mission:

The day had started much like any other - the streets were filled with crowds and incessant noise, a great host of people gathered and celebrating the ongoing Chunin Exams. It was a contest of will and wit, genin giving their all to take that time-honored step forward to the next rank. It was, to some degree, respectable - even if the arrogant children who went through might only see their ego inflate - because it would teach them all many valuable lessons about the way the world works.

Akaneya closed her eyes, remembering a time years ago. In the dark, subterranean lair that she had once called home, she stood in an open space. Not too open, for iron bars lined every door, and prisoners watched from the sidelines. Some cheered the battles before them, others cowered at the sight, but it was only a matter of time for them. She looked to her opponent, another prisoner; fresh from his cell, the man was easily twice her size. Taking up a defensive stance, she held her kunai tightly as the two began to circle one another.

Each fighter made a few flourishes of their blade, trying to intimidate the other. After what felt like an eternity, the brute charged - and she sidestepped readily. Leaving a scratch upon his back and jumping away to safety, she narrowly escaped a furious sweep of his fist. He was not amused. Beginning to circle again, Akaneya felt her arm grabbed by one of the onlookers. Trying to yank it out, she looked to see in the prisoner's eyes a sense of sheer terror - the likes one has when they know their end is near. He must've been new around here.

Slam - the brute violently pinned her to the wall while she was looking away. Aching all over her back, she looked to meet his gaze. The brute pulled his arm back, preparing to plunge his knife into her body, and so with no hesitation did she tear into the pinning arm with her bare teeth. Ripping from him a chunk of his very self, he fell backwards in shock. Akanaye jumped away once more as the brute regained his footing.

Ducking into a shadowy corner, holding her mass of red hair tightly behind her, and ducking to minimize the silhouette, the brute turned around and saw nothing. He might've seen if given a couple more seconds, but she used an inbuilt ability - she distorted a drip of water splashing on the ground to sound as if a metal clank. Briefly turning to look at the noise, this was all she needed; pulling herself up to stand and throwing the kunai with all her might, the blade landed straight into his neck. Out came a waterfall of rainbow hot springs, pouring onto a table of finely-spiced ramen steaming in its colorful bowl. A fluffy puppy came out to lick some sake off the floor, slurping with his goofy long tongue. Akaneya's father patted her on the shoulder, and reassured her of how proud he was of her progress, and that all would be well soon.

She averted her eyes from the starved rats scrounging the dungeon floor for meat, and looked up to the tall figure beside her. His cold, pale skin and his soothing voice all too recognizable. She looked back to the mess she had made for but a brief moment before being ushered back to her cell.

Akaneya opened her eyes. These little pests would never understand what the outside world was like without the blood, effort, and desperation of the Exams. This, she knew well. Perhaps that is why she had been instructed not to enlist in the exams, and perhaps it is why she had been told to proctor the young fighters despite being of their own rank. She would not be alone, of course; a higher-ranking shinobi would accompany her, watch her, and probably clean up whatever serious problems occurred. All that had to be done on her part was to show up for the damned thing.

Walking down the streets of Konoha, taking the path of least resistance at all possible occasions to avoid the crowds, the designated meeting spot came into vision. This was, supposedly, where she would meet her own Chunin or Jonin chaperone. Looking around, seeing none, she simply stood in the relatively empty space, waiting in absolute silence - as best as she could filter out the noises in the distance, at least. Akanaye began to wonder if her soon-to-be chaperone had been there the day that she arrived. It was, after all, only two or three years ago, though surely the majority of shinobi would've only heard second-or-third-hand.

Looking around once more, ever-vigilant, she waited.

post stats:

Darting her eyes upward to meet the gaze of the jounin above her, Akaneya's eyes were filled with a hint of suspicion, a touch of intensity, but primarily a vast, all-consuming emptiness. Despite meeting Izumi's gaze directly, it might appear as if she were just watching clouds pass by. Considering the other's phrase for but a moment, she looked to the arena. "So be it," she replied, in a somewhat flat and monotone voice, smooth as silk and yet with the faintest hint of exhaustion in it. She wasn't tired, not remotely, it was simply how she spoke.

Walking calmly and casually, and quite silently, to the arena, many thoughts raced through Akaneya's mind. She certainly didn't feel particularly strongly towards her new mission partner one way or another, although she was somewhat impressed by her rank if nothing else. Something like that took dedication, and that was at least respectable to that degree. As the crunch of gravel beneath their feet turned to a more steady and rhythmic stepping on stone, she looked around briefly to realize that the little walk was over. With only a hallway or two separating them from the mission, Akaneya paused briefly before heading in the most direct possible path to the deck.

Reaching it, and insisting they were ready, Akaneya observed as a detached witness the combat of the hopeful genin below. The first battle commenced.

The two combatants faced one another, both ready for battle. One cracked a whip of lightning forth from his hands, the other deftly dodging. Countering with watery pellets, the Lightning Genin audibly laughed, taking a couple to the inside of his mouth and choking. The Mist Genin seemed particularly displeased with the match up, but he was not visible for long before he spewed a cloud from his mouth. From within, several flashes from the lightning whip could be seen - but the jutsu was too low-powered, it had neither the speed nor the power to seriously threaten the nimble Mist Genin. That is, until the mist disappeared: forming a bubble, the whip struck it and shocked through the whole thing. Trailing back to the Mist Genin, the poor boy was shocked twice as hard for his attempt at a shield. It was here that Akaneya pulled her flute from her bag, preparing for the end. Being whipped two or three more times, the Mist Genin called surrender - something the Lightning Genin either failed to hear or to notice. With Akaneya rushing into the ring, the loud cry of surrender reached the Lightning Genin mid-swing, and he hesitated just a little too long. Playing her song, the Melodic Binding, the Lightning Genin felt his arm shake and go numb. He looked over to see nothing occupying its space, and couldn't even feel himself being yanked away.

The match was over. In only a couple seconds, the Lightning Genin realized what had just happened, and he hanged his head in shame. He failed to effective demonstrate self-control and awareness of his situation, even though he won the battle. Akaneya looked to him with a flaming intensity, and sighed. Letting go, he made his own way out of the arena as the Mist Genin was helped up by his friend and escorted out all the same.

Climbing back up to the deck, Akaneya gently placed her flute back in her bag. She didn't expect to need to use it again, and certainly didn't want to have to. Hadn't her chaperone done the fiesty ones, anyway? All she had to do was clean up accidents, no real fighting. Perhaps for the better.

The second battle was nothing extraordinary. Two genin launching fire at one another, neither able to hit their mark, and both getting exhausted in only a few minutes of battle. They closed the distance with kunai, but in their tiredness were lacking in aim. They eventually both collapsed, while Akaneya had watched the entire duration of the fight wordlessly. The fight was, technically speaking, over, and both genin were dragged off the battlefield. It really was just a sad battle.

The third battle was slightly more interesting, but didn't require intervention. Probably because the most troublesome contestants had been weeded out and handed to people more apt for the job. It consisted of wind and earth pitted against one another. Neither was stronger or weaker than the other, neither held advantage, but the two fighting styles were wildly different. The battle began with a fierce demonstration of abilities.

Wind and Earth, two elements scarce combined. Akaneya showed some marginal proficiency in Earth, she found perhaps the slightest amusement in the matching. Powerful gusts, powerful for a genin at least, blew sharpened pebbles around. In a sense, the Wind Nin was turning the Earth's against her. This was all well and good until the Earth tried to make the ground itself bend to her will, destabilizing the footing of the Wind Nin. He caught himself and leaped into the air with a whoosh, throwing a shuriken back down. The Earth Nin caught it in a shield of dirt and stone, and tried to return her own. He tried to dodge it, but gravity was not on his side. As he ducked under, the spinning star had the same idea. Nailed in the shoulder, he went down, and surrender came shortly after.

The Earth genin seemed elated, lowering her defenses and celebrating. The Wind was simply taken away to get the shuriken extracted and his shoulder healed. The mission was, by all means, over. "So, that's it, then," was all that Akaneya managed, or thought to say. A simple observation, in the same silky monotone.

"What now?"

Chakra 235/250:

post stats:

Tea? It had been quite some time since Akaneya simply took a moment to enjoy serenity in its various forms. Although she didn't believe too strongly in the idea of resting or frivolity, serenity had a different place. Meditation, after all, had its place in the greater scheme of all things. "That'd be...nice."

They began to walk. Akaneya considered what her partner, a certain Zhi of the Mist, had said to her during the exams: the genin would do better if they knew to fear death. Part of her wanted to agree whole-heartedly to the sentiment, that they were having it far too easy. The other part of her thought to disagree, for in fearing death, would they not be weakened, even crippled, by that fear? They needed to know it was a possibility, certainly, but must they not overcome the fear to do what needs to be done? If her experiences were anything to speak of, then it was always those who mastered their fear which beat those who felt it coldly. It was then that a question was posed to her - why was she proctoring and not participating?

"I have my theories," Akaneya stated bluntly. "I was told explicitly not to participate," in that same old silky monotone, "I believe it is because I have undergone my own years ago." She reached into her bag and handed this Zhi of the Mist her Otogakure forehead protector. Its purple was faded, and stained with blood in several places. The metal plate had scratches covering its surface. Despite these, it looked remarkably clean. "Perhaps the elders did not believe I was ready for a leadership position. Perhaps I am more useful to them as a tool, and not a tactician, that I may serve my purpose. Perhaps..." she sounded choked, ever so slightly, for the first time breaking her monotone. She gritted her teeth and averted her gaze. "Perhaps they have some idiotic idea of my health, mind and body, being unfit for this round of exams." With a couple of breaths, she returned to her near-automatic state of being. "For others, maybe it is to teach them such skills, to prepare them for what is to come and to know how and when and why to stop. Observing from above improve's one's tactical senses, and gives a clear idea of how much a person can take. This information is invaluable to one who is to become a significant figure later."

They arrived at the tea place, and just in time. They were very quickly seated - good service on the restaurant's part - and given a moment to decide their preference. Another question came, seeking to resolve that exact issue. Akaneya looked up, paused, and spoke as plainly as one might expect by now:

"I don't know," she paused again, "Tea was rare growing up. I...never settled on anything." With that, she averted her gaze once more. She seemed to get lost in memory, but as always it would be impossible to tell whether positive or negative.

post stats:

Akaneya's eyes peaked up at the mention of a destroyed village. She supposed, given a history of Sand and Mist, she didn't even have the chance to know what had happened. Regardless, for perhaps the first time, her face showed actual, genuine, and full emotion: surprise, with a bit of confusion. She spoke at last, "Otogakure lives. I...left."

Her voice was a bit raspy, and wavered momentarily before falling back into the monotone. "I was sent on a mission, and I got near the border. I...just walked. I kept walking, and I woke up here." She sighed, "They took me in, and so I have stayed," taking a moment to sip her tea, she placed it gently back on the table, "I think they watch me. Maybe they are right to."

She paused, sipped again, and placed her cup down once more. "I can barely remember the incident." She hesitated to say more, her hand shook ever-so-slightly as she placed it on the table. This would prove one of the most interesting 'meditations' that she would ever have experienced, certainly far from what she had expected.

Exit.

post stats: