The fog that forever blanketed the entirety of Kirigakure only served to set the mood of the civil war. The fog, unyielding and eternal was much less blinding in the city. It was a light gray tinge to the background of screams, fire, and death. Hotaru himself had only spent a few days in Kiri. A majority of it was spent fighting the army of puppets and their puppeteers. They where all different, every puppeteer seemed to put his special spin on to his puppet. One was made of oak or ash wood. Brown,black, blonde hair, bald even. They all had the same weapons in common, foot long blades protruding from their wrists, elbows and fingers. It was an effect of wartime, he supposed. Make the least costing effective death machine, A smart move on their part. They are able to build more puppets if the standardized the molds, most likely leaving the controllers to upgrade them themselves.

This was all days before; screams, death, and battle filled his life fore days on end. He finally had leave. These days of rest where much needed. After all, even the strongest shinobi is warped if they are left in the void of war for too long. It had an effect on the mind, the body, and the soul. Hotaru pushed that to the back of his mind.

He had participated in numerous raids, counter offensives, and other such battles. Along the way he left the corpses of former opponents and seen the carnage that the very same corpses committed before he arrived. It was not his war to fight, it was Kirigakure's. There inability to prevent their civil war sucked in the other nations as each Kage threw in personnel. Hotaru had seen the carnage first hand.

War, war never changes. Man bravado filled genin and some chunin where with their battalion as they marched form Suna to kiri.They all talked of valor, heroism, bravery, war medals. All the other useless shit children think war is about. But when it came time to show the qualities that They gloated and boasted about having, they where gone. They where replaced by pain, fear, cowardice and purple heart medals for the fallen. Trampled over by the enemy, ripped to shreds by their blades.

Hotaru stared at his leave papers, they had all the necessary stamps and signatures that authorized him a few weeks of leave from the war. He could travel either home to Suna or to one of the other villages. He had thought about which he would travel to weeks ago and made up his mind. He already grew accustomed to the head and sand in Suna, and wet and fog of Kiri. But not the the sunshine and wilderness of Konoha. Yeah, Konoha would be nice this time of year.

So he walked, and walked for a few days. Only stopping to rest twice a day and eat his provisions. The forests that connected Kiri and Suna served as high ground to bypass any bandits that prayed on the fleeing Kirigakure populace. His journey went off with minimal hitches and arrived on the track to Konoha's front gate. It was serene, the flora and fauna where all but foreign to him. The never ending sand was always home to him, never changing but staying the same. The trees and flowers of this place where a welcomed change, a breath of fresh air to Hotaru.

Hotaru walked up to the shinobi guarding the entrence to the village and presented his paper work. After a few questions and authorization from a higher up, he was free to preceded and start his leave.

[Thread exit]
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