A New Path? (Private Cupcake and I; Ask to Join)

Kurisu had been wandering around outside of Kumogakure no Sato. The responsibility of being a Kage had taken its toll on him, he was still so young and although when he was named Raikage, he enjoyed the idea of being a leader of a village. He did in fact love the village and wanted to protect it, but there was still the issue with all the proper formal business matters and not to mention the missing-nin that would love nothing more than to see him dead. He sat at the edge of the large sea that separated the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire, it gave off a feel of adventure and freedom, something that after being Kage for a while he longed for. He reached his right hand up to his head and pushed his Raikage Hat upward, looking out at the open sea. He didn't feel as though leaving the village would be the best idea, but the thought had crossed his mind many times. So many Kages had become corrupted and dishonorable, so many had died in terrible ways and done terrible things. He didn't want to become like the other Kages, he wanted to make his own path, do his own thing and help many different people. The politics of being Raikage were just an annoyance and could easily corrupt him or get him killed in a pointless fight. Even though he would like nothing more than to simply pack his bags and leave the village, the idea seemed impossible, what Kage in his right mind would seriously leave his position. Could he really forge his own path and experience the adventure and freedom the world still had to offer?

Her lungs felt like they were bursting, her eyes were starting to feel like small needles were prickling into them, the cold was numbing up her limbs; and yet she kept moving slowly underneath the surface of the ocean. As if she was a fish, although it was clear she wasn't considering how fast they fled when they noticed that weird creature which had invaded their world. Teru simply loved swimming, and often as now did she regret not having been simply born as a fish. She disliked having to resurface in order to draw in that much needed breath. And she didn't like how the ocean she loved so much was making her eyes hurt and her limbs go numb. And even if those factors were considered, she didn't fear getting a cramp and drowning there. She wasn't really scared of death when she thought about it. And as a matter of fact, she would probably enjoy it more to drown here than to be killed by a random person out there in the 'real world'. One more second.. just one. She dove under deeper, almost hitting the bottom, and for a moment everything went black as the lack of oxygen was really starting to make her body protest. And then, she allowed herself to drift upwards.

With a small splash, she surfaced and gasped for air as her arms and legs moved a bit frantically to keep her floating. A distant smile crossed her lips while she felt her heart beat a bit faster than normally at that strain. It wasn't like she was a suicidal maniac, it just seemed like life was much prettier and simpler when you were underwater.

Teru wasn't too far away from the coast, and was probably very visible from where she was stationed. And it was only now that she noticed another person, a male from what she could see who was seated down. For a moment, Teru simply stared in his direction and wondered if she should wait where she was now until he'd leave. Or maybe she should go there and chat? She hadn't met anyone in quite a while now, and it was apparently important for you to keep up some connection with other humans if you wanted to stay sane. Or so people said.

So with strong strokes of her arms and legs, she advanced closer to the coast, glimpsing the small pile of her clothes that was a good 15 meters away from the male. What kind of a costume is he wearing? It seemed like it was of a familiar design.. and yet, it was something she didn't feel like she could grasp just yet. As soon as her feet could touch the bottom, she was walking slowly but without hesitation out from the ocean; the sun glimmering against her wet pale skin as she stretched her now tired and sore limbs. She was clothed in black underwear, so it most probably would just come off like she was wearing a bikini of sort. Not like she really cared anyways.. it wasn't one of her worries whether she was dressed or not. But it seemed like it got others offended, so she had decided on wearing her underwear whenever swimming. Just to avoid any conflicts. Those were really bothersome.

There wasn't really any point in putting her clothes on yet while she was still so wet, so she simply walked up towards the male while looking him over with open curiosity. Nothing about her appearance made it seem that she was trying to seduce him or make him confused about her half-clothed state. That was an act Teru was simply unfamiliar with. She stopped finally just a few feet away from the male, close enough to be able to view him but far enough so that he couldn't touch her without going through the trouble of standing up, and then noticed right away that he had eyes which were pretty similar to her own in color. Next she confirmed that his hair also matched her own raven black color, and that made the female tilt her head slightly to the side while she continued to run her gaze over him. Still staying silent. Still only having a curious expression. On his face, which would be considered fairly handsome, there was a scar which ran from above his eye to where his chin and neck met. But she didn't find it ugly, it was sort of fascinating and she instantly wanted to know how he had gotten it.

Now as far as she could tell, he seemed to be a Kage. The Raikage to be exact if her eyesight didn't betray her as she noticed the symbol on the hat. And yet, he looked young. Close to her own age. "You don't have any guards with you, young Raikage?" Her voice was low and smooth, and from the sparkle of her eyes then it seemed probably that she was already filled with questions she wanted to ask.

As he continued to stare out at the vast and wide open sea spread out in front of him, emotions racing through his mind. He continued to doubt his new life as Raikage, all of it seemed so pointless to him nowadays. Strands of his black hair that were poking out from under the surface of his golden colored Raikage Hat swayed in the somewhat windy air. He rested his hands upon the soft surface of sand that he was sitting upon near the edge of the water of the Grand Sea. The soft feel of the sand was pleasant and relaxing, something he had not felt in so long that he almost couldn’t remember the feeling. He had been dealing with one stressful situation after another, never seeming to get a break from his stressful job as Raikage. He had basically neither true friends nor a love in his life; all he truly had was the village and the people who acted fake to him due to his position. Everyone he met only cared to use him to get what they wanted and to further advance their ambitions, he hoped the day would come when he could meet people who didn’t care about his status in the shinobi world and could appreciate him for his own personality.

Grasping some sand with his right hand, he lifted his hand into the air near his chest level and let the sand pour back down to the surface of the beach area. ‘Maybe my life is slipping away as fast as this sand just did from my hand.’ He thought to himself, wondering if being Kage was a complete mistake, maybe he needed more than just some simple break; perhaps he needed to simply leave his position and live life to its fullest. That idea still seemed too absurd though, and the thought of doing that seemed as though it would a stupid decision, no one would understand or support that type of decision, a Kage was supposed to die fighting for his village or at the very least die as a Kage. He couldn’t help but consider the possibility though.

His icy blue eyes still gazing out at the bright skyline, he noticed that something or someone was in the waters in front of him. It only took a matter of minutes for him to realize that it really was a person. As the female had emerged from the water, he could not stop himself from looking at her and gazing upon her beautiful form. She did not seem to be that special as far as looks were concerned, but for some reason he couldn’t help but be attracted to the female’s looks, she did in fact seem entirely beautiful to him. He took notice of her black hair dripping with water from the sea only adding to her beautiful appearance, and as he continued to gaze at her with his own icy hued eyes, he noticed that she too had icy blue and stunning eyes. He was taken aback by the sight of the female, being even more interested by the blue outlined color around her eyes, in his mind it made her look even more spectacular and stunning, although some would probably pass this off as his male hormones acting up since the girl was barely wearing anything, the lack of clothing did sort of add to the situation, but he felt as though it didn’t matter if she was wearing more clothing, he felt as though he was seeing an angel come out of the water.

He sort of shook his head for a moment as his thoughts traced off, clearly he was being overly observant about the girl, he had not seen many beautiful girls in Kumogakure and he was still young. He darted his eyes away and stopped staring at the girl in order to not make it seem like he was some stalker type, besides the idea of making friends and relationships seemed rather pointless when he was a Kage and had too many responsibilities and would probably have a short life that would be ended in a stupid and pointless war started by cruel minded people. He did not plan on talking to the girl, but fate would have a different situation in mind. He clearly heard her speak to him, mentioning how he had no guards around him and took notice of his status as Raikage. He almost wished that he had not worn his Raikage hat, but it was something that he was used to wearing and the formality of wearing it made it feel weird to not carry the hat upon his head.

“I needed a break, besides I can handle myself without guards.” He calmly replied, not sure how this conversation was going to go. Most people tried to get something out of him and have him use his status as Raikage to further them. This girl did seem to have a different vibe to her, almost a sense of freedom that he could feel. He couldn’t help but extend the conversation, to at least see if the girl was going to try and use him like so many other people had done. “I’m Kurisu Ametsuchi, and if you don’t mind me asking, your name is?” he carefully greeted himself and felt compelled to ask for her name. Even if this conversation went nowhere and he simply returned to Kumogakure without knowing anything else, he at least hoped to learn her name. While he spoke, he took a moment to look the female up and down again, although he did it extremely quickly and only did it to mainly see if she was some type of hired assassin who was here to kill him, so many people wanted that. He didn’t notice anything threatening and was relieved to believe that he might have a nice talk with someone, something he had not had in so long. Perhaps this wouldn’t end in some pointless fight or argument as every other interaction with someone had ended in. He awaited her answer and to see what other intentions the girl had.

She felt that she was being looked over, but that didn't bother her nor make her feel the least bit more 'aware' of her little clothing. He was a young male, of course he would look and judge what was in front of him. No matter her looks, she still had the curves that could touch the interest of male hormones. But Teru had no doubt that he'd stop the inspection once he was done looking this one time. She had never had the chance of being scared of males, and was certainly not going to start now. And not only was it thanks to her carefree opinions regarding her own looks, but also of course because of her clan's ability. If he would touch her, he would certainly regret that for a few hours. But she might give him the antidote... because for some reason she already felt quite comfortable around him. Maybe it was the eyes and hair which were so alike her own. Or perhaps because she liked how .. human that scar made him look. However strange that reasoning was to herself. It wasn't often that she felt the need to touch someone, but she sort of felt like touching that scar. Trace her fingertips against it, down his face. The question about how he got it was ready to burst out of her at any given moment, but after being around people for this many years; Teru had learned that the sensitive questions were best kept for the last. But the question was going to be asked, if it was now or later. Best butter him up a bit first. [Like he was a turkey at Thanksgiving? wut.]

Her gaze seemed to soften the slightest bit as he answered her question, and she was quite content with the answer. It seemed legit, after all he was the Raikage. But then again, there were many strong people in the world that would want his head on a platter. A silver platter for that matter. And if he was alone against a group.. then could he still be so confident? Was he some sort of a prodigy? She felt now a bit curious as to what he specialized in. And if he had a clan. And who knew, perhaps he had guards around which she couldn't notice. One could probably never be too careful. What did he know about her? All he could assume that she was one of the people that wanted his head on a silver platter. "I see. Even the Raikage can start feeling overwhelmed by being constantly watched. That's to be expected, I'd assume." From all the psychology books she had read, that was indeed something that she could predict from his words. But could he hear in her words, the tone of her smooth voice, that she was still thinking further on the subject. With her words 'I see', she could have said instead; 'Are you sure that's a good idea?' 'What will you do if ambushed?' 'Did you run away?' But she didn't say any of those questions. Perhaps she would later though, but for now.. she let 'I see' be enough.

“I’m Kurisu Ametsuchi, and if you don’t mind me asking, your name is?” She tilted her head and for the brief part of a second, it seemed like a smile had crossed her lips again. Barely enough to lift the corners of her mouth, but not quite enough to let her eyes brighten up. It was nice meeting someone that didn't mind spending some of his time chatting. Or more like, him chatting in order to answer her questions. Until of course he would flee. Or attempt to. When she wanted answers, she wasn't likely to stop. "I'm Teru. Kurosawa Teru." Since he had now just taken a step in order to lengthen their conversation, she didn't hesitate the least bit but sat down next to him. Still at enough distance so that he couldn't touch her, but close enough so that it wasn't completely obvious. Naturally that distance was only for his own benefits, but she didn't need to announce that. At least not for now. Teru looked off into the distance, her gaze being greeted by the beautiful scenery of the sun being reflected against the ocean. Her still wet hair was glued to her delicate features; framing her face a bit with it's long strands. Making her seem even paler than usually. The young delicate female drew her knees up against her chest, resting her chin on them while hugging her legs tightly to herself. Either it was just for comfort, or she was trying to get her body heat up faster. But with the sun helping, it wouldn't take too long. And it felt sort of .. nice when you were slowly warming up like this.

"Do you always wear your Raikage outfit when you decide to blow off your guards? Isn't it too dangerous when you are of this high status?" It was very obvious by now that she was not intending to address him formally nor start acting like the respectful 'peon' she probably should be. Her bare toes dug into the sand while she enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sun dry her still cooled down body. A small shiver ran through her as the ocean breeze tugged lightly at her hair. Her head got turned, and her brilliantly crystal blue eyes rested on his face while she silently awaited for what he got to say. Now that she thought about it, this was a really great opportunity for her. She had never before had the chance to speak with a Kage before, and she had for some time been wondering how their life was. "Did you come here because you are always being watched and judged by those that serve you?" She for one wouldn't handle it. Being like a caged bird... it sounded sort of terrifying to be honest. It didn't really occur to Teru that her questions might touch a nerve, for that she was a bit too .. ignorant?

Although he sensed and felt as though he could trust the girl, there was a slight vibe of danger that surrounded her. He passed it off as his own paranoia over the fact that people seemed too often to have intentions of attacking and killing him. This situation seemed like a much more peace meeting, although he could never be sure. A part of him did experience a rather uncontrollable attraction to the girl that he simply couldn’t shake off his mind, it was foolish to go and get attached to someone when he didn’t have time for something like that, nor would it be smart for someone of his status to get close to someone. He still was unsure of how things would end, but hopefully nothing terrible would happen or interrupt the peace that was in the area, it was nice to just relax near the water and listen to the sounds of nature and even have someone nice to talk to. Such things were something he never got to enjoy while sitting in his office and dealing with official business.

He eased up more as the girl continued their conversation, noticing from the way she spoke that there was no threat from her unless he provoked her, which he hoped he wouldn’t do. He couldn’t quite tell how much of a deeper meaning laid behind those words she said to him, “I see. Even the Raikage can start feeling overwhelmed by being constantly watched. That's to be expected, I'd assume." He let the words sit in his mind for a moment, wondering for himself how obvious his paranoia had become. Perhaps he was letting the stress of being a Kage affect him a little too much. “It has its ups and downs, but yeah seems like everyone is interested in what I’m doing.” He replied, noting that while the job was not all bad, it did get annoying and tiring having to deal with everyone caring about what exactly he was going to do and why he’d do. Seemed as though every detail of his life had to be planned out before a set of advisors, otherwise his decisions would be mocked and criticized. He didn’t mind answering questions, but it was the act of having to do it all the time and answer the same questions that seemed to weigh him down.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Teru, rarely get to meet nice people anymore.” He replied once he learned her name. He could only hope that she wasn’t hiding malicious intent behind those beautiful eyes and seemingly kind attitude. For now he trusted Teru, he might’ve been judged by others as ignorant for trusting someone so quickly, but there was just a vibe that he felt that told him it wasn’t a bad idea to trust this girl. He readjusted himself and leaned back some more as he turned his gaze back out to the wide open and inviting water that spread out before them.

He laughed softly at Teru’s statement about him blowing off his guards. “I may feel a lot of stress from the job, but I do like the outfit. As for it being dangerous, I’d like to think that it would be dangerous to mess with someone of my level” He joked, especially at the last part, of course it would be easy for a group of missing nin or one highly skilled shinobi to take him down when he was alone, meaning it was probably a terrible idea for him to walk around with his Kage outfit on and have no one around to defend him, but he still felt as though he had enough freedom to at least do that. It did seem that Teru at least somewhat understand how he felt, asking him if he was out here because of being observed and judged all the time. “Yes, I had to get some type of a break. If I had known what I was getting into when I became Kage I would have never accepted.” He was completely honest; he figured that since most people lied to him he didn’t want to do that to anyone else. He appreciated other’s being honest instead of lying to him in order to gain something they wanted. Perhaps, Teru was going to be honest with him and actually tell him if he was stupid for not wanting to be Kage or maybe he was right about wanting to be free of the restraints of Kage. “Am I stupid for wanting to be free of this lifestyle?” he asked.

How nice he was, even when he had the rank to be arrogant. She might actually be able to enjoy his company for longer, even if he would decide not to talk anymore. And that was something rare for Teru. “Yes, I had to get some type of a break. If I had known what I was getting into when I became Kage I would have never accepted." That.. was sort of strange to her. The girl would have thought that anyone serving the role of being a Kage, would love it. Feel honor in it. And not be burdened by it. But then again, the boy next to her was after all.. just a boy. Probably younger than herself. Had he truly wished for this future? Didn't all teenagers want to be free? Get to find out their own role in life the hard way, instead of starting out at one of the highest ranks and then have nowhere to run? There were no mistakes forgiven in that kind of a job, so naturally it was seemingly best if there were older and more mature people who took it upon themselves to become Kages. But when there were prodigies, young prodigies like her new friend here, then she guessed it became too tempting for the village to let down such an opportunity.

“Am I stupid for wanting to be free of this lifestyle?” Teru's eyes were resting on his features, her gaze searching like she was wondering if he wanted her to be honest. If what he needed was to hear a stranger's opinion. Something he was not bound to, but could also use as sort of a guideline. "I think it would be stupid to stay somewhere out of duty or obligation." She looked away again, her expression distant for a moment while she thought about her next words. If it was something she had experienced when around people, then it was that most took honesty in a rather bad way. And there were often yelling or offending, and even some that called her bad names if she was simply honest. And yet, she kept doing it. Even if she -knew- better. Yeah she knew better, but it still went against her nature to just keep silent if someone asked for her thoughts. Was she supposed to word things gently so that she wouldn't hurt any feelings? Silly.. yeah it would be silly.

"Perhaps you should start thinking more about what you want. Because it's alright to be a bit selfish from time to time. After all, we only have this one life. Many decide to live it with responsibility and by doing what's right for others. But they also, in most cases, seem to enjoy it. And frankly are proud of their actions." She looked again at Kurisu and tilted her head. "You on the other hand, seem exhausted and cornered. And I can't imagine that a Kage that is tired of being a Kage will be any good for his village. So technically, wouldn't you be doing them more help if you'd get someone better for the job and then live your own life? And those who truly love you and admire, will feel happy for you." She stopped talking and for a moment had the expression like she was mulling things over. "I hope I'm not being too rude. I can't say what kind of a Kage you are, but I would have to guess that you are kind. I can see it in your eyes. But it would be sort of sad to see those beautiful eyes clouded with negative thoughts if you stay for longer doing something that tires you so much." Her tone was always the same, she wasn't paying him any useless compliments. She was stating facts, like she was reading out-loud from a book. As if it was difficult for herself to put any feelings into action, or even managing to understand his own. And so, she was now speaking of things she had read about. Probing into her mind for psychology she had allowed to sink into her brain for later use.

But what she had said about his eyes was true, as she rather liked them. And she would want them to remain like they were. Alive.. kind. "Even if people object to your decisions, then you have to remember that you are living for yourself. Surely enough, give thanks to those that fed you and gave you clothes and shelter. But no one that truly cares will want you to wither up from inside out." It felt weird talking this much. Her tongue almost felt tired, and she fell silent once more for a few minutes. For the latter reasoning, she was referring to herself. How she had given thanks to what she had been given in order to survive, but she had not chosen to hole up in the same village and live according to the set rules. "Being free, being able to grasp what you want to grasp. Being able to breathe without having anyone telling you what to do. I'd think that is the best feeling you could ever gain." But maybe it would be lonely for some. She didn't really get lonely, it was one of those emotions that she had some troubles with. But.. if Teru thought about it, then having someone to travel with couldn't be too bad.

"But then again, I am me and you are you. I would have to think it impossible for me to tell what you feel and vise versa. But that is my opinion towards your question. I do hope you didn't take it as me telling you what to do." She remained as neutral as before, but there could be seen a hint of defense in her eyes. Like she was used to being scolded for her words. Which was maybe to be expected if she was always this honest and neutral when talking to people. With a small movement she brushed a wayward black strand of hair from her eyes before she was once again gazing longingly out into the ocean. That feeling of wanting to disappear into the depths and live there forever probing at her.

His gaze seemed to stay fixated on the simmering sea that was laid out in front of them, feeling the urge to get lost in the freedom that the water seemed to embody. It was as though this Grand Sea was calling out to him, telling him to listen to the truthful words about to be told to him and to make the right decision. All he had ever done was seemingly continue to make mistakes and rash decisions, doing things that did not seem to lead to anything good. He needed to make a change and start doing things that wouldn’t lead to conflicts and fighting. All he ever wanted out of life was to be happy, to experience peace, and have fun. As a Kage though, he did not get a chance to experience that, instead he sent shinobi on missions where they died and he had to have intense talks with other leaders that only sparked anger and conflict. Through his own self reasons of revenge he had nearly destroyed the chance at creating peace with Konohagakure, having one of his own shinobi attempt to threaten the elders into peace, which could have easily lead to the elders being killed and war breaking out again. Those things simply added to his own personal anguish and suffering, when all it would have taken is better thinking to prevent all of that and make himself feel more alive even.

From the moment she had finished telling him, "I think it would be stupid to stay somewhere out of duty or obligation." He turned and looked at her again, locking his own icy blue hued eyes upon the female’s stunningly beautiful blue eyes. For a second he forgot what he was doing, admiring Teru’s entire and breathtaking image, although he quickly snapped himself out of it passing it off as simple male hormones taking over the thoughts in his mind, although he had a hard time ignoring the clear beauty that the female did in fact seem to embody. By this point he was completely relaxed and trusted her, there was no need to fear some type of threat at this point, it would have happened by now. Even if it did happen, this seemed like a moment and place in which he couldn’t say he’d hate to die at even if the thought of dying was something terrible to think about.

He remained quiet and carefully listened to everything that the female had to say, taking all of it in. "Perhaps you should start thinking more about what you want. Because it's alright to be a bit selfish from time to time. After all, we only have this one life. Many decide to live it with responsibility and by doing what's right for others. But they also, in most cases, seem to enjoy it. And frankly are proud of their actions." Perhaps she was right about that, maybe he could make one final selfish decision in order to live his life the way he wanted to and actually enjoy it. She had continued to explain her opinion and he appreciated the deep thought she was putting into it. "You on the other hand, seem exhausted and cornered. And I can't imagine that a Kage that is tired of being a Kage will be any good for his village. So technically, wouldn't you be doing them more help if you'd get someone better for the job and then live your own life? And those who truly love you and admire, will feel happy for you." This hit him hard, he was in fact exhausted, and as she had put it, cornered. Maybe it was true that in his current state of mind, even if he wanted to stay as Kage it would be an ill-fated move, it would indeed be better if he at the very least took a break from being Kage if not resign from the position entirely. If nothing else, that would help the village out if they had a leader who truly wanted to lead them and would not get tired of the position. Before he could come up with a response, he heard something that without a doubt put him on the edge of resigning. "I hope I'm not being too rude. I can't say what kind of a Kage you are, but I would have to guess that you are kind. I can see it in your eyes. But it would be sort of sad to see those beautiful eyes clouded with negative thoughts if you stay for longer doing something that tires you so much." Even as he couldn’t hear much emotion in Teru’s words, he struck him in the chest like a knife. It was a good thing to hear that someone thought he was kind, but she was extremely accurate in talking about the negative thoughts clouding his mind. Even though he wanted to speak and respond then, it had left him speechless; he could do nothing more than look at the sandy beach, partly because of what he was thinking about and also so he didn’t make her feel uncomfortable from him staring.

"Even if people object to your decisions, then you have to remember that you are living for yourself. Surely enough, give thanks to those that fed you and gave you clothes and shelter. But no one that truly cares will want you to wither up from inside out." As she spoke those words, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat sad and even a hint of anger from the fact that his family was dead, he had finally gained the position and power to take revenge, but it didn’t help. He still felt like he was living almost a lie, even more like he was nearly dead inside. Focusing on hatred and revenge had only caused him to nearly lose himself, maybe he had been to focused on the past itself. As they were silent for a moment, he had a chance to gather himself and start to consider that his path in life had been wrong this entire time. "Being free, being able to grasp what you want to grasp. Being able to breathe without having anyone telling you what to do. I'd think that is the best feeling you could ever gain." Hear that made him yearn for that feeling, Teru had hit the hammer right on the nail with that statement saying that it was the best feeling you could ever gain, he wanted to know what it was like to feel that, to be free and follow his own path, although he began to wonder just how lonely that life could be.

"But then again, I am me and you are you. I would have to think it impossible for me to tell what you feel and vise versa. But that is my opinion towards your question. I do hope you didn't take it as me telling you what to do." He had allowed her to completely explain in full detail her opinion on the matter. Never would have expected to meet someone out on a beach and gain the type of insight he had just received. She was like a blessing, showing up at the right moment to put him back on his path. He dared to call her an angel, although that would probably come off as a flirtatious statement, but it was the truth as she might have just saved his life. He slowly moved his right hand to the top of his head and grasped the top of his Raikage Hat, lifting it up and forward, the strap that held it around his face stretched ever so slightly, but enough to slip off his head.

He rested the hat on the ground before finally finding the words to say, he didn’t have a lot to say, but that was mainly because he was still partly lost in his own thoughts over what he was going to do. “You’re absolutely right, it’s amazing that I have six ‘professional’ advisors and none of them are as wise as you. If anything they have been lying to me, so I appreciate the honesty. I don’t have a family anymore and I’ve been trying to get revenge for them, but I can see now that it was the wrong decision. In my state of mind, with the vengeful thoughts, I probably would lose myself and only hurt the village more. That feeling, of being free to make your own decisions and do what you want, you said it was the best feeling a person could have and I have yet to experience it.” He paused for a moment, realizing that as he spoke, the path he needed to take was all the more clear, even obvious, he could no longer sit around and be the Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato, he needed to be Kurisu Ametsuchi. “I didn’t take it as you telling me what to do, but it is exactly what I need to do.” He said, stressing that it was a path he now had to take in order to not only better himself for the future but, to in a way, help the village.

“I only have one more question. Does it ever get lonely? Even though you’re living a free life, it seems like no one is with you. I’ve grown used to have company around, even if neither by choice nor company I even like to be around. I don’t know what it would be like to be alone, but I think it would get depressing after some time.” He had to ask if the lifestyle path he was going to choose would be a lonely one, the only time he had experienced the pain of being alone was when his entire family was killed. It would be nice to have someone to travel with and experience things with, instead of simply being free yet dealing with the pain of being alone. Either way, after the answers Teru had already provided him with, he felt as though she would not only be honest about the answer, but also give him great insight into that lifestyle. Finally bringing his gaze off the sandy beach, he looked back at her, his eyes naturally looking into her eyes, he wondered if there was a chance that he wouldn’t have to be alone and could possibly travel with Teru. Even as strangers just meeting for the first time and as crazy as that made the thought seem, he felt at ease with the idea, even hoped that things would end that way, with the two of them experiencing the freedom of life, together.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the movement of him taking his hat off and placing it on the ground. Was that a sign of something? Did her words reach him an a way that she wouldn't even have thought of? Or was it simply a sign of him feeling too warm to keep it on? Silently, as he had silently listened to her, Teru drank in his words and pondered upon them. He calls me wise, but all I did was being honest. There isn't any brain needed for that really. It wasn't that surprising to her that advisers to Kages would be careful of their words, even if their thoughts were straying to another path. "I don’t have a family anymore and I’ve been trying to get revenge for them, but I can see now that it was the wrong decision." How would it feel, to care enough to want to revenge someone? Devote your life for something like that.. it was hard to understand. Would Teru go back home and track down her parents killer if it came down to that? She doubted it. However harsh or cold it seemed. There wasn't, in her point of view, a point in that. But what had happened to make such a young male devote himself to such dark feelings? What was it in general that made people want to live in pain and remorse. Negative feelings where they would experience again and again the same circle of Hell. And what would happen when the revenge would be made? Was there any salvation at all?

"Don't you think your advisers are being wise by not being honest? It lets them keep their jobs, from what I hear at least. And the person that is honest has more danger imposing her, as most people who sit at power wont like hearing about their mistakes or possible bad moves." Teru didn't really believe he was one of those, not from what had been going on now. They were simply talking, and he seemed to truly enjoy her little inputs. So was that an invitation for her to ask more questions ? Because Teru wanted to do that. She wanted to ask about his scar, and now she also wanted to ask about his parents. Which to take first... or perhaps ask both at the same time? No, I gotta be more smooth than that. Even if he was seemingly friendly now, there was no knowing what the wrong questions could trigger. So, one at a time she supposed. Even if the young female was almost wriggling around from curiosity. Kurisu had asked her first though, and because she had learned to become polite then Teru answered him.

"Lonely?" She switched positions a bit, so that she was leaning backwards and resting her palms on the ground they sat upon, her fingers digging slightly into the warm sand. Her raven black hair slipped from her narrow shoulders and hung down her back, as it was not up in the usual high pig tails hair-due at that moment. "Hmm.. for me, it's natural to be alone. I left my village when I was around 16 so I could start wandering. But I think before that I was also alone." Her blue eyes searched his face for a moment before she kept speaking, her tone staying a bit thoughtful as she was mulling over how to say what she had in mind. "As a Kage, you are probably always around people just as you said. But is there anyone you are truly close to? Wouldn't that be just as lonely? To always be with others, but never truly bond with them?" But she was only guessing there. Most probably, he had someone dear to him. But Teru found it weird that he would then consider to go traveling, maybe becoming a permanent wanderer like herself.

"Surely you get to visit many villages and you meet many people, some more often than once if you decide to frequently visit 'favorite' villages." Did she have any favorite village? Not really no. "But there is always that thing between you and the other people. You don't stay. Well, of course for a few days. Maybe weeks or months, really just depends on if you find something to do. But you are eventually leaving. So starting roots somewhere is not an option if you plan on being a true wanderer." She had heard that that part was sometimes difficult for others. They wanted to settle down at some point, have a family. And still had that desire to keep traveling and meeting new challenges. Solving new puzzles. Experience new things.

"But then again, you don't have to be alone even if you wander around. There are many that pair up. I wouldn't mind it if you tagged along with me for a while, although I'd have a few ground rules that would be for your and my best interest." It was like there was nothing more natural for her than to invite someone to go traveling with her. Practically sharing his life with her for an unknown amount of time. But now as she had offered this, she wondered if she should tell him about the danger that was constantly following her. That literally lived within her. Did he have to know? Or was it enough for her to put down some simple rules, that would make it clear she wasn't to be touched at any cost. Probably he would take it like she was a female of caution that didn't trust him as he was a male, and Teru didn't care much about that. Perhaps... perhaps if they would get to know each other better and she would learn more things about him; then she could in return give him more information. Since at this moment, she wasn't even sure if he would be able to become a wanderer. And she had no intention of casually flinging around information about her clan.

"So, what happened to your parents that made you want to revenge them?"

Things seemed to be quickly turning towards the idea of what it was going to be like for him to become a wanderer and the issues that he would face and questions that would have to be answered. There was so many different variables and situations to deal with in deciding how his life as a wanderer would play out and work that this was going to be a somewhat complicated type of discussion, but the fact that seemed to be made very clear at this point within the confines of his mind was that he without a doubt was going to try and attempt a life at being a wanderer. There were too many things working against him in favor of needing to step down from the title of Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato and go live his life in pure ecstatic freedom, with a possible chance at having to wander alone, yet there was a chance that he would not be traveling alone. Regardless of how things were going to completely turn out, he was resided to the fact that he was going to have to become a wanderer, if only it was some temporary point in his life, although he doubted that. This was almost guaranteed to be permanent.

“I would rather they be honest and intelligent with me, there is no benefit in simply going along with whatever it is I say. I might have the power to remove them from power, but I need to be advised with more truth.” He said, giving a soft sigh. “Perhaps it is my rather eccentric manners of handling myself, its somewhat unprofessional.” He held back some detail on that part; he never used doors and would rather simply break down a wall first, not to mention his tendency to smash tables and desks into pieces just from enjoying the feel of it. “Hearing my faults and my mistakes is what the elders are there for, needing to advise me on things, yet they don’t, it is annoying in my opinion.” He finished explaining his point of view on that statement, there was no need for him to be lied to by people he was supposed to trust to tell him things he should probably do. Of course he didn’t have to do as they said, but he would take anything that was said into consideration and try to make the right decision. Even with his thoughts of revenge, it was rather clear to him that the elders were power and war hungry.

Listening to Teru explain the situation of what it was like to be a wanderer, he took in every bit of detail that he could. It was rather ironic that she had left her village at the exact same age that he was, the other interesting fact was how she was alone before that time. He had no one left in his life that was close to him, the only person he even came close to call a friend was Viper Uchiha, but that relationship was more of a rivalry and he wasn’t even sure how well he could even trust the man, friend would be stretching the truth a little bit. “There is no one left in that village that I can even trust, I haven’t even met but one person who I can even barely begin to claim as a friend. That relationship isn’t even really a friendship, but rather a rivalry.” He said calmly, explaining the situation without too much detail. He wasn’t too used to just explaining every little detail of certain areas of his life, he was okay with answering question after question, but he preferred to give short answers and see how much was wanted to be known. There was no doubt in his mind at that point that he couldn’t get any lonelier just from becoming a wanderer and traveling around even if it was by himself.

The idea of meeting people in other villages and roaming around without much of a care in the world was a nice idea, although he had to admit that settling down and starting roots was somewhat of a nice idea, but he doubted that something like that would ever be able to happen. Even if he had to always leave from a village, that wasn’t always such a bad thing, it was rather nice to keep things fresh and new at times. Even if leaving a village could be somewhat depressing and rather unwanted, he still looked at the idea of keeping his life refreshed as being a bigger benefit than disadvantage. The idea of gaining more experience with new things was just too desirable. “That doesn’t seem too bad. Keeps things fresh which is always nice, well at least in my point of view that is.” He said, replying to what she had said.

Her offer seemed to be rare nice, at least if only for a short time. The only interesting thing that he wondered about was what kind of ground rules would be in place if they were to team up and wander around together. He did feel there was some type of secret that the female was holding back from saying, but he couldn’t quite pick up on what it could possibly be. “What sort of ground rules?” he asked; highly curious about what could be in their best interest that he knew about. After that though, there came quite the question that he suppose he needed to at least answer.

There was no real easy way for him to begin to explain the situation and there were questions about that time that still had yet to be answered and lingered around almost mocking him. “It wasn’t just my parents, my entire family was killed. I’m the last one remaining; Konohagakure came through and killed all of them while I was at the academy. It was shocking, it didn’t even happen at night or anything, and they didn’t try to hide the attack at all. Ever since then I’ve had a desire to strike back at Konohagakure no Sato, even when I had my chances I haven’t taken them so far. I pass it off now as karma will get them back for me. The already got destroyed recently, which was something I was present for to watch.” He gave a small and simple sigh; there was no much more to be said on that situation. “What of your family?” he asked, somewhat curious about Teru’s earlier comment about having been alone even before becoming a wanderer.

So he had no one left in his village either? Not that she had had anyone really to begin with. And that was no problem for her at all. "Rivalry huh?" What was that like? She had seen young kids, competing with each other but with smiles on their faces. Was it something that people used in order to develop friendship? Did they get 'rivals' to become more human? Or was it help to push them onto the point they were today in their lives? Teru had been able to study it a bit, but not enough for her to understand it. She was where she was today because of herself and no one else, but there was always the question of becoming greater than what she was now. Was that the reason she was now inviting this stranger to join her? Was she getting lonely? Was the human side of her starting to long for company? But what would he say when he got to know the little things about her, the secrets? There was the question now about whether she should tell him about the clan or not. She wanted to vote for no, but what if he would touch her on accident and think she was trying to kill him? He was a Kage after all, it'd only be right for him to jump to conclusions. And what would happen to Teru then? She'd most probably get killed. Let's face it, she was a medic ninja that was just a Chuunin rank, while Kurisu was at Kage level. Teru wasn't about to tell herself any lies that she'd manage to get away without at least losing a limb. But .. wouldn't that just depend on the type of poison he'd accidentally encounter. I guess it doesn't matter anyways.. I'd heal him no matter what. And then he'd have time to doubt and ponder.

“What sort of ground rules?” Was it truth time now? For a moment, she looked at him without answering. Just listened to the rest of his words, before her blue orbs were focused on the sand they sat upon. Silently, the young female rose up and started towards her clothing while mulling over what to say. She knew his gaze would be following her, as he was waiting for an answer. And also an answer about her family. Now that was something she didn't consider difficult to tell him about, since after all there had never been any feelings involved into the whole family business. But the clan... she was hesitating. She had sort of made a vow to be careful when it came to mentioning her clan. But.. this boy was clinging onto a revenge towards Konohagakure? That seemed like a large bite to swallow. As even if he was a Kage, then that was a whole village he held a grudge towards. Konoha... it had been a while since she went there last time. It had seemed like a village filled with prosper and promises of a fine future. At that time at least.

The clothes weren't too far away, so before he'd probably start thinking she was leaving, then Teru bent down and picked up the clothing before starting to pull it on. The dark purple pants, black shirt, a purple vest; two black belts going around her narrow waist before she pulled on the boots and started to arrange the small tie at her neck. Only now did she turn around and return the gaze of the boy, tilting her head a bit to the side as she was tying up her hair in the high pig tails. "I guess I only have one rule. I'd like for you to refrain from touching me if possible." Gee that really sounded like she suspected him of being a super-pervert. "I don't mean it in any bad way, I just really dislike being touched and have been known to react rather .. violently towards any surprise touching. It's simply a matter of principles I guess." Her voice got a bit smoother at the end as she tried to sound friendlier, and not like she was about to have him arrested for trying for a grope or anything of the likes. He could take it any way he wanted; whether he thought she had a true phobia against being touched or if she had any bad experience that involved touching. While Teru finished her dressing by pulling her gloves on and fastening the bow and arrow quilt on her back, she wondered what he would truly think.

Now the fully clothed raven haired female walked back towards the male and lowered herself down so she was more at an eye-level with him. "As for my family, then I simply consider them people that gave me food and shelter until I was old enough to take care of myself. I don't have any ties with anyone in this life, and I don't regret it either. But perhaps it's time to make at least one friend. If one would be feeling up to joining me on the traveling." She smiled a sweet smile towards Kurisu, obviously her words pointed in his direction. "Now, about this scar on your face. Is there a secret to that?"