Reuniting with an Old........ Something (Yen)

It was the peak of midnight and Salzem was not asleep. He couldn't find the energy to let himself fall into a slumber. The death of 5 critical figures in his life caused by the fact he wasn't there to protect them... this guilt wouldn't let the lycanthrope sleep. Though, maybe he didn't want to rest. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw their faces, still in the most ghastly of ways. He didn't want to look at them and remember that the people he loved were dying all around him. So, instead of lying in his bed and staring at the ceiling until the sun took over, Salzem got up, got himself dressed in little more than some baggy black sweat-pants and a t-shirt, and made his way out into Konoha's streets. The full moon was high in the sky, shining its silver radiance seemingly solely on him. He stared up into the massive sliver rock, neither saying nor feeling anything of it's beauty. He wasn't here to admire the scenery. Now, he just needed some time to think.

He walked up a long flight of stone stairs, coming up to a large flat, square roof of stone, seemingly meant to overlook the whole of the village. He looked out across his home, his sanguine eyes appearing to glow in the darkness. This wasn't at all what he had hoped for, nor was it anything he had dared to anticipate. The majority of his closest friends... dead.... And one he could have helped save if he let him do the same... There were no tears this time. He had used them up. The day he found out. He loved them and their dead. He was beginning to wonder... that if he ever dared to love someone again, death would steal them away as soon as he had his back turned. He wondered if he should even allow himself to open up that way again. A gentle breeze blew over his face, blowing his pitch-black hair across his eyes, breaking his moment of thought. Maybe... He wasn't sure yet.

Yen remained silent as he studied his notes. Another late night of study, another late night of questions on what to do to ease his world of risky manuvers. Diagrams written on the matter of chakra control. To what could be and what could happen. The trees he created neared about over 250 diffrent outcomes. Each one plausable. But his disire was nonetheless clear. To protect he needed to sacrifice more then even before. The unknown road asked more of himself then even he bargined for. Each path lead to something which he could not comprehend. Yet had to accept. It was like he was drawing out his own fate. 

Each of these outcomes dont even look reasonable. Yet they all end the same. Who would belive that an eventual meeting with the unapproachable would lead to the very doorsteps of doom... hopefully i can counteract this but nonetheless its dismal. No matter how much i dig the risks grow larger, the ammount of my force becomes compensated, and the harder it becomes to  face this uneasy feeling.... this next one might be something that goes beyond any cost i have faced yet. I hope my body can take it....


A drop of sweat as yen single eyed stared at one result. It was memorized and shredded as work to be determined in eventual time. He didnt know when or where he was going to encounter the hiccup in his experiments. But it was to be pure, and expected. He walked down his path alone and accepted the fate that it had before him.

"I should take a breather... this isnt easy stuff to take without a sane mind. The wish to protect though must be upheld. Even if my existance is at state."

Yen spoke as he headed out of his home and cleared his mind. It wasnt easy perhaps the village he embraced was to be a better way to clear his mind. 

Yen walked for what seemed like hours. The moon shone and he enjoyed the beauty of it. Truely many dont take appreciation of the simplist things in life. Like star gazing and watching the moon. Yen continued on his lonely walk. 

It was like a mirror into his mind. The emoty streets were like a road less travled, no travelers for centries. While in the village the streets lay barren save for flickers of leaves from trees which showed either sloppy work from a tired joninn, or just the changing  of the seasons. 

Yen found himself at a pond at the far side of the village and stared down at his reflection. It was a site. Single eye. Worn out, and confused. The matters couldnt get worst right?

In the blackness of night, were Salzem the way he left, he might have missed the movement down below. His enhanced senses gave him enough to see someone walking towards a black lake of water. Someone with an unforgettable straw hat. Yensung. Upon realizing who he was actually looking at, Salzem had a very uncomfortable mixture of feelings. One half of him wanted to hate that man, the one that caused him to be labled as a criminal for the majority of 2 years. That part of him wanted to jump down from the building, slam him against a wall and not stop punching until he felt the pain Salzem did when he found out. It was impulsive, wild and angry. He could feel it tug... tempt him, make him want to wrack vengeance upon his old team mate. The other half, however, it was far too tired to be angry. That part of him didn't want to extract his revenge, much less beat it out of him. The death of his comrades had woken him up to the fact that being stupid and impulsive is what got them killed in the first place, made him the failure he was today. This part of him was determined not to make the same mistake he made when he left. Salzem was not a smart man. He had made many mistakes, all at the expense of those he loved the most. He had left his village and shattered the trust his hokage had placed in him for a petty act of vengeance he couldn't even make good on. Salzem wasn't smart, but in that moment, he wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to hurt Yen.

Salzem went down the way he came up, following the genjutsu specialist by smell alone. The darkness was thick this time of night and even his enhanced vision couldn't pierce the veil. Smell and hearing, however, flowed through the void with little difficulty. He did eventually catch up, standing a good 15 feet away, staring at his back. He could see Yen's breathing was labored as his shoulders rose and fell with his breaths. Salzem could smell the sweat coming from his body, as if he had just came back from a draining exercise.

"You look terrible." Salzem would mutter just loud enough for his old acquaintance to hear. "What happened?" Of course, the lycan didn't get the liberty to see what happened to his front, but from the back, it looked like Yen just got done doing a mental war with an elite Jounin or something. Everything about him just felt off.

yen studied the reflection further noting the changes over time. he wasn't springy yet looked more wizened through his work and tireless research and note taking. however, this didn't prevent yen from hearing the silent steps behind him, and sensing the chakra signature behind him yen didn't bother to turn, but a little life and relief came to his face momentarily to the aburame as a single tear  could be noted by the sharp eyes of the visitor.

i knew he would come back at one point of time. at least before the time i die. well at least the time in which he would come in my life time. by chains, the gallows, or by sheer will. still at my worst i didn't expect two years for his return.


yen thought as the voice of salzem pierced the space behind yen. yen didn't want to believe  it was the same voice that vanished from the prison behind bars, nor the very one that stood against his very wishes for leaving in the first place. yet he was the genjutsu master. he knew an illusion a mile away. yet his tears fell like the storm that never came. from his single eye the emotion silent as his shoulders shook. like laughter except sadness, relief, anger, excitement. a feeling that erased the impeading feeling of doom for an moment. it was time. in a quivering voice yen spoke.

"i did not expect you to come back so soon. i was guessing and wagering 10 years at least... but that was hopeful thinking. you vanished... i feared the worst... and further nearly lost my direction. not only lost once while turning away. but lost while in our hands... still at least you are home. that is what matters. At least you are safe... how have you been doing my friend?"

yen asked as he took a heavy deep breath composing himself. still kneeling yen turned towards salzem as his single eye studied the form of salzem revealing the eye patch and his exhausted frame.  "i had better days as you could see" yen stated with half a laugh.

Salzem's eyes widened as he stared into Yen's patched eye as he turned, an unexpected (but not necessarily unwanted) wave of sympathy and worry was over him. Tears fell from Yen's single good eye as he stated he didn't expect Salzem for upwards of ten years. He said that he was afraid the worst had occurred, but at least he was home and safe with them. Salzem closed his eyes and sighed, exasperated, before sitting himself down besides Yen and looking at him as if he were the biggest inconvenience he had ever seen. 

"Yeah. Apparently." Salzem responded before pulling the Aburame into a hug. Despite everything he had said, claimed or did, Salzem still cared for him as much as any comrade. He would hold him there with his superior strength for a few moments before eventually letting him go with no change to his facial expression. "Yen, I want you to know I'm sorry about what I said and did. I was blinded by my own selfish goals..." Salzem stopped short, seeing as yen was still crying. His annoyance intensified. "And stop crying. Please. No more or you may end up making me as well." He sighed again and looked out towards the water as his friend asked how he was doing. He found that was a hard question to answer.

"I don't know." He said finally. "Just about everyone I left the village to protect is either dead or... handicapped so.... there's that." He glanced back at the place where Yen's eye used to be. He found it hard to stop looking at. Instead, he focused on the one Yen had left. "You know I really am sorry. For everything. I think you deserve this apology more than anyone...... friend."

As he spoke those words, Salzem knew that he meant every single one. Out of everyone in konoha, even the hokage himself, Yensung had put up with the most of his crap. He had suffered insults, attacks, being yelled at and threatened and yet here he was tearing up like this was his own brother coming back from war. Perhaps that really was what he was feeling. Knowing this only made Salzem more irritated, but not necessarily uncomfortable. He managed to smile just a bit for Yen's benefit and his own. Perhaps this was a time to really start over, at least between them. Maybe Salzem even wanted that.

yen heard his apology and nodded as sal embraced him with a hug. yen had to admit sal was indeed very powerful. it was impressive, and further he stated an amusing point. "you always had the lions share of the strength," yen jokingly said as he dried his tears upon sals request. getting back to a more serious tone yen spoke up.

" your apology is accepted... I am not going to lecture you. it seems life taught you the very lesson i warned you about. there is a lot that has happend  while you were gone. still what matters is not what did happend but what lies ahead. you can only move forward. respect the loss of your friends, accept your responsibility, and owe them your dedication and service with your life and actions hence forth. finally... reconnect with those you left behind." yen said with a finality in his voice.

"i accepted my loss of my eye. its a memento and acceptance of the sacrifices necessary to train the future. i give it my all even if its to show a person what happens when something suscesfully hits. still... how were your travels"

yen asked sal with a little less exhaustion in his voice. although in the deepest reaches of his mind the gears kept turning as if the progress of his work kept driving him further and further forward.

Salzem said nothing, but listened to the Aburame's words for the first time in 2 years. Yes, he had learned a lesson he could have avoided all together if he didn't keep his ears shut. And it was quite evident that much has happened since he was away with the death of 2/3 of his students being the most significant. Yen explained that the most he could do was just move on with his life, sounding somewhat resigned to that fact. As much as it frustrated the lycan to admit, he was right. Rage wasn't the answer anymore was it? It got his friends and family killed didn't it? Yes, on both counts. Salzem looked back at his friend as he explained how he had accepted the loss of his eyes. How easy going Yen must be, to let all these things happen to him and pick himself up like nothing ever happened. He envied him a little and that attribute he owned. Salzem wished he shared that trait. When Yensung asked how his travels were, Salzem shook his head, looking back out over the water.

"Fruitless. Completely and utterly fruitless. I've taken my travels to 2 seperate villages and absolutely nothing has come up. The man I left the village for.... the man I betrayed you and the whole village for... the man I spent 2 years out there for is gone, scott free. I come home 2 years later and my friends are just dead." He closed his eyes tight and rubbed his forehead. "They're dead, you've lost an eye... Kasai.... my closest friend... my teacher.... he turned out to be a traitor and died as well..." He opened his eyes, now watery, looking back at Yen with something of a pleading gaze. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore... Its like everyone I meet or grow to love dies all around me...."

It was clear from his tone that Salzem was pleading for some kind of sage advice, something he could take to heart and learn from, even though there was a distinct possibility there was nothing to give. He couldn't believe he was acknowledging this, but he wanted Yen to give him a speech like in those old days about how he could fix himself and the ninja way will of fire stuff. Salzem was desperate for some kind of justification for his failure.

the mentioning of kasai made yen go silent as he looked back on that dark day. Not because of the fact he got thrown by an idiotic monkey in the middle of his changing speeches. This he was slightly thankful for, but for different unsaid reasons. but the sight that his  own village wouldn't speak before acting. a trait he since has been trying to make sure that was taken care of.

"a traitor... he spoke truth and yet was deluded by this as well. i was there when he died... i tried to stop him from going through this... but like all the rest no one would take my stand nor stand behind me. sooner expect to jump him like prey. then restrict and constrain the target. there are times to act as if war. i agree, but the words we speak are stronger. otherwise leadership would become obsolete. yet i tried my hardest to save him. even if he meant to cause harm. for what he believed right way to get us standing. does not mean we as the majority had to kill him. and yet it wasn't by our blade, but tatsugya who went in for the kill... hopefully he is in peace. i still wish he listened to me. The sight of the others standing silently by was an insult to all we strive for. all the training in the world meant nothing when they were there. no back up behind philosophy and heart. just silence." yen  spoke

"Easy for you to say." Salzem frowned, hearing Yen lament on him doing nothing to prevent Kasai's death, how this action was a disgrace to what all ninja stood for. "At least you bothered to show up. You, Yen, were here to at least try and save someone. I was out there for 2 years trying to find someone I never did. You had a chance to save him." He attempted to comfort the Aburame, patting his shoulder with an empathetic look in his eye. Poor Yen... Now that Salzem was sitting here, listening to what he had to say, opening himself up to him, the lycan could hardly wonder why he had hated him in the first place. Such a thought of what was and what could have been made Salzem shiver. Whatever past hatred Salzem might have held towards Yensung was gone, now all he wanted was to just be here for him like the friend Salzem never was before.

"Listen, Yen. If anyone knows anything about betrayal, it might as well be me because I'm on of the only ones to step out of the village and come back. What you've done that day... you didn't have much of a choice. You think you do when you look back on it, but when your in that moment, when things are really out of control, you don't have any choice." He patted his old comrade's arm gently before retracting it, looking out in the water. "There were many times I wished I never left and seeing you the way you are only makes me wish to take my choices back. Even though I did it to save you all from a murderer, it only ended up with you getting hurt so bad... with so many people dying..." Salzem rubbed his eyes with the side of his arm. He didn't want to be seen crying in front of a friend.

"If anyone's betrayed anything... I have..."

Yen went silent as sal spoke. He heaved a sigh and shook his head as he noted sal tearing up. "I have been alot further then you belive sal. Belive me when i say this. There are punishments worst then death... much worst... still yes you betrayed the very thing that protected you. But its also why i forgive you. You hurt and repent on your actions. A child goes on the battle field against a fathers orders and wishes. Tgen learns the true nature of the ninja way. People killing for greed, power, fame, enjoyment, love,hatred, self rightousness, and further duty, boredom.... then what you do is learn... learn your place. We welcome you home.. and it couldve been worst... you could be behind bars again. Or dead. Its the mercy of home. Thats why you should learn from this and your feelings now. I am teaching your example to all the genin. So they learn their duty is home. That the world is vast... but to be honest i need your help. And you came at the right time. Earn my redemtion by helping me and the village."

Yen said as his expression became back to the wizend state it was. He truely was drained. But not because of his students. But he was exhuasted as he stood up.

"I need to teat your strength sal. Against me the master of illusions ill test your full strength for the task ahead. When ready stand..." yen stated as he returned back to gazing at the water  for a moment and standing as he took a few steps back.

"At the ready salzem" yen commanded.