It would be noon within Sunagakure at the moment, and all would be relatively peaceful on that day. Ai, after having pulled some strings and asked around, would be on the prowl. He had spent years in fear, suffering at the hands of his master, and even after he had been freed, escaping his miserable existence as an animal, he was still tormented during the nights with constant night terrors of him being recaptured. He had opened up to Zai about himself, about how he has urges, about how he is alone. It has been a few days since that event within the bath house, and frankly, those few days have been among the worst in his life. The lack of happiness he felt, the lack of longing he had had constantly made him feel as though he should just disappear, and he was getting sick of it.

He was made a Chuunin recently, a sign that he was finally beginning to become strong, and as a Chuunin Aiden had wished to no longer be wrapped around in this rope of fear, where he couldn't go a night without somewhat wondering about why he was even then. All that he could remember was his name from when he was first brought into the man's "care". Ai, meaning Love, and since then, he had to use the name he was given, Aiden, "Love God". Just the thought of that perversion still being his name made him wince, it was never a name he wanted to go by, nor one that he wanted to hear again, but he wished to bear it like a badge until he finds that man and gives it back to him.

Reaching a boarded up building, the Chuunin would look to his left, and then to his right, wondering if he had gotten the correct address. His heart was racing, there was no way it could be this easy, especially considering after all of this time he wasn't pursued by anymore of his master's men. A sinking feeling would enter his stomach as the Genin decided to just go for it and see if his suspicions were correct. Lining his right foot with the door, he would begin kicking it, and hard. One, twice, and three times he would kick before before the door gave way, revealing a room in which only small beams of sunlight would enter, and an empty table, a couple of boxes, and a few chairs would remain.

"No, nonononononono, there has to be something here, something that can help me figure out where that bastard went.." He would exclaim to no one in particular as he raided the room, flipping the table over, knocking the chairs onto their sides and backs, and ripping off the lids of the crates, until finally, in one of them, he had found a slip of paper, a small one of which would have a single symbol, one of which he had seen before. It was the symbol of Iwagakure, the two rocks being more than recognizable from Aiden's time. Holding it within his now trembling right hand, the Chuunin would be both angered and excited. No longer will he be the prey, no longer will he be thing. He was now the hunter, and he had found a trail.

Crumpling the paper, he would stick it in the pocket of his pants. The male only had the black jacket and pink shirt on his back and the paper in his pocket, though he couldn't spend his time heading back home in order to find out more about this and make a decision, properly prepare for travel. No, now that he was on the trail he had to keep following it before it becomes too cold. Stepping out of the building, he would look back at it, wondering if his master even tried keeping a business here, or if he decided to head back home from the start. It was something irrelevant for him to think, so instead of wasting anymore time he would, with a look of disgust, make his way out of the village.

Hours later, he would finally reach the border of Sunagakure, where he would see those ever so familiar mountains in sight. He knew that when he steps past the border, there was no returning, not without leaving his name behind and regaining his old one. Aiden looked back towards the desert for a few moments before looking on ahead. He felt nothing towards these people of Sunagakure, nothing of which required him to stay in order to perform missions or anything else of the like. He would hold onto his headband, which would be in his back pocket, with his left hand, feeling the engraved metal for a few moments, before walking forwards, entering the Land of Earth once more.

wc 817

[exit thread]