I Hate Graveyards (Closed)

Salzem had almost forgotten how the whole air of Konoha had felt. The smell of green, the taste of wet air, the feeling of cobble-stone/dirt roads underfoot... It felt so much different than the relatively barren village of the sand. Here, there was so much to look at. The architecture, the products on sale, the ground underneath your feet. Having spent an entire year in a desert among other locations, it was as if he was visiting this place for the very first time, only with a few memories he remembered earning. Some he didn't want to remember and that was why he was out at all today. With his new konoha headband hanging loosely from his neck, the returning Konoha ninja made a steady pace for the Leaf's grave-yard. Well, he should call it a garden because it was ever expanding, lately with the corpses of two dear friends of his. This was the last thing he wanted to do, but it was the first he had to see. Salzem wasn't a religious person and believing in Issin's spirit made hunting his killer that much easier, but after seeing and talking to a manifestation of his dead teacher's consciousness through the body of a child, Salzem had no doubt there was another reason he was visiting their graves.

Salzem wandered through the graveyard entrance and began scanning some names, passing over others until he found the first person that needed his attention, the one person that started all of this: Isshin Uchiha. It was the first time he had ever been to his friend's grave and he couldn't deny the maelstrom of emotions twisting in his gut. There was pain, surely, guilt, definitely. Among those, however, there were also a few Salzem would have never expected: Relief, exhaustion, and jealousy. He couldn't put into words how these feelings came to be, nor could he explain it to his heart with his emotions. They seemed to linger there in that aching, bleeding pump that was his heart, nestled against the negativity that rotted him from the inside out. To any sane person's surprise, it was actually a small comfort. He stood over the marble marking of the macabre, reading Isshin's name over and over. There was no epitaph.

Orokana was asleep in the morning hours of the day. staying up all night reading does that to someone. but once the sun came close to noon it shined in his eyes and he slowly opened them. and he started his day by going into the kitchen, right next to the front door, and he saw something he never would have expected. a letter. addressed to him by name. which was strange. he picked it up and began to read the note left in it. "hello Orokana, you dont know me by name but i do know you, well this has been hard to wright but, i knew you when your where a newborn, and i know your parents dearly. your father was Yu Yuhi and your mother was Anzu Yuki. and they are currently in the graveyard... They where leaf ninja. just like you are now. i am sorry i didnt tell you sooner or even tell you face to face. but this letter will have to do. you should go visit the graveyard, they are resting there peacefully. i also left you a gift there, your Fathers old Note book. he carried it everywhere, writing events down and making sure he always remembered the things he did." it ended there. oro tightened his eyes in confusion. his parents. he thought this was some scam someone came up with but... its too out there, it couldnt be a trap because he made no enemies that could get in the leaf. was this real? hundred of thoughts rushed though oros head. but he decided to go and find out what is going on. he grabbed his katana and his sweater leaving his home, heading to the graveyard. 

he sighed to himself. it was a cold day, cloudy and little light. he walked into the graveyard to find his parents tombstone. he slowly watched the graves as they looked almost random. and then he saw some sort of child looking at the graves. he could feel the chrakra from the child. he didnt wish to bother the child but he spotted a grave near him that had Yuhi on it. he sighed to himself and started walking close to the child, as he made out his mothers grave 2 or 3 graves away from the child. his sword jiggled as he walked and his hair moved in the wind.

Salzem couldn't care less about the presence of the newcomer. There was hardly a reason why he should. He knew not who this kid was or what his significance was what-so-ever and so, as a result, Salzem assumed he had none. Brushing past the new-guy, the lycanthrope was waking his way back to the graveyard's entrance before his eye caught on another as a fish on a hook. Unable to escape. It wasn't so much the headstone as it was the name splayed across it: Reddo Uzumaki. The first time those words played in his head, he couldn't quite understand them... Hunks of symbols that were completely meaningless. Well... nearly. As Salzem knelt in front of the grave a mere 5 or six away from the new guy's, the name played over in his head again and again, the name sticking more and more as it replayed. Reddo... He was Salzem's first house guest 2 years ago and one of his very first friends... He was a very young and lively boy, his name presumably stemming from the extremely red hair that arched across his head. He was such a kind soul... a sweet soul... he was one of the only ones he told about his plans to leave Konoha the first time and he swore never to tell a soul. He stared at the grave that lacked the same final words Isshin himself was denied. Faceless names on stone to most, but to the few that knew him, this was a revelation. Time of death... while Salzem was gone, very early into his quest. Salzem flinched as if he had been struck by an invisible hand, causing him to fall back and hit his spine against the headstone behind him. Salzem stared at the grave, frozen for a moment, his breath heavy and his eyes wide.

"Reddo...?" Salzem whispered quietly before scanning the grave to the right. As if life had a sense of cruelty unmatched by man, the name beside his friend's was another he recognized: Cole Yuki. The 3rd of the packleader's students and his closest friend out of the three... Their battles were so long and stressful, fun and action-packed. He was the first one to talk him down from his misery on his 15th birthday and... and... Salzem curled up in a ball against the headstone behind him, covering his head with his arms as he shivered intensely. His breath was heavy, his eyes were shut tight, his mind was completely closed to everything but the 2 names he wasn't able to save because of his stupid quest. One he wasn't even able to complete...

"Cole....." Salzem mumbled, looking up from his trembling form and back at the stone. Unable to resist like a paperclip to a magnet, Salzem's massive red eyes fell on the grave beside Cole's and there was where his heart shattered. There, carved into the rock with as much care as a surgeon does with flesh, was cut a name, the 2nd of Salzem's students and also the youngest and most ignorant in personality: Kouse Uchiha. Dead not long after he made his journey to Suna to take his master home. The world burned away around him, leaving but darkness and the three graves in front of him. Everything else was simply shut out as he stared down the representation of his fallen friends. Children in it of themselves. Not a single one of then deserved the fate they had been given, cut down before Salzem even had the chance to apologize for leaving them so suddenly. They had been punished in the place of another not present for his capital sentence. Salzem wasn't there to protect them...With Isshin and Kasai... Salzem wasn't there for them.... A chill rolled under Salzem's skin as he stared at the markers of the dead, his breathing becoming far quicker and uneven at the sight of his friend's names. He could feel a scream rise up in his throat as he stared down his friends who died betrayed by their comrade. Small, quiet whimpers escaped his lips, as the roar of pure fear and sorrow rose in his chest. He could feel the pressure against his rib cage, pushing and begging for a release, climbing its way up his throat as he stared at the three graves. The scream was at the back of his throat, thrashing and writhing for a release. His brain pounded in his skull, his body shivered and twitched, his mind was void of everything but the bloodied, splattered corpses of the people he was supposed to save. He felt his lip quiver and the areas under his eyes begin to burn. The scream he had yet to release now struck him, causing him pain as he began to sob.

"Why...." He sobbed, his gauntlet-coated hand clenching suddenly and ripping up grass and dirt in the process. "Why...??" He asked again, louder, but just as painful. He shut his eyes tight and clenched his teeth to the point of nearly causing himself pain as he fell forward on his hands and knees in front of their graves.

"I'M SORRY!" He screamed at their spirits, not like they were even there. All that were there was the markers of their death, markers of the family he could have saved. "I'M SO SORRY!.....I-I wasn't here for you..... I'm so sor-rrr-ry......" His screams degraded into a mix of sobs and speech as tears rolled down from his eyes once again. "I wanted to help you......... I wanted to save you...... I'm SO SORRY.....!"

It was just another one of those mornings for the Kaguya. Waking up on a bench with a bottle of alcohol in hand and no recollection of the events prior to the morning. Looking around a little confused, the young male Kaguya quickly realized he was in a cemetery. Now things made sense. This was actually one of his usual drinking spots because not many people came by cemeteries. It was somewhere where he could drink in peace, listen to the wind blow and not have to worry about anyone bothering him. Unfortunately, this morning would not be the case of a peaceful one. Still a disoriented, he only began gathering himself when he realized someone was screaming and yelling. It only took him to few moments to figure out that it were those screams that had woken Kotsuzui up. Letting out a slight grunt, the Kaguya pushed himself up from having been laying down on the bench to now being in a seated position. From where he was located he could see two individuals, of which he had never seen the likes over before, both paying respects to a lost one. One was doing so very quietly, the other not so much. All Kotsuzui kept hearing was "Im sorry" over and over. The guy must be blaming the death of said individual on himself.

"What a way to wake up" Kotsuzui said as he looked into the dark cloudy sky. Adjusting his white scarf to compensate for the colder weather, the young Kaguya spotted his bottle of sake sitting on the ground just beside his feet. "Hey, there's still some left" he said as he reached down and took a few more sips. Maybe those two down there could use a drink? Maybe it would help them feel better? It was unusual for people to turn to alcohol when in time of sorrow and pain. Kotsuzui would contemplate the idea of offering the two individuals a drink, but for now he'd wait for them to pay their respects to their lost ones. He may have been somewhat of a brat, but Kotsuzui knew not to interrupt someone when paying their respects to the deceased. The shinobi world was an ugly and dangerous one and Kotsuzui could only imagine what those two may have gone through to find themselves at a cemetery in the morning.
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oro saw right next to the grave was his fathers. with a notebook on it, leather and old. pages almost yellow. he picked it and and was caught unguarded by the mans yelling next to him. he must have know these people. he sighed to himself and opened the book skimming the pages with in. him slowly thinking of what this might hold. he closed the book and looked at the younger kid. "if you yell like that you will wake up every ghost and ghoul that infest this graveyard kid. if your friends meant so much to you wouldnt it be better to not try and wake them?" he said with his monotone voice as he walked past the boy. "if you hate yourself because they died, then you need to make sure you wont let anyone else die needlessly." he saw a bench close by and made his way to it. as he opened the old book. he started reading it from the beginning. it was dated about 26 years ago, it talked about his missions and training when he was younger. he noted he was genin. it was kinda like a mission log as well as a training log. day after day. then weeks summed up into one page. then months. till he noted the change in how he wrought. it changed. nothing major but it seemed like it was more sad, maybe bored. his father seemed like he was good at ninjutsu and it seemed like he always completed a mission as it should be. then as he read more he figured out something. his father felt empty. 

he sighed. he kepted reading and saw it was dated and titled for an exam. he toke the exam and passed it with some woman. he name wasnt mentioned. someone his father didnt know at the time. he noted that this woman was mentioned more and given a name... it was his mother. he shock his head at the book as the pages seemed more happy, alive. detailed of things his father never detailed. talking about his mother and the missions they did. it seemed his father was more or less a happy guy as well as a jokester. and his mother was mentioned to be someone that never frowned and would always laugh at his jokes. it was love in the making. joy... oro hated this feeling he had. it was sadness, or pain... it was regret. of what he didnt know. he made an annoyed face

It wasn't so much that he blamed himself, but that their deaths really were his fault. It was his responsibility to keep them safe, to help them live and grow into the adults they were supposed to be. He was supposed to be that proud teacher that looked on as his students rose in strength to match and even surpass him as they grew older, becoming more of colleagues and friends than student and master. Salzem wanted to be come home to his friends, to hold them and explain why he had done what he had, how he had done this for them and that he was sorry he couldn't tell them why. Instead, he had come home to the corpses of those he was supposed to watch grow up. In a way, it was like coming home to see your children impaled on spikes with no rhyme or reason to them dying the way they did. It was as if death itself claimed their lives to taint his further. Why hasn't his suffering been enough? Why do more people have to die? Why do the people he love KEEP DYING!?

He heard nothing the other kid had to say. Well, to be more accurate, he had heard every word, but he just wasn't listening. Whatever sage advice this kid he didn't know was trying to spring upon him was lost in the abyss that was forming in Salzem's skull. As the path all darker emotions tend to take, there was already a stop on anger. Not anger at the dead, mind you. He was sure they were doing their jobs in the best way they knew how. He was sure they died protecting the village they loved. What his anger attacked was everything. When he didn't know what to hit, he lashed out blindly, hoping that he might strike what's responsible with one of his desperate swings.

"Why.... Why did you guys die..." Salzem's mumbles turned to growls "Why couldn't you three just stay safe... not bite off more than you could chew... Why did you three die and leave me here..." After a long moment of nothing but silence, Salzem rose from all fours to just his knees, paying his respects as he placed his clenched palms on his thighs.

"I love you...." He whispered to the graves that were once his family. "I really did. I really do. I love you... You were my world, you know that...? Not a day went by that I didn't think of you... What you thought of me... I never wanted this to happen." The ninja didn't move from his spot for several minutes, just kneeling there in front of those three graves in silence. He wasn't ready to accept his loss just yet. Their loss. He didn't want to leave them. And so he stayed, not budging an inch.

Kotsuzui kept sipping from his sake as he both relaxed on his bench as watched his two fellow Konoha shinobi mourn the death of their lost ones. It reminded Kotsuzui of one of his first teammates, Jin Yamanaka. He was only about 17 years old when he passed away due to a heart attack. Kotsuzui did not know how to handle death very well, he wasn't sure if he should pay his respects to them or not? And if he did, would they even hear him? After all they were dead, was there even such a thing as the after life where they could look down upon those who are still alive? Was whatever that guy kneeling down in front of the gravestones even heard by the dead? If not, then what was the point of even speaking to them? Maybe he was simply trying to come to terms with the inevitable truth, that they were dead and they were never coming back. Or maybe speaking to their graves and believing that they really were listening simply gave them some form of comfort that couldn't be received any other way. 

All these thoughts were clouding the Kaguya's mind. To get his mind on something else he got off of the bench he had slept on and slowly made his way over to the shinobi who was silently reading his book on another bench. Softly sitting down beside him, Kotsuzui observantly watched as Orokana read the book in his hands. Kotsuzui could tell there was distress on the guys facial features. Alcohol usually helped for the Kaguya, but he had never met this guy before so did not know what he used to help. Only one way to find out. "Care for a drink?" Kotsuzui offered as he slightly moved the bottle over to Orokana.
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With the sky painted murky and ominous, the young Hyuuga had decided to put off her usual morning training to alternatively visit her parents, who now resided at the Konoha Cemetery. They passed away when she was quite young, both having given their lives for their missions. Her father was poisoned, and eventually succumbed to death before he could be treated. Her mother, a Medical-Nin like herself, was besieged on a mission while tending to her fallen comrades. Long ago, when she was a child, Hikari would often cry herself to sleep at night due to the grief and sorrow brought by her parents untimely deaths At the time, she had been too young to understand the cruelty that plagued the world, and too naive to fully comprehend why death coincided with being a shinobi. 

"What flowers do you think I should get mom and dad, Kuro? Roses, Cherry Blossoms, or Lillies?" The snowy haired Hyuuga inquired her canine companion, a wolf the color of darkness itself, who stood beside her, his ears upright in an attentive and alert position. He barked three times, signaling that he thought she should go with the Lillies. With that in mind, they left her house for the local flower shop.

It was around noon time when Hikari arrived at the cemetery, the sky reflecting the aura of the place; dark and gloomy. Her mournful gaze scanned the area as she walked to the graves of her parents, their location having been memorized from all her previous visits. She noted three other visitors; a young man bowed on his knees -obviously paying his respects to those in the afterlife-, and two slightly older young men who were occupying a nearby bench, one of which held a notebook in his palms while the other held a bottle of what she presumed to be alcohol. 

She clutched the bouquet of Lillies to her chest as she, along with Kuro, knelt down in front of two graves, just a few graves over from the young man silently paying his respects and the two sitting on the bench. Written on the headstones were the names Hitoru Hyuuga and Yuki Hyuuga. 

(363)

oro looked up at the man and sighed to himself. "no im good, i still have other things i need to do today, i cant have that cloud my thoughts." he said his look disinterested and his voice monotone. he noted he felt a new chakra signature. he looked and saw the girl. noted her. and then looked back at kaguya "the graves are popular today, i guess everyone has a lost one they cry for. friends, family, but no matter. tis the world we live in." he yawned and stood up. he buried the notebook in his pocket. and yawned. "i wounder how that pain feels, losing someone you held dearly. the boy crying feels disinterested and blames himself. the girl that just got here, she looks sadden but either shes holding in her sadness or this is a pain she knows for they have been dead for a while. what about you, how does your mind tell you to feel, visiting someone that died?" he stared at kaguya and looked in his eyes. "is that why you drink, and why your drinking now? or did you come he by mistake while drunk?" he kept his stare. he heard the madness in his mind speak louder. hearing the left overs of the stone trying to creep up. he felt his black stained chakra move though him. he wanted to smile but he stopped himself.

Salzem looked up as another person passed by, a white haired girl with a wolf tailing her. She held a small bouquet lilies to her chest as she looked down at a pair of graves not too far from the three he knelt in front of. At first glance, he didn't recognize the girl... his mind was in so many places, emotions tearing at his attention, but the more he stared at her, the more he recognized who she really was... Salzem stood from his spot on the ground shakily, approaching the young girl with an unsure expression on his face. He had seen the graves of 2 of his students already, and seeing the third might have done him in, but he couldn't find it. It was like.... she wasn't dead...

"Hikari...?" He asked, hoping against hope that this was who he thought: His last remaining student, Hikari hyuuga. She was the gentlest out of all of them, sweet and kind, always willing to be that voice of reason the group needed. To see that she was alive... that she had survived what had taken the rest of them... it would have been a gift beyond anything he could hope for. "Its me... Salzem..." He didn't even know if she would recognize him after all this time he had been gone and in that time, Salzem had changed a lot. He wore a black heavy coat and boots instead of his typical chuunin jacket and sandals. His black hair was longer and the look in his eye was far more worn and wasted than the icy-hot looks he gave most in those days. Hikari also seemed vastly different as well, though in ways he couldn't quite place just looking at her.

Salzem placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to get her attention, paying no mind to the wolf that was beside her. He had to see her face, just to make sure she was who he thought. He needed to know... the lycanthrope couldn't go on thinking that every last person he had sworn to protect had fallen to an unseen force...

"Hikari...?" He said quieter than before.