OOC: another post will come in ~5 minutes or sth. If you wish to join the thread (and please do so! xD), please wait for my 2nd post. :)


The door creaked when she opened it and walked inside. Her father was already sitting at the kitchen table, turning his head slightly to face her. There was a long silence spreading between them. A feeling of anxiety and agitation rose inside her and tightened her chest. She closed the door behind her with trembling fingers before she made her way to the table, taking a seat opposite her father. He knew. Of course he knew that she had been eavesdropping. Meaning the other man must have noticed her presence as well.

“Okay.” It was a meaningless word, but the best Misoka could think of at the moment. She licked her lips nervously. “What’s the matter with that… man?”
She could hear her father clearing his throat and feel his uneasiness. Why was he hesitating? What was he going to tell her? At the same time, she wasn’t so sure whether she wanted to hear it or not.

“Misoka… There is a lot we have to talk about.” He scratched his head as he always did when he was anxious. “That man was the Karisuma Clan leader, but I take it you already know that.” There was no smile on his lips, nothing to ease the tension in the air. Misoka watched his eyes grow cold at the mention of her clan. If she hadn’t felt so stiff inside, she might have shown the same emotion.
He went on, his voice slightly louder than before.
“They are going to come for you. And this is a fact, not a possibility. I’ve seen the difference between his words and the look on his face. It doesn’t matter that the Kazekage had made you a Chunin -”
“What?” Misoka interrupted him as surprise joined the anxiety inside her. “I’m a Chunin?”
“Yes. She told me,” came the simple answer.

Before her father could continue talking, Misoka put the faint glimmer of hope she felt into words,”But then – they won’t take me away! I’m a Chunin, I can become one of their prestige female shinobis like Mom was -” – “You can’t!”

Misoka gasped, shutting her mouth and looking into her father’s enraged eyes. “You can’t,” he repeated impatiently. “They’re not ones to make the same mistake again. Your mother was an exception and after what happened to her and her great Jou-nin skills, she will forever be the only exception in their history! I don’t intend to say anything negative about Yuki, but the truth is that she really neglected her training after your birth. And I can say the same about me. She got killed because we were too naïve and lazy and…” He trailed off, exhaling in a desperate sigh. Misoka kept silent as she knew that there was more he had to say.
“I don’t want to beat around the bush, Misoka. They are not going to leave you alone and they are coming for you. No-one of us will be able to convince them. The clan is short of money and well, you’ve got the eyes.”

“Which eyes? What is everyone trying to tell me by that?!” She rose out of her seat, tears threatening to blur her sight. This was all too much to take in. Basically, her father was telling her that there was no hope anymore, that she was going to marry some old man who only cared for her appearance.
Another sigh escaped her father’s lips and she took note of the fact that he seemed to be avoiding her gaze on purpose. “Not everyone of the Karisuma Clan has shiny eyes. They are believed to be long extinct, replaced by the non-permanent Kekkei genkai effect. But you… you’ve got the permanent doujutsu. Or at least that’s how your mother had tried to explain it to me. You must’ve inherited it from her.” He kept staring at his hands. “The thing is that shiny eyes are a rarity in your clan. The … custom-, um, people pay much more for such a girl.”

This was another piece of information she had to take in. Defeated, she dropped to her seat again, a stray tear trickling down her cheek. She didn’t know how to feel. Something in her told her that she should be mad at her father for keeping this fact from her until now. But she didn’t have the strength to feel anger. There was only a dark emptiness engulfing her.
“What shall I do now?” She whispered, not sure whether she was speaking to someone directly. Her father, however, had heard her. His answer would ring in her head for the next hours.

“You are leaving Suna tonight. I talked to my mother from Konoha; she is going to take care of you.”
Misoka’s head shot up, eyes widened. “Not permanently of course,” he gave in quickly. “But you will stay there for the next few months or so. We’ll stay in touch. That is, if I can be sure that the clan won’t control the letters I send. They must not find out where you are. You left home and that’s all I know.”
She felt paralyzed at first, then she found out how to move again. She tossed her head in utter denial.
No, no, no, no. But the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth.

“This is necessary,” her father added and this time his voice sounded weak and almost stifled. Of course he wasn’t too thrilled about her leaving, either. And that was the moment when she knew that she simply had no choice. That her father wasn’t making this up – there really was no other way except that she would give in to the clan’s wish. Slowly, her head stopped tossing and finally turned into a shaky nod. She stared at her hands and noticed that they were trembling. Was she crying? She checked, moving one of her hands up to her cheek. It was dry. Thank God. She hated to cry in front of others, even in front of her Dad.
“You have the afternoon to say goodbye to your friends,” her father said quietly.

Then the silence came back, making Misoka feel already far away from her family and friends. Her mind felt heavy, so did her heart.
She wondered whether the door would creak again when she would go outside.

It was weird to start comparing everything in Suna to what it might be in Konoha. First, the weather. Another hot day in Suna as it had been in the morning when she had met the two Genins Razor and Defisk. And Konoha? She didn’t know. She’d never been to the Leaf Village before. If she only went there sight-seeing, she might be more excited to find out all the differences between the two villages.

Deep in thought, Misoka walked around town aimlessly. After about ten minutes, she reckoned, the girl stopped, raising her head to look up into the sky. She shouldn’t waste her time like that. She should find her teammates and her friends to tell them goodbye. But only the thought of leaving everyone behind was choking her. What was she going to say to them? Was it safe to tell them about the thing with her clan? The next instant, she felt ashamed for even thinking that. She could trust her friends; that’s what friendship should consist of, after all.

If she only knew where to look for them. Right now, she was standing somewhere at the outskirts of town, close to the Sand Dune Slums or at least that’s what it looked like to her.
With a deep sigh, she leaned against a house wall, closing her eyes. In an attempt to empty her mind, she started counting silently. One, two, three. Four, five, six. How many months would she have to stay in Konoha? She bit her lip angrily as she hadn’t even managed to avoid such thoughts for a damn minute.

Her eyes fluttered open as though she had been sleeping. With sad eyes, she looked up into the sky again. There wasn’t a single cloud covering the bright blue.
Oh dear, she couldn’t say goodbye. She just couldn’t. And she hated the fact that she had to.

OOC: ok, you're all free to post now xD haha let's have some tragedy XD

Razor had a strange day first his training session turned into a meet and greet with the other two ninja Misoka and Defisk then he went home and forget that this was one of his rare free days so he left in search of something to do while he was walking he saw a familiar face it was Misoka. She looked sad for some reason so razor walked up and said "Something wrong Misoka". He then stood next to her to see if she was alright.

A familiar voice reached her ears. "Something wrong, Misoka?" She turned her head toward the voice's owner, spotting the Genin she had met this morning: Razor, the clan leader. Nami...something. She couldn't quite remember his surname, but... it didn't matter right now anyway. What was she thinking? The confusion which lingered inside her made it hard to think properly.
She watched Razor step next to her, gazing at her with a somewhat worried look.
A sigh escaped her lips as she avoided his eyes. She didn't quite know what to say to him. 'I'm leaving.' 'It was nice to meet you, I might see you around in half a year or so.'
Her nose stung, tears forming which she blinked away quickly.
With a weak smile, she met his gaze this time and parted her lips to tell him the truth.
"Um... I've got some clan issues... That's why I have to leave the village tonight. But not forever."
The last part couldn't make up for the heavy meaning of the first. She swallowed. Her words sounded stupid to her. She herself felt stupid. Or perhaps she only got confused with all those negative feelings inside her.

Razor watched misoka he saw a few tears start to form then were blinked away. Then she turned and said "Um... I've got some clan issues... That's why I have to leave the village tonight. But not forever.". Razor looked at her then said "Why what happened to make you have to leave". Razor said with a bit of sadness in his voice.

She could see and hear the empathy in his eyes and voice. Her stomach was in knots. The fresh memories of her father's and her talk at home came rushing back, going along with the reasons why she had to leave. But how was she going to explain this?
Again, her sight was blurred by tears in her eyes and again she blinked furiously to make them go away. She didn't cry in front of others. Ninjas didn't show their emotions openly. And on top of that, she was a Chunin now. How unfortunate that she couldn't even be happy about this now.

"I-", she began and felt her voice sounded hoarse and quiet. Clearing her throat, she went on. "This is complicated. My clan is complicated. To put it simply..." She looked down on her feet, squeezing her eyes to keep any further tears from forming. "They want me to get married to some old man... I don't know to whom. Or they want to make me a.. a prostitute, I don't know. All I know is that I have to leave the village for some time so they won't f-find me."
Misoka's breath hitched; she hoped Razor wouldn't notice. Her sight kept getting blurred despite her constant attempts to keep herself from crying and her nose stung terribly.
Embarrassement added to her despair, making her hide her face with her hands.

Razor saw her cry then she said This is complicated. My clan is complicated. To put it simply...They want me to get married to some old man... I don't know to whom. Or they want to make me a.. a prostitute, I don't know. All I know is that I have to leave the village for some time so they won't f-find me". Hearing this sent Razor from sadness to anger Razor put his hand on her head and said softly hiding how mad he was at those idiots "Don't cry you will be fine". But then razor's anger got to him he clenched his fist and said"Screw those idiots and perverts. Misoka you do not have to leave if you stay in the village you will have me and all your friends to help and protect you. And if anybody tries anything...". Razor put his hand on his sword to illustrate that he would protect her then said "Here is my proof ". Razor drew his blade and slit his hand across the palm and wrote the kanji for protection on the wall in his blood then said "I Razor Namizake always swear to keep you safe". Razor did not know how she would react but he meant what he said.

OOC: Sorry i went out on a rant there it just felt right for the situation XD.

"I'm not c-crying," she denied weakly and with no success as she felt her hands getting wet with new tears. Then she felt a touch on her head, followed by Razor's soft voice.
She listened to his words, slowly raising her head and revealing her tear-stained face. His attempt to cheer her up almost brought new tears to her eyes, this time because she felt touched that he would say something like that. Especially considering that they had only met recently.
She hiccupped, wiping over her eyes, before she shook her head slightly.
"This is really nice of you to say.." She exhaled sharply, trying to suppress a sob. "But there is no other way. The Karisuma Clan leader and his fellows are terribly strong... they must be Special Jou-nin or something, my father told me so. We wouldn't stand a chance against them, not even with our powers combined." She had to pause for another hiccup. "I don't want to be mean, but you are only a Genin. And I'm only a Chunin," she added in a whisper. A few moments passed in which she waited for her tears to dry. She felt ashamed for her emotional breakdown.
That's what you got when you bottled up your feelings until now. In the back of her mind, she thought about her teammates and friends: Kaizen, Jezzi, Heero... She had to say goodbye to all of them. And now to Razor, too. He was so nice to her although he didn't even know her. It meant a lot to her that someone who she had only met recently tried to cheer her up.

Razor listened as she said "This is really nice of you to say.." She exhaled sharply, trying to suppress a sob. "But there is no other way. The Karisuma Clan leader and his fellows are terribly strong... they must be Special Jou-nin or something, my father told me so. We wouldn't stand a chance against them, not even with our powers combined.". "I don't want to be mean, but you are only a Genin. And I'm only a Chunin,. Razor laughed a bit then said "Misoka i am stronger then a look i was once trained under the Kazekage and a former teammate and sensei of mine was a Karisuma so i know how they fight so don't take my rank as a sign of my strength i have just been to busy with my clan to apply for a higher rank". Razor said before he dried her tears then he said "You will be protected without a doubt". Razor said with a smile.

She heard him laugh and looked up at him, surprised. Then he said that he was stronger than he looked like and that he would protect her from them. As he reached out for her and dried her tears, she immediately stiffened under his touch. There was still this fear of men inside her although she had partially got over it. Shaking her head yet again, she turned away and folded her arms as though she was cold. She couldn't give in to that spark of hope Razor's words had just ignited inside her.
"I believe you," Misoka said quietly. "But I have to leave. I don't want to drag you into this and we shouldn't underestimate the clan's power. As cruel as it may sound, it's a long tradition to marry off the female members of the clan. They don't even break the law when doing so. Apart from that, my father insists on my leaving tonight." She took a deep breath, still turned to Razor with her back. She didn't want him to see her sad face again. "I have to find some people... my friends... I have to say goodbye. Would you.. help me find them?"

Razor saw her stiffen under his touch and razor withdrew his hand as he did he heard her say "I believe you, But I have to leave. I don't want to drag you into this and we shouldn't underestimate the clan's power. As cruel as it may sound, it's a long tradition to marry off the female members of the clan. They don't even break the law when doing so. Apart from that, my father insists on my leaving tonight.". It seemed that nothing that he said would change her mind then she said "I have to find some people... my friends... I have to say goodbye. Would you.. help me find them?" ". Razor had a sad look in his eye then he put on a smile and said "Yeah sure let's go". Razor tried to effectively hide the sadness in his voice but a little may have slipped out.

"Yeah sure, let's go."
Misoka didn't miss the hint of sadness in his voice although she couldn't quite understand why he would be sad about her leaving. To him, she must only be some stranger leaving the village for a while. Nothing to be miserable about, right?
Slowly, she turned around, sneaking a glance at his face. She hadn't imagined it, there was some kind of gloominess in his eyes. However, she quickly brushed these thoughts aside; he probably was thinking about his own problems right now. Everyone had his share of issues to deal with.
"Thank you," she whispered, nodding her head politely. "We could start looking over there."
She pointed towards a narrow street, probably leading to the center of Suna. Too bad she had no idea where her friends could be at the moment.
They started walking down the street.
Misoka looked at Razor sideways, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the silence between them. Had she offended him in any way? She hoped not. Other than that, her mind was still occupied with what awaited her tonight and the reasons why she had to leave.
"Sometimes I really think I should just give in to the clan," she admitted sadly, surprising herself that she shared some of her very private thoughts with a person she didn't know so well. But he seemed trustworthy. "My father might get into trouble because he's hiding me. And that's all my fault. Maybe I shouldn't try and escape a clan's tradition, you know. Many other Karisuma girls have suffered this fate already... why should I be the one to struggle against it? Sometimes I just feel selfish."

As they walked Razor listened to misoka say "My father might get into trouble because he's hiding me. And that's all my fault. Maybe I shouldn't try and escape a clan's tradition, you know. Many other Karisuma girls have suffered this fate already... why should I be the one to struggle against it? Sometimes I just feel selfish". Razor looked at her and said "Your not being selfish the tradition no offense is the stupidest thing i have ever heard in my opinion it should be up to the girl to decided who she marries". Razor kept walking and said "And as far as your father goes do not worry my clan has strength too he will be protected ".

It had been kind of a long day for Heero, by the time he got off work it was nearly dark already and Heero was going to see if his friend Misoka wanted to go eat. As He neared the house where he thought she was, only to find out he had went the wrong way and was near the slums. It was if Heero had the luck of the great as, when he looked again he spotted Misoka and Razor talking. He was not sure but from where he was standing Misoka looked as though she had been crying. He walked up to the two sand nin and looked Misoka in her eyes. "What happen Misoka?" He asked. He thought back and she was one of his first friends along with Razor. He did not like seeing his friends sad if he could help it.

Misoka nodded at Razor's reply. She felt a tiny bit better about herself, especially since he had mentioned to protect her father. This gave her at least some kind of hope to cling to. If her father was to get hurt because of her, she could never forgive herself.
Just then, another voice made her turn her head. She spotted Heero walking over to them, giving her a worried look. "What happened, Misoka?" He left out a greeting and got straight to the point. Misoka was too surprised to answer straight away so she only stopped in her tracks at first. After a few moments of hesitation, she finally found her voice again and gave Heero a somewhat relieved smile.
"Oh, I've been looking for you, Heero!" She told him, not as enthusiastically as she had meant to, though. Again, she would have to explain her situation and say goodbye in the end.
Avoiding Heero's eyes, she told him the truth: that she would be leaving Suna tonight because of her clan wanting to claim her.
"But my father said it's only temporary. I'll probably come back in a few months or so," she added, trying to make her smile look more sincere. "I was just looking for you to say goodbye."
She couldn't meet his gaze; she couldn't see the possible emotions running over his face. Empathy, sadness probably. She swallowed once more as though she could choke down her misery. 'Get a hold of yourself! It's just a few months', her mind told her, but at the same time she knew that there was no way to predict the future and what the clan would plan to do about her.

Razor could sense Misoka's sadness as she explained her situation to Heero. Razor put his hand on her shoulder hoping this time she would not jump. Razor said in a calm voice "It is going to be fine misoka". Razor was hoping to cheer her up a bit.

Jezzi's day that day was going quite normally. She had been shopping for a few essential groceries, thinking back on her life over the past few weeks. She had found herself enjoying having a purpose, and having teammates. Even though her and Misoka didn't always get along, they would work together and protect each other. It was pleasant to think that she'd finally been able to find a place among this village and that she'd finally made friends. However she heard Misoka's name mentioned among a few citizens in the street. "Did you hear? The Kazekage says that Karisuma man is sending his daughter to another village" "Why?" "I don't know, no one does.." Jezzi heard this and took a moment to register it. Karisuma... isn't that Misoka's last name? Once Jezzi realised the implications of their words she immediately turned and ran towards Misoka's home.

She came across Misoka and Razor and stopped in her tracks, panting heavily. She gave Misoka a serious glare. "Y-you can't leave... you can't just abandon Kaizen and I.. I won't let you!" She was clearly very distressed. She had found someone to aspire to be better than... and the girl was just going to abandon them? Jezzi was furious, and mortified at the same time.

Heero sighed, It was always like this with clans, one person says something and everyone else jumps. Of course in his case having a kazekage as your clan leader left no chance of disobeying, at least in Misoka's case she might could appeal to the kazekage to stay. "Yo you kno know that you could ask the the Kazekage and see what sh she thinks.." He pointed out to see if she had not of thought of that. He looked at his feet again. " Same as always getting nervous in times like this." Heero thought. He looked up again just to see a pissed off Jezzi, it seemed to him that she was sad to see her rival/friend leave. Heero let out a small laugh, he had a idea! "Aww isn't that cute, she does not want her rival to leave!" Heero paused for a few seconds to let the words sink in. "You know, Although she is your rival, she is right. None of us want you to leave...." Heero blushed a bright red, She was one of the first real friends he ever had and he really did not want to see her go. "If you don't want to go then don't! I'm pretty sure your old man could not beat us if we tried hard enough!" He was really hoping that she would change her mind and live for herself.

Misoka felt Razor's hand on her shoulder, meant to comfort her and she did her best to gain her confidence back. She looked to Heero who suggested to ask the Kazekage for help. It wasn't like she didn't acknowledge his idea, but the truth was that her father had already done that. In this case, however, there was nothing much the Kazekage could do since the clan wasn't breaking the law. They, in fact, had a special right granted by the former Kazekages to follow their old traditions. One of them simply included the possibility to earn money by marrying their daughters to other men. At least, Gin had made Misoka a Chunin - if only that could help her somehow.

"Sadly, the Kazekage can't do anything." She shook her head and explained Heero the reasons why.
The moment she had finished talking, she suddenly heard another voice, this time a female's which was more than familiar to her. Jezzi.
Surprised, Misoka turned around only to see Jezzi snapping at her.
"Y-you can't leave... you can't just abandon Kaizen and I.. I won't let you!" she hissed, which almost caused Misoka to wince. This made it all so harder to say goodbye. Everyone was begging her to stay. And how she wished to just do that! To just forget about everything and keep living as before. But it wasn't possible. This time, her feelings didn't matter - Because she had no choice. None.

Heero chuckled, and then followed Jezzi's example, trying to convince Misoka to stay here. The young Karisuma didn't know what to say or what to do. Her words caught in her throat, her eyes darted between Heero and Jezzi.
After taking a deep breath, she first explained her situation to Jezzi. She didn't want her to think that she was leaving on her own free will.

"Jezzi... I'm glad you're here," She started, a weak smile tugging at the corners of her lips. It was weird to be so nice to her teammate; it was weird to feel so sad about leaving her behind. After all, they had never really got along too well, but in a way Misoka had enjoyed the rivalry between them. It had always encouraged her to keep getting better. This would be gone now. 'Not forever. Not forever', she scolded herself silently. "I'm so sorry, but I have no choice. My clan wants to marry me to some rich old man and earn money this way. It's a long tradition... female Karisuma shinobis are very unusual. If I don't leave tonight, I will have to give in to the clan. They are coming for me and I need to hide... it's really urgent."
She paused for a quick breath, realizing yet again how important it was for her to leave right away. She should stop whining and instead hope the clan wouldn't find out where she'd travelled to.
"I will be back," Misoka said, this time in a much more confident tone. "I will be back before you all know it."
It was time to be strong now. A smile drifted across her face when she nodded to the three of them. She still felt like a mess inside, but that small surge of courage kept her going.

"I'll miss you, but I'll be back!" She repeated for the third time as tears started welling up in her eyes and she turned away. This was goodbye. With small steps at first, she started walking away upon waving at them. Then she broke into a light jog so they wouldn't hold her back. It was time. And she felt if she didn't go now, it would just get harder.

Goodbye.

[Exit Thread]