Reborn

She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to come here, and she really didn't want to participate in any extra activities. She couldn't believe her mother let that hack talk her into shipping her own daughter out into the world so soon after the..Incident. Pushing a stray strand of black dyed hair from her face and continuing to eat the pork dumpling she purchased from one of the many konoha vendors, Umeko found herself wandering to no particular place. Dressed in a simple get up that consisted of a black pleated skirt, black stockings, dark shoes, and a white and black top, Umeko dressed in such a way that she wouldn't draw attention to herself. This of course was nearly impossible even with her naturally green hair dyed a midnight black color.  Being naturally beautiful could be seen as a curse sometimes and it didn't help that her body had matured so quickly. Of course Umeko did a grand job at ignoring the stares and even going so far as to ignore those who approached her. She didn't want to be bothered by these people. She wanted to go back home and hide in her room and never come out again. Unfortunately for her what she wanted didn't matter and because of that her mother sent her back to konoha even though the exams were over, apparently people were still there enjoying the festivities. In a desperate act to stop random people from walking up to her, she began to look for someone she knew. If others were still in Konoha they would surely be around somewhere..Right?

Word Count: 269

Reborn

It had dawned on her that the exams were over and it was a high possibility that her peers were no longer genin, but full fledged chunnin. This ate at her in the worst way because here she was still a genin, and for what? Because her parents didn't think she was fit to even be a proper ninja and to fulfill some outdated tradition of marrying off their daughter. Look how well that turned out? Umeko almost scoffed at the turn of events that had been happening to her recently. It was stressful and taxing on the young girl, not that what she was going through mattered to her parents. Taking another bite of the pork bun filled with what has to be the best pork she has ever had, her mind shifting to auto autopilot just to enjoy it. She was tired of not living up to the ridiculous expectations that were being placed on her and for a moment she contemplated removing herself from her family altogether.  

Of course she didn't dwell on the thought too long as her sister flashed in her mind and she remembered why she could tolerate her parents at all for this long. It was at this point Umeko realized that she wasn't even looking for a familiar face anymore and that alone would have pulled her out of her own head but the touch of someone else did that. It was almost instinctual as she moved her body away from the touch before it fully connected, the tips of the fingers jolting her body which caused her to turn around with such speed one would have thought she was being attacked. It wasn't until she heard the words and took a longer look at the face did she realize who had touched her. A smile formed on her face as she put a hand on her chest, taking a deep breath and exhaling she could feel a weigh life off of her.

Oh dear, I'm sorry I'm a little on edge today please forgive me but, yea I remember you but I don't think we exchanged names properly. I can't honestly remember, so I guess now is as good as any time to reintroduce myself. My name is Umeko and yours?

She could remember the mission in question since it was the only one she did with two other people. It ended quite messily but in the end it got completed. Thinking back to that day she could smile a little wider because those were better times for her.  Now she wondered where Taiho was at this moment but she also didn't remember being on a squad with them both. Digging through her memory she really couldn't recall but maybe she didn't have to think too hard about it. Stuffing the last bit of pork bun in her mouth, she regretted not getting something to drink. Once they got the pleasantries out of the way she would need to make her way to the closest place that served iced tea. Thirsty Umeko was just as bad as a hungry Umeko.

Word Count: 519/788

Reborn

For whatever reason she began to wonder just how much of her life was she in control of, if any at all. Was she being controlled by some other wordly being? Was she in control of her own choices? Or was destiny pulling the strings, her life already laid out before her with nothing she could do to stop it no matter what choice she thought she was making. It was crazy to think something like that at a time like this. Here she stood in front of a person who she sort of knew but didn’t really know at all, it was more or less she knew of him rather than she knew him. She caught him taking glimpses of parts of her body that were obviously distracting. She couldn’t blame him, he was a young and growing male with needs like any other she was sure. She could now safely say she knew two things about him, his name and the fact that he didn’t fully play for the other team something which she wondered about teiho on many diffrent occassions. Once again the question formed in her mind, about how much control she had over her life. She didn’t know, hell she knew from the start it couldn’t have been much with her parents marrying her off to some guy she didn’t even know. It was only by some coincedence that she would be kidnapped before ever getting to her husband-to-be and she was even more lucky to be saved by her fellow iwa ninja and some members of her family.

It was crazy to think that these things just happened to happen but they did and so here she was back home with talks about what to do next. No one ever asked her what she wanted, not even once and frankly she was tired of that. What could they do to her if she refused to do as they said? Disown her? As if, they couldn’t risk looking like shit in front of the the village and having a spot light placed on them. This went especially for her mother who acted as picture perfect as her fake ass could. Just thinking about that woman was starting to boil her blood so much that she didn’t notice that her pale cheeks were turnning red and would probably be misunderstood as a blush. It was only when she felt the prickling of her skin that she realized she was thinking way too much into nothing and that didn’t make any god damn sense because here she was trying to make a solid freindship but getting mad over some bullshit that she was crafting in her own mind. A slight gust of wind blew, cooling her face and bringing down her tomato faced blush to a pleasant pink. She was thankful she placed her hair in a simple ponytail, the winds have been getting a lot more breezy since being here, which for whatever reason reminded her of how thristy she was currently. Bringing up her golden gaze into Kizmaru’s she continued to smile plesantly before answering, her words a lot more light hearted than when she was starled by him.

Oh you’re fine, besides what were you gonna call out to me if you didn’t know my name right? I was being just a little over dramatic, honestly I was.

It wasn’t a lie, she was on edge a whole lot as of late but she didn’t need to be when she in a village full of other ninja that would protect her. She needed to learn to calm down a little better but she feared that was something that came with time, and lots of it. Umeko didn’t know how to respond to Kizmaru’s question about what her plans were. Of course she didn’t even know herself and she honestly didn’t think she find anyway else that she even remotely knew from her village. She had assumed they would all be out somewhere celebrating or packing up to go home if they lost. As she thought about it she wondered how well Kizmaru did for the exams. She didn’t get a chance to see his fights during the time that they happened and she didn’t see the results or here about them from anyone just yet. She hadn’t even planned on joining the exams, she just wasn’t ready for them at the time. Mentally she could feel herself siging on the inside as her own lack of skills began to eat away at her. She could only think about how much better her sister was at these things than she was. Umeko knew for a fact that her sister would have aced these exams, but she didn’t want to be a ninja anymore. Her sister was going throuhg things that Umeko herself could never fully understand.

So many expectations was put on a child who was known as a prodigy. Little did everyone else realize that she was still a child and she had a breaking point. A knot began to form in her throat as she remembered the many tearful nights she went through with her sister. The two could be a perfect mirror image but Umeko was born with the Emerald locks that she had gotten from her mother. Now that she thought about it when she dyed her hair she was the spitting image her sister. Umeko thought that life for her had only gotten a little better as she was a physical reminder of the daughter her parents lost. The perfect daughter, the one to bring only good things to family name, the one they would rather have since they never planned for two. Umeko was only the shadow to her sister, but she loved her very much and felt no ill will towards her at all. The two were nearly inseperable and she missed her so much it broke her heart into so many peices that she was sure she could never be whole again. So much of Umeko wanted to scrub her sister out of her mind, to move on from that dreadful day when the family got the news. Her sister never wanted to be married off, but she knew she couldn’t be around the family and take her own life so she did it while she was far away from them. The image of how she could have done it has plagued Umeko on more than one night when she was alone with her thoughts, all of them ended with her in tears of course. No one could even find her body for a proper burial and at times she liked to think that some where in the world she was still alive, and she hoped that one day she would be given some sort of sign for that.

I didn’t have anything planned honestly. I was hopping to run into some of my fellow iwa nin, and thanfully you found me first. How about we go get something to eat and maybe try and sneak some drinks in? You can tell me how your fights went.  

Moving closer to Kizmaru and placing herself at his side, she slipped an arm around his. She hopped he didn’t mind but she figured now she would stopped being approched if they walked together this way. Leading the way down the bustling streets of Konoha, she knew exactly the place to go for a proper meal that was peaceful and served some of the best food she had ever tasted. With all her free time she was able to find a few hidden gems in the village hidden in the leaves.

Word Count: 1,285/2,073

Reborn

A snort sort of chuckle filled the air between the two, it was her response to his answer in regards to her question. She didn’t think he would actually answer that question. The question itself was really more or less rhetorical but getting an answer out of it was still pretty nice. She continued to lead the way, eventually coming upon a more quiet part of the area before leading them both into a two story building. As she opened the door a small bell chimed to announce their presence. “Here we are.” Inside the place was modestly lit and looked far more spacious on the inside than it did on the outside. There were a handful of others scattered around, which gave the two a healthy pick of seats. The decor had a nice theme of dark greens and highlighted golds, on each table a small candle set a comforting mood, and in the background music played at a soothing volume. Umeko made a single sweeping motion with her eyes before settling on a table near the back in the corner.  Of course picking that particular place had some sort of strategic advantage, as she would be able to see who’s coming in and who’s comin out with no one able to come up behind them. The two iwa ninja were in a foreign country and no matter what anyone said it was still in their best interests to be on their guard. Letting go of Kizmaru’s arm, she continued to lead the way right to the table she had mentally picked out. “ This place is pretty good with food, and the prices are reasonable. Don’t worry about paying I pretty much invited you out so I’ve got the bill if that’s alright with you? “ Either way he answered she would still pay, she didn’t care to have her friends come out of pocket their around her.

From where she sat Umeko had gotten a better look at Kizmaru. From when she was holding his arm to now getting a better look at his features, the girl could quite easily say he was handsome. Even if that were her opinion she didn’t let his attractive features blind her, no matter what her hormones wanted. She would treat him with respect and not like some empty headed bimbo who sought male attention, she knew too many girls like that back in her village for that. It was crazy to even think about that sort of thing when one took into account what they were trained to do, what they were being trained to become. How did people even have time for romance and the like with all the violent and crazy things going on in this world? Umeko honestly didn’t know, she couldn’t even answer that question as she sat here with Kizmaru waiting for a waitress or waiter instead of spending this time to train. Here she was still a genin and what was she doing with her time? Nothing of significance, that’s what. She was being a lazy waste of space, something her mother tried to correct but ultimately failed. And the more Umeko thought about that, the more she felt like shit. She shouldn’t be here, she shouldn’t have come and she most certainly needed to be training. Moving her gaze from directly looking at Kizmaru’s her face began to prickle as embarrassment for herself set in. She didn’t know why she was going through these shitty emotions and just putting herself down. Her brain wouldn’t stop churning out just overall depressing stuff, but she was doing her damn best to put a smile on the outside. For a moment she wondered if Kizmaru had some time to train her, or at least do some training with her. They were on the same team so maybe he wouldn’t say no if she asked? If she was gonna sit here and be sad about how she wasn’t doing anything with herself, she was also gonna sit here and see how she could change that. Umeko was never one to throw herself a pity party, and she damn sure wasn’t gonna just start now if she could help it.

It didn’t take long for someone to show up and take their order. Once the two did get seated a woman with rich brown eyes, dark black hair that was pinned up in a neat bun, and pale skin arrived at their table. She was very pretty to Umeko and when the woman opened her mouth to speak Umeko could have sworn she felt her heart melt and a voice in her head. You did hear a voice. Yea it was almost like someone was speaking directly into Umeko’s head and she realized the more she paid attention to that voice the more drowned out the waitress’s voice was. It’s rude to stop paying attention to people when they speak to you, I aint raise you like that god damn it you better snap out of it. Was she going crazy? A part of her wanted to say something back but she knew she couldn’t just open her mouth, the voice wasn’t coming from those around her. Uh no shit they aren’t coming from the people around you, it’s almost like I’m just talking to myself here. She could hear herself ask for water, it was as if she was on autopilot her something. Umeko could just barely make out what the woman was saying as she took their drink orders and left them with menu’s to look at. Yep, that’s you. I made you. Totes mcgoats created you out of my own mind. You were right to question if you had control over yourself. Newsflash, ya don’t and I’m like almost one hundred percent certain I’m not really allowed to talk to you either. It’s almost like I’m talking to myself in a sort of way, Hella meta. Umeko didn’t know what to say, she was more or less stunned but she took a mental sort of deep breath to gather herself. “ So, am I being controlled right now? Or did you just make me and gave me some sort of free will? “ Umeko’s words bounced around in her head and she realized how crazy this was when she didn’t get an answer back right away. Little did she know her body really was on autopilot with her golden orbs glazed over as she just answered any question thrown at her physical form with the most basic answers.

Word Count: 1,093/3,166