Meditation, it does the mind good!~

Or rather, it would if he could actually meditate outside anymore. Really, he was sitting in a rather convincing lotus position, breathing like he was meditating, blank-faced like he was meditating, but really he was, well, napping. Or sort of napping. He was awake enough, he knew what was going on around him, but while his mind was awake enough to process sensory inputs and contemplate the world (abet at a speed roughly equivalent to nearly frozen molasses in the depths of a winter blizzard), his body was being tricked into thinking he was sleeping and therefore putting him into a repair mode that most only saw when in the depths of the deepest sleep. It was a common trick among the monks; they would use a lack of sleep to trick the body and mind into doing certain things. It was most often used for spiritual quests and such; but some of the higher monks would use this skill to go months, even years, without sleep; for various reasons that were often of a personal nature.

He just never bothered to sleep, really. He never felt like he needed to anymore, and when he did try, it was usually a pretty nasty experience. Just, nightmares for days, really; and he didn't like that. Better to sit in the Thunder Grounds and absorb the power of the storm to fuel his body and mind; trick his body into repairing itself so that he didn't need to worry about illness and degradation like some of his superiors did. There were reasons why some of the most skilled and spiritual of his kind never left their temple; they physically could not after so many years. Some could not even physically move anymore; even the effort of verbalizing using 'normal' human languages was beyond them, so they could only sing in the language of the sages, cast lightning into scorch marks and harmonize the crystals deep within the cave to commune with their acolytes and clansmen.

He really didn't want to get that bad; not anytime soon anyway. He was still young, and while he had the skill and position within the monks of the clan to fade into that world without issue... it wasn't his style. No, he was too much a child of battle; he was a ninja after all, even if he saw his life as such as secondary to his life as a Lightning Sage and Dragon Monk. Both lives were not mutually exclusive, thankfully, so he was able to find a balance that worked for him. Most of the time.

With how the current administration of the village was running things, it was far more difficult that it should have been. He had very little love for the current ruling parties, even less so for the current Raikage, or any of his predecessors. Midnight had been... alright, some of the time; he'd never met Reika somehow, and Sanosuke had never even given him the time of day. Raijin held no high opinion of himself in relation to the running of the village, he was just another Jounin and very replaceable, but he was still a Jounin, and Jounin tended to at least meet with the Kage at some point in their tenure. He might have been promoted before Sanosuke took office, but shit; get to know your people. A file and some data on paper didn't tell you shit that you couldn't learn better by a five minute face to face. With how low the Jounin population was, he could have done the entire group in less than a day. Busy or not, you make time for your people.

But shit, he had to time to frick with all the Kiri ninja in the village.

That was just... the frick was he thinking? Even as removed from the outside world as Raijin had gotten, he knew full well that a fight with Kiri of all villages was the last thing they needed. Even with a decade to prepare and train they couldn't take on Ayakashi and her people; it would be suicide for anyone sent to fight, and would likely end up with either the village and country under enemy rule, or blasted off the face of the planet.

He was all for loyalty and protecting the people; but from what he'd heard around the grapevine the girl hadn't even been kidnapped; she went willingly. He fully understood that the information going around was likely wrong; but if it was even a hair truthful... Just what the frick was Sanosuke thinking?

"Hnnn..."

He needed to recenter, now; he was all... upset and moody and lightly sparking lightning bolts off the blades strapped to his back, as well as his hands and body in general. That tended to happen when he got pissy, and he was getting damn close to that point. Thankfully, he was sitting high up on one of the rocky outcroppings that wasn't a proper lightning rod pillar, but was still just as charged with the natural lightning energy as the rest of this place. He was far enough out of the way to not be a danger himself to any ninja or monk training in the area, without being so hidden that he couldn't be found if anyone cared to look for purple hair and brilliantly colored clothing. Yep, flamboyant man was flamboyant; which given his sexuality was hilariously cliche. Not that it mattered to him anyway, but meh.

Fresh lightning bolts around him made the earth shake and the air smell of ozone, and it comforted his very soul. Ah, home... a wonderful thing. Now if only the people that had invaded his homeland would stop being fucktards and leave them in peace...

WC: 980

Some say that there are certain pains that you never forget.

That sharp burning sensation, shooting across a broken bone. The throbbing deep ache of a severe degree burn. That icy stabbing of metal slicing through fibrous muscle tissue. It was hard to forget the feeling of a shoulder being displaced from the snug crook in which it sat, and the gut churning side affects of a blow to the head. But there was one particular feeling that the Sotsuji would always remember no matter how much she tried to let slide from her memory; no matter how hard she tried to forget, her body would always recall the feeling of her fierce chakra spiralling out of control inside her. Ripping through her systems like an electric storm.
But none of that even came close to comparing with the the agony of knowing that there was stillabsolutely nothing that she could do about it. The only option was to leave. Run as fast and as far as she could, so when that explosive cyclone escaped from her white hot pores; the only damage would be to the resilient earth, and a quickly dwindling pride.
But that didn't mean that she couldn't at least try to stop the inevitable from happening. Even if it meant doing something a little.... dangerous

Danger.

That's what all the signs read. And not just those hastily printed words plastered over every available surface. The flashes lighting up the soft cracks in the coal grey clouds. The jagged beams cutting through the dimly lit sky; only to be caught by the grotesque pilons sticking out of the ground like a macabre metal forest. The whole place screamed 'stay away'. However the Sotsuji chose to ignore the deafening crackles that echoed straight through her rib cage and the large block letters giving her one last warning to turn back. The Special Jounim simply turned a blind eye to the light that pierced rock and closed eyelids and continued to walk straight in to the heart of the thunder grounds; her glowing tangerine eyes fixated on a large metallic pillar extending high in to the sky. This here. This was the only way. In the young woman's mind there was only one way to escape the pain... the circumstances... the danger of this situation. And her lightly trembling fingers reached out to grab it.

Tenmei. What are you doing? You don't need to fight it. Let it all out on the one who wronged you. Find the one that did this to him and.....

I just want it to stop. This is the only way...

Yes. There is only one solution. But this is not it.

There was a part of her that wanted to believe it. And there was a part of her that did. But her hand merely hesitated inches from the trunk like base. It was surreal how the energy felt against her skin. The tingling pressure, almost gently repelling her hand with a strange magnetic like force; mixed with a heat that clashed in distorted waves as it met with her own. The strange humming that filled her ears... her attention; begging her in a final song for her to not go through with this unfathomable decision. It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. The Kage was gone from his village, and anyone more familiar would hold back. She knew of no one else stronger, no one else compassionate enough to stop the brutal explosion that was bound to happen... the devastation, the symptom of all her rage, and confusion, and relief and regret; there was no one who could deliver a blow greater than what she would execute on the world except for maybe the force of the heavens themselves.

Don't.... please don't. Don't let it end like this

Her mind was made up. Time was running out and she could feel the tension build in to the sky directly above her. So, inhaling deeply... slowly, Tenmei extended her fingers from the white knuckled fist and started to push through the buzzing swarm like force protecting the metal base. Any minute now... any second now lightning would strike and then it would be all over. The candle inside her would be snuffed to smoke in one brightly lit blow and she would not damage any land, any home, any person... any life ever again. This was the only way... and so she pushed past that small voice in her mind and prepared to embrace the worst.

------

Words:763

Did... did he actually fall asleep? There was no way this was real, it couldn't be. No amount of deja vu would convince him otherwise; you didn't feel deja vu in a dream but he just could not reconcile the idea of this happening to him twice in one lifetime, let alone twice in one decade. Was there seriously another Kirigakure native (or he thought this was another one, anyway) standing in the Thunder Ground about to commit suicide by touching the rock formations without knowing what they were for? Or hell, maybe this one did know and didn't care, something about the body language screamed 'angst', so maybe this was a suicide run. It'd be a good way to do it, so long as they weren't a ninja with any sort of Raiton affinity or wearing rubber anything. Really, it would be too easy to just pretend he wasn't sensing (or seeing now that he'd opened his eyes to make sure he wasn't sensing things) what he was and ignore the person (female? maybe); and let them die, then just report the body to get cleaned up, if what was left was more than just a scorch mark in the dirt.

Luckily (or unluckily, depending on the viewpoint) for the intruder to his clan's lands, he wasn't the type to let someone die lie that. Suicidal or not, he didn't care; he wasn't about to let blood be split without a good reason for it. He had no fear of the power of this place, he had no reason for fear of what already was apart of him and made up the core of his being; he was Tsukino, and Tsukino are beings of lightning and storms and the song of those storms sings in his clan's blood and life forces; there was no need to fear lightning, as lightning was the Tsukino's first and oldest companion. To him, even these mighty bolts of raw power were the gentle caress of a mother's soothing hand, the touch of a lover in the night; nothing to fear, and always to embrace.

Still, he alone could not overcome physics; not fully; so a conduit would be needed.

Thankfully once more, he had the perfect solution. Now granted, he wasn't that close to the other person (seriously, he was convinced this person was female, but he wasn't going to judge until he could make sure; there were plenty of his clansmen that were of indeterminate gender at best, and several that were... what did the kids call it now a days... transgendered? Yeah, that sounded right.), but he was (literally) lightning quick, and he knew, intimately so, just how long it would be until the bolt struck the pillar. Each building strike was felt in the core of his being; it was almost sexual in a way, it build in the same places that tightened with liquid heat when in the throws of passion of that nature; so the comparison was accurate. At least, for him it was. Everyone felt the power differently; and he'd always been a bit of a manwhoring sexual beast as a youngling... it would make sense for him to feel power in that manner.

A flash of speed, flashes of color; BOOM!

And nothing happened.

Not how it was supposed to, or how he was assuming the (yep, called it) female was assuming it would; assuming that he was right and she was trying to kill herself and not just blind and stupid like the other one had been.

Hnnn... too much old hurt, there. Ouch.

He was tall, arms long and strong and easily able to heft his blades without problems. Both had been set beside his body in his previous perch; his babies and best friends, Brotherhood and Caladbolg. Both strangely forged blades, both lovingly babied until they shone with brilliant luster and even more brilliant enamelwork. He was a stickler for maintaining his babies after all, they would reflect that care and love in their perfection. Caladbolg's blade was piercing the rock face above the head of the female, dug in a solid inch to allow for good, solid contact and a point to draw the ground of the bolt away; causing the power of the strike to drain through Raijin's body and not into the rest of the rock. The discharge from his own form was handled by Brotherhood, impaled into the earth and singing with the power of the electric charge that had just run through it. Too much more would have shattered the blade, but Raijin himself was a walking battery of sorts, and was easily able to absorb a solid portion of the power into himself, as well as store a fair bit within Caladbolg, which allowed for Brotherhood to survive the encounter; same as before. Only the last time he didn't have Caladbolg, and he's nearly roasted himself to make the trick work, and he could still remember the feeling of too much energy within his body trying to make his bone cook and his skin explode. There wasn't any of that this time, however; with two blades and more experience and tolerance he was perfectly fine.

"So, ya wanna tell me wai yer 'n my clan lands tryan' ta ill yerself? Sheeet, yer that secon' I've saved from fryan', so wha's tha deal, eh? Gotta death wish, 'er hya juss stupid. Plenty 'a warnin's eve'ywhere, yeah; no reason ta no' now wha's goin' on here. Dangerous, yeah." Without even thinking twice about it, he reached for the hand touching the rock face, leaving Brotherhood behind in the earth to allow it time to finish discharging the overcharge of energy safely; he was aiming to pull the woman away from the rock and out of the area before she got hurt for real. There was enough strength in his grip to hold a civilian; but even a greenhorn genin could break away if they wanted to; it was a test of sorts to see what he was dealing with. "Come 'n, less go 'fore ya kill yerself."

WC: 1050

1050 + 980 = 2030

Jutsu, Chakra, Items:

Oh, so he was smeling long pig then? Awesome, it'd been a while since he'd burned himself that hard. Strange though, he hadn't put nearly enough lightning through his body to burn at all, let alone hard enough to cook his flesh like that. The female's words registered in his brain and his expression just sort of... melted, for a moment he went cross-eyed and his head tilted to the left, a look of childlike curiosity etching itself across his features in a way that made him look painfully young for a moment. He really was just a child at heart, and in a lot of ways in mind; he'd never really grown up, for all the gruff and 'I don't give a frick' attitude he projected, he was just a id pretending to be an adult and usually passing at this facade. Right now? Nah, he was all six year old Raijin burning himself for the first time, right up to the point of giggling like a naughty child that just got caught doing something they felt was supremely amusing but that whomever caught them thought was supremely stupid. "Tee hee, ye ken see ma' bones..."

Oh wait, what was going on? Right... right. Saved a person from getting cooked and somehow cooked himself. Right.

Wait. Waaaait. Did this person really just...

"... What the hell were you doing just now then, huh? Channeling lightning through your body like that? A freaking genin knows that much lightning could easily put someone down. ..."

The gigglesnort was real. Oh man, was it real.

"Put me down? Darlin', 'mma Tsukino. We are lightning. Tha' storm tha' scares ya normals stupid all tha' time? We're born 'n it. We live an' die 'n it. 'ur souls 'n blood 'n lives sing ta' the song of tha' storm. Nah nah nah. Me? 'm totally safe 'ere. I en dance a'round 'n metal 'n dare tha' heaven ta strike me; which incidentally aye 'm, since 'm wearin' metal ring armor righ' nao; an' no' care 'n tha leass' when aye ge' struck, yeah. Lightning is my lifeblood, I ain't worried. Ye though? Nah nah, ye gotta worry. Thi's 'll kill ye, bu' no' meh."

He stared at his burned hand and arm for a moment longer before reaching to poke at the charred flesh with his good hand, giggling again when the exposed tendons twitched and flexed with the prodding. Even more so when one of the damaged ones snapped like a rubberband under the force of the reaction. Pain and Raijin weren't on speaking terms; oh, he felt it plenty, but this wasn't too bad, not to him. He'd be screaming in agony later when the wound was treated and dressed, but right now he was riding high on the exhilaration of the lightning and waaaaay to many endorphins running through his blood to notice that anything was anything but awesome on the pain scale.

"So yeah, 'm safe, yer not. Hence, I saved ye. Ya dun sound suicidal, nor d'ye sound stupid, so wha's yer game, eh? Ye ain't native, nope; not soundin' li'e tha'. Ye burn li'e a Jun Chi, bu' ye sure as fuc ain't kin, no. Not Jun Chi kin, definitely. Wrong colors, wrong build, wrong e'erythin'. Nothin' wrong with tha', juss no' right fer kin."

Wait. Hadn't she been yelling at him? The frick was she yelling at him for? He just saved her life! The frick was her matter?

"An' wai tha' frick 're ya' screamin', nuh? Ye juss go 'bout screamin' at someone tha' saves ye from a nasty fate? Sheeeat, tha's a nasty way ta go ou', seriously. frick, ya dun juss pass out 'n die, ya cook alive in yer own skin forever 'fore ya finally die. No' pretty, no' fun. Nasty mess. Ya ever seen a body cooked li'e tha'? Stinks, yo. Shitty ta' clean up. Ya wanna die quick? Jump off a cliff, land 'n tha water. Ye pass right out when ya hit, fish eat ya an' no clean up fer us."

WC: 710

710 + 2030 = 2740

She couldn't help it. This was absolutely ridiculous. One moment she was following a dangerously destructive line of thought straight in to a hazardous area with her chaotic chakra looming, creeping precariously closer. The next; she was finding herself here: Standing around in a field of unusual rocky formations, surrounded by the flickering beams of lightning while, instead of running to safety, was listening to some stranger who's accent was so thick, she wouldn't have understood a word of it had not been for the extensive traveling she had done when she was younger; Oh yes. Yes. This fracture in time had become so strange.... so unbelievably surreal, the female couldn't help the laugh that slipped from her lips to tickle the quietly buzzing air. The giggling cackle that only came out when someone was so angry and so frustrated.... and so fed up that they don't even know how to react anymore.
Who was this shinobi? Why did he save her? What the hell was wrong with him if he wasn't even the slightest bit perturbed by the blistered skin of his hands and the welts surrounding them? Tenmei didn't know. She had no idea. The female had no freaking idea why she was still here and still laughing.



Pull yourself together you idiot!

"I dont give a flying fruit loop if you think you are some kind of Zeus in armour. Your skin is peeling off the bones. Do you understand tha...." She couldn't believe what she was seeing here. Was he seriously that numb? Was he so oblivious to the implications of what he had done? She didn't pause to answer. Her hand shot out to smack his uninjured fingers away and attempt to stop him causing himself more damage. She hadn't even realized that her own heat had slowly started to decrease....
"Stop poking it. You are going to...." too late. "Oh my god. You.... You know what. Whatever. It's your hands your going to lose. And when you do, its going to be  your own damn fault. You shouldn't be reaching out and grabbing at something a couple hundred degrees more than your nerves can handle. That's just.... stupid"

She was getting a headache. The pressure from her stomach and chest had somehow managed to wander to her head, causing the female to subconsciously reach up to massage her temples in the flimsy hope of easing some of ache. There was so much happening.... the sounds of lightning colliding with stone somewhere above her, and the rumbling of thunder somewhere higher. The heat radiating from both the air outside and inside. And then there was him. His stature, his strength.... the way he could make light of that much pain told her that he was older than her... and yet it was like talking to a six year old. A very odd six year old.
Tenmei was never good at dealing with children on a good day, and so the world became even stranger as she still continued to stand there and listen to him.

"Jun Chi? Honey, you have no idea do you? I am a Sotsuji. I am always burning from the inside out. My clan breathes and lives and dies in a temperature that could put that lightning bolt to shame. We don't use the bi product of fire like your kin, fire is a bi product of us.

But none of that matters now. Do you know what happens when a Sotsuji holds back. They explode. They keep storing up this heat until they have to let it all go at once and freaking explode! Unless something stops them. Something like a shock to the system.... like that lightning.... that you just stole from me. So now there is nothing to stop me from blowing you, me and your precious grounds to a freaking crater. And shit, I was worried about you losing your hand, we both gonna lose more than that now. I...."

A deep breath. A thoughtful frown. When did the pain start to subside?
Tenmei could feel the chakra build up gradually lessen from the boundaries of her skin and slowly recede back in to it's sleeping centers. Returning to be hidden and repressed once more until the next spark found it's source. Until then however.... they would be safe. Well... at least from the force of her kekkei genkai anyway.
So, with that in mind, the female turned to face the male once more to address his final comment, the incredulous laughter still lingering at the edge of her words. It seemed that even though the moment had stabilised some what; it still didn't seem normal. Whatever that meant this days.
 
"I was yelling because I was pissed off. It's not exactly pleasant having your chakra fill you up like a helium balloon on fire. People generally dont like being in that much. They like to try and make it stop.... not like you would know. Hell....you think seeing your bones is funny. That shit would be agony to a normal person. Even someone who is a walking battery like you. Speaking of which, who are you anyway? And why are you flitting about in a place like this wearing metal armor? Did you actually just want to get electrocuted or.....?"

I know what I was doing. Do you even know what you are doing?


--------

Words: 952
Total: 2629

"Jun Chi? Honey, you have no idea do you? I am a Sotsuji. I am always burning from the inside out. My clan breathes and lives and dies in a temperature that could put that lightning bolt to shame. We don't use the bi product of fire like your kin, fire is a bi product of us.


For a split second something... dark, flashed across the face of the monk; a momentary explosion of anger that never fully left his body, beyond the hardening of his expression and a noticeable uptick in the smell of ozone, the raging hum of electricity in the air. It was as good as insulting ones mother, to insult a Jun Chi to a Tsukino, or vice versa. The clans were just that close, natural allies and ancient friends to the point that they might as well be one giant clan separated by nothing more than country borders and a slight difference in their natural abilities. "Darlin' dear, ye ain't seen nothin' if ya thin' a Jun Chi is juss a'other fire usin' clan. Bu' tha's no' tha' point, hn." He would stand there for days and hammer in the 'truth' of the clans; pride was the downfall of the Tsukino, and pride was a rare thing for Raijin to have lately. He cling desperately to the last few scraps of it he could, and his absolute belief in the power of his clan and his cousins was one thread that never disappointed him before. He had to defend it, to lose that would be one more step toward shattering him and everything he was, and he wasn't fully ready to give into the darkness and retreat to the lower pits of the clan temple; to fuse himself to a chara crystal and be another high monk that lived forever (or so the legends of the clan told) as a mind at peace with existence and forever communing with the purity of the lightning that they embodied.

Wait, she had said more. Right. Right. He should probably...

"I tol' ya, these 're me clan lands, yep. We Live h're, all a' us. There's... shit, a dozen a' us 'roun' here righ' now; cousin's 'n family all. We li'e ta' meditate ou' h'er, help's tha' communin' with our inner storms, yep. All tha' glorious power surgin' 'roun', all tha' lighnin' makin' new song's ta enjoy... yeah. T'is a paradise, leas' fer us." His expression and body language was turning to a calmer projection, less of the 'why me' and 'who the frick does this outsider thing she is' and more along the lines of sort of bubbly and just painfully naive about the world he normally was. Completely ignoring the injuries to his hand, he swung around to grab his sword, Brotherhood didn't spend much time off his persona after so many years, and he didn't want to leave the blade for longer than was needed. The metal had stopped vibrating, settling into a slightly charred normalcy that would need attending to later, when things had settled further and he'd finished getting screamed at by his family for letting himself get burned so badly.The blade was tugged free from the earth and flipped over his shoulder, allowing it's weight to be pulled down into the special holder that was hidden partially by his almost billowing robes and various sashes. The holder was special in that it was custom made to hold both blades on his back comfortably; Brotherhood being his favored blade meant he wielded it in his slightly more dominant hand (he was ambidextrous after all, but he had a slight preference for his left), and as such the holder was made so that Brotherhood would sit in a position that made it comfortable to retrieve, even with the larger Caladbolg crossing overtop of it. Speaking of which, the moment that Brotherhood was safely settled, he moved to retrieve it's brother, giving it the same treatment and settling it into the holder in it's prefered positioning. Returning to the female, "So ya blow up if ya overcharge? Meh, we do tha' same, bu' 's harder ta overcharge us, yeah. We naturally groun' ta tha' earth, so lon' as we're no' wearin' rubber shoes 'er somethin'. Barefoot 's our natural state, safer 'n more comfy, yep. Few years back, tha' lightnin' redirec' might'a hur' meh, infac' I got pretty fucked up when I did it a few year's back, bu' tha' was minus one blade an' less skilled with tha' ability. Now? Pfft. Barely felt it. Ye burnin' me had more feel ta' it, an' I didn' even notice 'tell ya sai' some'hem. Harder ta' hur' meh tha' ye'd believe." And cue the goofy smiles.

WC: 820

820 + 2740 = 3560

Was he having a stroke? He was pretty sure he'd had that thought at least once in the last few minutes, and he was considering the concept again. He had to be hallucinating or somesuch, because really; this was... nuts.

"How could I be hungry. I drank all that tea..."

"......"

For a moment that look of cross-eyed confusion hit his face again before he basically collapsed in on himself; shoulder slumping and posture drooping into something that normally would scream 'I quit, I'm done, I can't even'; at least for about a half a second before the start of a (mostly sane) cackle began contesting the hum for dominance of sound of the area, building and echoing with the same power but with a warmth that the electric buzzing could never have, not to an outsider and normal person that couldn't hear the truth of the storms like his people could. His cackle lasted for long moments until he righted himself, the hints of tears in the corner of his golden eyes given them a melted honey aspect that would be weird on anyone else but him. For a moment all the lingering anger and intention of actually responding to anyone and anything that had been spoken of before was gone; leaving him to reach into a fold of his robe where a hidden pocket contained an assortment of hand-made iron rations and protein bars, made from real foods and foodstuffs that made them actually edible and not disgusting in the extreme.

"Catch.~" He was underhand lobbing an iron ration bar toward her; it was hardtack yes, but it was full of soft, dehydrated berries and nuts that wouldn't ever spoil, but made the triple baked biscuit mildly sweet and definitely easier to eat than it normally would be. No need to soak the lump in water or something to avoid broken teeth. "Eat, eh. Tea dun fix the rumbly tummy, no' fer lon', eh. Ye need solids ta kill tha'." He couldn't help himself, it was nearly part of the nature of his clan to help out when they saw someone in need; providing sustenance was a common thing for his people to do. If you were ever hungry and had no coin, you could walk into any Tsukino establishment and ask for something to eat, and you'd get a mighty meal with extra for a snack later.

"C'mon, less get ye cleaned up a bi' an' some food in ye, yeah? Tha' little ration bar ain't much, an' 'm pretty peckish mehself. Soun' good?" The offer was just that, a friendly offer that had no strings or anything attached. If she rejected the offer, he'd accept that just fine; the compulsion was to offer and follow through only in cases of acceptance and consent, they never forced anything on anyone, outside of maybe medical attention when someone got roasted by a bolt by being where they shouldn't be. "Tha' market district ain't far off, so we ken walk an' talk an' get lunch pretty quick." That brilliant;y goofy grin was back, and there was an ease to his demeanour that, while different, wasn't conflicting with anything he'd been before, no matter how opposite it was. His strangeness and wildly swinging moods were just who he was, and it showed in how... natural all the insanity felt about him.

WC: 580

580 + 3560 = 4140

It was strange how certain feelings...certain needs could change a person.
Like anger.  Even through her young eyes, the female had often learned that fury and rage had the power turn even the softest soul to violence. While sadness and sorrow; could pierce through the hardest of hearts and bring a shinobi to their knees. She learned that terror could make someone weak and some form of passion could make someone stronger. However the one thing that became most apparent more often than not, was what hunger changed you in to. For most, the need for sustenance would drive any sane person to the borders of those fierce emotions. Push them to the point where they would do just about anything in order to get what they want. But Tenmei, oh no... the Sotsuji was different. That feeling of hunger. The gaping pit in one's stomach, stretching out to pull at the nerves; when she could cook anything, anywhere at any time and never had to feel this way, the feeling of being really hungry turned the female in to a child. A wanting....needing, hopelessly lost ten year old girl. That's right. Possibly one of the strongest members of her clan... and she had become ....pathetic.

"Catch.~"

"Huh? What?"

The Special Jounin had no idea what was going anymore, or what he was doing. In fact, it wasn't until he tossed the bar at her that she even noticed that his demeanor had shifted twice before settling to a somewhat amused stance. No, she was so focused on her own issues.... on what she needed and what she didn't have... and on these unusual feelings that the female barely even registered that she had already peeled back it's openings and started to nibble on the crisp edges of the surprisingly tasty bar. He was right, it wasn't much. But the treat was just enough to quell the growling within her abdomen for the time being.
It was also enough to prove that this individual, as strange as he may be; was more than just a naive kid, playing with sharp objects in a dangerous playground. He was something....else. What though? Tenmei still had no clue. But he was certainly something more than what she had first assumed. Something more with a little bit of something utterly nuts.

"C'mon, less get ye cleaned up a bi' an' some food in ye, yeah? Tha' little ration bar ain't much, an' 'm pretty peckish mehself. Soun' good?"

"Why would I need to get cleaned u......"

The voice gave way as her eyes dropped down to look at her clothes.... or the tattered remainder of them. Everything but her black cloak (which may have also been covered in dirt, who knows?) was an absolute mess. Her loose trousers were barely holding together, her shirt was stained with a thick layer of desert dirt... and well.... she hadn't looked at herself in the mirror lately but she didnt need to, to know that there was black smears across her cheeks where her hands had subconsciously wiped away the mess of blood sweat and tears.....
Needless to say, if she had not had a chance to eat yet, then she certainly had not had time to wash up either.... or sleep now that she thought about it. Tenmei's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of scarlet now thinking about how terribly awful she must have been looking and coming across right now. Hells, she wouldn't blame him if he thought that she was the one going off her rocker.

"Oh..... yeah... I guess I should find some new clothes" she said quietly, an honest girly giggle creeping past as the thoughts of how she now looked slowly sunk in. "Food sounds like a fantastic idea. I love food. I love cooking it and eating and tasting...... I haven't been to a proper market since I was really little" another pause, and finally a smile as she looked up to the taller male. Good food and a cup of tea always helped her to feel better. And the prospect of trying new foods...it was the little things that she really lived for. It seemed that the cooler this little candle got and the calmer she became, the more her other side could come to the surface. The fun, food loving, talkative side. It was just a shame that with all that had happened, that side of her didn't have much of a chance to come out these days. Being around him though reminded her that maybe she should let it out more often.

"Hey. I'm sorry about yelling earlier. I've just been having a really bad day. Well... a bad couple of days actually. But today was like....bad bad.
The name's Tenmei, by the way. Tenmei Sotsuji. I've been travelling around a bit. Just got here from Suna..... I hope these markets are not too far away. So damn hungry"

Cooler. Calmer. Lighter

------------

Words: 847
Total: 4357

"Nah nah, juss outside tha' far edge 'a tha' groun's; locals know howta handle this place, yep; they use tha' charge a' tha' rocks ta power tha' city. Natural power source, place's gian' battery, an' we be tha' little unit cells an' sumsuch. Heard some fancy pants science nerd tell tha' once, wassn't payin' right attention ta' 'm though, so only heard part 'a 't." His expression and demeanour had settled, this time on gentle and amused and overall happier than he had been in a long while himself, although she wouldn't know that. He'd been facing his own sort of crisis, a bit of an existential quarter-life crisis you could say, he wasn't middle aged by any sense of the word so it was a bit young to be having one, but meh, weirdness Raijin had an abundance of, so it was really just par for the course for the colorful sage."

"Name's Raijin, by the way. Told ya' my clan a bit ago, an' it's hard ta be anything else livin' here li'e aye do. Lesse, fass'es way outta here 'd be headin' west, so this'a way, heh." He twirled in place with all the grace of a ballerino, finishing his little bit of fun facing toward the sun that was starting to fall in the sky hidden behind the raging purple-black of the storm clouds above their heads, "C'mon, I know a place tha' has epic rice balls. Big as yer head they 're, yeah.~" He was leading the way without missing a beat, he wouldn't leave her behind, but he wasn't the type to just wait for people to start moving; there was a hint of a natural sense of leadership in him that was expressed in strange ways, he was pig-headed, and it showed, but he wasn't close-minded or closed off, not where it mattered anyway, so it was usually pretty easy to settle around him, even if anyone else that was anything like him would be confusing, scary, or outright revolting to most people. "Tell me, eh; what'cha doin' 'round these parts? Tourist, 'er business?" Plenty of both around the village lately; even with the fuckery of the Raikage arresting all the Kirigakure people in the area. Stupid, stupid decision, no one fucked with Kirigakure anymore, not with that powerhouse of a Kage they had. Raijin looked at it as either Sanosuke had gone batshit insane, or he was just really out of the loop for being a Jounin. Not that the local Jounin were ever well informed, the lack of information sharing among the ranks was pathetic, but he had to be pretty far out in left field to be this lost as to what was going on.

"Lotsa crazy stuff goin' on 'round 'ere lately, all tha' crazy bullshit 'wit pickin' up tha' water peoples an' fishes an' chuckin' 'm in jail; Sanosuke fuckin' tha' one guy's life up somethin' fierce, all tha' sheet. Crazy times 'roun' 'ere, yep yep yep. No' many still travelin' 'ere, most tryin' ta get out, 'er so 've heard. Don't hear much though, no' anymore; stick ta' home, stay outta tha' stupid tha' Sanosuke an' his people pull. Bad fer the people, bad fer tha' village; s'how my people thin' a' it. Unhappiness e'erywhere, yeah. No fun, no' a' all. You been livin' tha' suck too, ye said so anyway. Live's been shittin' on e'eryone then, seems like. I talk 'lot, bu' I usually listen pretty decent too; if ya wanna vent, eh. Or no', up ta ye. E'eryone's got secrets, no' e'eryone shares 'm with strangers, nope."

WC: 631

631 + 4140 = 4771