Rediscovering Humanity (P)

It had been days since Salzem had returned to his normal human state and he was still checking himself in the mirror every morning, probing himself to make sure that the reign of his wolven form didn't return. He didn't believe it had been a dream. It couldn't have been a dream. It was too real, too serious! The Kazekage had assured him that a simple vivid dream had been the cause of his misery and Salzem, while agreeing to the man's face, tossed it as an explanation. There was no way it was that simple.... no possible way....

Salzem awoke that morning in his hotel room, blinking his eyes with a speed only accompanied with ample amounts of weariness. He went about his daily routine; Eat breakfast, go to bathroom, check teeth, check nails, check eyes, brush teeth, get dressed, yada yada yada, and once again, Salzem headed out into Sunagakure. He never took the time to notice it before, but he carried so much on him at one time. No less than three swords, a necklace, several pounds of armor... one would wonder how he could be a ninja with so much gear on him at one time. Somehow he managed. One would wonder how Salzem managed to sleep at night knowing that one day, his past would eventually catch up with him but somehow, he managed that too. Not much else he could do really. Even his own hatred and anger, that which has kept him going this long, his drive to avenge his friend, that had all become routine. It lost.... potency. Salzem never noticed exactly when it happened, but one day, he woke up and, without a thought or reminder, Salzem went about his day with not a fire in his eye, but something akin to embers. That fire was dying, his anger and rage. It would have too eventually. No one could be mad forever. And even with the main fuel for his motivation dwindling to it's last few pockets, Salzem still went about his day with his goal seared into the stone of his mind. So routine had this song and dance been, no longer did he need any real motivation to do what he needed to do. It was just.... what he had to do now. He didn't wake up angry. He didn't force himself inward so he could draw on his inner reserves of pain and hatred. He didn't need to. It was all routine now.

Salzem wandered the streets aimlessly, his hands in his pockets and his hood pulled over his head. With his mask pulled over his lower face and a shadow cast over the rest of it from his hood, the only thing people could see of him was his two sanguine eyes peering through the darkness. If they looked for a person within them, they'd find a husk because that person.... he had become routine. When one becomes routine, the get trapped within it and hardly aspire to be more and degrade as a result. His head remained downcast as he wandered the streets, his black hoodie rebounding any semblance of light that dare attempt to shine upon him. It would have been funny to some people how closed off Salzem had been compared to the average person. He'd even overheard a joke once about how someone wondered why he didn't implode from how much he drew within himself. Now, culture tells us that darkness is bad, a representation of evil and corruption and all that, but Salzem found it a haven of sorts. Similar to how these people threw themselves into a desert, a place where no one would go, Salzem hid amongst his own darkness because no one would willingly traverse it. An unknown plane of black with a layout different from your own? Might as well be blind in a maze. Well... except for someone who's explored it to such an extent that they know every nook and cranny. Becomes routine after a while, doesn't it?

Dachi had been following the directions of fire man towards his mentor, through the winding streets of Sungakure, as the child did not have any way of locating the man himself, but the beast within Dachi did.

As soon as fire man stopped talking to the child, Dachi pressed himself up against the closest wall, chuckling slightly to himself. He knew that fire man had stopped talking because the wolf should be within sight, and he trusted the kid to be able to find it himself. It was because of this that Dachi remained hidden, clinging to this wall, and slowly forming hand signs.

He was so proud of his new-found jutsu that he felt it necessary to show off to his only teacher, and what a better way to do so than in a harmless sneak attack? 

Dachi had grown significantly in the past few weeks, from the small and helpless child, and now he found there was a strange sort of mischief in his heart, though it was a friendly kind. Regardless, it was this new feeling that caused him to pay very close attention to the footsteps that approached. 

"Haha, gotcha Sal!" Dachi cried, letting out a kind laugh, and releasing a large gust of wind (20 power, 20 speed) as he jumped from around the corner at the approaching Salzem.

He had been certain that on some level, the large wolf would find it amusing, and no doubt humored that his student had grown, however, only seconds after Dachi released the jutsu, the young boy stood mortified at what he had done. 

Not having any soft of chakra sense, in Dachi's eyes, the man that approached was not Salzem at all, and instead a normal man. He very well might not have been a ninja, and if such were the case, Dachi would have done him great harm. However, he did appear to be a shinobi, which for Dachi might as well be even worse, for he very well could have made a deadly enemy in that second.

Instantly, the young boy dropped to his knees, regardless of the state that the walker was in, and hung his head, beginning to mutter apologies so quickly that his words were indistinguishable. Dachi was unsure if he had ever felt so afraid in his life before, oblivious to the fact that the man whom he had smashed with a jutsu was indeed Salzem, his teacher.

As Salzem walked, a familiar voice rung out behind him screaming "Gotcha" at him. He turned his head to be met with a massive gust of wind he actually had to brace himself against, lest he get blown back a step or two. Salzem's mind wasn't hadn't quite processed the familiar voice yet, leaving only his frustration that he was attacked so blatantly and without cause. He turned himself fully around, his hands clenched and shoved into his jacket pockets as he approached the kid, now down on his hands and knees, uttering apologies at Salzem's steel-booted feet. Of course, at this point, he recognized the groveling kid as Dachi, his student. Although briefly, Salzem considered chewing his student out for this sudden attack. He was too tired for this... Salzem knelt down on one knee and put an open palm on Dachi's head, rubbing it reassuringly. He offered Dach a smile under his mask that was only very slightly forced.

"Hey there Dachi." Salzem said gently. "Don't you recognize a giant wolf when you see one?" He chuckled lightly and, if Dachi would look at him as if he were crazy, he'd only smile wider at the expression. "Its me, Salzem, your teacher." He'd stand back to his full height, only about 6 feet, and would motion for Dachi to do the same. Salzem's entirely black attire made him a heavy contrast from the browns and whites of other Suna coats, cloaks, etc. His breathing mask had been replaced by another kind, a cloth one, one that wrapped over his nose and his face below. It served as something of personal security. Perhaps Dachi had something like that. The kid had been apologizing on his hands and knees just a moment before, showing off his tender and vulnerable heart. The respect he holds for apparent strangers only reinforced that this kid was either not fit to be a ninja, or will be the prodigy that this world needs. A ninja that couldn't hurt a fly like Dachi is someone the world needs to lead them to an age where blood isn't what people drink and flesh isn't the currency. Brushing that macabre metaphor out of his head, Salzem moved his hand from Dachi's head to his shoulder.

"How are you doing, kid? Enjoying Sunagakure?"

Dachi stared for a long moment at the man in front of him, his face changing from one emotion to another, and then to a different one again. Even after his teacher had asked him the question, there was a moment of silence before Dachi dared to reply.

"Salzem?" The child asked, his voice a hushed whisper. 

He stared long and hard into the man's eyes. His teacher had been a great wolf, not a human, and Dachi had no idea how that could have changed. He knew the world of the shinobi to be strange, but not unusual in this manner. Then, however, an idea came to the boy just as he made a realization, and of course, being young as he was, he did not understand that certain things would be best left unsaid.

"Haha! You ARE right, fire man" Dachi cheered, jumping to his feet as he seemingly addressed no one in particular. "Salzem is a spirit!"

"You almost had me fooled, Sal," Dachi continued, genuinely beaming with delight at his supposed revelation. "But, just like fire man, you can take different forms! Along with everything else, this only shows even more that you're a spirit!"

Completely unaware that the last time he had spoken to the voice in his head in front of Salzem had disturbed the wolf, along with the topic of "being a spirit", Dachi still jumped for joy. To him, once again the idea of having two teachers that were both above and beyond the world that he lived in thrilled the young Dachi.

After a moment however, Dachi remembered that he had been asked a question, and though he was young, the boy had always treasured respect.

"Oh," Dachi said, pausing to think about Salzem's simple question. "I guess I'm doing fine. It's different being in a city though."

Salzem's eyes widened just a bit as Dachi jumped to his feet, crying out to the same illusive "fire-man" that the ninja still lacked context of. He only rolled his eyes and smiled at Dachi's declaration, deciding that he should just humor the boy and his spirit fetish. It really shouldn't bother him if Dachi chose to visualize Salzem as some kind of ghost or spirit if that's what makes him comfortable. Even if Salzem found it a little... unnerving, its what the kid places his faith in, so who was he to judge him? Dachi smiled widely up at his teacher, saying how his transformation only proved his spirit-hood, how, just like fireman, Salzem could take multiple forms and that made him a spirit. Somehow. Despite himself, Salzem chuckled lightly and nodded his head, going along with whatever Dachi was cooking up. It was adorable, to be honest. That enthusiasm for something so inconsequential... it was something that was just precious. Here he was, bouncing where he stood just because Dachi reinforced his believe in Salzem's spirit-hood. He was kind of glad he could make Dachi smile like that. It was... soothing to see his joy. Made him think that maybe he'd do okay out there.

Dachi's mood seemed to drop suddenly however, stopping where he was and entering something of a thoughtful stance as he processed Salzem's question. The kid stood silent, stoic for a few moments before speaking his mind. To him, the village life was different from a city. Salzem could relate he supposed. In a city, there were so many people packed in together but they were so much more isolated as a result. Here, practically everyone you've met remembers your name, cares enough about your well being... it could be overwhelming for those who never experienced something similar before. Salzem shrugged his shoulders and patted Dachi's softly.

"Yeah. It can be a little weird at first. Don't worry. You'll grow to like it." With that, Salzem pulled his mask down revealing his human lips curled into a smile. "Listen, lets go get something to eat, huh? You have a favorite food? Bet we can find it."

Dachi listened to Salzem's response, and nodded. Food sounded very good to him at that time, however, he was slightly unsure.

"What kind of food do they have?" He asked, looking at the man. It was not that he was a picky eater by any means, but, he was only his usual curious self.

Despite asking the question, he continued to stare at the man whom claimed to be Salzem. Though he fully believed the fact that it was indeed the same being as the wolf, it was hard to understand. Dachi did not believe spirits to be things of the afterlife, but rather beings of unlimited power in the physical world, such as he believed Fire Man to be, and part of that coincided with his belief of Salzem being a spirit, though, not all of it, and for the most part, he was confused as to how even a spirit could change form at will, or if there was a visible transformation at all.

While he pondered these questions, and posed to ask one out loud, another came into his head, and being the child he still was, this new question took priority, and caused him to instantly forget all the other questions he had.

"Are we still going to leave this village soon?" The child questioned, falling behind his master, if they were to go get food.

Dachi still looked at Salzem with obvious uncertainty, still not quite believing that he was who he said he was. One wouldn't believe the temptation Salzem had to simply transform his head and roar at the kid, scaring him a little bit and proving himself. A sort of practical joke that would likely traumatize poor Dachi. This is exactly why he didn't do it. Instead, he offered a little smile and began wandering the marketplace with his student by his side and his hands in his coat pockets. The kid had asked him what kind of food they had here and Salzem simply shrugged lightly.

"I'd need a list to help you with that, Dachi." Salzem joked. "What I can tell you is that they have this thing called ice-cream. Don't ask me how they keep it cold in a place like this but somehow, they manage."

When Dachi didn't respond immediately, Salzem glanced down at the kid, seeing his student lost in deep thought. For several moments, he said nothing, making the lycan worry that something was bothering him. Dachi even began to walk slower, falling a few paces behind Salzem. Showing genuine concern, Salzem stopped his walk and turned so that he was now facing his student. Before Salzem could raise any real questions, though, Dachi spoke, asking if they were still going to leave the village soon. At this point, he didn't even know. He kept telling himself and others that his days in Suna were numbered but they just seemed to keep piling on. Not really having an immediate answer, Salzem decided humor might sate Dachi's thirst for knowledge until he could come up with one.

"Now Dachi, we can't ask the sand not to be sandy or the sun not to be sunny. If we did, everything would be everything else and nothing would make sense." Salzem joked, quoting his deceased father and assuming that the core of Dachi's question was that he was uncomfortable here. He hesitated slightly, afraid that if he gave his answer it might strike the wrong cord with him, considering how many times his promise of leaving soon had been broken.

"Yes..." Salzem finally decided. "I'll go talk to the Kazekage today and ask him for his permission to leave." With that being said, Salzem would ruffle his student's hair a bit as a way to reassure him of his promise. "Lets go get some ice-cream huh? Bet something cold would go well with this scalding heat."

(welp, this is gunna be a short port, not too sure what else to say, or where to go with this)

Dachi squinted at the word "ice-cream". The name seemed familiar to him, though he was not sure he had ever had any before. It sounded promising, especially the part of the word, including "ice", as that reminded him of the cool state of water, which was always pleasant in the heat of the desert. 

"Sure!" The kid said, with just as much enthusiasm as he always seemed to have, and would follow Salzem if he went.

The boy, unaware of how the true ninja world worked, was still confused as to why his teacher would have to ask permission to leave, if he did not belong to any village, but, he thought it probably better not to ask, and simply accept this fact. Yet, part of him was glad they would be leaving; Dachi felt as if he had spent more than enough time in the village, and with so much of the world left to see, he was anxious to explore.

Salzem nodded, enjoying Dachi's energy as he lead him to that familiar stall he had been too once before. There, behind the counter, stood the same man that served him when he was a werewolf. Salzem could see it in his eyes that he had no idea who either of them were. It's easy to hold a grudge when people don't remember you, but when all they know is a scary 7 foot monster, he supposed that he could let one man's ignorance slide. Atop the stand counter, there was a black chalk-board titled "Flavors" with a variety of choices ranging from the classic vanilla to something more exotic like grape with progressively higher prices as the board descended. Next to that was another board titled "Sizes" with the classic small, medium or large labeled with differing multipliers of prices written beside each size. Salzem would look at Dachi and gesture to the flavor board.

"Pick whatever you want. My treat. Size too." Salzem hardly noticed how his personality seemed to change on a dime. A moment ago, he was bordering on lightheartedness and suddenly, he seemed to draw more distant, more cold. The personality he was known for. Regardless of his temperament, He'd pay for Dachi's frozen treat before leading him to a little bench coated in the shade gracefully provided by it's umbrella. Salzem would sit down on one side of the bench and would gesture for Dachi to sit on the other. Should his student oblige him, he'd see a very serious expression on his face, almost as if he was about to tell him war was being declared. Of course, that wasn't what this was about. It was something more personal than mass bloodshed.

"So... uh... We got some stuff to talk about." Salzem started, his hands clasped together almost as a lawyer might. "I want you to know what kind of person you're going to be traveling with before the world tells you. I guess I want you to hear it from me..." He paused momentarily, observing Dachi's response.

"Its not something I like to talk about, myself. I kind of have a history of making the wrong choice." Although his face was firm, one could look into his eyes and see that Salzem was struggling to be this honest with anyone. Really, it was only recently that he'd come to terms with it himself.

(once again, a little short, I'm sorry)

Dachi, having very little knowledge about this new "ice cream", the child asked for the smallest size, and the very first flavor at the top of the list, and then happily licked when he received it, at least, until he received his first "ice cream headache". 

Then, however, while he was still struck with the painful brain freeze, Dachi noticed that Salzem started becoming more serious, and began to talk. 

The boy did his best to stare the man in the eyes, while he began to mention the fact that he should be the one to say what he had done, though his head still hurt dearly. He was slightly confused as well; he did not remember ever seeing Salzem get this serious about anything before, and it was strange.

However, once again, the boy had his manners, and remained perfectly silent. However, the child was ultimately confused at what the man could tell him that was so urgent.