A white haze beyond his eyelids. A fuzzy mind and lack of focus. Waking to a foggy miasma...

...'Oh, I'm in the hospital.' He thought as his conciousness sharpened. Fukai was tired. It wasn't any particular sort of fatigue, more of an overall sense of exhaustion. He blinked and looked around the room. It was dark, but his internal clock told him it was early morning. It seemed like he had slept for over fifteen hours. He did remember what had happened the day before. He stretched his hands out in front of himself and clenched and unclenched his hands. His nerves were okay, usually after great physical strain, the bodies' nervous system would be burnt out and require time to recooperate. But that was the medical proficiency of Iwagakure for you. He tried wiggling his injured leg. He could see it moving underneath the blanket but couldn't feel the pressure of the cloth or mattress. A gentle jab confirmed that his leg was indeed numb. Probably the anaesthetic that they had given him so that he could sleep through the surgery. He whipped off the blanket to have a closer look. Rolling up the leg of the hospital pyjama gently, he saw that his leg had basically completely healed. There was a nasty scar but nothing debilitating. Right. His resolve was set to leave the hospital immediately.

He swung his numb leg out onto the floor and eased his weight gently onto it. Taking tentative step after step, he found his balance. At the end of the bed he found his clothes and staff. His belongings had been washed. His father's blood cleaned off of his weapon. He picked up his clothes and started to get changed into them. They had been ripped yesterday, but still wearable. He fell over while attempting to put on his pants, causing a small clatter. He would have to be more careful. He picked up his staff and walked out, using his staff as a walking stick. He wasn't too stealthy but he managed to get away from the hospital without a confrontation. Most likely they just let him go, under the circumstances, challenging a moody Fukai was a dangerous prospect.

He stood outside the hospital gates, the sun just barely below the horizon. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to pretend like nothing had changed. He needed some space. He turned to look up at the mountain above him. Some fresh air would do him some good.

It took him a good hour to hobble up to the Sightseeing Cliff. His tattered jacket and scarf that draped over his head hid his figure underneath cloth. His face was gaunt with dark rings around his eyes. He stepped forward onto the cliff to find someone else already there. Fukai would slowly walk forward to the right hand side of the man and put his hand on the railing.

[495]

Fukai's leg throbbed a little, a small sensation sneaking past the anaesthetic. Probably from the bloodflow of his trip up the cliff. The metal railing that he held onto had sucked up the piercing cold from night. A chilly morning breeze wavered at Fukai's jacket, not penetrating the layers of clothes to reach the man inside. Fukai glanced at the man beside him. A young man dressed in dark colours that stared out over the scenery. He hadn't seemed to take notice of Fukai's presence, the lack of response somewhat comforting. Fukai one of the most recognisable shinobi in Iwagakure these days, and after the recent happenings, staying away from the general public was what he was looking for. It was almost like he could just withdraw into himself and revert to the way he was two years ago. The self interested, nearsighted nobody that didn't have anything except his next training session. But he knew that that person was gone, the old days were gone.

For it had been two years now since he had first met Karumo, and had been dragged back into the midst of the clan. And with all that had happened, the Chuunin Exams, his large portfolio of village approved homicides and now the start of Subterra, He had begun to care about the future. Not his future, but the people of Iwa and their lot in life. His self development had dragged him out of his shell and forced him into situation after situation. Because that was the danger of having purpose, you may just have to kill a father or something. But now, he wasn't sure what he wanted. He wasn't sure where to go. Fukai was tired. He was tired of making choices and tired of facing trials.

“You know, sometimes I expect it to be different... but it always similar to the last one.”
The words registered in his mind and he reacted to them aloud, as if they were his own thoughts. "It's always the same... Nothing ever changes unless you make it. Forcing yourself upon this world is the only way to make it what you want it to be.. I think". Fukai had learned this lesson for himself, but for the moment, his will was weak. He leaned over the railing on both hands and kept talking, still not really addressing the other inhabitant of the cliff. "They say that you should be the change you want to see in the world.." Fukai almost snorted at the notion. He had become too cynical to ever believe this sort of thing again. Coldness had seeped into his heart. "Sounds like some fairy tail. No.. You have to force change." Mulling these ideas over in his head, he came to a new conclusion. "Because that's the only reliable way to survive. Change seems like the worst enemy, because it brings death. But a continual state of collapse and rebuild, breakdown and reform, erasure and redraw, that's what is needed for balance." Fukai was a little lucid from his treatment, but his words held definite meaning in his own mind.

[527] /1022

Fukai was starting to see the first orange rays of morning poke above the horizon, lighting up the thin strip of sky that was broken by the distant mountain tops. The new day took about thirty minutes more to reach Iwagakure than it did for other places, as the village was nestled in the mountains, preventing the sunlight from falling over the town. Fukai had become a little hot after his trip up, skin lacking the air that was kept away by his clothes. He had finished his little talk, and it seemed like the man next to him wanted to say something.

“Much easier said than done.”
He had heard quietly under the mysterious man's breath. Oh, life wasn't easy? Well no shit. You didn't have to look very far in this land to find sad and sorry cases where people were victims of their situations. If it was easy, then there wouldn't be any problems. After a little bit, his clifftop acquaintance started off on a spiel that had hints of emotion here and there. From the sound of it, he felt helpless to do the things that he wanted, whatever those were. It was something that Fukai knew well and he could relate to with his own past. While listening to the man talk, he lowered his jacket hoodie and scarf down to his neck, feeling the cool morning breeze sweep away the pent up heat from his head. Half way through, Fukai would turn to look at the man, his curiosity start to settle.

Fukai looked at the man, noticing for the first time that one of his eyes was damaged. What from, there was no telling. Fukai's own purple eyes rested on the man, his silver hair drifting across his forehead in the breeze. And what do you do if everything is working against you? Well that answer was clear in Fukai’s mind too. “Then you die”. His understanding of the world was at it’s roots, a simple one. It was how it was from his experience, and it was the only experience that he could speak for. “..Or, you give up, and become a victim of circumstance, your fate to be decided by others”. Black and white, this is how it was. Those that did have the strength and influence would have the say if you didn’t take it for yourself. “And be sure, they will make the choices that serve themselves, regardless of your own feelings”. It was a simple truth, people at their core were selfish individuals that saught their own goals. If those just happened to benefit others, they are seen as heroes. If they hurt others, they are to be villains. Fukai was no exception, and what label was put on him varied from person to person.

Of course there was one more option for those without the strength. “But if those two options don’t suit you, you are left with but one. You fight, and you struggle until you achieve”. Fukai spoke without hesitation, his words reflected his actions. The risk was there for sure, but for the purple eyed warrior, it was worth it. As for specifics, well, those were situational and needed more indepth information before he could know what he was talking about. “Your goal, what is it exactly?” It was a rare quality for people to think deeply enough as to challenge their lot in life. Most just kept waddling onward, without even considering that they could do anything but stick to their fate. But who was this person who stood in front of him? Names and background didn’t matter. The one question that Fukai had just asked mattered most to him, it was the singular most important factor to make up an identity.

[639] /1661

It was a strange scenario up on that clifftop. Two strangers exchanging words in front of the sunrise. They were words without any specific point or meaning, missing the all important detail and context that would be required for understanding. Simply put, it was speech, not communication. The pair could go on like this forever, always skirting their topic and denying any possible explanation. Yet somehow the words that they shared still had meaning. It was different meaning, because of different interpretation, but meaning nonetheless. But wasn't that always the case with communication in all forms? Perspectives varied, and shades of colour looked different through different eyes. Experiences shaped the filters that blocked information consumption passageways. These different filters pulled out certain elements of what was perceived and apply it to the world as that individual understood it. That was how each person processed information, regardless of it's original sources intentions or own particular filter. So when Fukai heard the beside him speak of being held back, he could understand to a point. Had he not come to know that feeling well? Yes, he was well acquainted with his own limitations.

“What about you? What… happened to you?”
'What happened to me...' What could he answer that ambiguous question with? A story of his past? The recall of recent events, or maybe his current job? No.. Those were all ill fitting for this particular conversation. Fukai chose to talk about the only thing that mattered. The future.
“What happened to me is that I have taken the first steps needed to secure the all important goal. That is, to secure the joint future of everyone in this country. To improve their lives so that none will have to live in inhumane despair. I have begun to grow in ways that can make this possible. It is attainable.. All I have to do is reach out and grasp it.” Fukai motioned his hand toward the horizon, as if trying to pick an apple from a distant tree. He could see it. He could imagine what could be achieved. It would be a hard road, there was no doubt in that. But the possibility existed, and that was all he needed to be spurred on by hope. It was a warming feeling, the coldness felt by being useless had been changed.

The sun had begun to creep up over the horizon, in between the mountain ranges. The first golden rays projecting long streaky shadows onto the village below. Burnt orange to brick red to mud brown, the hues from the rock that comprised the village of Iwagakure lit up, almost mirroring the sunrise beyond. It was such a beautiful scene, but it had never quite looked as it did today. Maybe it was his new lease on life, and the new perspective that came with it. A different filter, so to speak. Fukai would turn back to the man beside him. He would be needing people that had the same sort of goals as he did if he was to tackle his objective. The guy next to him seemed like the type that could understand him, maybe there was use to finding out if they could work together in the future. “Tell me of what your own goal is. Maybe we may be able to help each other out if our objectives align. I may be able to help you overcome that limitation that you speak of.”

[575] /2236

He had asked the stranger the question in hopes of finding some common ground where they may be able to help each other, but instead, what he received was something more unexpected. The one eyed stranger talked about his childhood aspirations, about how he had wanted to become a shinobi. It sounded like Fukai’s own childhood, how he had this dream of becoming some legendary warrior, like those that filled the stories that had been passed down for generations. A glorious future to strive for, something that was in fact quite unrealistic. Something that Fukai no longer believed in, his cynicism squashing his past fantasies.

The man talked about how he and his team had failed the chuunin exams. The exams that were to test junior shinobi to see if they were strong enough to move up the ranks and take on more responsibility. Fukai had only just recently taken on the exams himself, and he could see how easy it was for a youngster to fail a challenge so precarious. He would have most definitely failed also if he had taken it at an age as young as twelve. He continued, saying that he had been barred from continuing on his path after that, and that some sort of medical problem limited him. Apparently, there was some illness that was holding him back. Something innate, that he had been born with. This was what had ended his dream.

The purple eyed young man could understand this to an extent, as an extreme change of dynamic had also turned his life on it’s head. But this man’s problem seemed like something that he couldn’t work past. Fukai had always had his health, something that he took for granted, his most reliable tool. His whole life was built around what he could do with this body of his, he couldn’t imagine having that taken away from him. Fukai soon realised that there was no real way he could help whatever condition that his new acquaintance held.

But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t still a way for him. Fukai had already said that one had to fight all he could to achieve what he wanted, and the only alternative was death. The man in front of him wasn’t dead, so he still had some hope. “So why did you want to become a shinobi in the first place?” If there was some underlying motive for becoming a shinobi, maybe there was an alternative route apart from becoming a ninja that the man could take to satisfy his motives.

“The village may have given up on you but there may still be a way other than being in Iwa’s shinobi system.” Fukai had his own place for those who were discarded by the village, a place where those people could take shelter and build a home. Maybe the pair of them could come to an agreement. Fukai may have some options for the man to take should he still wish to make his way forward.

[512] /2748