Vestige (P, Kai)

Vestige: noun. A trace of something that no longer remains.

It was a gruesome reminder. Amaterasu eyed the memorial with a single minded thoughtlessness, tracing patterns into the scarred palm of her hand with her index finger. Yes, Kirigakure and Konohagakure- well, mostly the latter- had committed a heinous act, a war crime, and... This was all that remained. In truth, Amaterasu didn't care a bit about anyone else who died in the attack. She didn't know them, after all, and most of her time in the village was meant with scorn and distrust anyways. She had no particular desire to see Konoha or any other villages burn to the ground- but she did admit that the thought of the Hokage's head on a stick filled her with anticipatory glee.

The sun was at the peak of its arc across the sky, and there were no clouds to obscure its harsh rays. Each one came beating down, one after the other, but she stood still. She had a higher than normal resistance to heat, after all, and... besides, the slight sting was somewhat a welcome feeling. She wasn't foolish enough to think she deserved it- of course she did, she had murdered more than her fair share of people- but a strange restlessness sat in her bones the longer she stayed still. She was waiting, yes. But for what? Only time would tell.

[WC: 223]
[Total WC: 223]

Amaterasu. She had finally recovered from her injuries and returned to her daily life outside of the hospital some time ago now, though Kai only recently began tailing the girl. While interesting in her own way, the contrast between Mizuki and this child was astounding. Where the former seemed to have an acutely honed knack for masking her true self behind false actions, the opposite was true for the latter. Oh yes, Kai was certain the young, scarred girl was capable in her own right, though from the brief observations he had made so far she seemed more like a child who hadn’t yet learned to completely control her emotions. A wrong move on his part could certainly become.....explosive. Yet his duty to the Ragdoll meant that this meeting had to take place, and it would be beneficial to all parties involved if it went well. That was what had brought him here today.

“The Scar,” as it had been dubbed by the inhabitants of the village, was little more than a mass of rubble and half collapsed buildings located in the center of the village. Once, it had been home to the Kazekage tower and several other buildings making up the main housing district of the village, but it had all been destroyed in the recent conflict here when the Hokage had tried to take out Kenshin with a careless attack. The loss of life was devastating, and the thought of this atrocity being committed by the man leading his former village made the Uchiha sick. Just another name added to his list. Kinzoku would get what was coming to him, just as the others would. For now, his goal was the introduction and possible befriending of a strange, scarred young girl visiting the memorial to all those killed during that thoughtless act of violence.

”Sad, isn’t it? The waste of so many lives because of an idiot’s foolishness.” Kai had approached slowly, making sure not to appear threatening as he did so, and was now staring at the memorial as he stood beside the girl he had come to meet. ”You’re Amaterasu, correct? I was told I should introduce myself, once you were feeling better. My name is Kai, and apparently we are to be allies,” he said, turning to girl and giving her a bit of a mischievous smile.

[WC: 392]
[TWC: 392]

At the sound of the stranger's approach, Amaterasu turned around to the left, letting the scarred side of her face show and starting blankly with a single black eye. She was snapped out of her reverie in an instant, posture straightening slightly and hands dropping to her sides. She hadn't seen the stranger before her too often, but... according to his body language, and the way he spoke, she was probably supposed to know him. Oops. After he spoke up, she nodded, looking up at him- he was at least a full foot taller than her. "In a way, it's kind of funny," she spoke plainly, unaware of how callous she sounded. "There are so many things about it that could have been avoided if a lick of common sense had been used." the undertone was clear- she found the Hokage's stupidity more amusing than she found the catastrophic loss of lives upsetting. "...Yeah, you'd be right. Hi, Kai." a pause, and the mischievous smirk was echoed by a subtle one of her own. "Did you really put Mizuki in a genjutsu?" if there had been any injuries or further negative consequences, the girl would've been irritated. As it was, though, she didn't feel any of that at the moment- she mostly found it comical.

[WC: 215]
[Total WC: 438]

Funny. Yes he supposed in a way it was quite humorous. The Hokage’s stupidity might have cost many lives, but at the same time Kai was certain that if the villagers of Konoha learned the truth of what their leader had done it would likely incite fear and an overall distrust for the man responsible for such a callous action that caused so much loss. In a way, it would lead to his own undoing, once word of truth got out.

His attention was brought away from these internal musings with the girls mention of his meeting with Mizuki. Even for him, someone practiced in the art of deceit, it was difficult to keep the surprise from his face. The smile quickly returned, though as he answered Amaterasu’s question. ”I knew she’d catch on eventually, but this was faster than I had given her credit for. How mad was she when she finally figured it out,” he asked. It had been a sort of test for the woman, to measure her competence and see if she was indeed as worthy as he thought her to be. It seems his gambit had paid off. It made him even more excited to see what came of their next meeting.

[WC: 207]
[TWC: 599]

"In truth?" Amaterasu answered, giving a subtle tilt of the head to the left as she contemplated her response. "I think you inspired her. You might've given her a budding interest in illusions." a nod. "Tell you what- if we're going to ever work together at some point, we're probably going to have to get to know each other better. I propose each of us ask the other a question in turn, and the other person answers honestly." a pause. "Or not. In truth, it doesn't make that much of a difference to me either way. You might not be comfortable yet, or numerous other issues that would prevent that from being a good idea..."

"I guess I could start out. I already know you're at least somewhat talented or focus when it comes to genjutsu. I feel much the same way about ninjutsu."

(cant format atm yeet)

[WC: 144]
[Total WC: 582]

So it seems he had been right in his assessment of Mizuki. His gambit seems to have paid off, according to Amaterasu anyway. That was certainly good to hear. He would have hated giving a surplus amount of chakra to an incompetent crybaby. Luckily, that was not at all the case with that woman. In fact, Kai believed he had succeeded in starting a budding relationship with her. Not in a romantic way, of course, but more of a mentor-student relationship. Perhaps, when she grew strong enough, even a bit of a rivalry. It was a nice thought, having something like that again when he was so far removed from the home he had grown up with. He allowed himself to smile at that as he pondered what their next encounter might look like, while still focusing part of his attention on the conversation at hand.

”That doesn’t sound much like a question to me,” he teased the girl as he considered her words. Out of all the scenarios the Uchiha had played out in his head, having Amaterasu be the one to attempt a start to a bond between them had been on the lower end of the spectrum for what he had expected. ”You’re right, I am adept at genjutsu and consider it to be one of my specialties. I like to think I’m also quite talented with fire style ninjutsu, though I doubt I could compare to a prodigy at it such as yourself. Tell me, how did you discover you had a knack for it?”

[WC: 259]
[TWC: 858]

"Me? Hm..." a pause, and a tilt of the head. She stretched her shoulders back, relaxing minutely as she acclimated to the stranger's presence. "My body temperature has always run higher than normal, but I suppose the first time I noticed something was interesting was when I stuck my hand into a campfire. There were no burn marks or scars to speak of. This would be when I was around four, I think." another pause, then an interesting note with a hint of an unidentifiable emotion. "The first time I tried to use a fire ninjutsu, though, I accidentally burned down someone's house and killed their new puppy. The fine tune control didn't come about until a couple years ago." It was relatively obvious, but she didn't feel any guilt for the previous actions whatsoever- though she would've preferred not to have started such a mess, it wasn't out of empathy for the people involved. "Are you really from Konoha?" she asked with a hint of curiosity. "I've heard they carve their leader's heads into a mountain, though I'm not sure what they're trying to compensate for there. Tell me, what motivated you to leave?..." She looked pointedly around her, eyes glancing about the Scar. "Well, besides the obvious. There's gotta be a reason you choose to come to this village of all places."

[WC: 224]
[Total WC: 806]

Amaterasu was definitely.....unique...to put it in a way Kai could quantify. Speaking of her past so nonchalantly, about sticking her own hand into a campfire and accidentally burning down a home and killing the family's puppy in the fire, it was as if she had no emotions at all. He supposed that was entirely possible, and made perfect sense as to one of the many reasons her personality was the way it was, which the Uchiha was certain was another reason the Demon had taken a liking to the child. He'd be lying if he said it didn't make his blood run a little cold, but he supposed it was just something he would need to get used to as time passed.

Unlike the girl, though, Kai couldn't help but feel emotions, especially the irritation and annoyance he felt at Amaterasu's words about his home. Sure, he was loyal to Kenshin now and had no regrets about such a choice, but disrespecting a valued tradition of the Leaf that went back more than four centuries was sure to hit a nerve with him. He made sure not to let it show on his face though as he responded. "Yes, the Hidden Leaf village does carve the likeness of their leaders into the stone cliffs surrounding the village. It's a tradition that goes back to the founders of the village, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. It's supposed to give the villagers a sense of security seeing their leaders watch over them from above like that, while also paying homage to them. As for why I left and how I ended up here, well, let's just say I lost my family because of the ones in charge of both Konohagakure and Kirigakure, and now I have a hit list. I came here after hearing about movement from both villages in this direction. I thought if I came here I might be able to scratch at least one of my targets off my list, but by the time I got here everyone had already left. I took shelter in a cave during a sandstorm shortly after arriving, and inside is where I met the Demon. He helped me to accept the truth of my old village, and said that he would train me. In return, I swore my allegiance to him. How did you end up here?"

[WC: 394]
[TWC: 1,252]

"Me?" a pause as she contemplated whether or not to tell the truth or a blatant lie. "Hm... From what I recall, we met on the borders quite a while ago. I suppose he's effectively... Picked me up?" she tilted her head. "There's really not much more to it than that. Perhaps he thought me similar to himself. Perhaps he thought my abilities useful. I don't pretend to know or understand his reasoning. As for why I've stayed..."

Hm.

"There's quite a few reasons." she enjoyed hurting people, for one. She enjoyed enhancing her abilities. She enjoyed the constant unknowability and risks of her environment. And perhaps she genuinely enjoyed the company. Not that she would admit such to the man before her. "Why do you think I haven't left yet?" she asked, genuinely curious. In truth, she wasn't quite sure what to think of Kai. A hit list sounded exciting, but... She didn't quite understand his reasoning. Perhaps she would in time. She inhaled deeply, exhaled, and brought her hand to her chin. "It is getting a little boring here, though. Running out of resources is making things exceedingly difficult. Who knows? Hopefully something will be done about that soon."

[WC: 201]
[Total WC: 1,007]

Wow, I forgot i was in this topic.

RIP Kai, let's just assume he left to get mcdonalds.

Claiming: 1,007 words total towards 10 stats and sharingan.

And an (Exit)