Let's Go Home [Private or something I don't know]

The young girl tucked a strand of dark hair as she looked around the area, waiting for a figure to approach. She had been standing near the gates of Sunagakure for roughly 5 minutes; she soon decided to retreat into the shadows, hiding herself from the harsh sun. Wiping the sweat which had formed around her hairline, the girl pulled up the sleeves of her black kimono up to her elbows, revealing her slender forearms. It was hot and it so happen that her clothes weren't made out of breathable fabric. Note to self: Pack more Sunagakure weather friendly clothes next time. 

Taking a sip of water, Ayumi would squat as she stared into space; she was alone this time around—no teammates to accompany her (and vice versa). On a somewhat different note, she was the first one to arrive which was somewhat odd as she'd usually be the last one to arrive. Back to the main point, Ayumi had a purpose stalking around the gates: Haru had tasked her to escort some random dude named Salzem back to Konoha. To be honest, she didn't know who he was (or maybe she has heard of him, but wasn't able to recall at the time being). Pursing her lips, the kunoichi would arch her neck forward as she scanned the area once again. She didn't know how he looked like, so looking around was somewhat pointless. Clicking her tongue, Ayumi would sit on the ground as she awaits for the arrival of Salzem.

Salzem had received the letter from the Kazekage, telling him to go to the village gates. Upon finishing the letter, the most the sanguine-eyed ninja could say was that he was extremely dubious of the whole thing. It wasn't that he distrusted the sand-leader's word nor was he ungrateful for this chance at heading home. In fact, he was extremely grateful. The thing was though, it had taken so ungodly long and he had been in suna for so long, he had to wonder "why now?" He could have been let go a hundred times over already, but it was only now were the first real steps being made. He might as well not question it. After all, his resistance my come back to bite him later. So, without a word or a second thought, he made his way to the gates, all the gear he had came with on his back. His swords, his armor, his whatever. It was all there. He had spent a meticulous half-hour getting it all together. He probably have spent that time saying goodbye to everyone. It would have been in his best interest after all lest something like that prison incident were to happen again. He sighed, grabbed his things and walked out the door. He was never one for goodbyes and he was going to purge himself of those mark seals the moment he returned to the leaf.

Arriving at the village gates, Salzem happened upon someone who appeared to be waiting for him. Assuming that this was, indeed, the person who was going to walk with him back to the leaf, the lycanthrope made his way up to her and introduced himself as briefly as he could. He wanted to get out of here.

"My name's Salzem. The Kazekage told me to come here."

The girl’s train of thought was abruptly interrupted as her senses picked up a presence. Looking up, a boy was standing nearby; he seemed to be lugging quite a handful of things. Who..? was the girl’s initial thought as the boy appeared seemingly out of nowhere. As if being able to read her thought(s), the boy introduced himself as Salzem, mentioning that fact that the Kazekage had sent him to the gates. So he's the one I will be escorting.

Blinking a couple of times, the girl got onto her feet as she pointedly looked at him, “Hi, I’m Ayumi. I’ll be escorting you back to Konoha.” Simple and straight to the point, she wasn’t one to make small talks. The girl dusted her clothes and grabbed her bag before cocking her head towards the gates, signalling Salzem to follow her. Turning on her heels, Ayumi made her way to the gates; she made sure to settle anything that needed to be settled beforehand. Stopping right in front of the gates, she would turn around, waiting for Salzem to follow her steps if he had not done so already.

It is finally time to go home, don’t you think?

"Alright then. Lets go." Salzem responded as the girl stated she'd be escorting him to Konoha. It seemed he had assumed correctly her function of being here. Lucky him. He had avoided a potentially awkward moment. What he appreciated, though, was that his escort wasn't much on the talking front. She didn't question him about why he was going back or why he had left in the first place. Good. He wasn't in the mood for small-talk anyway. They walked together up to the gates, pausing only for a moment as the girl looked back to check if Salzem was actually following her. What, did she think Salzem would just run off into the distance all of a sudden, spontaneously and without any warning? The image the lycan had conjured in his head was worth a smile on its own, making itself visible beneath the wrappings that covered his mouth.

"I'm not going to run." Salzem said, cocking his head to the side and crossing his arms. He returned the pointed look the girl had first given him, direct and sincere. He wasn't lying when he said he wasn't going anywhere. Where was he going to go? Back into the village? Yeah.... no. He had enough of Sunagakure and it was about time he atoned for at least some of his worthless stupidity. He wondered if the girl could see his honesty or even if she trusted it. If she didn't, well... he was in for a long trip full of stops and starts, wasn't he?

[Uh claiming travel to Konoha and stuff because I don't want to make a topic at the brders; we're both at 100 speed. Will pick topic back up at the Konoha gates.]

(exiting to Konoha then)