White Rose and the Desert Flower (Hikari, IO)

It was probably a few hours since the male had dropped off the parents of his benefactor, the last thing he remembered doing was hugging the mother and telling her that her son was an amazing person. He didn't pry into why or how he died, the life of a shinobi meant life would or could end in any path of life but it was how we chose to remember that person that mattered. Here he was. The odd color haired male stood at the pinnacle of the Hokage Rock, probably named because showcased Kage's of errors past. He stood atop the fourth head, his staff being wedged gently into its surface and sat on its top. Many would wonder how exactly the male had been sitting on it without pegging himself and the answer was quite simple. He had made the staff just big enough so that his butt could sit on it and not be in his but, almost literally. He stared out into the distance of the village curious as to how many times this place had fallen and risen from its own ashes," I could have sworn I had read about this place before...," he mused to himself as he began slurping on a bowl of ramen he had gotten from a nearby shack.

The food of Ichiraku had definitely been someone worth getting since it was one of the more hyped up places to eat according to some of the locals here. Seems like whoever had started the tradition had trained their successors greatly. The more he had looked out into his surroundings, the more he could make an extensive comparison to Hoshi. While both had forests, the forests of Konoha were more bountiful and abundant. Hoshigakure itself had only one although it was...beautiful in its own way. So many things had been different about this village that the one where he had originally set from, but this....this was another matter. After finishing the bowl he sat it in between his lap and sat both hands on one of his thighs, the left on the left thigh and his right on its adjacent as he just relaxed his body and watched. Nothing could be said about a view like this, something that not many could say they could see for themselves. As the wind gently took the bottoms of the fur that had been on his jacket he took in a breathe of clean air and exhaled slowly," This probably would have been a place you guys would have loved."

The thought caused him to have a flashback of his friends and a smile played upon his face. Though the thoughts were soon displaced as he heard something from his surroundings. Though he was going to reach for the sword resting on his right side he instead decided not to. This was not his home and thus if it had been a citizen of this village he wasn't going to cause a fuss...Hell he wasn't going to cause a fuss if it wasn't. Instead he sat there looking over his shoulder slightly as the orange dots that were his eyes focused on them, seemingly transitioning into crosses as he spoke," Hello there." The first thing this person would notice besides the fact that he was sitting on a staff, was that his eyes despite being cross-shaped for the irises...lacked any color other than that. A black abyss which only held orange dots or crosses. His head slowly turned back to the sight of the village as he smiled," I've never been here or heard much about this village but...Its scenery? Magnificent. Wouldn't expect anything less to be honest," his head didn't return back to the person until they had spoken to him in which cause they would only see two dots looking directly at them.

Having been back inside the rebuilt walls for a while since the Kage Summit came to a sudden end, the snowy haired Hyuuga had waited, full of curiosity at what the other shinobi would be like, for the three villages to arrive after the announcement of the first ever joint chuunin exams were to be hosted in Konoha. It was ironic how fast the exams had been prepared and how the warm leaf village was selected to host it first. Perhaps that had been decided due to their lack of connection, or rather their disconnection, with the other villages at the summit, for Risako had been quite indifferent during the entire exchange and even after the murder of one of their own missing shinobi.

That very same shinobi had plagued her for weeks after they arrived home, the stench of his decaying corpse and blood wouldn’t leave her clothes or hands no matter how hard she cleaned or scrubbed her poor palms raw. Every now and again she still thought she smelt traces of the odor, but whenever she glanced around no one else seemed to notice it. She began to assume it was all in her head, a figment of her imagination.

Maybe she had finally gone mad she sometimes wondered. Maybe she had seen one too many deaths and finally cracked under the weight she bore from them. Maybe this was her karma for being too weak to save them in the first place.

As if the thoughts crowding her mind weren’t enough to deal with already, she felt a chakra signature higher than the rest and as she looked over in the direction of the feeling, her lilac tinted eyes noticed a figure atop the fourth hokage upon hokage rock. Despite having lived in Konoha for twenty one years, not once had the kunoichi ever ventured there. But it seemed today that would change as her curiosity got the best of her, the unfamiliar chakra too alluring for her to want to stay away. This person was most likely from one of the other villages, which meant she had an opportunity to learn more about the cultures of those she wasn’t familiar with. She had gotten a small taste of Kiri’s home life when she visited there after the tournament, and that small taste had been enough to counteract any rumours she had heard of the people who had conquered them.

Kirigakure was beautiful in a way Konohagakure never could be, full of blues, greys, and browns. The air had tasted like salt and the cool breeze was colder than the winters in the sunny leaf village. Yet despite the frigid temperature, the people there were full of energy and vigor, welcoming the war party with joyous shouts. They even had festivals, with fireworks and abundant stalls selling all sorts of goods. Their citizens were happy and safe, if only because of the threats of violence against those who commit crimes.

Contrastingly, Konoha didn’t offer such a protection to its people. They couldn’t even protect themselves against another village. Despite the warm, tropical like weather, there was a chill that haunted the village now. People, even if they looked happy and smiling, secretly worried about what would happen to them next. With a man like Xyxer reigning over the acting Hokage, and thus the village as a whole, it was no wonder others were frightened about the future. He was a terrifying man, able to take out three people, the Hokage and an ANBU Operative included, without using a single jutsu.

He could’ve even replaced their own leader if he had wanted, gaining his face upon the monument as the others have done. It would’ve been an interesting thing, walking on the head of Xyxer, but alas, instead of his head it was actually the fourth Hokage’s whom she crossed to greet the foreign person, having been fairly close to the hokage rock when she located them in the beginning.

“Hello.” Came her short and simple greeting back at the man whose black and orange crossed eyes met her own pupil-less ones, “I’m Hikari Hyuuga and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” As polite as always, she kept to her formalities for the moment, unsure of what else to say. It wasn’t a crime for him to be there nor did she need to interrogate him on why he sat there on his staff, which was quite an impressive feat she noted. The view was far better this high up she could already tell, and for someone who might not ever get the chance to see such a sight again, taking it in from the best and highest possible location made sense to her.

Her theory was validated when he turned back to face the open sky with a content smile and said he had never been to Konoha before or heard much about it, yet its scenery was magnificent and he hadn’t expected anything less from the village that’s name ended with leaves. “It is breathtaking seeing this place from above like this. Surprisingly so, this is my first time up here and trying to vocalize my amazement at the sight is quite difficult…” And her words, laced with a solemn hint of sadness, were sincere, it was hard for her to form a coherent way to describe how she felt about it. The only thing she could think was that Salzem would’ve liked it there, the wind blowing his shaggy hair and the rays of the sun keeping him warm as he basked in the glory of nature and mankind. Oh how she would’ve loved to share this with him, to be able to hug him while watching a sunset from atop the rocks...

With her voice gentle, a small smile curved her pink lips upward ever so slightly as she walked closer to the other shinobi, stopping to be beside them on their left, unless, of course, they flinched at her initial movements or made an attempt to get her to stop.

(WC: 1,009)

Hikari Hyuga. Such a nice name for someone like her. Now that wasn't an insult, instead it was more of a compliment as he smiled and turned around slowly to face the sight of the village. Hikari Hyuga huh? That would make you a light of your clan no? since your name translates into that...if I remember correctly. Well then its nice to make your acquaintance Miss Hikari. How are you doing today if I might ask?," His eyes were facing forward though if he could see behind him perhaps there would be a smile on his face. The steps of the female upon the soft rock terrain filled his ears as he scooted over to the right and patted the area beside him with his left hand," First time huh? I wouldn't think this would be an area people could just openly visit. You know with it being a monument to your Kages, both past and present. Guess that's why they call it "Hokage Rock"," there was a small chuckle from him as the tightly bandaged right hand scratched the back of his head.

As she came closer he would turn his head slightly to the right to look at her more clearly now and smile," Come on up if you want to. I know the view might be breathtaking down there but trust me you'll like how it looks from up here. Just uh....Walk on up the staff. Sorry but i don't have stairs built into it," There was a small, but brief chuckle as the badly formed joke but hopefully the female would find some humor in it. Now that they were close he could take in more of her features. The seemingly dull eyes earned a small smile from him as he took in the unique colors of them and then sat his right hand into his lap. As he spoke he would lower it to a whisper where only the heads, the clouds and the woman herself would hear it," Name's Mo-ri Jin." After which he would smile and return to his normal voice," Came here alll the way from Hoshi for a bit of a vacation to be honest. So. Miss Hikari," his eyes glance out into what was her home as he thinks for a moment.

"What do you think about your home?"

The man before her turned his eyes back to the village, it seemed he didn’t want to miss the view even for a second. She didn’t mind the lack of eye contact for she too wanted to continue admiring the only place she’s ever really known.

Lilac darted in a glance towards the man when his voice broke through, mentioning her name and how it meant light. She had never thought of herself as the light of her clan, always below average in anything she ever attempted to consider herself worthy of such a title. If anyone deserved it, she would’ve selected Aryll, the Hyuuga clan heiress, for despite her difficulties she was able to overcome any challenge in her way. He moved on to familiarities and asking how her day had been. No one ever wanted the real answer to that question, it was a facade society utilized to appear more welcoming and friendly, she had learned that the hard way.

Yet nonetheless she played along, masking her true feelings with ease as she had done so many times before. “I’m doing well, how are you today?” Her tone was even, never wavering as she replied with her lies, and the noise of her steps growing closer garnered a pat to the area beside his left leg from him. He then chuckled at his own joke it seemed and ran a wrapped hand through his hair as he scratched his head, her eyes were drawn to the motion out of her peripheral. Hikari wondered why his arm was bandaged, but knew better than to ask. Her training as a medic had taught her the proper manners of one, and asking about someone’s injuries outside of the hospital or battlefield tended to be a traumatic mistake for them.

“I think as long as one is being reverend and not trying to damage this place that it’s alright for them to be here.” When her voice died out, his head turned towards her slightly and he offered for her to join him in partaking the view from an even higher point, a smile dancing across his lips as he did so. He seemed to be a carefree, optimistic kind of guy, the same personality she had before her life turned to hell. “It’s alright, this isn’t a difficult thing to climb. But the view better be worth it.” Hikari couldn’t deny the slight envy she held for him as she walked up the staff until she reached the place he had saved for her, and she was thankful her voice didn’t betray her hidden emotions. Having to explain why she was jealous of him wasn’t on her list of things she took pleasure in doing.

She cracked a small smile at his attempt to humor her, wishing she could feel more but knowing it was futile. Being happy and laughing like old times were things she could no longer do, things she wouldn’t even want to do anyways. If Salzem couldn’t do them, why should she?

Once she was comfortably on the rock, his gaze turned back towards her and seemed to examine her. Hikari wasn’t fond of being stared at so closely but she didn’t care enough to say something about it. Instead she glanced at his right hand again, trying to secretly discern if it was an injury or fashion for if it were the former she would’ve been able to help him, assuming he wanted her help that is.

Her attention was drawn back to the dark eyed male as he whispered his name. It was an odd notion, being so secretive over a name that didn’t hold any significance that she could recall. Hikari didn’t question his antics though, instead returning a polite, formal greeting to him, “Well it’s a pleasure to meet you.”, while he thought about what to ask her. It took a few seconds for his mind to think of something, and when he found out what to say, his eyes moved to look at the open village before them. She had an idea of what he wanted to ask her before he even said it.

It was about her 'home', although she stopped thinking of it as one. Now it was a place to rest, train, and work, nothing more, nothing less. But letting a stranger like Mo-ri Jin know about the inner turmoil she was facing was a bad idea, least she want someone to exploit her using her weaknesses. Thus her voice was calm and smooth as she lied, “I like it a lot, the scenery is beautiful and it’s nice having all the plant life surrounding us. Things are also very lively and energetic here, something I can’t say I know the other villages being. So overall it’s quite enjoyable here.” She paused briefly for Mo-ri to process everything she said before continuing, her eyes gazing out into the distance, “What do you think about your home, and what’s it like exactly in Hoshi?”

(WC: 1,842)

How was he doing today? The male pondered on the question for a moment before giving his usual goofy grin and nodding," Well I suppose. Konoha seems to be different from either of the two villages i've been to in my life. Other than that? Nothing's off," though he wish he could admit to that being the truth. The whole thing with Kotetsu's parents still sat heavy on his mind and if he could he would go and visit them just to make sure they were alright. The young male smiled, chuckled even as mentioned as the view had better be worth it to which he replied," Best view you'll get here in my opinion. Who can say they used a staff of all things to get a view of a village like this?," though as she came up and the two had another exchange he couldn't place the vibe he was getting from her.

As she answered his question about what she thought of her home, he slowly took in each word even going so far as to analyze them. She seemed to enjoy it even though he couldn't sense the anguish in those words. He took them at face value and nodded to her as he looked out into the distance toward where the gates he entered would be," Lively huh. You definitely have one of the biggest populations i've seen in a village...and your food ain't bad either. Whoever owned the Ichiraku place knows how to put their soul into the food- Hm?," her question threw him off guard as he blinked and looked up into the sky for a moment.

The question itself wasn't hard to answer but he had not been in Hoshi for that long...and what he did know? It wasn't pleasant for some at least. So he shrugged for a moment and used his right hand to scratch his head once more," Its...Quaint I guess? I'm not a native of the village but it has a rather...interesting history. Most of the time i'm just watching from above, looking at the lives of the villagers honestly. For a place that's supposed to be regal and different than a traditional village would be it has a lot of infighting," there was a bit of exaggeration in his voice as he said that last bit.

He would continue after a pause and smile," I prefer my old home honestly. While it was more of a prison I had family. Not by blood, no. But by circumstance and fate. They were among the best people I had the pleasure of knowing, but even fate can have a sick sense of humor. Lately it seems most of my friends end up biting the bullet before me," there was a small shrug as he looked down for a moment," Life just keeps moving though...," he wasn't keen on expressing his feelings and even his voice didn't waver as he said that, but something in his eyes said differently. There was something else he wanted to ask her as he looked up and over to her," I did notice you were looking at my arm earlier. Were you curious about it or something?," he didn't necessarily mind telling someone about it, but what it did was a separate matter all together.

Mo-ri Jin took a few moments to begin answering her inquiries, and once he settled on an answer he saw fit he grinned largely at her while saying he supposed that he was also doing well, a statement she found rather odd given his optimistic expression. But she didn’t dwell on it, instead continued to listen as he went on to explain that Konoha was different from the other places he’s called home before, but otherwise that nothing was off about it or him, she wasn’t sure which. Hikari was half-tempted to ask about his other home, curious as to what village he originally came from, but thought better of asking due to the possible pain it might bring him. If it were Suna, then she already knew the tale of what happened to that village and how many people moved on to the next life or became scattered between the remaining villages, and if he had experienced the destruction firsthand, witnessing those he cared about vanish, that was a wound she didn’t want to reopen. She knew the pain of losing someone so close to you right in front of your eyes and she wouldn’t wish that on even Yensung. She wouldn’t stoop down to his level, no his pleas for life was more than enough to avenge Salzem. Anything more and she felt the lycan would haunt her for the rest of her days, condemning her for being worse than scum.

She returned her focus to the task at hand as her slender legs easily climbed up the staff with the surface walking technique, a chuckle resonating between them as Mo-ri found humor in her comment about the view. The noise brought a small smile to her lips, a moment of pride at bringing joy to someone even if she couldn’t really feel the same. The young male then went on to say the best view one could get would be on his staff and asked who else could say they’ve done anything similar, sitting on top of a staff to get an amazing view of the village. Hikari nodded her head in agreement at his words, the small smile still gracing her rosy lips as she said, “That is very true, we are quite lucky to say we have done that.”

As she sat upon the staff beside the Hoshi shinobi and answered his question about her ‘home’, he seemed to take in every word and detail, perhaps trying to decide if how she saw it was the same as how he had in the short time he’s been there. She seemed to be half-right in her guess, as he didn’t fully agree with her that Konoha was lively but did think it had the largest population of all the villages he’d been too, which did surprise the lilac tinted Hyuuga. Kirigakure had been just as populous when she visited, so she thought all villages had about the same amount of people but apparently not. He continued talking about the food and how Ichiraku Ramen put their soul into their food. It was a feeling she used to share with him whenever she ate there herself, yet now even food lacks the same enjoyment as before.

After listening to his answer, she reciprocated his earlier question, wondering what his home was like. She didn’t know what Hoshi was like besides the people it had brought out, the kage who betrayed their own student and the student whom she wished to revive as much as her own little brother. They were cold and cruel, worse than Kirigakure despite having a much better reputation than the Bloody Mist.

The Hoshi shinobi seemed a little caught off guard by her question, although she wasn’t entirely sure why since he had asked her the same question just moments prior. Although she wondered if it might’ve been due to him having two homes, the place he was from and the one he had to reside in, for perhaps he wasn’t too fond of the latter place. For people unlike herself, there were those who were actually attached to where they grew up and lived most of their lives. He might’ve been contemplating which home to describe, or perhaps he wasn’t sure if giving her harmless information about Hoshi was safe to do or not, since it was easy for her to describe her own since he was there, living in it, yet she wasn’t in Hoshi and might never get to visit it.

His shoulders lifted and rested before his bandaged hand reached up and scratched his head, signs he wasn’t quite sure how to answer her but was going to attempt anyways. He said the village was quaint and had an interesting history, although from the sounds of it interesting didn’t mean a positive thing about the village. She was surprised to hear that through his observations the regal and ‘unique’ village had quite a bit of fighting between its members. Hikari wondered if that had any ties to how the Hogokage acted due to the kind of environment he grew up, although even if all the fighting had affected him, she felt it still didn’t excuse his cold blooded murder.

She noted the exaggeration his voice had taken on yet kept her thoughts the same. Which was fine with him regardless, as he didn’t know what had been going through her mind, and so he continued after a brief silence, admitting that he liked his old home more than Hoshi. Despite it being similar to a prison, he felt the company, his makeshift family, was far better than whatever he had in the star village. Yet, as she had recently come to know, fate was cruel and he sadly outlived those he called family. She solemnly nodded to his words, knowing all too well the pain of losing family, everyone she ever loved had already passed on and left her alone in this unforgiving world. Hikari was no stranger to grieving, and had finally vowed to never get attached to others ever again, the hurt of losing another person close to her was too much for the petite woman to bare.

Before she could think of a way to respond comfortingly to the shinobi beside her on such a touchy subject, his voice echoed in her ears as he beat her to the punch. Her eyes widened slightly at having been caught glancing at his arm a couple times, having not wanted to inquire about it to save him any grief of having to relive what happened, but she hadn’t been sly enough to conceal her gaze from the orange cross orbs.

She looked over, and hopefully, into those orange eyes of Mo-ri’s as she came out with the truth, her voice calm with a hint of embarrassment mixed in, “Yes, I was curious about the potential injury you have. You see, I’m a medical-nin, so the bandages immediately caught my attention, but I didn’t want to bring it up in case it brought back bad memories for you or in case you weren’t needing medical attention…” Hikari trailed off, unsure as to if she needed to delve deeper into her explanation or if he understood the gist of it.

(WC: 3,052)

The question was at long last asked. The male looked from his white haired acquaintance to his bandaged arm and smiled for a moment. Many wouldn't smile about what happened to him and yet he did as he rested the arm into his lap and spoke," Its fine honestly. Seeing someone with a bandaged arm would be bound to cue the curious mind so I don't blame you for bringing it up. As for what the bandages are for, i sort of...blew my arm of during a test run of a jutsu i was trying to create. Needless to say that arm is no longer among the living, but for what its worth it wasn't as bad as most would put losing a limb out to be. Let's just say I suffer from a rather unique...affliction. More to the point however," as he spoke he pulled the bandages off and into his lap showing the volcanic looking arm to her and smiled," This was the future endeavor of a good friend of mine. I drew out all of the plans and designs...but he? Made the dream a reality," clinching the hand of the metallic arm into a fist there was a small, but somber smile from him.

He looked over to Hikari and she could see it. Those cross shaped pupils disappeared and only left a small, idle dot in both of the eyes as he continued," His name was Kotetsu Shinogami...a bit of a wayward soul, but a good friend none the less. Funny thing is? After he build my arm I haven't seen nor heard from him. Which sucks because I owe him money and I need to thank him properly for this. I had to bring his parents here and they didn't know what had happened to him either. So...I'm kind of in the dark, but I figured i'd see him eventually. He's probably back at the village right now in his forge. Kind of been keeping it going in his absence just in case someone needed something, but i'm no smith," there was a chuckle, but if he knew the truth? Would he still be smiling. He remembered the first time he had met the male and it was...fun to say the least. Looking down to his arm it just reminded him that bonds often started in the weirdest of places.

She felt a bit of anxiety swell up in the pit of her stomach as Mo-ri Jin looked down at his arm, smiling shortly at what she could only presume was the memory of how it happened. Trauma was a fickle thing to deal with for it came in many different forms, never affecting everyone in the same way. Instead of questioning his reaction, Hikari moved her attention to what he was saying and how he said it. There didn’t seem to be any grief left as he described how he had blown it off during the test run of a jutsu, and the small bit of humor he attempted to add reinforced the idea that any pain from the memory had been washed away. He had dealt with it, suffered through it, and no longer let it affect it, at least that’s what the snowy woman thought.

He moved on to say he suffered from an affliction, her ears perking up at the word before drooping back down when he didn’t divulge more information about it. The way he had trailed off and avoided the subject caused her to keep the words at the tip of her tongue unsaid, concluding that he hadn’t overcome whatever his affliction was. Her eyes, having been looking at his the entire time, noticed he had finally gotten done unraveling the bandages on his arm, having avoided looking down until he was done out of courtesy for him.

Nothing could’ve prepared her for what was hidden underneath the cloth wrappings, her eyes widening ever so slightly as they ran along the detail of the metallic arm. Instead of getting a new arm made of flesh he chose to get one more durable and sturdy, and potentially one even better than any kind of arm she could’ve given him. Besides the man she had spoken with, Kinzoku Nazar, when she first arrived back in Konoha with Kotetsu’s body, she hadn’t seen anyone else with an arm like Mo-ri’s. Which was an interesting thought, considering a lot of shinobi lost limbs all the time yet they didn’t seek out a better limb, leaving it as a stub or getting a replica reattached at the hospital.

“Your friend is amazing, the work they did on that arm is just incredible.” Came her breathless voice, as she continued to take in all the detail the arm held. The varying colors, how it moved smoothly with its joints, everything. The only thing that drew her eyes away was when his hand clenched into a fist, the gesture causing concern to rise up and force her to look at his face to see what he was feeling. She had expected anger, yet there was none only a melancholy smile upon his lips as he recalled something, perhaps the memory of the process the two had together while creating his arm or the memory of their first encounter, which very well could have been when he asked for his arm. Regardless of what he was thinking, the emotions that kotetsu elicited from him were clear, he cared for that friend deeply.

Then, after she had that realization about him, something rather mysterious happen as his once cross shaped pupils met her pupiless eyes, the crosses instantly changing to mere dots. Hikari had never seen such a phenomenon happen and could only explain it as being a defensive mechanism for his doujutsu. However she didn’t get to ponder long on his reasons for the first few words out of his mouth caused her breath to hitch in her throat. Kotetsu Shinogami. The man who was murdered by his own kage for having been part of Konoha at one point. She tried to listen to the rest of what he had been saying, how Kotetsu was a good friend and hadn’t been seen since he built Mo-ri’s arm, but her mind was racing to think of what to say. She knew why he went missing, why he hadn’t seen the young man in a while, and why he never would get to see him ever again. Hikari had never been in a position of telling someone their loved one didn’t make it, she was inexperienced in this area despite being a medic. Her job never prepared her to crush someone’s heart with only her words.

His soft chuckle and the way he looked down fondly at his arm helped fuel her resolve. She knew withholding the truth from him would only make things harder when he got back and the raven haired shinobi still wasn’t home. Her perspective might’ve been biased, afterall she wasn’t part of Hoshi and didn’t know if what Valen had done was acceptable or not, even though the truth was written in the way Kotetsu acted after realizing what the ashen haired man had tried to do.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, she gently began the agonizing “I’ve actually met your friend, Kotetsu, when he went to the Kage Summit as one of the bodyguards for your Hogokage, as I had been the guard for my Lady Hokage.” Her eyes left the beautiful horizon to hopefully meet his own, wishing she wasn’t the one having to bear this burden but knowing nothing could change that fact now, “During the discussion between the kages, the Mizukage asked about your friend by name, and it turns out he was originally part of Konoha. His parents fled the village during our war with Kirigakure, taking him with them to Hoshi.” She let everything sink in a moment, hoping he didn’t jump to any conclusions before she finished breaking the news to him. “Since he was technically a missing-nin the Mizukage was going to fight him...but your kage beat him to the punch, at first pretending to defend him with a spiel before using hidden weapons in his sleeves to try and kill Kotetsu. The two then fought impressively, and for a while it seemed like he was going to escape…” She clenched her hands into fists as the events of that fight replayed over and over again, “I’m so sorry, your friend...he didn’t beat his former teacher…”

Hikari trailed off, bracing herself for either an onslaught of questions or backlash and rage. There was also the possibility that he wouldn’t believe her, thinking that for some reason she had something to gain from lying to him. Yet another option was that he could get violent, attacking her even though she had just been a bystander who couldn’t do a thing despite desperately wishing she could.

(WC: 4,155)

There was a moment of clarity as he smiled and placed both of his hands onto the females shoulders, he was happy someone knew something. His eyes went from those dots to their cross shaped as he smiled," You did?! How was he? Was he at least doing alright and keeping himself out of trouble? Man if he was going to do something so awesome like that he should have told me before he left," though each word after that made his smile wane more and more until the truth came out. HE wasn't missing from the village or just out on an adventure...He had been killed, murdered by someone of the same village. He was a mix of confused, sad and angry as he looked into her eyes for any hint of deceit and yet....he could find none.

His hands slid off of her shoulders as he stood up and looked into the distance of the village. No tears were present in his eyes even if he wanted to cry, he couldn't. The tears were there and his body felt anguish, but there would be no remorse for him. With everything he was just told he just stood there- motionless. She could tell he was in deep thought as if he was thinking about barging to Hoshi and demanding to know why....why did he have to die," Life just isn't fair is it. The moment you make a new friend...They are always taken from you. Its like a curse...Outliving your family. Friends. Loved ones...I hate this," it was as if he had nothing but death and destruction wherever he went.

"So what? He had to die because of what...," and in that moment he stopped himself. He could feel anger...for the first time in a long time. It welled and bubbled like a plague yet he was master of himself. The male took in a deep breathe as he sat back down and stared into the distance," Thank you for giving me a piece of mind...I will give him a proper burial upon returning to Hoshi. Quite honestly? I'm tired of burying friends," he never returned his gaze to her, but she would be able to read him like a book. All of it was plain to see and yet he would never show it....not anymore.

When she mentioned knowing his friend, Mo-ri smiled proudly and placed his hands on her shoulders, excitedly asking her questions about the man he missed so much. It made telling him the truth even harder to bare, knowing just how much kotetsu had meant to him. There would be no way to gently break the news because the news would always break him no matter what fluffy words were said. What hurt even worse was when he looked into her eyes, quietly pleading for her to be lying about it, that it wasn’t actually his friend but someone else.

Yet just like that, his hands slide from her shoulders as he rose and turned towards the the horizon, deep in thought as he processed what she had said. He had to be in shock from the loss of his friend, she thought as she watched him silently stare out into the wide open area ahead of them. Then he spoke up, his defeated voice breaking her already shattered heart into even smaller pieces. She knew what he was feeling, how incredibly painful it was to lose someone dear to you. Even though it wasn’t his first time facing the death of a loved one it never got easier, all of the deaths would even make it harder for him to make new friends. For why make close connections to more people who are just going to hurt you in the end when they leave like everyone else in one’s life?

Mo-ri’s venting was far from over, as he continued, wondering what exactly Kotetsu died for, why his life was meaningless to the Hogokage’s. She could feel the anger and rage consuming him as the grief subsided. She had been through that before, and the rage was what caused her to make a vow to avenge Salzem’s death, so for a moment she wondered if he would take the same kind of pledge for his fallen friend. What she didn’t expect, however, was for him to sit back down and become more calm than previously, even thanking her for giving him a piece of mind about the icy young man. He also informed her that he would give him a proper burial upon his return to Hoshi, something the Hyuuga was very grateful he would be doing. She felt Kotetsu deserved that much from his betrayal village. The last thing he said hit her in the core of her heart, for she too was tired of outliving her friends and having to say goodbye to one right after another.

“I’m really sorry for your loss… and I hope you never have to bury anymore friends, Mo-ri.” With those parting words of comfort she silently slide down from the staff and left the rock altogether, wanting to give the man time to grieve in peace for his lost friend. She knew it was something she would want if the roles were switched, plus if he wanted or needed to cry she knew he wouldn’t do so in front of her.

(Exit)
(TWC: 4,663)
(Will make claims later)