Into the woods and shrooms (nk p)

xuba nodded understandingly as he deactivated the jutsu. 

"its a habit. the girl i watched over nearly died as i try to make sure to help. but it s ok sanae. i respect and honor your wishes so for now on on first call ill do as asked. is that a good promise as a man and a prince to keep? plus if you need help i shall assist in at a moments notice."

he beamed at her, and thought for a moment as he gazed at the fire adding more leaves and wood. the fear caused the ghost pain of various burns to make him shudder slightly yet he needed to conquore the flames. perhaps even make them his own. imagining fire that would not harm him as he connected to the wind. like the heat flowing from the fire. yet he never thought the heat was this intense. 

how did i survive. yet i did i live now so to grow is to truely take upon the fear that i once had and make it my tool.


he thought as he had a dertermined look. perhaps it was a whim. but to feel the flames flow through him not harming or charring his skin. a single tear fell from his eyes.

"you are the only one i ever told my fear to, so to repay it i shall embrace my fear and conquer it for you my princess. to be brave and true in face of my fears. like a prince... but i must ask you. what are you afraid of the most? what is it? i promise on my word to you it can be anything, and i shall be there no matter what."

xuba answered with a sweet smile as he cupped the side of her face and by  the firelight her eyes were truly like jewels. still his eyes remained friendly like now she was ready to work. to grow. to improve. so he would improve with her. the rain and wind blew as he had an arm open for a hug if she needed it. revealing part of his scarred chest beneath the tunic. for before he wouldve cried. but now his emotions were much more understood. xuba felt he could talk to her and she would if anything at all listen. which meant the world to him.

wow....

he thought and kept his mind to himself as he waited. perhaps he could simplify his explanations?  the thought lingered a moment as he thought it was good time to be more himself.

perhaps she would accept me for who i am... perhaps she would accept my natural personality? i will... give it a try...


although deep down he knew that under his shell of toughness it was like the flesh of a crab. 

"sanae.... would you like me to cook for.. .you tonight?"

She looked at him a little puzzled and shook her head: "You are kind of over exaggerating. Form your mouth it sounds like I am resisting badly needed treatment for wounds that would otherwise kill me. Those are cuts and bruises like children get when they fall down. If we just go and heal them by the first moment we see something red, they will never learn to try to avoid hurt or pain, because they get used to, that it goes away", she signed a little. Sure she did not always wanted to be treated like a rock hard person that could take anything without harm even if she felt that way most of the times. But right now she felt like a irritatingly fragile porcelain doll about to fall apart because of a little crack and that was even more ridiculous.

Her eyes were pointed at him as he told her about the secret she was going to keep from now on, but just as expected he wanted to know something too. It felt like a trick a bit but he was not so sinister to just tell something that sounded about right to then demand a weakness. But the fun part was, she had just thought about it and like a shadow it followed her into his mind to make him ask about what was scaring her most. But how would she put it, a difficult task head as she felt his hand against her cheek. She was a bit surprised but saw the invite to hug her again so she moved over to his side leaning against him before she took a breath to talk.

"It is to so long ago when I met my biggest fear, the most terrifying thing just here in this reserve at the lake. My father was training me there, that is why I was there in the first place and as he had walked away I stumbled over a boy or young man if you so will, who had spotted us from a far and still could not only determine what weapons we were fighting with, but also that we are not crazy persons that use other peoples bones, he knew we were Kaguya", he could see her rubbing over her clans insignias on her forehead. "Since I wanted to know why he knew so much I started to question him but he always evaded the answers until much later where he said he knew it from the library, but I still don't believe them. I have looked at this library more than thoroughly before and after that time. But well back to the topic, over the time we have talked about my aspiration of being a shinobi and how I wanted to be a guard of this village its means of defence and so on, but also he did not say anything really about himself, even getting his full name at least was a pain. I hate this kind on uneven exchange because then I feel like someone wants to hide things and people most times hide things because they are either hurtful or conflicting the law. In his case maybe hurtful, but it was annoying me and I wanted to end it. So I said as last advice he should be more careful about relaying information about him knowing too much about other people's clans, because some shinobi would not take as light to it as me and see him as a threat and kill him and this is where everything went wrong", she signed and rested her forehead on her palm.

"He now thought I was threatening him. So I said I would never kill anyone over something like this. So now he said I would not have understood what a shinobi sometimes would need to do and never kill anyone even if it was the only means to an end. So I corrected him again, saying that I indeed had already killed in the line of duty but not for personal reason, which made him turn again and now deem me as blood thirsty, which he only did because I am Kaguya! If I did not have this shadow of insanity and bloodstain all over my family tree no one would even think of me like that for this reason alone, but this shadow always follows me, I can see it in my father's eyes when we fight and I am afraid of the day I might be on the verge of surpassing him, because sometimes I think he loses his mind over it and becomes what everyone fears about us. But I like to think I a different, but maybe I am not. Because he can also be different in deep inside he is not." She raised her head and shook it a little: "But yes I would love it if you would cook."

WC: 819
WC: 2197

He held and listened fully to her. Her story seemingly long he maintained the smile although he frowned at times. The boy was truely soundding more and more repedative by the moment. Yet the fact that all some info yet no personal infomation was the petty art of defense. Yet it became too clear her fear was the same as many others. The trust of one was precious and could prove lethal. Like the unseen knife. One would not know it untill it peierces their ribs.

He defintley sounded arrogant, along with assjmptive, and dishonest. Who knew.


Yet he remained silent as sanae spoke and noting her earlier point to himself a. Mental nodd of sorts occured as he affirmed as much. This boy made too many accuisations for his own good. When she finished he had a seemingly thoughtful yet stern face.

"A person that assumes. Is a person that only blinds themself to the possibilities. Sometimes the audacity people go through for knowledge... astounds me. He hardly knew you yet ran into assumptions.... thats truely sad."

He let out a weary sigh as he let down his arms from her hug and gloomily stared down at his hands. 

 "It is my problem outside these walls. The people that would dare assume you are a threat because you have skill. People like that young man would sooner attack me on the road as i pass by. Few awnsers are the death of many outside. Thus by ones own arrogance and unwillingness to be on even grounds. You can only pray that they do not jepordize their allies..."


Xuba spoke as he gazed at her for a moment as if considering something. Then he spoke up.

"To protect your home is your duty. As you must. If someone does not understand that. Then they must return to the basics. I understand to protect a village os to at times do the unthinkable and do what is right for your home. Even if it will be hard. Thoes that will question your path do not deserve to go that far. Especially if it is with your family. You have all the right to be upset, and so your words are correct in your response, and stance[size=33]"[/size]

He went silent for a moment as he gazed at the fire feeling its warmth flow over his skin as he took a deep breath and spoke. Not gazing at her but the flames. His deamenor while freindly was not reserved.

"You as a shinobi, a lady, and a kaguya have a life you can live and go by. You can even become leader here and i support that. Your fears however are truely frightening.... everyone fears It will only mean that if anything if you meet him. He owes you his own life tale. For it is only fair. Since you were generous with your offering of knowledge."

As he looked down at sanae  and spoke his voice being a bit gruff but full of admiration.

"Sanae kaguya...You are master of your fate. You can be stained in blood, and so can your clan... even Your father. But what determines the future is what you do tomarrow. To day you train, and take each day to the fullest. Sometimes You may have to become a person that you will not like. I had to steal and kill to survive. I hated bloodying my hands at times. Even in defense for my life. Still here i am tatsuma being kind and respectful.  But your past may say alot  on your roots.... but the roots does not mean that you are destined for just violence and being "bloodthirsty." But the greatness you wish to forge with your own hands. Like this."




He said as He scooped up a pebble and with a flick of his wrist he sent the pebble in an almost impossible  curve close to 50 degrees.  The pebble went soaring through the trunk of a tree nearby. The hole leaking water as he smiled at her as if simply making a point.

"I belive that no matter what we all have the deepest fear of what another side of us holds. I struggled with it each day... even going as far as denying its existance. But with fear comes triumph. My hope is as a defender of both your home.  You can find peace in this. Because reaching your dreams i will gladly lend a hand. In making it come true. However...."

He paused for a moment and looked into her eyes for a second his gaze steady for but a moment they waivered with a warm light like the fire. Perhaps warmer.

"I must ask you the most serious of all questions.... what would you like to eat tonight princess?"

There was one thing her Tatsuma-sama was not capable of. Bringing something to a point and not talking too much around the hot pot. But still in the end it boiled down to, she should not listen to what others said and she was perfect the way she was. So she shrugged a little and nodded slowly showing that she agreed at least. But still she worried about it. She did not want to be like this any time soon, preferably never. After that he threw a pebble against the trunk of a tree making a gaping hole into it while she was raising her brow. She was surly astonished about this but thought about the necessity of it. Why did he now at this point have to damage this tree? She was not really sure about it and shrugged it off. As he said he wanted to help her achieve her goal to become what she wanted to be. She would smile at him and nod: "Thank you, I will need a lot of help I suppose." She looked at the tree again and tilted her head as he said he needed a very serious question asked. So she looked alarmed but then it turned out to be about dinner.
She signed and shook her head a little. This was not really serious it felt more like a joke but well a question was what it was anyway. "Maybe we could have a cow's rib with sweet potatoes and some buttered vegetables?", she answered while looking at him questioning.

WC: 260
WC: 2457

Cow ribs, sweet patatos, and buttered vegitables... the food was not familiar other then the cow. But it was like butter perhaps was an edition. He noted her look and nodded as if confirming the awnser. Yet now he returned to the subject at hand.

"To throw like that is simple. But my point was to show that in time you improve beyond measures. Rest easy sanae. If you try to tamper with fate. Then you may end up missing more in life that way."

Xuba stated as his eyes studied her for a moment and spoke up once more.

"What drove you to learn the hand to hand arts? What was it that made you wish to take it more of a focus then the ability to utilize more ninjutsu? Or take the art of illusions to confuse thoes that would cause harm to your home?"

Xuba asked as he reached his hands out to the fire and had a grim look on his face. He knew his reason and perhaps it would inspire her to grow further in it.

"I had nothing, i ran away.... each night and while resting i took to striking treea and deepening my stance. Any person i encountered i learned from mimicing their movements. I had to learn from a lone lady whom assured me that by learning the hand that holds no blade. I could be the very blade. I used few weapons. Although in time had with survival and tge instincts of hunting. I learned to weild a blade. I was not a master of my fate, or destiny by a divine hand.... but by my decisions and the dedication to follow my  choices, despite the cost."

 He looked up from the fire and smiled at sanae as he finished. Confidence radiating from his eyes as he showed his inner strength. As there was a confidence that radiented dispite all that he went through. This was what he wanted to show sanae. Something that one does not gain from mere training, but experience.

"I took time out of the day's away from watching eyes to hone my art. With it I honed myself to the person that is standing before you today.  I couldve been a murderer out simply for money.... i could've ran around with a band of bandits, i couldve even taken my own life in guilt and rage... but i never did. I remained myself. I kept true to myself. Even with a blade pointed to my throat... or being chased by men seeking my head... i made sure to stay true to who i am. It is gained from making a single promise, and embodying that promise..... my promise"

He gazed back towards the fire quietly and took a breath as he felt the heart of the flames remind him of all the trials he took before him and would ever take. 

" my promise was to no matter what i do. Where i go, or who i meet. I will not now nor ever hurt or harm out for my own sake. I would keep my rage in check and  stay a man of peace. Even if i must defend myself. I will stand up for even the strong that gets knocked to a knee. Because sanae. I may have been hunted or kicked down. But i gave them a chance.... if you are afraid then why not make a promise here and now with me. Something that you know that you will keep. Even when you grow old. And we will eat this meal later as a reminder to that promise."

She thought about it and let it sink in before she answered. "Well I took it because it makes sense. Because I need to specialize in hand to hand combat to utilize the full potential of my clan's gifts and traits. So it was kind of a no brain decision. But also I find it hard to control Chakra into Jutsu or something. As long as it runs in my body and fills my skeleton with its power it is easy to handle. But putting it out there to do other things like doing those Windjutsu is harder I think at least. Sometimes I'd rather say my element is bones first not Fuuton, but well details", she shrugged it off and then though about it, "I think I will focus on something more chakra intensive next but last but not least will learn to wield all kinds of weapons so I can create myself an arsenal of weapons made of my own bones. They may not last, but they are specifically mine and I can carry them everywhere undetected. Because they will be within me or something like that", she shrugged a little and looked at him again listening into what he said and did.

Life was not easy for anyone seemed like this was really a universal thing to it then. But as he was suggesting a promise that she should make to herself for the time being. While she listened to him coming to an end with his speech. "I guess I can", she said looking at the fire. "I promise to myself that I will never fight out revenge and not because of blood thirst. I will bring fights to the quickest end possible to cause no unnecessary harm to either my enemies or their victims. I will never leave my heart or mind behind when stepping on a battlefield because with only both a real defender is made", she kind of preached to herself while she was still looking at the fire and then looked at him. "Sounds about right, doesn't it?" , she looked at Tatsuma and smiled a moment. Then she shortly swiped her hand through the fire and looked at him again. "Fire does not seem so scary to me, if you want to, I will be your guardian about this." She then chuckled a little because she knew he wanted to learn how to deal with it, but she could still protect him anyways.

WC: 411
WC: 2868

He listend as he gazed at her amid speech. The words made sense. Yet she too did not take to learning an external jutsu. Although hers was based off of the clan reasoning. This he respected as he touched the shoulder absentmindedly as a reminder.

She is defintley effective at close with thoes sharp bones. So i can see it being super effective.


Xuba thought as she meantioned it seemed as if her element was bones more then the wind which he nodded understanding the weight. The talents some posessed was always san amazing thing to see. He wondered if perhaps there was anything special about him.

Nah i wouldve discovered it a long time ago...


Xuba thought as he suddenly felt as if he missed out on something. Still he dismissed the thought as he listened to her pledge and the future of her chakra control.

Her pledge brought a smile to his face as he offered a hand to her after she spoke it. It made him happy because unlike thoes who dismiss an idea. She tried it and remained true to it. Which was a wonderful sight. Then she  spoke of being the guardian of his secret. Which he kept his hand out for her to hold.

A slight tear was forming  as he heard this and he smiled.

"It... would be my honor. To have you guard my secret please?" He took a breath and smiled as he was joyful.

"I will be the holder of your promise. And even though you may be afraid... ill make sure to hold and remind you of it. Even on the battlefield."

He offered a hug to sanae if she allowed. As even then it would be helpful. The fire was warm he could almost feel it flow throw him like a river.

With a soft pat sound met her hand the one he extended to her and she held onto it with a smile towards him. Then she could see a tear rolling down his cheek and she shook her head a little. "Tatsuma-sama you can't start crying over everything or you'll soon be empty", she chuckled and wiped the tear away with the finger of her free hand. Then she listened nodding to him as he said he would help her keep her promise. Then she would just tackle him into a hug as he presented his open arms. Maybe even as wild and stormy to throw him down. But well he was surly prepared for something like this.
If not he was nuzzled down to the ground without any mercy from his little devilish student. She wrapped her arms around him and signed happy. "You know what you are somehow strange sometimes. Usually people like you grow hard and cold as stone, but you are still soft and warm as you are and I like it so very much", she smiled up at him and rubbed her cheek against his chest. She would let him hug her as she was hugging him already but then thought about it. "But we should be going home so that we can get dry and you can make me food", she chuckled at him in a teasing manner, "I am looking forward to this, since I never tasted your food." She nudged her nose against his chin.

WC: 253
TWC: 3121

Like the angel she was she wiped his tear and made him smile. He relaxed slightly as he spoke and gazed into her eyes as he finished. Little did he know her heart was such a warm one. With the nuzzling he fell to the ground. He let out a joyful laugh and they fell as  he looked upon her. Her sweet smelling hair as he now noted by the light of the fire was astonishing.

Wow.

He thought as she spoke and he felt a little fulsh of heat fill his cheeks as he responded.

"Well. I feel care and it feels good with such a warm fuzzy feeling. I love it. So i cry because its the first time i cry not alone sanae.... thank you"

She rubbed her cheek against his chest, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively as she suddenly nuzzled his chin. Her warm breath reaching his neck as his lips left a ghost of a rub over her forehead. In such a tight close quarter scramble. Xuba blinked as that happend and he smiled towards sanae sweetly as she reminded him of gettingbout of the rain and of her supper.

Was it really that much time it felt a blissful eternity holding her which deep down he felt that another blissful eternity was well worth. Then he recalled her father. Whom he had respect for despite his brutal ways of teaching the world.

Maybe i defintley should move.... but im comfy....

He thought as he lifted her and spun her around a bit for a moment or two before nuzzeling her nose.

"Your right princess. We should get back as i have a meal right in mind for you"

Moments passed by before he suddenly grabbed her and lifted her into the air. As they spun around she chuckled a lot because it was kind of fun to be spun like that. But then he set her down and said something about the food that confused her. Didn't she say what she wanted when he asked her? Well maybe he had a better idea. She turned to the fire covering it with earth to extinguish it fully. Even with the current rain there could be a chance of the forest catching on fire and in this wildlife reservoir this was by no means something to wish for. So when it was out she looked at Tatsuma and smiled: "Come let us go home, I suppose my father will be happy that it is not him cooking tonight, although I guess he likes it somehow", she shrugged lightly and hooked her arm under his dragging him along.

WC: 157
TWC: 3278