The blade glistened under the light of the moon. The rays barely made it through the thick layer of clouds that surrounded the night, but Gin had become used to the darkness over the years. Sleepless nights - not unlike this one - were often spent under the stars in the sky, training to get her mind off of whatever it was that kept her from conceiving an ounce of rest. The subject of such worry had been the same for the last months and she would much rather not dwell on it. The images that crowded her mind when she closed her eyes - death and loss - were best left forgotten. She breathed deeply, holding her weapon steadily in one hand. The blade was over a decade old, but it served her well. It was a memento at this point. She had grown emotionally attached to it, despite the grim story behind it. Nowadays, she was rarely reminded of anything when she held it, however. It was more like it had been by her side for so long that not seeing it there would have felt strange.

She wielded the old gift with excellent poise and grace, carving through the stones of the old temple ruins like they were little more than paper. The former Kazekage wiped the dust and dirt off of the blade with one swift motion. Again, she sighed, not being able to shake off he foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach. She would usually drink it away, but she didn't feel like engaging in depravity and debauchery like she usually did tonight.

The young woman ran a hand through the locks of silver hair that peeked through the bandages on her head. She straightened the long braid that hung loosely over her back and sheathed the blade once again. This wasn't really helping. Oh well. Might as well wait it out and let it go away on its own. In the meantime, knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, she would enjoy the peace that the night sky and the cool breeze would bring.

Boring.

The word echoed in her head a few times. Maybe meditation would help get rid of her restlessness. Maybe it would be best if she went back home to check up on her adopted son. She had to remind herself constantly that Ren was a capable shinobi, despite his young age. He didn't need her shadow looming over him all of the time.

In the end, she decided to lie down on the grass, not minding that it was somewhat damp from the recurring rain that almost haunted Kirigakure with its presence.

Gin was lying down on the grass now, letting the breeze caress the skin above her clothes. She missed the feeling of it hitting directly against her body, but being entirely covered was necessary. Nevertheless, it remained a pain in the ass. She missed her revealing outfits, her cleavage and her mini skirts more than she thought she would. And yet she was almost thirty years old already. She shouldn't be wearing that kind of thing anyways. Then again, she had the body for it. After all, she trained every day without fail. She hardly flinched when she heard someone approach from around the marshes that surrounded the old temple's ruins.

Anxious as she was and paranoid as she tended to be, she was still rather apathetic when it came to certain things. And of course, she was ever so nonchalant. She simply lifted her head slightly to look at the man as he stood above her, looming over her figure, sprawled on the ground. "Yo," she said, lazily giving a salute with her hand. She didn't get up or shift positions much further than that. He was pretty much armed to the teeth from what she could see. Her perspective of him was rather warped. After all, he was looking at him from an odd angle and with just one eye.

Like hers, his face was covered. His masked resembled that of the ANBU, but there was something not quite right about it. Of course, the armor didn't match the typical ANBU garb in the least bit either. He didn't wear a Kirigakure headband either, at least not that she could see. And then he asked why she was there.

Why indeed?

She wondered that herself from time to time. She took the question differently than what he probably meant it. "Why oh why?" she echoed. "As a drifter, I found myself traveling from place to place - a woman satisfied by the simple things in life, you know? And yet I find myself trapped here under the thumb of an old friend for what she says is my own good. But what, indeed?" She was musing now and had probably just confused the hell out of the man who stood above her. She looked up at the sky for a moment. It was still clouded as it had been before. She let out a loud sigh.

"However, I'm sure you didn't come here to hear the musings of an old crone. What brings you o this place?" She said, referring to herself by a moniker similar to the one Sanosuke often called her by. She was hardly that old - a woman of 29 years. But the people that surrounded her were often over a decade younger. She might as well be 60.

Gin tilted her head to the side, looking at the man with a faint curiosity and a sparkle of mischief in her eye. A fight, eh? Well, she had no better way to spend her time. She stood up from the ground and dusted the dirt off of her clothes. She closed her eyes for a moment and took several steps back to create some distance between the two. "Ah! So you want a training session - a spar, if you may?" She repeated, mostly to herself. She sounded quite amused by the prospect. The young woman stretched her back a bit before speaking a bit. The ground had made it a little stiff. "I do agree that training against anything other than someone of similar power bears little in terms of results," she said. Of course, that didn't mean that the young woman never practiced on her own. Quite the contrary, actually. Most of her training sessions were spent by herself, repeating motions and going through new and old techniques until she collapsed from exhaustion.

But nothing was more thrilling than an actual battle.

She stared at the man before her for a moment, mostly absorbed in her own thoughts. She had spent so long training Genin that it had been a while since she had last sparred seriously with anyone. "You certainly look the part of someone at my level, yes... yes. Two strangers crossing blades in an open field, bearing their souls within their swords. What better way to get to know a person?" She was in an odd mood, Gin. Her mind was racing, and yet it didn't seem as levelheaded as it usually was.

However, a mixture of adrenaline and blood lust would soon flood her system, as it always did when she was in battle. It was an addicting feeling, one that she lived for. There was nothing quite like the thrill of battle and everything that it brought with it. An ominous wind blew across the planes, circling around the young woman and mixing with the raw energy that her body expelled. She placed a graceful hand on the hilt of her sword. She would use that until the situation begged for the use of her Kekkei Genkai. She extended it, pointing it towards the man in one lithe movement. This would be fun indeed. She could feel it in her gut.