal. And then there would need to be a window for Yaju to drop by the academy to teach a lesson or two as well.

And then there was the hospital, her work at the Emergency Room continued with her Mythical Palm training and her jar of cookies at the hospital was almost finished too. It seemed she could never bake enough of that stuff, the blonde reflected fondly as she finished her first lap, easing obliviously into her second now that her body was used to the momentum. Shaking her head slightly, the blonde looked up from her track towards the group of kids once more who had now moved on to practicing hand seals. Akihana couldn't help but grin at the expression of pure concentration on their faces even though they were too young to actually channel and work with chakra. Still if was refreshing to see them working on hand seals to increase their chances of performing jutsu whenever they learned it.

Something else her golden brown eyes picked up was the seventeen year old genin who had visited the Raikage a few days ago. The kunoichi tried to remember his name as she waved at the boy automatically, not wanting to call out in case he was in the middle of some heavy meditation. Oh yes, the Onimusha clan. She briefly recalled him eating the cookie enthusiastically. Giving the boy a smile, she continued on her run. One more round and then she could begin training in earnest.

Odin was deep in thought, about his past and life.  He battled the woes of loneliness, a price he had to pay when it came to an Onimusha.  He would go on to slay demons one day, he had no time to look for companionship.  It would be a hard struggle to ascend in the ranks of a shinobi being a loner but to Odin, it looks like no one really noticed him.  

I'm a ghost to everyone.  Not like it matters much.  No one even knows I exist.  When I start rising in the ranks, then they will say to themselves, 
"When did he get here? Who is that guy!?"  
Psh.  Yeah right

Odin's silly thoughts broke for a moment at the sound of newbie ninjas yelling in excitement and glee.  
Academy Students, huh?  Takes me back a few years.  Not much has changed for me except my ambition has gotten stronger.  
Odin wondered how the new ninjas of the next generation are going to fair.  He listened to the kids practice their aiming with the kunai.  He slightly chuckled when he heard some of the kids miss their mark, stomping around in anger.  

I was just like that a few minutes ago...he laughed to himself.  He listened to the kids laughing and playing around with one another.  He dwelled on the fact that these kids were able to find each other and practice with one another with ease.  Yet he just resided that he would not be able to make friends.  

He slightly opened his eyes, "Maybe I never tried."
He pondered this thought while looking at the ground for a few moments.  
He looked up after blanking out for a few moments to catch the eye of the golden eyed beautiful lady from a few days ago.  
Ahikana, was it? Akihana i believe it was...yes.  I don't think i ever caught her last name.
He watched her wave at him, which warmed his heart.  He waved back and signaled her to come to him.

"Hey! Akihana-sama! What brings you here!?"  
Odin spoke in a clutzy and high pitched voice, nerves ran through his body.

At the gesture from the redhead Onimusha to come over, Akihana pondered for a moment. She had one lap to go but he looked lonely over there. Oh well, she figured she could train alongside him, and if she jogged all the way that was half a lap done already. Glancing over at Arata and his friends once more to ensure they weren't getting into any trouble, the medic nin accepted the invitation, long sinewy legs pumping the ground hard as she jogged. The heat was still considerable but now the burn was a kind she was all to familiar with, one that came with good, tough training and muscle workout. Golden braid bouncing behind ehr, the kunoichi reached him a few minutes later with a polite smile.

"Good evening Onimusha-san," she greeted, eyes shimmering with energy as well as her passive bloodline limit. The sun may be hot but it did add considerable advantage to her dojutsu, making her detect light shapes more sharply than in dim lights. "I hope you're enjoying your stay in Kumo."

The medic dropped down beside him with easy grace, hands glowing green with medical chakra to asses the workout on her muscles as she sat, enhancing the blood flow only the slightest to help boost her energy for the remainder of the training. It was an old trick that Akihana had learned, learned and then forgotten only to learn again after resuming active duty in Cloud. It paid to be a medical ninja in more ways than one.

Odin watched the blonde haired chuunin jog up to him and sit down.  He was riddled with anticipation with the fact that he was conversing with someone, 
"I'm doing pretty good here.  I come here often to bide my time.  You come around here often?" 

He didn't mean to but he stared at her golden eyes, somehow hypnotized by them in a way.  Just the fact that he knew she was on another level than him kind of excited him.  He watched the way she used her jutsu to relief herself.  
Must be some kind of healing jutsu, medical specialization.  He concluded.

His one eye sparkled as he watched her use a jutsu on herself, 
"Got any pointers for a lowly genin?  I have been having a tough time just training in jutsu," he asked.
"I have just trained in the basics, along with some sword play," he tapped one of his swords which dangled by his hip.  He didn't think before asking if it was going to insult the golden eyed woman who decided to take a seat before him.  He usually never thinks before he talks.  

He slightly chuckled to himself, "I am willing to do anything at this point," he spoke to her, giving her a genuine smile. His spirits seemed lifted just by the fact he was talking to her.  There was something about her he couldn't place his finger on, but it was a good thing.

"I'm doing pretty good here. I come here often to bide my time. You come around here often?

Akihana considered the question carefully, surprised to find herself actually wondering if she came to the training ground often. Before her appointment as the Raikage's secretary, training had always been whatever activity she could drag her son to, and in most cases chakra was used to do everyday things like make sandwiches and blow dry her hair or press her son's clothes. Finding new and creative ways to train and refine her technique had been something the blonde had struggled with ever since joining active duty six months ago but with her promotion to chunin and appointment to a job that required her to be close to the leader of Cloud, the kuniochi had known it was time to step up the game. No more home improvised training sessions, now she had to build stamina and perfect medical jutsu. All this was also made possible by the fact that now her son was branching out, his mother not the sole occupant of his social spectrum.

"I come down here twice a week," she answered. "Usually Mondays and Fridays but the days vary depending on my hours at the hospital."

When the teen asked her for pointers, Akihana let out a small laugh. Someone asking her for pointers in training was certainly a new experience especially since she had blundered her way through being a genin an a mom. But still, looking at both herself and her son now, the Akari supposed she hadn't done too bad of a job. "I don't have much in the way of traditional advice," she began, eyes trained to his face and taking in the eye patch properly. It would have been rude to tell him her bloodline limit could see through the patch so the young woman kept that information to herself for now. "But I do have one thing that might be of use. Most shinobi think of "training" as something to be done here, or in proper ninja gear. That's not how I did it the last six years. I had a baby to look after, training to keep up with and odd jobs to do to pay the bills, so i trained on the go," she explained. To demonstrate, the kunoichi raised her palm and called forth the Hikariton blinding ball jutsu, letting the golden orb rest a few inches from her palm. "This for example, acts as my son's nightlight. So I practice jutsu and he can sleep safe and sound. The key, I've found, is to incorporate chakra into things you'd normally do around the house."

Pausing to extinguish the ball of light hovering above her palm, the Chunin looked at him once more. "Onimusha-san, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your eye?"

The genin noted the times she comes to practice, hoping this wasn't a one time event.  

He listened to her advice, taking it all in.  He hadn't thought of anything of the sort to do.  Using his chakra as part of everyday activities? Always training even when not at the training grounds? He hadn't thought of this idea at all! 
"Brilliant idea Akihana-sama!"  he thanked her with a slight smile on his face.  His smile turned into awe as he watched her produce a golden orb from her hands.  
Must be some kind of jutsu, he assumed.  He hadn't read about that kind of jutsu in any of his books but he noted to ask her about it at some point.  

"Onimusha-san, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your eye?" She had asked him.  

His smile disappeared.  He touched his eyepatch, losing himself in a memory of long ago.  He hadn't thought about it in years...ever since he was a boy,
"This is a reminder of my clan's tragic end," he paused for a moment, looking at her with a sad smile, "I am blind in this eye.  My father's last mark on this world."

He studdered for a moment, collecting his thoughts, "My clan is...was an ancient clan cursed to defend our land from an evil presence.  None of us understood what it meant but we had a God who was told to be the first Onimusha," he laughed, thinking she might not believe him at all.  He surely thought she might believe what he wanted to say after.  
The first Demon Slayer.  Yes demons, he thought to himself in laughter.  

"Long story short, a chosen warrior in our clan in 'blessed' with a special gauntlet which gives them special abilities, sort of like a special bloodline.  This gauntlet is more of a curse than a blessing.  It drove my father mad.  He tried to slaughter my who clan, including me," he explained, touching his eye with his thumb to tell her what was his souvirner for running into his father.  

He smiled at her, the smile still had some sadness behind it, "That is the story of my eyepatch.  Don't worry, it is just the first time talking about it.  It actually felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders."

He wasn't sure if she was going to inquire more about him but he would gladly tell her anything.  He was curious about the woman in front of him as well.

"Anything else you'd like to know?  Afterwards I have a question of my own," this time, his smile was genuine. He hoped they could talk more as he rested, although he planned on focusing on gathering chakra while he listened.

"Brilliant idea Akihana-sama!"

The blonde shook her head at the formal address. Not that she didn't appreciate the politeness in his tone but the kunoichi felt she really did not deserve the honorific of "sama". Her employer, certainly - though he was not one for formalities often despite his office - but not her. "Just Akihana is fine," she reassured him with a smile. "Akihana of the Akari clan," she elaborated and then pointed to her son playing with the other children. "And that's my little boy, Arata, the one with the jet black hair pretending he can walk up a tree," she laughed, thoroughly amused at her son's antics. Catching his eye, Akihana waved at him only to have him wave back at her with biggest grin on his face. "As you can see, he's deliriously happy to start the academy."

As the redhead began recounting the facts of his clan, Akihana listened quietly, absorbing the information as he spoke. Most people didn't understand the power of listening and how much it helped to simply lend an ear but it was something the blonde had perfected over the years. She listened without judgement or question, it must have been hard for him to tell a complete stranger his story, especially of the way his father had hurt him. Once he finished speaking, Akihana looked up at his face, her golden orbs assessing his features in the aftermath of the revelation.

"Thank you for sharing all that," she said, her voice both soft and sympathetic. "I know nothing can take away the pain in your past but... but there is a way for us to restore your ruined eye." The kunoichi did not mean offense, only wanted to help should the genin want to receive it. "I'm a medical ninja, currently training in the Mythical Palm technique, its a process that removes repairs damaged cells at an accelerated pace. If you like, I can attempt to heal your eye."

The Akari waited, wondering if her suggestion had been out of line. It was in her nature to help but she understood that sometimes her good intentions could be misconstrued too depending on whom she offered assistance to.

Akihana told him to just call her by her first name.  He finally learnt her clan name as well.  He saw her wave to her son, he tried to wave as well.  He pondered how much far along her little shinobi was fairing in school.  He would ask her later. 

Odin considered her offer.  He never thought he'd be able to see again,
"You would do that...for me?" he asked, his voice cracking, trying not to reveal his happiness.
"I would love to see again.  It seems like a miracle that I would be able to!"  

Odin got excited but he seemed weary anyway, "How long would it take?"