Silence… something she had once been accustom to, yet not in the past few years of living at the orphanage. Her fingers would drum against the back of her other hand as she lay in the lush green grass, staring up at the sky. The silence of the moment bridging between serenity and uncomfortable edge. Even the sigh that left her lungs that caused her stomach to tense and untense as it flinched through the needle like pain from the wound of her ribs, seemed to echo out loudly within the silence surrounding the orphanage this day. Everything seemed… still. No breeze now to flitter through the trees and rustle the leaves of the bushes, nor rock the tree swing of the front garden, held up strong by the great tree whose root’s dug deep into the rock and soil, even showing within the house itself.

Her dull orbs would scan along the sky, a spluttered array of clouds yet nothing that could quite be considered as ominous in the means of a rainfall yet, like mother nature herself, the weather could be very unpredictable. Her fingers would drum against the back of her hand again before slowly reaching her arm upwards towards the sky, outstretching her fingers as though to touch it. Blinking a few times, she would give a light sigh before slowly and ever so carefully sitting up, lightly cursing actually having to be so careful. Recovering were taking longer than she were used to, yet a wound to the ribs had been deep and she had attempted to bind her chest down as usual, a dumb move by all accounts, yet it was nearly fully healed. Closing her eye’s, she would take a breath as mumbled words began to pass from her lips, giving some solace from the silence, “Dominus Jashin…” Her miss matched hues would slowly open as she continued, “Ova tišina zvoni glasnije od toga pre bitke, pa čak i više od toga pauze nakon smrti, taj mali trenutak pre zvukova plače…” Her hand would shift to softly cup over the sore area that had been the wound as she continued, “Ovo je ... čudno, i po prvi put ... ne znam šta da radim sa sobom.” Tilting her head back, a soft breeze would pass by picking up and fluttering her long pastel lilac hair about over her shoulders.

Another sigh would exit her lips only to be born into the world corrupting the silence in the process, followed by the unearthly growl that made even her sit up fully again. Her miss matched orbs would begin their search about herself only to peer down at her stomach. Such an ungodly sound, giving a hit that midday was approaching. With just her around could she really justify cooking a meal? The others of the orphanage wouldn’t be returning until dusk at the very least and most if not, all would be far too sleepy to eat a full meal.

She would slowly heft herself up from the grass carefully dusting of her pale clothing, her hand still cupping at the sore patch of her ribs she would attach both Amai and Tatsu to their rightful places at her left thigh and the very base of her back, in their pale back up sheaths, wanting to, as much as possible go unnoticed as an ordinary civilian as she left the orphanage leaving behind her ninja tools, allowing her hands to flicker through a couple of signs before exiting the property. With her hair, down and her clothing light and loose fitting, quite different from her usual attire, looking very much like a female, she could with some form of ease go without being recognised. Her chakra would trickle into her miss matched orbs changing the only real things that would give her away in the village, her miss matched hues and the shade of her hair. Her intense red and striking yellow orbs would twist off to black and green as her hair paled to a snow white.

Even as she passed through the streets and into the oddly quiet market area she hadn’t yet decided fully what she was going to do, simply allowing her feet to wonder, apparently, they would take her far past the food stalls and shops towards the administration building, a simple habit she figured and she paused to turn back. She did in many ways miss going on missions and even training whilst she was healing up. So far the day had been eerie to say the least yet as she shifted to take a step away from the buzz of the administration building she felt a tug inside and with a softer sigh than she had been giving throughout the day passed her lips as she pondered on the last time she had given a riddle or even contemplated on a riddle with the Tsuchikage. Slipping off she would make her way around the back of the building far out of the sight of others before sending a steady flow of chakra to her feet and free hand beginning her treck up the wall of the building, starting off by her feet and hand before straightening off, only now whishing she had tied up her hair as he streamed behind her, lashing about in the breeze as she stepped higher. She would for a moment pause on the right level before squinting off to the roof, it would be at the very lease plausible for her to check there just in case before checking in at his office. Slipping her hand into her pocket she would advance until reaching the roof.

She would for a short time search out the roof even slipping off to the area where they had played their game of chess, pausing there for a moment as she thought on a riddle she could pose before stepping back down the side of the building. As she neared the Tsuchikages office window her movements would speed up as she pressed her form closer to the building, opting to use her hand again to attach to the wall before slowly removing her hand from her ribs to rasp her knuckles against the Tsuchiage’s office window before calling out, just loud enough that if he were there, he would hear, “Tsuchikage Sama, All things it devours,  Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to dust, slays kings, ruins towns and beats high mountains down… what is it?" Her accent would clip lightly at her words as she spoke each word carefully and clearly before waiting for a response.



(Word count:1112.)

Days would drag on, what was energy and excitement became apathy and disdain. Not to confuse, Karumo never had much excitement for the lulls of the administration, paperwork, glad handing important persons, overseeing... read: babysitting, the smallest nuances of everything. It drove him mad early on and every day it continued he sought refuge in the smaller and more involved events that he could appear for, get his hands on, or quickly throw his foot into the door of. Really, anything to avoid doing his work, even being productive and helpful in the slightly less busy work focused areas of the job to avoid the more apathy intensive areas, at least as he saw them. Still, some days were worse than others and it was days like today, where not even all the coffee in the world could save him from the mundane and mind numbing tasks set before him.

The clouds lined the sky but there was no storm or anything to set the dull mood of his entrapment, and all the while it was nice and cool, the wind was playing up but still warm enough that he could forsake his jacket and other heavier clothes. Normal street clothes in darker colors but still keeping a formality about himself in case it was needed, sometimes he thought about just wearing his ANBU uniform constantly and wearing the ceremonial robes over it but then again, those robes were far worse than anything he could bother to imagine as far as comfort goes.

The long sleeves of his shirt ran against the table as he scribbled furiously into a notebook, taking a break from the small bits of paperwork to journal and catalogue his thoughts. Today's margin in particular focused heavily on musing upon the nuances of the job of Tsuchikage, how dull it was for how much grandeur was truly advertised. Essential though, he wouldn't deny how much the village sought to be lead and directed across the board, even if his opinion was that of a mortal and subject to being as wrong as anyone else, it was often commend and assertion that drove people to follow but usually for no other reason than they desired to be led.

With every word written into the journal he felt more and more of the fatigue of the morning, no amount of coffee had been able to save him from his fate, and no amount of breaks to stare at the ceiling or journey down the hall or random conversation would take his mind away for more than a few minutes. Sat back down, pausing and setting his pen down, the train of thought on where he should go next, wondering if the words he'd written before his last made any sense and offered any reasonable bit of transition in his train of thought or if he'd just ranted on about nothing purely because that's how his mind was running at that particular time. Next to his journal sat a stack of papers for missions approval, only needing his signature to sign off on the pay for the various ninja that participated in the missions and their labor for the time. It wasn't urgent but he saw that stack to his right, to his left, were a bunch of reports he needed to look over and read. Everything from village planning reports to information from various ANBU captains on village security and ever bit of bureaucracy that could be imagined in between.

With a final sigh, Karumo dropped his pen and leaned back for a moment before a tapping at his window came about, breaking the silence of the room as a simple and curious riddle followed from there. Karumo's head turned from where he leaned back to look at his student that was glued to the wall outside his office. With a sigh Karumo waved his hand to signal her to slide the glass aside and enter into his office, wondering what she was thinking about using the wall outside instead of the front door... He would pause and wait for her to enter into the office before starting by speaking up, "Time." he would rotate his chair towards her but facing off center as well, still sat leaned back and quite relaxed as he would continue on.

"I wonder how much time you actually saved climbing the wall instead of just using the front door as well..." he smirked for a moment hoping to put her on the spot slightly, though, he'd save the full blown lecture since he was just as likely as her to do the same thing from time to time. Probably not with Akira given his own formality but in a general sense, he didn't mind it that much. As he posed his question he would swivel his chair back towards his desk and reach a hand over his desk to close his journal with a small note card to bookmark his place in it. Then with a free hand he would slide it off the table and into the top right drawer of the desk before pulling the mission logs from his right into the center spot and speaking up again, "So what do you need Taeru, questions about the mission or travel perhaps?" he would glance towards her with a raised brow, hoping she would have repositioned from near the window towards somewhere else in the room or even one of the chairs on the other side of his desk.


[927 words]

Cutting her gaze across as she caught the Tsuchikages gesture for her to enter she would pause briefly before shifting the position of her legs and then supportive arm before sliding the window open. She would slowly remove her feet from the wall to feed them through the open window as her now free hand returned to clutch at the sore patch on her ribs before giving a light swing to push her forwards and through the window without touching anything around it. Her frame would instantly lower into a crouch as she landed before standing to close the window once again.

Turning back to face the Tsuchikage her upper frame would shit to lower into a bow as he spoke the answer to her riddle, the speed of his answer, allowing her lips to curl, both corners tugging up in the process as a smile drew along her lips. However, as he spoke up again she would bite down onto the soft pale pink flesh of her bottom lip, ‘Maybe my actions will need a justification?’  Her bottom lip would peel from the grasp of her teeth as she rose allowing a smile to replace her previous clench, setting the black and green miss matched hues on the Tsuchikage as she dew from the bow, yet making sure that her miss matched gaze wouldn’t meet his own in the process. Her dull almost monotone voice would twist into the air, her accent lightly slipping small chunks of each word away, the sound of it only just notable for the most part, “Speaking honestly Tsuchikage Sama, I wanted to avoid as many people as possible on my way here.”  Pausing her gaze would flicker to his paperwork as he placed a book mark in to save his place.

Her hands would dip into the pockets of her trousers, keeping her stance to attention yet subtly relaxed, making sure not to put too much pressure on the almost healed wound of her ribs. Her head would shake slowly from side to side causing the heavy clasps in her hair to clash and jangle together against her chest in the process before speaking up, “I haven’t any questions on the mission nor the travel, I were on my way to get something to eat and decided to come to see how you are and your wounds are healing up…” Her voice would for a moment fade a little as her gaze shifted to his shoulder and then back to his lips as she continued to speak, “You didn’t quite seem like yourself at first in the orphanage.”

The right corner of her lips would tug up the corner of her lips as she held back a small chuckle and continued to speak, “Even Tiggya took quite a liking to you.” Her gaze would flicker to the piles of paperwork and then to his shoulder before shifting back to his lips, ‘maybe I am interrupting his work…’ the thought itself would crease her brow, though mostly hidden by her lop sided fringe. Absentmindedly her hand would shift from her pocket to brush the bang of white hair that framed the right side of her face behind her ear causing the heavy clasp to tap against her chest with a dull thud. Again, her teeth would take the soft pale pink flesh of her bottom lip hostage briefly as it peeled away for her to speak “Though I fear that I have interrupted you Tsuchikage Sama.” Her other hand would shift from the pocket to join her other, resting them alms down against her thighs, ever so close to her knees as her upper form shifted back into a bow, “I apologies for the intrusion, I should have thought before being so impulsive, you must have a lot to do before we travel.” Just as she began to slowly rise from her bow the almost ominous growl of her stomach would ripple into the air causing her brow to crease again as she glared at its betrayal.



(Word count: 676)
(Total word count: 1788.)

Avoid as many people as possible? Karumo would blink for a second and let his gaze wander down for a brief moment. A curious thing, she was normally composed and didn't attract much attention and how bad could it be just walking the halls? But still, unless she was on the run from something... but then it would be foolish to show up at the door of the Tsuchikage. Well, window of the Tsuchikage.

Her continuing on to explain why she was there brought Karumo to raise an eyebrow, going to eat and checking on his wounds? Was she really that concerned about him? But before Karumo could respond she would continue to the orphanage and how he wasn't himself, even Tiggya taking a liking to him. His raised eyebrow held and he smirked as he spoke up, "My wounds are just fine, deep cuts and infected as always, you shouldn't worry about me. And what, did you think I'd be totally helpless around small children?" he chuckled a bit and shook his head for a moment.

Leaning back a bit he would continue on ignoring the growl in her stomach, making it obvious her want to leave and go eat rather than standing here and talking about nothing. "But no, you haven't interrupted anything important. Everything for our travel is set, done, and ready to go. As long as all of you are as well I should say." Karumo would interject and watch her stance, keeping careful eye on her own posture, whether she would turn to the door... or window, in preparation to leave. Or, if she would remain focused on him, revealing that she would have more to say and either way, Karumo would press on with the latter idea anyways.

"So come on then, you didn't just come to ask me about my wounds from the other day. That's a task for doctors and medics, even if you are my student... you know we made it out alright and my being here means I'm well enough to at least be here..." he smirked and let his purple eyes hold over her, waiting to see what else she might have to say or if she'd let it be and continue on her way? In either case, Karumo was merely just waiting for an answer, something else to respond to or to return back to his work if she would make him do so. "So really, have something on your mind?"


[422 words, 1349 words total]

Her head would tilt a touch to one side just as her brow drew together in the middle forming small creases below her pastel lilac fringe in her otherwise smooth flesh, however the action did tug at the healing scab found atop her cheekbone just below her usually sticking yellow orb, that at the present time were an emerald green, almost sickly in colour, such insignificant a wound acquired a mere few nights before when visiting the Tsuchikage. Her mind quickly flickering to the thread of information repeating it in her head to imprint it within her mind ‘Infected as always’ such leading her to do just the opposite of his following words, such a thought trail leading her voice to sound somewhat far away even to herself, like a back drop of her thoughts her mouth had acted though the thought wasn’t at the forefront of her mind her reply had been thought through before seeking passage from between her lips, “Not so much that you would be helpless around children Tsuchikage Sama, more so that you didn’t quite seem yourself at first, that and you gained the favour of one of the most difficult at the orphanage is all..” She would pause for a moment to right her voice dulling off her accent to a lighter one as she debated as to whether or not to continue, only to do so anyway, “From what I have been told, you gained the child’s favour with ease.”

As the Tsuchikage spoke up again her brow, though remaining hidden, would slowly begin to smoothen out her miss matched hues resting on him before giving a firm nod as she spoke up, “For the others I cannot speak but I am ready Tsuchikage Sama.” Her voice taking a more confident turn, the closest to her usual set of a flat toned voice, her accent thin in its confines. Her gaze would pass over him before resting upon his lips as her body remained in place, almost sure that he would speak again, something she had become accustomed to, he seemed at least to her, to enjoy speaking or feeling the need to do so, and for all his words she would listen to each of them, anything to find out more about him, to glean all that she could from their conversations no matter their length.

His outright question took her back with ease, though not physically of course, it would take her mind a rather short moment to seek out the answer from her own mind, had she come witch another purpose? She had simply been following her feet had she not? Her stomach would rumble as though ready to growl again, such easily recapturing her attention for a split second. For a moment, her mind would wonder before allowing her lips to part, her gaze remaining on the Tsuchikage’s lips as she spoke up, her accent evident with ease in her words, “Honestly Tsuchikage Sama, I followed my feet here and since I were here I figured I should check in on your health, now My thoughts shift to food…” Her gaze would scan over the documentation along his desk before returning to his lips as she continued, her tone level throughout, “Since you said that I haven’t interrupted and things have been taken care of, would you care to join me in finding a place to eat?” Blunt at its best. She hadn’t really been one for beating about the bush and she were most definitely hungry, since it gave her a clear mind set a little company would be most welcome since the silence of the day seemed almost thick in the air enough to make if feel heavy.

However, much it would be pleasant to have company even if silence were there main topic -not that things often remained quiet between the two somewhat curious minds- He had little to no reason to leave his desk to find food and enough reason to dismiss her ramblings and continue with what he was doing, this she knew yet, she couldn’t take back the offer. Still she would take any chance she could to better get to know the Tsuchikage, he was after all not only the head of the village but her Sensei. Whether or not he would dismiss the offer she would, regardless, find food in one place or another.

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(Word count 740.)
(Total word count:2528.)

Karumo listened as she marginally backed down from her thought that was posed on Karumo and dealing with children. Not that he wasn't able but that he didn't seem himself but she never quite explained that tidbit. His medicine seemed to be mostly fine? Maybe he was a bit more eccentric and vocal about it all but that wasn't... too out of the ordinary? Karumo was the type to speak his mind anyways and if the younger child could keep up then it only spoke volumes about her! Not that he was of any shortened state or mental awareness. He did smirk a bit at the comment that came, apparently the small girl being one of the more difficult children at the orphanage. That fact was a bit apparent, maybe not that she was more difficult but by the reactions of the elders and the kids own eccentricism around everything and it added up fairly quickly. Though, she seemed mostly harmless if Karumo were really to put a peg on it all. How much damage could a child really do outside breaking a few things and the general disruption of the day to day?

Compared, there were so many children all at once and although they seemed very well behaved it wasn't surprising to find a few energetic personalities that wouldn't be cooped up by work, chores, or the status quo. And really, that's where Karumo could relate the most, even sitting at his desk now he would be looking for and welcoming any distraction he could to it. Karumo snapped back to the conversation though, as Taeru paused and then continued on, marking that he gained the child's favor with ease. Karumo would chuckle and shrug slightly, "Well, I tend to do pretty well with problematic children..." he would glance to each of the wounds, implying that she herself were one by her inability to listen to him in a fight. Each mark a bit of evidence to it, but more joking than anything as he didn't think Taeru an actual problem child. Just... hard-headed? Or maybe some other form that would lead towards that truth.

Regardless, Karumo would speak up again, "Either way, maybe I should take her own as my own then, at the very least as a student, couldn't be any worse than the students I have now..." he would chuckle a bit, his voice heavily laden with sarcasm as he did so often, almost mocking the current situation at hand or rather the type that he would aim to gauge a response out of. Karumo's fingers would rasp against his desk as they would continue on, the hard wood thudding with every tap and he couldn't feel a single bit of it. It was blank, but it was the addition of noise to the air that he sought out.

Taeru was ready, Karumo hadn't spoken to any of the other squad members since he announced their travel, hopefully everything would be coming together nicely and if not then, he would find out pretty soon. In reality, traveling to another nation to meet the Kage and introduce a new diplomacy would be quite the event. The sort of thing that would require envoys of his own guards and a sort of event taking place but for Karumo, his letter to arrive and his journey aimed for a much quieter approach. One that would be more tactful, would focus on the words and their meaning more than the pomp and frill that leadership so often brought along with it.

But no, she hadn't interrupted anything important and so Karumo's final bit to call out what she was seeking was left open to her to answer. Karumo's eyes shifting over her stance as she searched out an answer in her mind somewhere, her stomach moved her attention back to the conversation. Her first words were that her feet brought her here? An odd way of putting it but it seemed second to the point, it was her mind in control of her feet, and whatever brought her here that she didn't want to mention, or hide the fact of was fine. Karumo didn't need all the answers, but by her lack of pressing on his condition his mind wondered if that concern was her focus? And with an answer that things were fine, she would try to play away from it.

Still, she continued on to offer him to join her for food to which Karumo leaned forward a bit, and focused his attention on her as he mulled it over in his mind. His fingers fell silent against his desk but still curved as if he could easily begin tapping against it. On one hand, Karumo would absolutely take the break from the paperwork and the day to day to sneak out of the office into the open and fresh air and to get food on top of it? Honestly, he'd sneak out for a drink or to smoke and he absolutely felt this necessary obligation of his to relax above all things. However, his other hand was that that felt the other obligation of responsibility for the village and his subordinates. Although the paperwork wasn't by any means entertaining, it was necessary to the information flow and understanding of the village.

Still, Karumo relaxed his body, with a final tap of his fingertips against the desk he stood up and nodded to his young student, "Alright, yeah, I'll join you for a while. Have anything in particular in mind?" he would pose as a final question, standing up to his full height and letting his back crack, stretching out the still joints before reaching down to his desk drawer and pulling out a small leather pen pouch. Nodding to the doorway of his office and saving her the trouble of climbing out the window, he would tuck the pouch away with his cigars to the inside of his jacket.

As soon as they were out of the building and headed to the market or wherever their location, he would remove a single stick of tobacco. Already cut, he would hold his thumb over the label before slowly burning the end and puffing away to light it. The short streams of smoke gradually grew with every puff and every step that was taken along the streets. His only goal was enjoying the outside air, the cigar, and his distraction from work as he and his company began their search for food somewhere in the village. Though, for the two overactive minds things would be mostly quiet from Karumo to start, the idea of a riddle building up in his mind, another one to test his student and to try and keep the back and forth going. He'd have to think of something before they arrived to their destination.


[1163 words, 2512 words total]
[Exit Thread]

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