Waiting [P, Nk]

Well. It wasn't easy, just listening to Yen. Risako's shoulders slumped, and a sigh escaped her chest. The way she looked at it, she had two options, both of which left her technically on the wrong side of things. She acknowledged that, but at the same time, she knew the law of the village. Or, well, what was basically the law. If a member of the hidden leaf were to go missing, they were assumed to be either dead or defected, marking them as either a hero or a criminal. Then again, from what Yensung had said, she could also see where he was right. Every being had a path to follow, a destiny, and no one should be able to impede on the individual's right to change that path if they so choose. 

Walking away from the training grounds, she left Yen to his relaxation, and set out to find Salzem. Staring at the ground, she began focusing, extending her chakra until she could find Salzem's. While she did indeed find it, having been around him long enough to know what it felt like, she also couldn't pin point it exactly. So, her first logical plan, was to head to the village gates, to cut him off before he left. 

Forming the ram hand seal, she took a step, and after a few successive uses of the body flicker technique, she found her self at the gates. With a step, Risako would turn so that her back was facing the gate, and she would wait. She figured that he would show up eventually, besides, if Yen was willing to go to the length of finding her to tell her this, she figured he'd probably be leaving soon. 

Really, she would wait all day if she had too.

Salzem walked solemnly up to the gates once again, allowing himself liberty to let himself see the outside. To see the freedom he would eventually seize. However, when he got there, Risako was already there at the gates, seemingly waiting for something. Figuring Risako was there for some reason that had nothing to do with him, He would attempt to walk past her, paying her no mind as if she were just another soul.

Salzem would then stare out into the wilderness beyond the gates with almost an expression of longing. Oh, how he wanted to be free of these shackles and would be able to walk his path freely without having to worry about obligations or duty. He would be a free spirit. An air of melancholy would envelop the chuunin, as he remembered that it wasn't quite his time to go yet. He just knew... Something compelled him to stay, promising him only a little bit longer. What was tugging him back...?

Well. It wasn't a long wait after all. Not only that, but he walked by without so much as a greeting? Forming her hand in the seal of confrontation, a rather delicate looking bunch of symbols would sprout and spread from beneath her feet, erecting a barrier of sorts. If Sal continued to walk on, staring at the forest, he'd soon find himself pressed against an invisible wall. At least, until she so chose to let him out. At the same time, she would take a few steps, removing herself from the barrier. The way Yen had put it, Sal was ready to fight for his right to party move on with his life. She respected that, but she wanted to speak with him first. 

Most children at the age of fourteen didn't act like adults. It was the academy, it got to her really. Taught her to be serious when she needed to be. So, that's why the raven haired girl with byakuugan look alike eyes didn't wear her usual smile. Nor did she speak with her usual cheerful tone. Instead, her new expression, and her new composure, could be described with a simple "meh." Uncaring, aloof, collected. 

"So, Salzem. I hear tell you intend to leave. Mind giving me a reason you'd just drop out like that?" All but the last little part of her sentence was monotone, spiking with a bit of interest as she finished her question. Of course, this was from the other side of the barrier. It's not that she didn't trust him not to start a fight, it's just that from the way Yen said it, Salzem was dead set on leaving. So, rather than test Yen's words, she'd just stand right out side of the barrier. Honestly, it wouldn't find itself erected too much longer, depending on what Sal had to say.

Salzem knocked into some invisible barrier as he approached the gates. His alarm gave way to confusion as he felt around the invisible wall with his hands. It seemed to wrap all around  him. A trap! He turned to face Risako, sure this was her doing. He was going to tell her off, to to demand for her to lower the barrier and let him be free. He was too CLOSE to be stopped now. Then, he heard her speak. 

"So, Salzem. I hear tell you intend to leave. Mind giving me a reason you'd just drop out like that?"

Once he heard that, he stopped whatever he was going to say and looked at Risako curiously. How did she know this? He's told no one, except..... Yen! Salzem rolled his eyes and groaned as he came to the conclusion that Yen had told Risako and now, Salzem was stuck. He was cornered. His first instinct was to deny it, to reject the possibility that he was leaving, at least to Risako. He opened his mouth to do just that, then he closed it again. No. He and Risako had gone through too much to just lie to her face like that. He then walked to her side of the barrier, and put his hands against this side of the wall like it was a prison cell. He glared at Risako through his prison, obvious venom in his gaze.

"I'm leaving, because I no longer wish to be here." Salzem said bluntly. "Now, would you kindly lower the barrier before I'm forced to find a way out...?" He spoke these words with false kindness in his voice like if he was talking to a cat, asking it to get off his counter.

Risako just gave him a blank look. She asked rhetorically, "Because you want too? That's your whole reason for leaving." Disappointing. She figured at least there would be some grand plot or scheme that drove him from the village. Well. This technically painted Salzem as a missing-nin, meaning he had turned his back on the village. Technically, he was an enemy now, because he knew things about the village. He was a chuunin, which meant he knew of the escape routes, he knew the population count, he had at least some knowledge of the village's strength. It wouldn't do just to let him go. Not at all. 

At the same time, Yen's words stuck in the back of her mind. This was one of those weird situations where both sides were correct. From the village's stand point, letting Salzem go could bite them in the ass. Even if he wasn't willing to spill the information, there were people who could scan memories, read minds, etc. From the other point of view, every individual had a path to walk, and nothing should be able to shackle them from doing so. 

But then again. The village. 

To Risako, the village was pretty important. It fostered one's skills, and kept its residents relatively safe, at least for the line of work that most of its inhabitants did. Thus, she just couldn't quite fathom why he would just want to up and leave. I mean, she understood, she just didn't like it. It felt like betrayal, almost.

Then, it finally dawned on her that Sal had threatened to use force to break his way out of the barrier, she scoffed at his threat. "Like you could break through it. I've held people with more potent chakra than you inside this thing." After a few seconds, she spoke, "Hold the back of your hand to the barrier, and allow me to do something, and then you can go." Presuming he complied, she'd hop to work immediately.

Salzem nodded when Risako questioned his motive.

"That's it. I want to leave. Who are you to stop me? I feel my purpose is out there." Salzem gestured at the gates with one of his hands.


"I honestly don't expect you to understand." Salzem said, taking his hand and holding it up to the barrier as she requested "You may be expecting an 'I'm sorry' or an 'I wish this could be different' but if I said that, I'd be lying. I've got something I've gotta do and I gotta do it. I can't do it in here." Salzem looked at Risako sadly as he spoke. This was one of his first friends.


"I know that you fear for the village. That's why your here aren't you? Or was it because Yen told you to stop me?" Salzem asked, revealing what he'd figured out. Regardless of her answer, Salzem shrugged. "I've not come here to leave just yet anyway. Just to look. To see the gauntlet I have to brave."

However, as he said this, Salzem would be wary of Risako's movements. Although she was (perhaps once was) friend, he had to stay on guard and protect his own interests.

"Risako." He would say to her, looking at her seriously. "You know you're still my friend right?"

Risako would place her palm on the back of Salzem's hand, which was pressed against the barrier. He may or may not feel the slightest prick, before a little black dot would appear on the back of his hand. After a few seconds it would disappear, leaving Risako a connection to Salzem. With that, she would turn around, deactivate the barrier seal, and as she walked off she would say, "Well. If you ever think you'll need help, just write home and we'll be on our way."

Risako then went off to fill out the paper work, after all, letting Salzem go without fixing his non existent criminal history would in itself be a betrayal. 

[bleh, short post.]

Salzem felt the slightest tick on his hand as Risako put hers on his. A small black dot was visable as he pulled it back. Some kind of seal? He guessed so. Shortly after she had done this, she lowered the barrier seal, showing that she fully intended to let him go. He looked at her as she left him standing there, saying nothing, not even waving. He just watched her go. He then snapped his fingers and his spider, Zeefalvora, faded into existence next to him, ending her camouflage technique. He kneeled down and stroked the top of her cephalothorax gently, rubbing his hands through her soft blue hair. She then climbed up onto his back, wrapping her legs around his torso so she hung like a backpack from it. It was finally time for him to go. With little else to do or say, Salzem headed out through the gates, leaving behind the only world he'd known.

(Exit. Exiting Konoha as well and claiming Missing Nin Status)

[1049 WC, claiming 5 stats cause I can apparently.]