**credit to Joan the Lewd for the thread title

Having only just arrived in Iwagakure, and it being very late Sayuri did the only thing she could think of; find somewhere with food. It was not terribly difficult to locate the only place still accepting patrons this late at night, she wandered a bit until she heard the carousing of bar patrons. In the stillness of the dark the building was a glowing beacon of potential warmth and comfort, though she was not very excited at the prospect of being in a small space filled with strangers, it seemed better than being alone for yet another night. She had grown accustomed to the presence of Tsuyo and Mitsuo while she had been in Konoha and the trip here to Iwa had been surprisingly lonely. So setting aside her fear of cramped spaces for the moment, she walked up to the door and after taking a deep breath, pushed her way inside.

The young looking woman blinked a few times before walking towards the bar counter, it was much brighter in here than it had been outside and the sudden change in light stung her odd coloured eyes as she tried to get her bearings. The large room was filled with tables, chairs and stools, with what looked like doorways off to other areas. Readjusting her pack on her shoulder she walked up to the bar proper and took a seat on one of the stools, trying her best not to look too nervous as she walked past what seemed like a sea of people. As she plopped herself down on the stool her hands reflexively went to where her weapons were stored on her person. Her grandfather’s tanto belted to her left hip and her pouch belted to her right thigh that held her shuriken and kunai. Satisfied that everything was in place she took her pack off of her shoulder and dropped in on the floor in front of her between the bar and the stool she sat on.

“What can I get for you young lady?” Sayuri jumped a bit at the baritone voice that as she looked up was coming from a large friendly looking man. Sweeping her long white hair behind her ear she timidly answered his question. “Uhh, food I guess? And maybe something to drink. I’ve been travelling for a while and could use something warm.” The barkeeper chuckled at her words, turning around and filling a glass with a translucent amber coloured liquid. Sayuri was curious as to what he was handing her, but seeing as she was hungry and thirsty she took it gratefully and drank its contents in a single go. The drink unfortunately did not start to burn until after she had swallowed it, at which point she began coughing fitfully, gasping a bit at the stinging sensation in her mouth and throat. As her eyes watered and she finally caught her breath, she looked up at the bartender, betrayal clearly impressed on her features. He merely chuckled again, taking her glass and refilling it. “You know, people don’t usually drink quite that fast. But who am I to judge? Maybe take this one a bit more slowly there miss. How about I put an order in for some food, you like ramen?”

After the initial burning subsided, Sayuri was delighted to realize that the drink had made her feel toasty warm, and had left a pleasant aftertaste of fruit in her mouth. She had drank wine before, though she didn’t much care for it, and some sugary concoction while she had been out with Shin, but she had only sipped at alcohol before.  The warmth spreading throughout her body was quite lovely and she nodded happily to the bartender as he asked her about ramen. “I love ramen, quite a bit. In Konoha there was a ramen stand that I used to go to. . .” her words were cut off as she began thinking about the first time she had visited that stand. It had been a bloody mess, and she could have died. Shaking her head in an effort to clear her mind of those memories, she self consciously began adjusting her clothing. The skirt she wore was rather short and the seat she was in was causing it to ride further up her legs than she liked. The bartender had gone when she looked up and so she sat sipping her drink of burning warmness until he returned, all the while attempting to push her mind away from sad memories. It only briefly crossed her mind that this line of thinking was unusual, she had managed to travel all the way here from Konohagakure without dwelling too long on these thoughts.

As the large man returned with a steaming bowl of delicious smelling soup, Sayuri was just finishing off the last of the liquid in her glass. She giggled as she pushed the empty cup towards the man and pulled the bowl closer to her, breathing in the spicy aroma. “Do you know, that I don’t know anyone here? I’m supposed to be going to the university, but in order to do that I had to leave behind everyone I knew.” She took turns sipping the soup and her new drink as she spoke, her voice a bit too loud for speaking indoors. “I had made some friends where I was, and I liked it there. But now I’m here, no friends, and what’s worse, no family.” Her eyes welled up a bit with tears as she continued speaking to the bartender, who was of course stereotypically attentive to problems he had not asked to hear about, nor affected him in any way. “I don’t even know if I have family anymore, I keep hoping I’ll find some, but I never do.”

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He could see a pair of red eyes piercing deep into his soul, observing him, judging him. He knew that this judge was looking for something inside of him that he could use, something that would make the ambiguously gendered boy useful to him. He also knew that he was a master of disguise, having earned such a title after years of deception and toying with others in one of his masterful disguises. He could feel the eyes bearing into him, leering at him and judging all of his past actions, and his present endeavours and possible future conquests. He could feel the ambient temperature of the room rising as his heart began to pound harder, sweat beginning to poor down his normally warm body. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling this way, but he was sure that he was genuinely afraid of what might happen to him if this man judged him harshly. He had no idea what would happen if he succeeded either but he knew that it would be something that he would be able to be proud of. His judge held out its hand and told him to take it, and see what would be his if he was to take it. He then reached out his own hand and took the judges, wanting to know what possible fate was in store for him.

As soon as he took the figure’s hand, odd visions began to appear before his eyes. He envisioned a group of people shrouded in shadow, people whom held on to strings of what seemed to be puppets until, upon closer investigation, Shigeki noticed were people. The ones pulling the strings were standing atop a mountain of riches, gold, papers, and weapons. They were clearly a powerful and influential group of people and Shigeki couldn’t help but feel in awe of their position. He then saw the shadows lifting from one of the figures and realised it to be a slim person, ambiguous in gender but quite pretty, with long blonde hair and red eyes piercing back into his own. He was looking into an exact replica of himself except something was different. This version of him was bursting with confidence in a way that Shigeki had never done before. He was radiating with power as well, a power Shigeki could almost taste and that he now craved. If he could become this powerful he could surely achieve any and all of his goals. The fire in the young man’s eyes had always burned but in this version of him they burned so brightly they were like the sun on a hot Sunagakure day. It was the vision of a young man who had really come into his own, and Shigeki knew he wanted this.

This can all be yours, young Kanetsu… You just have to take it… When the opportunity presents itself you will know what to do, for if you do not… The vision changed once again, this time it was similar but instead he was focusing on the people attached to the puppets strings. At their feet was the young form of Shigeki once again, beaten, broken, used, and abused. It was the sight of someone who had lost everything, all hope, and had nothing to live for. Shigeki was deeply disturbed by this. He was completely naked and it looked like he had been victimized in more ways than physically. He had deep lacerations all over his lithe body and his hair was dirty and matted, his red eyes had none of their usual shine to them, staring ahead of them completely lost and dead to the world. He knew that this vision of him had been stepped on and had been judged worthless, simply a toy to be used when it was wanted and discarded when it wasn’t. It brought tears to the young Kanetsu’s crimson orbs to look upon the broken body of himself and think that this was a possibility of something that could happen to him. All of the light of his youth and beauty could vanish, be stolen away and tarnished, never to shine again, with simply a wrong judgement, something that Shigeki had to avoid at all costs.

Remember to choose wisely, young Kanetsu. When the head calls you must join the body. You must make the right decision or fall discarded to the ground, as you have seen here. All of the riches of the world, all of your dreams and aspirations, can be achieved with a simple decision… The visions stopped, the judge stood before him, his golden armour glistening in the pale light and his blonde hair rustling though there was no wind anywhere around. His red eyes locked with Shigeki’s own crimson orbs once more and the judge smiled, his features so familiar to Shigeki. The judge the opened a glowing palm, red molten lava forming in the palm of his hand, and he pressed it to Shigeki’s chest, right over top of his heart, imprinting him with his handprint...

Bad dreams had been plaguing Shigeki’s sleep for months ever since undertaking a mission with the Tsuchikage. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, but it was something that disturbed him and was causing him to feel always on edge. He looked at his time piece and noticed that it was rather late in the day, and perhaps it would be a good time to go for a drink. He took a quick shower before getting dressed up, feathering his blonde and pink hair out and pulling on his regular bar attire of pink and black elbow length gloves that were fingerless, a rather short pair of shorts with a tank top, a hooded sweater that had the sleeves cut off, thigh high socks to match his gloves, and a pair of healed shoes with a buckled top. He affixed the collar that he generally wore around his neck and let out a deep sigh as he shook his head and made his way towards his regular spot.

When he walked into the Rock Pit he noticed that the barkeep was chatting with a young girl who Shigeki had never seen before. As he approached the bar the man smiled; “Ah Shika, good to see you! The usual?” Shigeki nodded as the man handed him a glass with a sweet drink in it. He took a sip from the straw and swallowed down, taking a seat beside the girl he had never seen, who kept ranting on, not seeming to notice him there at first. She said something about having no friends or family, and Shigeki shook his head. What an odd girl. He wondered what kind of things she had been through, and to be fair he was completely positive he could figure it out if he asked, as she seemed to be a few drinks in already. “Excuse me, I’m sorry to interrupt.” His soft androgynous voice would be just loud enough that she could hear him. “I couldn’t help but overhearing you. I’m sorry to hear about losing your friends, but you’re in the Rock Pit. There isn’t a better place in the world to make new ones.” He gave her a warm and welcoming smile, curious to see how she would react. He wondered where she had come from, who she knew, and what kind of information he could get from her...

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Hearing someone speak to her, Sayuri jumped a bit in her seat. While she had been comfortable enough speaking with the bartender, it had not occurred to her that anyone else might approach. Swiveling on her stool she turned to face the person with the soft voice. She would brush the gathering tears from her eyes and smile awkwardly. She had been about one word away from bawling uncontrollably, but now that she was looking at a brightly coloured possible new friend, she relaxed. “I uh, this is called the Rock Pit? That’s clever.” There was a sign outside the building, but she had not been able to read it. The thought of it being named after rocks both made sense and tickled her funny bone. Unable to control herself she laughed as she turned back to the bartender and pushed gently at her once again empty glass. “Could I have another one please? They taste delicious and I’m much warmer now.” Without waiting for the large man’s reply she would turn back to the pink haired woman, this time with a much less awkward smile on her face. The bartender would shake his head and with a smirk begin making another drink.

“I would like to make new friends. I’m Sayuri, it’s nice to meet you. Are you from Iwagakure? Or did you travel here like I did?” Sayuri knew that under ordinary circumstances she should probably hold out her hand for a handshake. But that was not something she felt entirely comfortable with, though interestingly she realized she felt slightly more comfortable that usual. She supposed it was probably this place, it was pleasant and everyone was friendly and seemed to have a ready smile. For no reason that she could determine she started explaining herself. Talking a lot was sort of her forte, but these sort of topics she until today kept to herself. “I’m sorry you know, about not shaking your hand. I don’t really like being touched, I’m not trying to be rude or anything. You seem very nice and all, and I adore your hair. Did you know it matches your gloves? You probably knew that, since it’s yours. Your hair and your gloves are yours I mean. Sorry if I’m talking too much, I’ve been alone for a while travelling. Actually although I do talk a lot, I don’t usually talk this much.”

She would bite down on her lip in an effort to get herself to stop talking. She wasn’t sure what had come over her, except nerves. She had been told more than once that she was quite the chatterbox when she was nervous. It was a welcome respite from her dilemma of speaking too much as yet another glass filled with sweet liquid was pushed across the bar towards her. She would smile up gratefully at the man, still biting her lip, and took the drink in both hands. She was very warm now and the coolness of the glass felt wonderful against her hands, so much so that a happy sigh would escape past her bitten lip. Pulling the glass closer to her face, still in both hands, she would take tiny sips while looking over at blonde and pink hair waiting to see if any of her strange questions would be answered.

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