Daemon had been on patrol like always. His downtime was borderline never. If he wasn’t training himself or his squad he was running ANBU if he wasn’t running ANBU he was doing his duty as a Seven Swordsman, and if he wasn’t doing anything else he was on patrol. Mentally he was exhausted and drained though his body would never show it. He was used to it by now and he understood why there would be so little breaks. After the war there was still a lot of rebuilding to be done and not enough manpower to do it. There had been too many casualties to count but even with everyone knowing that fact the village moved on and continued at its full speed. He stood on top of a building that overlooked the market district of the city. His sensory jutsu and his eyes scanning for anything that could be seen as dangerous. He would as usual find nothing after having stood in the same spot for the last six hours. He sighed and scratched the back of his head as he dropped down from the building his coat flying up because of the drop.

He was wearing his usual attire that he wore outside of battle. Seeing as he couldn’t just roam around the village in his ANBU attire without setting off alarms he also opted out of wearing his ANBU armor and mask. His attire was a brown pair of jeans and his typical black shinobi tabi’s. He also wore a brown coat around his torso and no t-shirt on underneath. This would expose his muscles but also his scars that had come from years of not only training but living in the wilderness. His hair was a dark brown as well and wavy as it circled around his forehead. At this point in his day he would finish his typical routine and grab something small to eat and heat to his house to rest for about four hours before he had to start the day all over again. Not only was his schedule hell but now he was getting used to it and he honestly didn’t know which was worse. He landed gracefully and without making a sound as he turned in the direction toward his home. He would have to walk through the market to get there but considering he had grown up on the streets of kiri he had no problem with the high traffic of people this time during the day. However this particular day as he walked he ran into someone or perhaps they had run into each other.

“I am sorry. My mistake,” he said apologizing to the young woman.

Dameon had been caught off guard not only had someone run into him but she was also cute. There was no question to it, she was a beautiful woman and the fact that she had red hair made her even more attractive to him. He however was tired and busy and found little interest in the beautiful woman that had started flirting with him. He didn’t really know what to say or do; after all it wasn’t too long ago that his last relationship had ended. He had loved her but she had left him after the war thinking he had died and not even bothering to find out if he had or not. It bothered him and it made him feel like he couldn’t put any trust into anyone. It was because of this line of thought that made his life mostly miserable and lonely. He had been alone nearly all his life and the moment he had let down his guard for someone else she hurt him. He looked at her and had backed off just enough to give them an arm’s length of room between them

“I appreciate the offer but you have nothing to apologize for, it happens,” he said with a halfhearted smile. In all honesty he had very little to smile about these days and knowing he would only get four hours of sleep made him want to do even less. He had never been a very social person, why start now?

“Not the past. I am by nature miserable and burdened with more responsibilities,” he said as he looked away from her for a moment and eye balled the fruit stand looking over the apples he often chowed on for dinner before heading to bed. His routine was frustrating but necessary all the same. He looked back at her and gave a soft sigh trying to understand her and trying to get into her head. He often analyzed people no matter who they were to get a better understanding of what made people tick. He continued to look at her and scanned her body up and down. She was indeed beautiful but after he had replied to her the first time she had stopped the flirting. He was curious as to why; had he shown a sign of weakness? He had a puzzled look on his face and he scratched the back of his neck and his hand rolled over his scar given to him from his clan. He grabbed an apple from the fruit stand and handed the owner some ryo to pay for it. He took a quick bite into the apple and let the juice roll into his mouth as he swallowed the chunk and wiped his mouth with the long sleeve of his jacket.

“Why were you flirting with me? I am nothing much. What do you hope to get out of it,” he asked kind of bluntly. It wasn’t that he wasn’t flattered but he had little trust for any people and furthermore he had a habit of questioning their motives.

Dameon thought about her words and took another bite of his apple before tossing it into the store owner’s trash. He swallowed the chunk of apple and scratched the back of his head. There were a lot of things going through his head. She hadn’t answered all of his questions which made him slightly more curious had she simply stated her actual motives he would have considered them. He didn’t deserve happiness though it as why he never smiled. He couldn’t possibly believe he could ever feel such things again and it was because of this he felt like this was a charity case. He didn’t want to be pitied he just wanted to be left alone in his misery and be allowed to cope with the sacrifices he had made for the village. He looked back into her eyes before his own eyes trailed down and to the left keeping his gaze away from hers.

“I don’t deserve happiness. The village is still alive and well because I have suffered so much. The lives of many outweigh one. I am sorry,” he said as he walked slowly past her to her right. He didn’t really have any social skills and found talking deeply to people to be troublesome. He had been an instrument of the Mizukage ever since the village had adopted him. As such he never had time to make friends and the one good thing in his life had ended with the war. He turned into the adjacent alleyway that most people ignored because of its appearance, the same alleyway he had spent most of his life growing up in. He wasn’t sure what to feel anymore.

Dameon was stopped in his tracks as the woman had followed him and caught up to him although he hadn’t really walked all that far away. She was persistent which only made him more curious. He knew he wasn’t worth all the effort despite being one of the top ranked shinobi in the village. He was an expendable asset still and he hadn’t been proven otherwise. He wondered if she was just not that great at handling his hard to get personality or if it was him rejecting her. He didn’t know what genuine concern was, not anymore. He figured everyone had an ulterior motive behind their actions and half the battle was figuring out what that was. Something may have been different about her but he was having a hard time accepting that reality. Her hand hit his face and his face and expression didn’t change almost like she had been hitting stone. Such things he was already used to and his fear non-existent. He couldn’t help but look to her chest though as her bra became visible because of the rain pouring onto her white clothes. He sighed and removed his own jacket to reveal the rest of his incredibly tone torso. He wrapped his jacket around her to help cover herself and keep her warm.

“In a world of liars and traitors how does one decipher genuine generosity from ulterior ideals? I don’t mean to be rude or disrespectful. You are beautiful but I am not worth the trouble,” he said with a slight tilt down of his head.

He listened to her words again and he looked down at the ground unsure of what else to say. Before he knew it he was struck again and this time she followed it up with a kiss. He was caught off guard but the feeling of her lips against him reminded him of the past ever so slightly. He remembered the last woman he had loved. He had been tortured for her during the war. He had nearly died and the thought of not losing her had kept him alive. Yet all of it was in vain as he left him in the hospital not even bothering to find out whether he was dead or alive. The other friends he had made during the war had also vanished. He felt like the only person he could talk too was Strafe and even he hadn’t been around lately. He was usually too busy with running ANBU and being a Seven Swordsman that he never had time to heal from the war emotionally. He felt like he just wasn’t good enough to anyone even his sensei who was from another village because nobody within the village had wanted to train him. He sighed and looked back up at her; she was still blushing from him being able to see her underwear fairly easily.

“How can you concern yourself with a stranger like me, am I just a charity case?” he said to her with a little bit of doubt in his eyes. He wanted to be open and have another friend but he didn’t know if he could risk being emotionally scarred again like what had happened last time.

“I am sorry. It’s just…I’m tired I only get a few hours of sleep a night because of the reconstruction of the city. I haven’t had any real time to myself lately. I want to believe the world isn’t filled with betrayal but every time I have hope it gets taken away. I don’t have much of a life outside of protecting the village. Sometimes I wish I did but I am reminded of my past and how much letting yourself open up to others can turn around and stab you in the back. You are beautiful and I know you want to help me but I am afraid I am beyond saving. Where one would even start is beyond me,” he said scratching the back of his head hoping that the words he had spoken this time made a bit more sense to her. He wasn’t trying to dismiss her he just felt like he wasn’t worth the effort to repair.

“It’s Dameon. Dameon Shikyo,” he said knowing with absolute certainty that she would recognize his name. After the war had ended he had become extremely popular. He was known as the genint hat had ranked all the way up to jounin and became not only the ANBU captain but also a member of the famous Seven Swordsman. It was even speculated he would become the next sannin since the passing of Kaguza in the war. It was because of all these titles and how he had been dubbed a war hero in Kiri that he had become a celebrity. Before the war though nobody even had cared that he existed. He was forced to live on the streets having no home to sleep in at night since he was seven. It was because of his rough and poor upbringing that he was so unused to all the attention he got on a daily basis.

“Dinner you said? Your persistence has paid off, if the offer is still on the table,” he said with a sort of warm smile. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this but he felt he at least needed to reward her for her persistence. Besides there was a possibility he could make another friend but even he was still skeptical of it all.

Dameon followed her at the side not really wanting to say anything because he wasn’t entirely sure of what to talk about in the first place. He kept pace with her knowing of the place they would be heading too, after all she had mentioned ramen and there was only one place to get ramen in the whole village. It seemed like she was trying to start a conversation with him but the only thing he would respond with were just verbal handshakes letting her know he was at least listening though not actually adding to the conversation. As they entered the restaurant the owner and multiple other people looked toward them and considering he was shirtless he got a lot of quizzical looks until they saw that the person he was with had his well-known coat on.

“I doubt we will actually have to pay. Seven Swordsman eat anywhere in the village for free. Them and their guests,” he stated as he sat down across from her at the table. He always liked to sit down facing the entrance so that way he could see any potential dangers that were on the street or entering the building. He sat there still feeling a bit exhausted mentally from all the work he had been doing lately but he kept his attention on her letting her continue talking.