Kiss From a Rose

Mission Details:

His mother's pressuring for him to expose himself to Hoshi was finally enough, and Arashi walked out of the Palace into the bustling growing village.  Around him, the changes to Hoshi were starting to become apparent, as the village slowly evolved from the religious monarchy to a modern shinobi village.  Less and less people were hesitant or even fearful of the ninjas, a group that was also growing.  Plus, the realization that many of their own children held the same force of chakra that the ninja did also helped the transition.  Hoshi shinobi were no longer afraid to wear their gear; the flak jackets and headbands.  In fact, some were being approached by children for question, or adults for help.  Especially after the downfall of the last group of rogue ninjas, the people of Hoshi were becoming comfortable with their protectors.

They still didn't know all of the information, but they weren't suspicious of their motives.  It was clear that the ninja of Hoshi.. even the playful ones, all had good intentions in their hearts.  Hoshi was a ninja village outside of the standard politics of the other main villages, and in fact Hoshi was large enough that it could be its own major village. 

"Arashi-kun?"

The boy stopped and turned around.  There was Tsuji Flora, holding a bundle of white flowers in her hand, looking like she's been in a field for hours.  Her usually dainty hands were dirty and scuffed up, with cuts on them as well. 

"Tsuji?  What are you doing?  What happened to your hands?" he said, in genuine concern.  She smiled and placed her flowers in a basket.

"Oh, its nothing.  The Botanical Society has run out of Ghost Roses, and I remembered seeing some the other day, so I went to pick them.  There weren't as many as I thought there were.  And some of them were really hard to get." she said, while Arashi walked up to her and took her basket, placing it down and taking her hands.. causing the two to turn red. 

"Here.. let me." he said, summoning water chakra to clean her hands, and then healing chakra to repair the cuts.  Before long, her hands were as clean as he remembered.

"T-thanks.  You.. you really didn't have to." she stammered, and picked up the basket.  "W-would you like to join me?  I mean.. unless your busy..."

Arashi nodded and offered to carry the basket, while the two teenagers walked towards the large building.  On the way, Tsuji explained why the flowers were important... they had certain healing properties and could be used to treat poisoning.  The problem was that they seemed to only grow after rains in the desert, and even then, it was random.  They collected the most they could from the southern regions, but they had already run out.  These were the last, and they had no idea where to find them.. or where they naturally grow. 

The two entered the horticultural building and made their way to the research labs, talking about random subjects until they reached their destination.  The technicians there were surprised, and welcome Arashi as the "young Prince", something that made the boy blush, and the girl giggle.  He tried to get the subject off him by asking questions about the flowers, and pretty much got the same information that he received from Tsuji, except for showing him the antidote in its prepared form. 

"If we could find where in the desert these things come from, we could see how they grow and create a garden, but you know how dangerous it is out down there.  If we could get some ninjas down there, that would be perfect.  We've been able to talk to your... er.. .Kage?  About setting up a mission for us.  But unfortunately, we haven't heard back, and we have to get these flowered prepared soon after they are picked."

"Arashi-kun... could you help them?  They saved my brother, and I don't want anyone to get hurt because we don't have them anymore." Tsuji said, and Arashi nodded.

"Alright, I'll do it.  Let me check back with the Hoshikage and see if its been assigned yet, and I'll go find them."

"Yay!  Thanks!" Tsuji said, giving him a deep hug, before stopping and turning red.  Arashi chuckled, and walked out to the university, to see if the mission had been claimed yet.  If it has, he would see if he could find the person and help him, otherwise... he would be on his own.  But Arashi was talented.. he could make rain, he just had to find what makes their growth unique.

(WC: 772)

Kenshin walked out of the gates of Hoshigakure with a small yet content smile plastered firmly on his pale and scarred face, he had just accepted a mission to go out into the deserts of Hoshi in the hopes of finding an extremely rare white rose for the Hoshigakure Botanical Society and if possible provide some insight into just how and where these roses actually grow. The reason that this rose was so important to the Hoshigakure Botanical Society was all due to a special enzyme that it naturally produces, a completely natural enzyme that when used in the right way actually proved to be a cure to most known poisons, something that actually left the silver haired teen with a small feeling of awe.

The only bit of information he had to go on about the possible locations of the roses was that they were believed to grow in area that had recently experienced rain, something that would make finding them all the more difficult due to the distinct lack of rainfall in the deserted lands of Haven country. Kenshin was dressed a little differently than he usually was for this mission, as he knew all too well that wearing black robes that covered almost every inch of his body would not be a good choice of clothing if he was going to be exploring the deserts of Haven country, he knew that if he did that he would be overheated within the hour.

Instead he was clad in an outfit that he had purchased specifically in case he got into situations like this where he had to be out in the extremely hot desert sun for hours at a time. This new outfit consisted of a set of robes that looked almost identical to his black ones, apart from one glaring difference that it, rather than being black the robes were a slightly off white colour, plus the robes were made of linen and thus would be lightweight and breath well. His usual grey sandals had been replaced by a pair of grew boots to protect his feet from the various animals that dwelt in the desert as well as any plants or stones that he may end up stepping on, his black top hat was nowhere to be seen, and instead his head was almost completely covered by a grey shemagh, something that left only his eyes visible.

All in all Kenshin was well prepared for his time in the desert, he didn’t have any equipment or weapon pouches with him but he did have two scrolls filled with five canteens of water each attached to his hip, besides, with his EGF he had no need for conventional weapons such as kunai or shuriken, his body was his best weapon. Kenshin was prepared to enter the desert to begin his search for the rare white rose, as far as he knew he was to be alone on this mission, but it seemed fate had other plans for him

WC: 501

"Oh, I can check, but I think we already assigned that one."

The aid at the mission center started going through her scrolls and Arashi stood by with a smirk on his face.  His thoughts were still surprisingly on Tsuji, and it was occurring to him that he was becoming less apprehensive about being around her.  Perhaps she was growing on him... or perhaps something else was bringing him to her.  But otherwise, it was her that put him in the center today.  And Arashi was being humored by that very fact.

"Let's see here... ah, here it is.  Mission from the Botanical Society.  Search for ghost roses.  We assigned it to one of the genin.  Uzumaki Kenshin.  He's one of our newest graduates."

Arashi raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.  "Genin?  Isn't the mission out in the southern deserts?  Why not a genin team?" he asked, looking down at the scroll she presented.

"Desert?  Why would they be looking for a rose in the desert.... oh, I see it now." the aide said, shaking her head.  "Sorry, we kept the rank low because of it's description.  We didn't think it would be trouble for a single Genin.  And I think Kenshin has already left.  Should I recall him back for a team?"

Arashi shook his head.  "No, its alright, really.  I'll go out and help him.  I'm better than two other genins.  Put me down on that one, I'll see to it that Kenshin Uzumaki accomplishes the mission." he said, giving a smile and then turning and leaving.  His first stop would have to be the Palace.  He not only needed to dress appropriately for this mission.. but he was a Chuunin, and that meant he had to also look the part. 

His getup was very loose filling, and light.  While they had the standard light flak jackets, he accented his with fishnets underneath, and light blue clothes over it, as well as cloth pants tied above his ankle.  Putting on a final touch, a white scarf, Arashi armed himself with his weapons, and made sure his headband was tied tight. 

Finding Kenshin wasn't a problem.  But Arashi wanted to bring back a little more than that.  He wanted a direction to go... a clue to the mystery.  And that meant he had to find where it had recently rained, or was going to rain.  That's why upon his initial exist from the village, he shifted into his cloud form, sailing into the sky.  It had become second nature to him at this point, the ability to pull himself apart and condense into moisture, and then subsequently turn into vapor.  

As he sailed into the air, Arashi was almost immediately caught up by the prevailing winds, and by doing so he was able to catch sight of a dying storm system to the south west.  The ground had telltale signs of recent moisture, at least a day or so ago, which was a prime target.  Smiling to himself, Arashi moved himself back, and looked for the young genin he was looking for.

Kenshin was not that hard to find.. a light garment contrasting with the colors of the area near the village.  The young man went for the shinobi, and then solidified himself, about a half mile in the air.  He let himself fall for a bit, and then flash stepped in front of the younger ninja.

"Uzumaki Kenshin?  I'm Tekiatsu Arashi, and the village decided that you needed a sensei on this mission.  How much have you been briefed?" he asked, not so concerned with the boy's appearance.

(WC: 601)

Right as Kenshin was about to begin his trek into the desert he was surprised by the sudden and unexpected appearance of another shinobi right in front of him. Said shinobi was obviously male and looked to be a year or two older than Kenshin, and from what Kenshin could see of him he was dressed in loose fitting clothes with a light flak jacket on top, something that told the heavily robed teen that this shinobi was Chunin rank or higher. “Uzumaki Kenshin? I’m Tekiatsu Arashi, and the village decided that you needed a sensei on this mission. How much have you been briefed?” the silver haired teen would hear the newly identified Arashi ask, his words making Kenshin suppress the surge to sigh behind his shemagh, in all honesty he had been really looking forward to getting away from everyone and doing a solo mission out in the desert, but obviously fate had other plans for him on this day than enjoying his own company deep in the heart of the desert

“Hmm, so the village decided that I needed a sensei for the duration of the mission huh, that makes sense I guess, I mean it is a B-rank mission after all, but still I think I would’ve preferred it if I had been informed of this when I first accepted the mission rather than when I was about to start my trek into the desert” the robe clad boy would say in a tone that conveyed the slightest hint of annoyance. He wasn’t annoyed by Arashi or the fact that he had to team up with the slightly older looking teen for the mission, he was actually only annoyed because he had not been informed when he had first accepted the mission “And I’ve not been briefed on much, only really that the objective of the mission is to find the rare white roses that grow in the desert and that if possible I should provide some insight into how and where these roses grow, other than that the only info I have is that the roses only seem to grow in area that have recently seen rain. It’s not all that much info to go on but as far as I know that was all the info that was available about this particular mission” the cloth covered teen would say in response to Arashi’s question

WC: 400

Arashi chuckled, despite the annoyance that the boy was demonstrating.  "Its alright, its not their fault.  Its actually common practice that missions outside the general area of the village are to be done in teams, either Genin 3 man or single Genin with a Chuunin sensei.  I was the one who pointed out how far out we'll have to go for these roses." he said, glancing back at the direction he saw the recent rain. 

"You're right.. that's pretty much the only details we have.  Unfortunately the areas around the village have already been completely checked.  This mission is going to take longer on account of the distance.  We're going to go far to the southwest, closer to the border with Wind and Shadow.  I'm not expecting to go farther than that, however, I don't want to deal with other ninja.  But here is the advantage you have with me.  I possess techniques that can create rainstorms.  So if we cannot find existing flowers, we can test out how they grow, at the very least.  Otherwise, you'll be stuck out here for days waiting for rain."

Arashi glanced up and turned towards the direction he sighted again.

"Alright, its about a day's journey to our target location.  Those clouds in the distance are currently raining, our goal is to start from there.  By the time we reach, it should have given time for any roses to grow.  We can then go ahead and see what makes them grow.  Ready?" Arashi asked, turning back to the younger ninja.

(257)

At the younger genin's affirmation, he watched the younger ninja start off, setting the pace for their travels.  While walking was great and all, Arashi followed behind and slowly encouraged speed until they were able to run.  There was no reason to delay when it came to the medicinal herbs, after all.

He asked about his abilities, and smirked.  "Its a special trait to my family... er.. was a trait of my family.  Perhaps one day it will be again..." Arashi said, trailing off before shaking his head.  Must keep the focus on the present.

"Sorry, its my blood trait.  I have a natural affinity for clouds and the weather.  Plus I have three chakra natures in me.  Combined, I can create or summon weather events.  So far its just storms, but who knows.  I'm almost completely on my own when it comes to learning." he said, shaking his head.

"I was adopted by Akihana after the attack on the Cloud Village.   The current imposter Raikage murdered my clan for defending the village. At our height, it was said that you couldn't tell which clouds were real, and which were us.  As a necessity, we also have an innate talent for higher than average chakra control.  I can move around the water in my body as well as outside, as well as my own cells.  In other words, I can completely disperse myself into the air.  Its handy when it comes to sneaking." he said, as they continued towards a ridge.  Arashi ran up to the lip of it and stopped, looking around the horizons and feeling the breeze he felt.

"Not many people know completely the source of my talents, and to a degree, yes its because I don't talk about my origins too much.  Most shinobi won't.  But I've always felt its important for teammates to know each other's strengths and weaknesses.  If you can't rely on your teammates, you won't survive.  Hoshi is small, which makes knowing each other even more necessary.  That's why the older villages create 3 man squads. Careful!" he said, suddenly snapping his head in another direction and pointing to what at first seems like low wisps of fog.  They were coming from some of the crevices this area of Haven was known for.

"I also know what is and is not a cloud.  And those are fire marks.  Probably quick cooking or training.  Not enough for a camp.. not yet.  But we will be seeing those in a few hours.  Southern Haven is a, well, haven, for rogues and gangs.  My last genin mission was like that.  It was supposed to be a low rank escort, and I ended up taking on a group of missing nin.  Stick with me, we'll take the ridge to the west and then start our descent." he said, gesturing for the pair to leave.  He started the pace, and tried to keep a good speed.

"So.. I gave you my story.  How about you?  I didn't know the Uzumakis were anywhere outside of Konoha?"

(WC: 508/ 3797 total)

Kenshin would only give a smirk as he watch Arashi increase their pace ever so slowly as they continued onwards towards the rainclouds in the distance, and before long their leisurely walking pace had turned into a rather fast run, of course neither of them would be running at their full pace as doing so would only result in the pair of shinobi tiring themselves out. As the ran the silver haired teen would question Arashi on his abilities, a question that he noted brought a small smirk to Arashi’s face “It’s a special trait to my family...er..was a trait of my family. Perhaps one day it will be again....” he would hear Arashi say in what the albino took to be a somber tone, Arashi had trailed off near the end but Kenshin didn’t mind, the memories obviously brought him pain, a feeling that Kenshin knew well due to his own past. He would give a rather amused look as he watched Arashi shake his head lightly as they continued their run towards the rain clouds in the distance, “Sorry, it’s my blood trait. I have a natural affinity for clouds and the weather. Plus I have three chakra natures in me. Combined I can create or summon weather events. So far it’s just storms, but who knows. I’m almost completely on my own when it comes to learning.” he would hear Arashi say, something that struck a chord within Kenshin, much like him Kenshin had been completely on his own when it came to learning about his threads and how to control them, but then again that was to be expected, his EGF wasn’t his natural bloodline like Arashi’s was.

“I was adopted by Akihana after the attack on the Cloud Village. The current imposter Raikage murdered my clan for defending the village. At our height, it was said that you couldn’t tell which clouds were real, and which were us. As a necessity, we have an innate talent for higher than average chakra control. I can completely move the water in my body as well as outside, as well as my own cells. In other words, I can completely disperse myself into the air. It’s handy when it comes to sneaking.” he would hear Arashi recount as they approached a ridge. The silver haired teen would follow Arashi up to the lip of the ridge and survey the horizon, all the while thinking about the extraordinary bloodline that Arashi possessed, the ability to turn yourself into a cloud, it sounded completely and utterly amazing, and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how Arashi would feel every time that he went into his cloud form and soared through the air, but he imagined that the feeling would be amazing. “Not many people know completely about the source of my talents, and to a degree, yes it’s because I don’t talk about my origins too much. Most shinobi won’t. But I’ve always felt it’s important for teammates to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. If you can’t rely on your teammates, you won’t survive. Hoshi is small, which makes knowing each other even more necessary. That’s why the older villages create 3 man squads. Careful!” Arashi would quickly call out while snapping his head in the other direction and pointing to a small crevice with that looked like fog emerging from it, but after closer examination it became clear to Kenshin that it was actually smoke rather than fog, something that could only really mean one thing, there were people there, and based on how Arashi reacted it was not likely that they would be friendly

Honestly Kenshin completely understood and agreed with everything that Arashi was saying about the people of Haven needing to stick together, and as much as he hated to admit it the older villages did have the right idea when it came to creating three man cells for missions, it really would help increase the survival rates of dangerous missions. “I also know what is and is not a cloud. Those are fire marks. Probably quick cooking or training. Not enough for a camp...not yet. But we will be seeing those in a few hours. Southern Haven is a, well, haven, for rogues and gangs. My last Genin mission was like that. It was supposed to be a low rank escort, and I ended up taking on a group of missing nin. Stick with me, we’ll take the ridge to the west and then start our descent” he would hear Arashi say, and gesturing in the direction that he obviously wished for the two of them to go, before heading in that direction at a decent pace, with Kenshin following behind closely. The few days that he spent masquerading a monk through Haven Country to get info on Hoshigakure had provided him with a great deal of info on just how dangerous the southern portion of Haven Country was, and while it may not have worried him then or now he knew better than to throw stones at a hornet's nest, as he knew well that all it would do is get him and quite a few others stung.

“So...I gave you my story. How about you? I didn’t know the Uzumaki’s were anywhere outside of Konoha” the robe clad teen would hear Arashi ask in what he took as a curious tone, he had been expecting this question for awhile now, and while originally he had planned to tell Arashi a few quick and easy lies he found himself wanting to tell him the truth. Perhaps it was because Arashi had answered his question to a much greater detail than he expected, and that quite of few of the things that Arashi had expressed his feeling on as he explained resonated with some of Kenshin’s own views and experiences, but in the end Kenshin decided that he would give Arashi the truth about himself and his less than happy life. “My story huh…” Kenshin would say in a rather soft tone, giving a rather mirthless chuckle after he said the words “Very well, like you said it’s only fair for me to give my story after you gave me yours, but I’ll just warn you now my story is anything but sunshine and rainbows, keep in mind I’m not saying that your story was any better than mine, I just wanted to warn you ahead of time” Kenshin would say in a rather sombre tone, all the while keeping pace with Arashi as they made their way to the ridge Arashi gestured too before. “Well I guess the best place to begin is actually my birth, you see I am actually the son of two members two rather prominent clans within Konoha, the Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan, with my mother being the Uzumaki and my father the Senju, but that’s neither here nor there. The reason I think this is the best place to start is because it marks the death of my mother, you see for reasons that are still unknown to me my mother didn’t survive giving birth to me” Kenshin would say while keeping pace with his superior, his voice soft and conveying a great deal of sadness

“For the next five years things seemed to be going well, despite not having a mother like other kids I was happy having my father, I loved him more than words could ever hope to convey and I think he felt the same even though I was born with no bloodline of any kind, but in the end all good things come to an end. It was on the morning of my fifth birthday that my life seemed to shatter before my eyes, you see I started out the day by going to the kitchen in order to make myself and my father some breakfast as a surprise, but in the end I was the one left surprised, when I found my father's dead body waiting for me on the kitchen floor” The silver haired teen would say, his voice carrying a little more sorrow than before “I spent hours crying over his body before one of the neighbours came to investigate, and when they did they managed to find something I hadn’t even thought to look for, my father's suicide note, apparently he never truly got over the death of my mother and on the fifth anniversary of her death, also known as my fifth birthday, it just became too much for him to take, so he chose the coward's way out and took his own life” Kenshin said in a heated tone of voice, he had not forgiven his father for what he had done that day nor did he feel that he would ever be able to, as to Kenshin what his father had done was the absolute epitome of selfishness, taking his own life because he had been unable to cope with the death of his wife five years prior, not even thinking about how his son would get on now that he was officially an orphan.

“After that I began to look upon life in a much darker way, everywhere I looked I saw nothing but the greed, selfishness and cruelty of humanity, and as such I began to despise them, and the scary part was I didn’t hate anyone in particular, I hated humanity as a whole and I wanted nothing more than to see the world burn….great mindset for a five year old huh” he would say with a mirthless chuckle, that was very dark point in his life and despite the fact that he had moved on in his life and tried to put that dark chapter behind him he knew that he would never truly forget the hatred that he felt for the world at that point. “It was around 2 years after my father’s death that I enrolled in the Konoha shinobi academy in the naive hope of finding proof of a time where peace reigned across the elemental nations, but when I managed to find nothing but times of war and ceasefires that only lasted for a short period of time in the history books I completely lost it, I snapped, that night I gathered all of the books and scrolls that were in my father's house before sneaking out of Konoha, that night Kenshin Senju, the academy student of Konoha died, and Kenshin Uzumaki the missing nin was born” Kenshin would say with a rather small smile on his face, of all the decisions that he had made in his lifetime this was quite possibly the only one that he didn’t regret making in even the smallest of ways.

“After that...well, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to survive life as a missing nin with the pitiful amount of power I held back then, and I knew that the best way for me to gain strength fast would be to find a teacher, and after searching for awhile I managed to find two people who seemed like good men who were eager to pass on the knowledge that they possessed….their names were Mayuri and Szayel. The two of them took me back to their hideout and almost immediately we began my training, the two of them trained me in everything from taijutsu to physics and over a period of three years I began to see them as father figures, but as I said earlier everything good had to come to an end eventually, and that happened to me when I went back to my quarters after a day of vigorous training, but when I opened the door a pink mist was sprayed into my face and everything just went black.” the silver haired teen would say in a rather sombre tone, the truly disturbing part of his story began here and while he didn’t truly want to bring up these memories he knew that doing so would help him move on. “....When I woke up I found myself strapped to an operating table...with Mayuri and Szayel standing over me with needles and scalpels in their hands….it was at this point that the explained to me that the only reason they bothered to train me was because they wanted to turn my body into what they called ‘the ideal research subject’” Kenshin would say in a rather shaken tone, he took a deep breath before continuing

“....For the next two years those sick bastards used me as a guinea pig and performed countless inhumane experiments on me, they would inject various poisons into my body just to test what effects the poisons would have on the human anatomy. One of the poisons was so bad that it killed the pigments within my skin and hair, thus giving me a form of clinically induced albinism, not only that but it made almost all of the blood vessels in my eyes burst resulting in them looking like this” Kenshin would say as he pulled the shemagh off his head and revealed his snow white skin and silver hair to Arashi, before pointing at the sclera of his eyes, showing that they were indeed red rather than white. “Almost every inch of my skin was covered in extremely rough and coarse scar tissue from the countless times that I was sliced open in order to test what certain poison’s did to the human body's natural healing factor, but thankfully I met Akihana…” Kenshin would say with a smile on his face “...she taught me a jutsu that let me heal the majority of the scar tissue, and because my skin is naturally this pale the healed scar tissue just blends in with it” the silver haired teen would explain, the smile on his face growing larger as he recalled the memory, he was still extremely grateful to Akihana for teaching him the jutsu, and while it may have been a simple favour on her part it meant more to him than she would ever realize.

The smile on his face faded as he realized what came next “...But back to the story...I’d actually say this next part is the most important part, you see in an attempt to turn me into what they referred to as ‘the ultimate shinobi’ they began to try implanting my body with various bloodlines, but unfortunately for me none of them worked, and I say unfortunately because due to the lack of success they decided to resort to drastic measures. You see in their desperation the injected me with black threads that come from the ability known as Earth Grudge Fear, or simply EGF for short. After the threads were injected into me I had to undergo the agonising procedure of having every single bone in my body removed one by one while the threads slowly but surely consumed and replaced my flesh with more threads, and just when I thought the procedure was open they began to remove all of my internal organs, leaving only my heart and my brain, while the rest of my body is now made up of nothing more than these threads” Kenshin would recall with a grimace on his face, that truly was the most agonising experience that he had ever gone through but in the end he was glad for it. Kenshin demonstrated the EGF to Arashi by pulling up his right sleeve and allowing him to see the countless threads that could be seen squirming beneath his skin, and just to ensure he understood Kenshin would allow five threads to pierce through his skin and wave in the air

Kenshin would allow the five threads to slither back into his skin before finally pushing his sleeve down and covering his arm once more “Due to the fact that I have EGF I am quite literally more ragdoll than human, I possess no flesh, no bones and no internal organs bar my heart and my brain, I can control the threads as an extension of myself and trust me when I say they are deadly. But what is perhaps the most interesting and scary thing about EGF is that, in a way, it is a form of immortality, you see using the ability I am able to steal and assimilate the hearts of others, and by doing so not only do I gain an extra heart to prevent me from dying I also gain whatever elemental affinity the original owner of the heart possessed, but this ability does come with a price, I am unable to learn how to use elements in any other way, the knowledge quite literally does nothing to help me control it unless I possess the correct heart” Kenshin would explain the ability to Arashi in the hopes of getting his superior to better understand how he could be used properly in a combat situation. “Currently I possess two hearts, my original earth element heart and a water element heart that I...procured in Waterfall country” Kenshin would say with a pause, unable to find the right word.

“But back to the story, after the procedure that granted me EGF I was unable to control the threads, but after another year of experimentation at the hands of those two I had gained enough control over the threads to escape from my bindings, and while they slept I ripped their hearts from their chests and crushed them despite the threads wanting to assimilate them, as I didn’t want any piece of them to live on with me” Kenshin would explain with a smirk on his face, killing those two really had helped him move on with his life “After that I spent another year getting used to my body once more and training it back into peak condition, and after that I spent a year and a couple of months wandering around the elemental nations, but not too long ago I heard about Hoshi and after visiting I found myself wanting to join, and here I am” Kenshin would finally finish telling Arashi his story, it had been a long one but the two of them still had not reached the other ridge, as it had been quite a ways away from their original position. With his story told Kenshin honestly felt like a massive weight had been removed from his shoulders, and much like the last time this happened after Akihana helped him he hadn’t even noticed the weight, perhaps talking about this truly was helping him move past it.

As he continued with that line of through he noted that the two of them finally reached the ridge, something that got a smirk from the robe clan teen, he would turn to Arashi and await his orders

WC: 3143

More than once Arashi stumbled while listening to the tale this younger shinobi had given him.  He was able to recover without too much of a notice, but the reasons were clear.  He never considered his tale to be the ultimate one of pain, but hearing that story reminded him that this Ninja world of their was certainly not the sunshine and rainbows a lot of people like to think of.  Hoshi in particular was not yet producing their own ninjas, at least not in great numbers, but rather taking in people like Arashi and Kenshin, which meant the first generation of Hoshi village shinobi were more going to be those with a rather dark view of the world, and something Arashi reminded himself he had to change to ensure that their Haven remained exactly that.  The last thing he wanted was for Hoshi to become just another village of corruption and conspiracy.  

As they finally reached the other side, Arashi slowed a bit.  The sun was nearing the horizon, and off in the distance the campfires had started.  He estimated that they would reach their target location by the end of the day, but there wouldn't be too much time after that.  It would probably be best to rest after they reach it.

"Its an unfortunate truth that some will do anything to achieve power, especially in this Ninja World.  Im sorry to hear of all that happening to you, but hold on for a second." he said, stopping and turning to Kenshin.

"You're not any less human than you were when you were born.  So you are without internal parts.  Mine are such that I can almost literally remove them entirely from my body without dying.  I can honestly say that when I go into my full cloud form, I am literally more cloud than man.  But at the end of the day, you are who you make yourself to be.  If Akihana taught me anything, its that.  I could have died in Kumo, and by all rights I should have.  But like you, she gave me a second chance, and an opportunity to make myself more than the world was leaving me to be.  The same applies to you.  I look at you, and I don't see a puppet.  I see a human being.  One with talents that arguably others would love to have.  You can either be like those who used you, or you can take your experiences and use them to shape the future generations.  I know what it feels like to watch your family get murdered, and your village be razed to a hellish landscape.  And because I have seen it, and I have felt that, I've decided instead of grudging against the world, I'm going to make Hoshi the village I didn't get to have.  Its been years since I lost my home, but I can say that I don't feel at all like I'm homeless.  And I'm devoting myself to ninja like you." he said, turning towards the horizon.  The scent of water on the breeze did indicate that they were close.


"And in case you are concerned, I don't see you any differently knowing you have the EGF.  I'm certainly not going to be watching my back around, for two reasons.  One, I don't see the same kind of malice that those men had with you, and I'm willing to risk my life to say that you are a good person at heart.  And second?"

Arashi turned and gave him a smirk.  "One of the downsides of my bloodline is that my death won't leave any physical body.  If you were to rip my own heart out and kill me, it would evaporate immediately.  My family always told me that the clouds in the sky were my ancestors watching over me."

The older ninja jumped up over a rock and stood on a rise.  The sun was starting to set, and the light was enough that the clouds were occasionally lightning up with sparks of light.

"Okay, I think we'll be able to get there at the tail end of the rain, but we should find shelter and camp for the night.  There isn't any need to do a night search, we'll hit it in the morning." he said, gesturing to the younger genin and kicking off the rocks.  Now that the temperature was starting to fall, he was able to move easily without the fear of fatigue. 

Before long, the falling drops alerted them that they were here, and even though the rains were ending for the day as the cloud continued on, Arashi still led the two to an alcove in the rocks, a nice dry area to rest.  He almost immediately pulled off his pack and began preparing his mat, while thinking over the mission, and what he learned.


"In the morning, we'll check to see if there are any roses... and then try to see if we can see how they grow.  For now, keep any light low, but we should be just enough out of the way for us to be safe.  And Kenshin.. if you want, I'll teach you some things I can.  Obviously not the storm, but there are others." he said, before drifting to sleep.

(W/C: 882)

The silver haired teen took note of the few times that Arashi stumbled as he recounted his life’s story to the Chunin, of course the higher ranked shinobi had recovered from each and every small stumble without any trouble whatsoever but the reasoning behind the stumbling was rather clear to the EGF user, obviously he hadn’t been expecting Kenshin’s life to have been such a tragic tale, but then again who would expect to hear such a tale from someone that they had only just met. Of course there were a great deal of things that Kenshin had kept to himself simply because he was not comfortable divulging every little thing about himself to somebody that he had only just met, he had always been a rather secretive person so him divulging even this much information to anyone, especially someone that he had only just met, was a rather strange thing for him to do, but he truly felt the need to get most of that off of his chest and he felt that Arashi was at least trustworthy enough that he wouldn’t go telling people what had been said. As the two of them approached the ridge both Kenshin and Arashi came to a stop and overlooked the horizon, from the position of the sun it was going to be setting rather soon, something that meant the temperature of the area was about to turn from extremely hot to extremely cold, something that Kenshin didn’t mind in the slightest, he had always preferred the coldness that came with the night to the heat that came with the day.  As the silver haired teen overlooked the horizon his eyes would narrow in suspicion as he saw the multitude of fires that were beginning to start, and despite the distance between himself and said fires he was able to see that they were actually campfires, most likely belonging to the bandits, thieves and rogues that Arashi said inhabited the southern lands of Haven.

“It’s an unfortunate truth that some will do anything to achieve power, especially in this ninja world. I’m sorry to hear of all that happening to you, but hold on for a second.” Kenshin would hear Arashi say from his position beside him, only just being able to see his superior turning to face him out of the corner of his eye, and so the albino would turn his his head to meet Arashi’s gaze. “You’re not any less human than you were when you were born. So you are without internal parts. Mine are such that I can almost literally remove them entirely from my body without dying. I can honestly say that when I go into my full cloud form, I am literally more cloud than man. But at the end of the day, you are who you make yourself out to be. If Akihana taught me anything, it’s that. I could have died in Kumo, and by all rights I should have. But like you, she gave me a second chance, and an opportunity to make more of myself than the world was leaving me to be. The same applies to you. I look at you, and I don’t see a puppet. I see a human being. One with talent that arguably others would love to have. You can either be like those who used you, or you can take your experiences and use them to shape the future generations. I know what it feels like to watch your family get murdered, and your village be razed to a hellish landscape. And because I have seen it, and I have felt that, I’ve decided instead of grudging against the world, I’m going to make Hoshi the village I didn’t get to have. It’s been years since I lost my home, but I can say that I don’t feel at all like I’m homeless. And I’m devoting myself to ninja like you” Arashi would say before turning to face the horizon.

“And in case you are concerned, I don’t see you any differently knowing you have the EGF, I’m certainly not going to be watching my back around you, for two reasons. One, I don’t see the same kind of malice that those men had with you, and I’m willing to risk my life to say that you are a good person at heart. And second?” Arashi would say, once more turning to face Kenshin, this time allowing a smirk to come to his face “One of the downsides of my bloodline is that my death won’t leave any physical body. If you were to rip out my heart and kill me, it would evaporate immediately. My family always told me that the clouds in the sky were my ancestors watching over me” Arashi would say with the smirk still in place on his face, his words also bringing a small smirk to the face of Kenshin himself. So despite the fact that his superior was willing to bet his life that Kenshin was a truly good person at heart his Kekkei Genkai was the perfect countermeasure to ensure that even if he was wrong the silver haired heart thief would get nothing from the act of killing him, truly the more information that Kenshin gathered about Arashi’s Kekkei Genkai the more useful and intriguing it seemed. It was at this point that Arashi would leap over a rather large rock and land upon the rise, an action that Kenshin himself quickly performed so as not to be left behind “Okay, I think we’ll be able to get there at the tail end of the rain, but we should find shelter and camp for the night. There isn’t any need to do a night search, we’ll hit it in the morning” Arashi would say while gesturing out to where the rain was, which was not too far away now, before launching himself off the rocks at a faster pace than they were moving at earlier. Kenshin would quickly launch himself off the rock at the same pace as Arashi before increasing his speed just enough to catch up to Arashi, who had gotten a small head start when he launched off the rock, but once he had caught up he would slow down just a tad to match paces with Arashi.

The two of them were moving at speeds much higher than they had been earlier and as such it didn’t take much time at all for the two of them to reach the tail of the raincloud, an achievement that came with the reward of a light drizzle both above and around them, although it didn’t look like it was going to last long as the raincloud was still moving away from the area. Arashi would then lead the silver haired teen towards what looked to be an alcove in the rocks of the area, a place that Kenshin noted would be a great place to rest for the night while keeping dry from the rain outside. As soon as the two of them got inside the alcove Kenshin would see Arashi remove his backpack and retrieve a mat from within, before placing it down on a clear spot and preparing to use it for the night. “In the morning we’ll check to see if there are any roses...and then try to see if we can see how they grow. For now, keep any light low, but we should be just enough out of the way for us to be safe. And Kenshin...If you want, I’ll teach you some things I can. Obviously not the storm, but there are some others” Kenshin would hear Arashi in what he took as a tired tone, and it would seem based on the fact that Arashi fell asleep almost immediately after that he was right. Kenshin, who who had always been an extremely cautious individual, had a little trouble understanding just how Arashi had fallen asleep so easily in territory that he knew was home to countless bandits in a rather easy to spot alcove, the silver haired teen knew that if left this way he would most likely spend the rest of the night awake in order to ensure that no bandits caught them unaware, so he decided that he would do something about the problem

Kenshin would silently clap his hands together and place them on the ground, utilizing an earth release technique that he knew known as Moving Earth Core to manipulate the earth right at the entrance of the alcove, he would cause the a one meter thick slab of earth to rise up right where the alcove began and thus make it appear to be nothing more than a natural rock face. Of course there was still a small gap at the top where the rock had curved inwards to form the alcove and the rectangular slab or rock he made manipulated was unable to rise any further, but he was certain that no run of the mill bandit would be able to spot such an inconsistency, let alone actually get through the thick stone slab even if they did spot it, besides, he had intended to leave a small gap somewhere to allow fresh air to enter the alcove anyway and this saved him the trouble of having to create one. It was only now that their position was hidden that Kenshin would lean against the side of the alcove and slide down to a sitting position, due to the two of them now being hidden behind a large slab of earth it was almost pitch black, the only light visible was the silvery moonlight that shone through the small opening near the top of the now sealed alcove. It was only now that Kenshin would truly begin to think on the words that Arashi had spoken to him earlier, specifically the words that he had spoken about EGF not defining who Kenshin was and the fact that he truly seemed to believe that Kenshin was a good person at heart, he was actually the second person in Hoshigakure whom had expressed such beliefs to him, the first of course being the kind hearted kunoichi Akihana whom he had met through a medical examination.

The knowledge that Arashi also believed that he was a good person at heart brought a small smile to the albino’s face, but the smile disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared, as he began to wonder whether both Akihana and Arashi would feel that he was a good person at heart if he told them the complete and true story of his life as a missing nin. That chapter of his life was without a doubt the darkest part of his story and as of this moment he was unwilling to share the knowledge of what happened in it with anyone, that was the entire reason that he had barely mentioned any of it to Arashi even though he had given him most of the information on every other important part of his life. During that time in his life he committed countless crimes and there was no doubt in his mind that if he told Akihana and Arashi even a small amount of them they would reconsider their words about him being good at heart, of course now the silver haired teen regretted these actions more than words could ever hope to convey, but that did not make up for any of the atrocities that he had committed nor did it bring back any of the myriad of people whom he had butchered without a single ounce of mercy or remorse, in fact he could distinctly remember the smile that was splitting his face as he committed most of these crimes.

Kenshin would release a rather heavy sigh before reaching his hand up to rub at his eyes, but what he had not expected was for his hand to come into contact with a wet substance on his cheeks, and upon further examination he discovered that the wet substance was not rainwater like he had first thought it to be, no, in fact it was his tears. The silver haired teen was unable to fully comprehend exactly why the tears were falling from his eyes either, the tear were simply falling, he wasn’t sobbing nor was he breathing heavily, everything was normal as the tears silently rolled down his cheeks, thankfully Arashi would be unaware of exactly what was going on due to him being asleep, and even should he be awake due to the lack of sound Kenshin was making as the tears fell and the almost pitch black darkness that they were in he would be unable to tell that anything was wrong with Kenshin. The only explanation Kenshin could come up with was that the tears were actually tears of remorse, remorse for all of the truly horrendous and evil crimes that he had committed during his relatively short lifetime, but despite the fact that he would never be able to forgive himself for some of the things that he had done he would spend the rest of his life trying to atone for them. Kenshin would once more give a sigh before pushing himself up off the wall, after thoughts like that it would be near impossible for him to get even the smallest amount of sleep, and even if by some miracle he did manage to fall asleep he would only be plagued by nightmares, he needed to take a walk to clear his mind, and should he come by some of the roses they were looking for then all the better.

With that Kenshin would once again silently clap his hands together and place them on the ground, letting the slab of solid stone lower just enough for him to get out, before once more allowing the stone slab to rise up and close off, he would easily be able to spot his own jutsu so he felt no need to leave anything to mark the position,besides, he could still sense Arashi’s chakra signature and so long as he stayed within one hundred meters of the alcove then he would be able to find his way back with no problem. The silver haired teen would begin his walk by simply going straight ahead, but by the time he reached ten meters away from the alcove he would turn slightly to the right and continue in that direction, the sand itself was still a little wet from the rainfall and Kenshin noted that it left an almost perfect trail of footprints, something that annoyed him more than a little. He knew just how easy it would be for someone to follow the trail back to the alcove in which Arashi was still sleeping, but then again even should they manage to get past the thick stone barrier that Kenshin had set up the noise they made in the process would more than likely awaken Arashi, and that would not end well for them. As he reached around fifty meters away from the alcove Kenshin would narrow his eyes in suspicion at the sight in front of him, upon looking at one of the sand dunes in front of him he was able to spot what appeared to be an orange glow just over it, and in Kenshin’s experience spotting such a thing in an area that was notorious for housing countless bandits and criminals was not good, then then again if they were just simple bandits it wasn’t exactly bad new either, in fact it would be nothing more than a minor annoyance to him.

WC: 2618