As the Tsuchikage took another puff on the oaken cigar, the scent though faded would fill her lungs before being carried away in the breeze. Still watching the board she would bite down ever so lightly on the soft pale pink flesh of her bottom lip, not even enough to discolour it. His immediate answer one that she had expected, slowly drawing her miss matched hues back up to his lips for the time being, enough to watch him ponder for a moment longer on what she would guess would be his next move. Her lip would peel carefully from the grips of her teeth as he continued, an explanation more than anything. As she listened it could almost have been mistaken as though he felt the need to explain further, were it to be more for her to think about during their little game. Her attention would however follow the Tsuchikage's hand back to the board. The move itself would cause her head to tilt though her expression would remain the same.  

Gracing her miss matched orbs along the Tsuchikages pieces before her own her lip would slip back between her teeth giving mere moment's as she made her decision drawing her right hand to the board again pausing to glance back up at the Tsuchikage as he posed another question. Her gaze would flicker back to the board allowing her hand to decend to the knight positioned at H6, pressing her thumb, index and middle fingers down to encase the piece before tilting it to slowly draw it up as she spoke, the words seeming to flow with each, her accent sitting in her throat clipping at each word as it formed, "Life." In her voice's pause her hand would raise and shift to place her knight down to take up the space at F5 before continuing to speak as she withdrew her hand once again, drawing her gaze back up to rest with the Tsuchikage, as per usual avoiding direct eye contact somewhat strictly so, "Without the village I could have perished... or worse. I were taken in by this land and its people when I were simply not their problem, the village could have turned away from me and had every right and reason to look past me, yet I were saved. For this I am in debt to the village and its people and will do all that I can to be worthy of the chance I have been given." Though her voice were as dull as ever it held a conviction and truth to it. A simple truth but a truth non the less.



(Word count:440.)
(Total word count:10220.)

Life... Karumo blinked at the word as it drained out the sound around them while she began to make her move. The village gave her life? Karumo quickly pondered for a second as he watched... the knight shifted back down around his and ended her turn. Curious though, he was almost certain that she was going to initiate her own attack that turn but she was still holding off? Maybe waiting for what Karumo would do to see his general plan of attack? Still... it was a concerning effort.

Karumo listened as she expanded upon what she meant, clearly having caught on that Karumo would certainly dig, or perhaps she was just meaning to clarify the rather vague sentiment with equally as vague background to whatever she meant. It raised a lot of questions on Karumo's mind but for all his prying he did understand the sensitivity and need for space. Maybe pushing at memories like that would be too much and too soon, he'd keep his mouth closed for now. There was a note that she was an orphan, those sorts of pasts were better not forced up, and the way she went about it, well... sounded darker than she might like to speak about in their chess game and first real conversation. But still, it did remind him a bit of himself and his situation, feeling like he owed something to the village in some sense. Though, he might not have never put it as bluntly as her.

Karumo nodded briefly and held the blank expression to his face as he looked back down on the board and began to map out the different possible combinations and her potential responses to each. He reached forward and grabbed his bishop that was placed at E3, his eyes flickering towards Taeru to see how she would react as he lifted up the piece. Blinking for a moment and then shifting it forward to the left and letting it drop to take her bishop in the spot B6, swapping the two pieces in his fingers and setting the black bishop to the side of the board on his side before leaning back into his seat.

"Well, the first act of aggression, your enemy all around you. What will you do?" Karumo held up a single brow and left the question for her to respond to. Really, his own suspense to see how she would act and respond to the first domino falling in what no doubt would be a sizeable portion of their pieces falling.


[426 words, 9393 words total]

Her miss matched hues would take in his expressed watching his attention return to the board, were he concerned about pushing to soon for information? Or did she sound sullen in her abrupt explanation. Whatever the case her gaze would follow along the Tsuchikage's arm slowly before watching him take his move, one she had been expecting to the point of having an immediate move in return, she would however wait for him to remove her bishop a piece she had been protecting throughout the game. Her would move from the board easily to rest back with the Tsuchikage as he spoke before flickering back to the board. Giving a simple reply as she lent forwards just a touch, allowing her right foot to slide down to slot effortlessly against her other knee, laying the side of her leg against the chair. Such position showing an odd amount of flexibility mainly in her hips as she almost imidiatly seemed to find comfort in the position, this time reaching out with her left hand as she spoke, "Simple..." Her fingers and thumb would close around her pawn at C7 raising it enough to trap the tip of the Tsuchikage's bishop between her ring and pinky fingers, raising it before placing her pawn down on B6, not allowing the two pieces to touch as she released the pawn and withdraw the bishop palming it for a moment as she continue "Retaliate..." Her gaze would flicker back up enough to reach his lips as per usual "carefully." She would place the bishop down against the board off to the side as the Tsuchikage had done, yet keeping it on the other side.

Her back would straighten a touch, naturally drawing her head back up enough for the pastel lilac strands of hair to graze her cheeks as she placed both of her hands on her calf, wrapping her fingers over her shin offering up a genuine smile, such changing her feature considerably, the act itself seeming to brighten the cold edge to her flesh. Something she didn’t often do in such odd circumstances. Quickly dissipating the dull air that has come with the somewhat low mood of conversation. "What made you want to become a shinobi, Tsuchikage sama?" The simple warm smile even seemed to penetrate the dull tones of her accented voice. She would for a time at least try to keep his mind split, whilst also attempting to learn more of the man behind the title.


(Word count:415.)
(Total word count:10635.)

Karumo watched as she leaned forward towards the board, taking in each movement for a moment as she grabbed the pawn of her own, immediately moving to take the bishop that which he'd initiated with. Her words, simple... Karumo raised a brow for a moment as she removed the bishop off the board. Retaliate carefully... she continued on. Karumo smirked at it for a moment, a light chuckle on his chest, the cigar sat between his lips but he hadn't puffed on it in a few moments, the smoke was beginning to fade but the lingering scent remained as it slowly began to burn out.

His smirk met her smile for a very brief moment, he held it though as hers faded and she continued on to another question, what made him want to be a shinobi? A tougher question for sure... but one he should have had an easy answer to all the same anyways. Karumo hummed and lightly puffed on the cigar but was unable to draw much smoke from it and let a light puff of it float up into the air and away from them. He reached forward and took his knight that was placed at B5 and shifted it to C7, not commenting on her own question just yet he would end simple with the word, "Check." he would pause for a second and lean back again.

Next he had to address a question but still didn't have any real answer for... what should he say, that he was heir to a clan and it was expected of him? He'd lost his family and didn't have a place to turn? What real reason was there for it other than he'd done it on a dream and survived among his own talent for so long that other options ran shortly dry with it. "Well, it's simple, I enrolled at the academy when I was a young kid, I guess I was good enough to move on and in that I stuck with it. I found my motivation along the way but starting out there wasn't much reason for myself other than dreams of grandeur and power..." he chuckled and shook his head a bit, laughing at himself and why he was admitting this blatantly. "And what about you?" he left blankly and paused again to hear out her response and see how she would act to his maneuver.


[410 words, 9803 words total]

As soon as the bishop left her hand and were placed on the board her miss matched hues would flicker along the board as her mistake became immediately clean. Biting hack a chuckle at the mistake she would chew at the inside of her bottom lip being almost one hundred percent sure of what the Tsuchikage's next two moves would be and she had fallen right into it. Though in truth the game wasn’t what interested her, but more so his words. Her gaze would move back to the Tsuchikage as a small section of her mind planned out the move she would use to reciprocate, though such move came simply enough for her to keep her miss matched hues on the Tsuchikage as he shifted to make his move, watching for his facial features as he moved to check her king though little came of it, such surprised her, could it have been the question she had posed?  

Her gaze would flicker back to the board once he released his piece only for her to take up her king from E8 to D8 such ending her move. Though her kin encroached on his knight she knew what would come next, allowing her mind to wander onwards to what move she could play as the Tsuchikage spoke. Her attention splitting almost perfectly. Her hand would return to the other at her shin. Her lips would tug into a smile as the Tsuchikage laughed, something again she hadn't expected. Allowing her lips to part in reply "The path of the shinobi I follow now was not one that had been planned but then again many things that have happened were not planned. I wanted to be useful, and the elders of the orphanage said I could become useful by becoming a shinobi and for that I am here now." As she spoke her features would return to their neutral state once more. Resting her hues on the Tsuchikage her fingers would absentmindedly play with the fabric of her trousers waiting not only on his move but also thinking on what she would do in return, not to mention pondering on what more she could ask about the Tsuchikage whilst he seemed so open. Though out of the many questions she could opst her lips parted to speak again, "Tsuchikage sama, did it hurt the first time you  used your dojutsu?" The question itself led fully by her curiosity enough for her gaze to raise just a tad before catching herself before making eye contact.



(Word count:423.)
(Total word count:11058.)

Karumo watched as she quickly made her move in response, moving her king forward a row to stay out of check. It was a predictable move and obvious given the situation she was in, it had to move somewhere. Her response when he turned the question to her was a bit interesting, perhaps there was another life she imagined... being valuable, it seemed like... such a waste? Not a waste, but undirected, without a personal purpose. To be a pawn to some greater will, it tore at Karumo's mind for a second. He supposed whether he'd realize it or not, few existences would ever have the experience to be totally in their own freedom, realizing it earlier and desiring to help willfully was a small measure of maturity. And yet, she was so young, especially to try and realize ideals like those. Everything in Karumo's mind burned towards prodding at that, questioning it and testing the ideal, wanting to burn away at it and see where the lines were really drawn and what she really meant and felt behind that. If it were a facade or the truth.

Still Karumo blinked and nodded as he'd also returned to his normal stature, reaching forward on the board to grab his knight at C7 and moving to take her rook at A8. Swapping the pieces out between his fingers and moving the rook to join her already stolen bishop off to the side of the board. No shift from where his plan was going, his most obvious move for sure and wouldn't surprise anyone. What would come after was more up in the air than he'd care to think about but her question came, about his eyes of all things... he blinked for a second and glanced towards her after her question ended. His eyes focused for a second, no strict gaze or anything but more curiosity as he observed her differently colored eyes more closely while speaking up, "Umm... no, not that I remember at least..." he turned his lips and glanced up and to the right for a second, wracking around in his brain. Truthfully, he couldn't remember the first time he used them... and the memory of his eyes taking their first real form, a single line cutting down it like a reptile. Well, that memory was blurred beyond belief as well... what an annoying moment to discover he'd not kept that memory.

"So, you chose this life because you were recommended to it? Being useful... was that your plan before? Or was there something else you might have imagined of your life or planned for before?" he glanced curiously at her and held his glance, the cigar had long since been moved into his right hand that lingered lazily off the arm rest to the side. He was beginning to forget about it more and more as their conversation and game consumed his mind fully and had him running back and forth between the two.


[505 words, 10308 words total]

Pinching a piece of the fabric of her loose trousers between her right hands middle and index fingers at the knuckle she would tug lightly allowing the faint, dull sound of the action pop into the air as she watched him as he replied. An obvious difficulty but a reply non the less causing her own mind to flit along his answer slowly drawing her eyes back to the board as he began to shift to make his move. Again she would wait for him to remove her rook as expected before reaching out. She had, repeatedly gone over multiple outcomes of at the very least three moves and had, for better or worse, decided upon one. Reaching out, the pad of her index finger would press down on the top of her queen signalizing  the piece she had chosen to do her bidding as the tsuchikage spoke up again, though a tad unexpected. Her hand would  relax yet still rest against the queen causing it to tilt forwards a touch as she listened only to continue her move shifting her queen from its position at F6 to slowly push his knight out of its way as she took up position beside her own knight at G5. She would reply as she removed the Tsuchikage's knight from the board tucking it for the moment into her palm to look at it as she spoke, "I guess so... when you put it like that Tsuchikage sama. To be quite honest the life I pictured and wanted were in a few words, to be free, the freedom to be strong like my mother and loving like my father. But that even before coming here wasn’t the life that had been planned out for me just before my birth. I were trained as a mahiko from a young age, so freedom was not an option."  

Blinking she would place the knight down beside the bishop at the side of the board as she continued, "But the saying 'be careful what you wish for' is true, at least that is what I have found so far." Her hand would return to her lap as she drew her attention back up to the Tsuchikage awaiting his move and the possibility of losing another piece such being almost certain. This time ending her turn, so to speak, without another question simply waiting before giving another.


(Word count:399.)
(Total word count:11457.)

Karumo watched as she moved her queen to take his knight that stayed back, sacrificing the piece so he could take one of her rooks. Risky for himself to press instead of defend, but he knew that was the most high valued move for her. Taking piece for piece after having done nothing but position for so long, Karumo scanned the board to think on his moves, thought the obvious one still sat at the forefront of his mind.

Doing his best to split his attention as she answered back, his gaze moving from the board slightly upwards towards her when she started talking. To be free... so simple and yet so complex at the same time. He exhaled and held a neutral glance all the same, the cigar in his hand still, he rolled it back on his finger and crushed it, extinguishing the flames and let it fall next to him, finished with it, he rolled his fingers and let the remains of the leaves fall away before patting it against his knee and those black pants of his to remove any leftover residue from his hand.

"Be careful what you wish for but strive for what you want..." he spoke out and grabbed his knight again that was resting out at A8 and shifted it up to take a pawn of hers at B6. Quickly swapping out the pieces between his fingers he shifted the pawn and dropped it among the other two he had already. Leaning back and looking back up towards Taeru he raised a brow and glanced up slightly and continued on, "If you wanted to be free, I think a life of servitude in order to be useful is pretty contradictory to it all..." he paused for a second and relaxed a bit further in his seat and spoke up one more time, "Trained as a mahiko? What is that?" he'd ask a bit curiously, but his tone and appearance gave off the genuine nature that he hadn't the slightest clue. Or if he did, nothing was coming to mind about it.


[351 words, 10659 words total]

Her gaze would flicker off to his hand as she watched him dampen out the scent of his cigar before brushing his hands against his trouser leg before slowly raising her gaze though through clouded vision she would barely see the Tsuchikage before her, his simple action drawing back the memory of an older gentleman doing the same speaking soundlessly as a light thumping sound like a dying heart beat deafening her ears, barely catching the Tsuchikages movement to the board such including his move, though her miss matched hues would hollowly follow along almost sightless as the memory blurred out the rest for the simple moment.  

The Tsuchikages voice itself were what would draw her from the memory that captivated her mind for the brief moment causing her to blink a few times before scanning the board to register what he had done whilst he made his statement. Her gaze would slowly draw back up to the Tsuchikages lips, ensuring her gaze wouldn’t actually meet his own gaze feeling his gaze on her. The hairs on the back of her neck would raise. "A mahiko..." She would begin her speech as she lent forwards again breifly inspecting the board again before plucking up her knight from F5 turning it between her fingers as she continued to speak holding the position as she looked back to the Tsuchikage once more "A mahiko is a geisha in training Tsuchikage sama." She would pause for a moment looking at any sign as though to depict weather or not he understood yet before continuing as she place the knight down in E7, "They are entertainers with a strict way of life... to be honest strict is a light term when comparing to the life of a Mahiko and then a Geisha... They are entertainers for important people and groups. To meet with a Geisha there must already be a connection to the Okyia and the Hanamachi the Okyia is apart of. I'm not sure how much more to say I guess with all of the information about them that is the easiest way to explain them" Her hand would withdraw from the board, returning to her lap as she continued to watch the Tsuchikage.



(Word count:371.)
(Total word count:11828.)

Taeru seemed lost in thought for a brief moment as he made his little bit of speech, his eyes glancing curiously over her actions before she snapped back into it and turned quickly towards the board again. Karumo watch as she shifted about though, his question seemed to unsettle her for a brief moment, his eyes unwavered though. She grabbed the knight and held it in her hand as she mused about, repeating the term for a moment as Karumo waited for whatever explanation was to come.

She placed the knight down first though, into a spot back a bit as a way to counter Karumo going for her bishop, he smirked a bit as she was seemingly trying to think ahead and counter him out of the move but he had a slightly different plan in mind. Still, he held himself, listening in to her bit about being a Geisha in training, more foreign words to him as he just listened intently for a brief moment. Karumo nodded along and glanced around her, checking her demeanor and her tone when speaking about it, trying to catch a glimpse at any of her true thoughts, if her own body language and person would give anything away but when he couldn't read it, he'd pause his nodding and respond.

"It all sounds pretty complex, but entertainers, huh? Can't be that hard of a job really..." he glanced down and reach towards the board with a slight groan, adding sound to his thought process like he was undecided about his move. Grabbing hold of the pawn of his at D5 and moving it up to take her knight at C6. Once his move was over he would lean back and relax against before his gaze shifted back to her and he would speak up again, "Not more strenuous a way of life than becoming a kunoichi or a shinobi, I would imagine?" he would pose the thought in the form of a question, looking at her with a single raised brow as he held his hands on the arms of the chair he was in and waited to see her counter move and her own response.


[367 words, 11026 words total]

She would watch the Tsuchikage shift before allowing her gaze to follow down along his arm as it shifted towards the board once again, taking in the odd sound that drifted up from his throat, tired? Undecided? A strenuous morning perhaps? She would note it along side a few other strenuous movements or seemingly so that he had made throughout their talk and game. She wondered how much information he truly gleamed from this interaction and how he took it, such a thought trail only strumming her into her own, had she miss interpreted anything of what she had taken from their time together? She hoped she hadn't at the very least.  

As he spoke her mind she would allow her shoulders to raise a touch before falling as she spoke up in return, "It's harder than it sounds. They must captivate their audience in more ways than one. More ways than I care for to say the least. And their regime... it's quite like when a shanobi actually try hard. I would say to perfect something both the shinobi and the geisha work hard, though the expectations of the two are different both are strenuous and at times hard for moral reasons." for some reason she felt the need to at least offer up a small defence when it came to the life of a geisha, she knew what hardships were eventually expected of them. some were lucky yet most were not in such line of work. she knew this all too well.

She would track his movement along the board almost knowing his movements, waiting for his hand to move away before reaching for her remaining rook at H8 slowly rotating it on the spot  as he continued to speak. She would continue to speak as she shifted the rook dropping him down into the space of G8, "I can only say that they both have difficulties, but I feel the training I had as a Mahiko have helped me greatly in the shanobi world, I feel I would have found it harder if I had not had the privileges of the training I had received from the Okiya, trainers and my family, Tsuchikage sama."  Her head would raise a touch drawing them face to face as she offered up another smile quite the same as before something oddly warm about the action for someone usually so coldly featured as herself. She would tuck her hand back into her lap as she waited for his reaction, both his thought trail and his move.


(Word count:425.)
(Total word count:12253.)

Karumo listened as she continued on and began to explain, even try to justify her own commentary about the situation. It was a short comparison of the two worlds, perhaps that Karumo had struck a nerve in some way, maybe not enough to anger her in any form but enough to make her feel the need to make a point about it. He raised a brow though when she mused on captivating their audience, he wasn't sure what she meant by that little sentiment. Still, he held his tongue for the moment as she reached forward and shifted her rook over a single space simply.

Karumo blinked and noted it, a small throw a way move perhaps to force Karumo into action again? For whatever that was worth, he looked around the board and began to more fully weigh his options on the board while she continued on again. She continued on with how it related, Karumo hummed lightly and nodded along, noting the words she said as he watched the board, rather absentmindedly as he listened though. It helped her advance and all, probably a fair assessment but Karumo smiled back and nodded again, as he reached forward and grabbed hold of his knight. Moving it from  the B6 to C8 in order to take her last bishop and remove that threat from the field of play. Still, he knew it would cost him his knight in the end somehow but he was taking the risk and sacrificing it anyways.

Leaning back he would continue on, adding a bit more fluff to their conversation, "Perhaps, but discipline and the likes can be instilled anywhere. It's not a life and death sort of situation like the life of a kunoichi and shinobi can be. At least... I'd hope it wasn't..." he glance up and leave the space for her to make her move and comment back if she so wished to.


[325 words, 11351 words total]

At times she wondered if she had spoken too much as she concentrated on the Tsuchikages reaction though weather or not she had, it had happened and nothing would now change that. Pressing on wards were the only things she could do now as she watched him reach for the board again, his move obvious yet it came with its own risks. She were however surprised by how willy nilly the Tsuchikage gave up his pieces after being so firm in the beginning to treat them as soldiers in their waring army's. Is this how his battles were fought and won? Or were such just a facade, a ruse to see her reaction as she believed were his original plans? She had both her king and her knight positioned at the ready to take his knight in retaliation, Yet he didn’t seem to care for the piece he had gloated with before hand. She did also believe the game and the conversation had actually been slightly off to what he had originally planned.  

Reaching out she would draw her fingertip down along the king tilting it to an extreme as though it might fall, though such would admit defeat only for her fingers to curl around it capturing it almost like a viper to shift it along entwining his knight in the tangle of digits and pieces before placing the king in its place and removing the hand in a surprising display of sleight of hand, shifting her king from D8 to C8. As she listened to him speak before raising up her miss matched gaze once again her words a combat to his own statement, "whilst a true death awaits for all but job wise for a shinobi is something that is a risk of the job, death of the heart and soul is still a death is it not Tsuchikage sama?" Her words simply giving voice to her views on what the life of a geisha meant to so many though she didn’t expect him to understand the depth of the rhetorical question she posed causing her to continue, "But true enough the life of a geisha does not come with the risk of true death like that of a shinobi Tsuchikage sama."



(Word count:375.)
(Total word count:12628.)

Karumo watched as she moved her king over a space, moving to take his knight which he saw coming, but he wouldn't have imagined she'd have moved her king even further out of position, certainly a different move. She'd gone on to retort his statement if but a little, Karumo smirked a bit as the idea of the death of the heart and soul rang about in his mind a little. Still, she continued on to agree with him, perhaps an effort to change the subject of some? He'd note it... her want to push away from it even though he was still curious, of course had some opinion on it.

Karumo glanced briefly down to the board and grabbed his pawn at C6 and pushed it forward to take her own pawn at B7, the words, "Check," lightly left his lips afterward as a small distraction from their conversation. Quickly moving the pawn over to the other collection of stolen pieces from Taeru, dropping it among the midst of them, another piece lost in the mass they'd taken already. Then leaning back into his original placement and letting himself relax again before he picked it back up from where it left off, taking the odd opportunity to try and press the issue at the risk of possible offense. "And the life of a geisha, does that risk the death of your heart or your soul then?" he poised glancing up towards her again, waiting to see how she would respond and react to his small question.


[262 words, 11613 words total]

Another obvious move, she had at least planned for it. She would watch the move itself before looking back up at the Tsuchikage waiting simply for his hand to move away taking with it her pawn before again slipping her fingers around the king taking him from C8 to B7 in a smooth flow to remove the impending pawn. Though uncommon to use the king to fight she didn’t mind the move itself, though he were drawn into the open. But alas such were the price of shifting him, not that he wouldn’t eventually have been out in the open. Her miss matched hues would shift along the board taking in the positions of each and every piece again then to his pile before returning to his lips and throat as he spoke up again, seemingly feeling the need to push the subject.

She would internally shrug, ready to continue to speak upon it, "To many, Yes. Some are converted from far before they become a geisha, a small Mahiko catches the eyes of many.  As a geisha your individuality is purged that which makes you different, erased. It is not usually a choice to become a geisha you understand, that which they can not change they despise, an example" her hand would move from the board to point her index finger to her right striking yellow orb; her hand would be angled to the side keeping all but her index finger clenched in place. As she continued to speak her hand would lower into her lap once more, "My miss matched tones were highly displeasing to them, a thing they couldn't outright change, not with my age but quickly became that for which I were known for, quickly making them loose the what chance they could have had to change this deformity as they called it." The cornver of her lips would tug up into an odd smirk allowing her gaze to drop back to the game before them as she continued, "Yet in the same breath, whilst many turned away from such eyes some individuals coveted those due to the superstition behind their colour such causing an odd predicament. Many geisha never know the joy of a family to take partners is forbidden, a rare few are lucky enough to wed and gain a family others that some would consider lucky gain a Dana a different form of shackle for them to wear. Essentially being owned like a jewel." Her gaze would flicker back up, weather her answer satisfied him or not, it were what answer she were able to give.



(Word count:433.)
(Total word count:13060.)

Karumo watched her yet again use the king to make another attack upon his pieces, this time removing the lowly pawn but further displacing her king from its start location. That wasn't his real plan of action though, merely some consolation to the prize? That he had an easy shot to displace a lot of her efforts, but from this point on the attrition from which they'd already been enduring would probably get worse unless he could find a suitable move pattern soon. Something, anything to really begin to press her efforts.

She continued on to answer his question, he kept his view on her instead of the board and sat back while listening to her explain. The rigors that they faced and the psychology of it was no doubt punishing, but her hand shifted to focus on her eye, pointing out the 'deformity' as she would put it. Karumo's face would fall a bit sullen, it wasn't at all how he thought that people should be treated, much less kids. Taught to hate their own shortcomings and bred into insecurity... Still she continued on and detailed further how they were coveted, the rarities of the geisha and what they gave up. Their freedoms, the chance at a family, the joy of partners in life but Karumo knew that was often the case for shinobi too, but it was always a choice in the end. Seemingly taken away from there, after she finished her turn, Karumo's face would have held in that bit of melancholy, unsure of what to add or say in that moment, he would reach down to the board to make his move in the brief pause.

Gripping his pawn at A2 and shifting it up a few spaces to A4, leaving it there as he would begin a new line of advancement. Still, he leaned back like he had so often before and let his gaze wander up towards her before speaking, "I suppose I see what you mean, but it sounds like indentured servitude or slavery to me... with a much darker vice than purely greed filling it all the same." his words a bit dull and more serious. It was really the only thought in his mind, he didn't really have any other questions to fill the gap with for the moment, instead, relaying back to the game and waiting to see what she would do in response.


[410 words, 12023 words total]
[Exit Thread/To be Continued]

Training:

She would take note of the sullen turn in the Tsuchikage making a mental note to at  the very lease try to change that by the end of her turn and if not by the end of the game itself. Her miss matched hues would follow his move along the board, a simple pawn but regardless still an imposing threat in a sense. As she waited for him to remove his hand from the board she would shift herself placing her index finger against the base of her rook to slowly move it forwards in a straight light from its previous position at G8  right up to G6, placing it right behind the Queen, remaining within her casting shadow.  

Removing her hand she would nod in agreement with the Tsuchikage "Indeed, Yet as a standard during that time I made sure It were known I were proud of my eyes, they are not a deformity just simply different." Her voice though dull would seem to be lighter, relaxed eve. "My brother liked my eyes, he once told me that when they peeked open for the first time they were the colour of honeyed amber and over a short time they became as you see them now, this I do not remember. My eyes did however un-nerve some." She would give a light shrug as though to brush the thought off, presenting a light smile as she continued "But now I am not so bound." Her smile would grow for a moment offering up the smile, her features showing the calm that had grown inside of her.

Her smile would slowly become more neutral once again as her lips parted as though to speak again before pausing rethinking immediately on the question she would pose. Seeming to settle on one her pale pink lips would part once again allowing her accented words passage to an audible state, "Tsuchikage sama, your kekkei genkai, how does it make you feel when you use it? Is there a sensation at all?" Her eyes would raise just a little, still ensuring not to make eye contact before drawing a slither of the supple pale pink flesh of her bottom lip between her teeth, tugging it slightly  as her curiosity pulled at her mind.



(Word count:378.)
(Total word count:13438.)

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