It was about noon when Midnight awoke from his nap. The sun high in the sky, the weather was ultimately rather warm despite the mountain air. Clouds were scattered throughout the sky, giving Midnight something he could amuse himself with for the rest of the day. A breeze blew through the mountain, making the durian swing to and fro, as well as making Midnight's hair ruffle. The position he was in currently prevented his clothes from being tossed around by the wind. Midnight was lying on the hard mountain ground, his head nearest to the durian tree, now awake and staring at the sky ahead of him. His arms were behind him to be used as a pillow, but he now moved them so that they rested on his stomach, fingers interlocked, leaving his head to lay in the dirt. There was nothing in particular that he should have been doing that day, so he figured he could just rest all the way up on this mountain. Or was he forgetting something?

Midnight adjusted his hands so that his index finger and thumb were now holding the ring on his other hand. He rotated the ring back and forth so that the skin stopped sticking to him, but then interlocked his fingers again. His eyes were trained on the sky, watching the clouds make their way across his vision. All alone and fully conscious of any noise nearby him, he had his eyepatch adjusted so that it covered the space above his eye so that he could properly sleep. Midnight felt uncomfortable when he was sleeping while clothed, and since he wasn't about to go home or sleep in the nude in public, he took off the one thing that he could. He didn't bother to replace it, as no one was nearby.

A beautiful blue butterfly was perched on a nearby flower, unmoving. It certainly didn't seem very interested in the plant it was on. Then again, Shenlong had no interest in further acting like a butterfly. A noble dragon would have no need to act in such a manner even in disguise. It's not like there was anyone around to fool anyways. Midnight paid no attention to the insect, though he was indeed conscious of its presence.

Midnight pondered what to do for the rest of the day. He could train, of course, but he wasn't sure what to train. He certainly did not feel like doing any missions. The only other important bit of information that he was given recently was that he supposedly had a pupil to take care of now. The last time he had anything of the sort, he blew them off and disappeared for a while. He wondered what his new student would be like; he didn't bother to read into the person, and simply continued about his day. Sighing in resigned boredom, Midnight stared at the passing clouds, trying to discern their forms into recognizable shapes.

So her stay at the hospital had been interesting. She had woken up, made a new acquaintance, tried to stand and fell with the grace of a wounded zebra. After getting up and getting help from one of the nurses, she was given a cane. She was given her squad notices and had someone read them out for her, Midnight was her sensei. Midnight the terribly amazing Raikage that moved just as fast, if not faster than lightning. This Sannin ranked shinobi was her sensei, and she was his only student. What would he think of her? would he think of her just as some stupid weak little girl? Would he be kind, supporting and nice, or overly strict and condescending? Should she be scared? Should she be cautious?

She had heard about Midnight stepping down, she had heard about his swift release fading away while she slept her life away in her coma. It saddened her soul to hear about it, someone losing an ability that made them them was the rather harsher side of reality. What if she lost one of her abilities? What if she was suddenly ill adept to practice the arts of healing? What would be left of her? Would she just be an empty shell of herself? Losing one of the few things that made her stand out, losing one of her few passions? She had already lost her illusion of happiness, so that was a huge shock to her mind and body. All of it, all of it had felt so real. She was going to even be a mother... Her greatest dreams coming true... Everything had been so perfect and glorious...

She felt her throat tighten up a bit as she paused in her walking. It still hurt. To think about the loneliness. How alone she was. 'Ooh, solitude, still with me as only you. Ooh, solitude I can't stay away from you. Solitude, forever me and forever you ooh, solitude only you, only true. Everyone leaves me abandoned, forgotten and stranded... Left behind...' She thought to herself. It was an old song, something that she had heard about a year before she had gotten struck by lightning. Six years. Six years ago she had heard that song and felt a connection to it because of how true she thought it was. Six years later, in the present she still felt that way. Nothing. Nothing had changed about her, she was just a weak little fragile girl. She was just stupid and worthless. She couldn't even walk without a cane! Disgrace, she was a disgrace. She was walking again now, somewhere- she needed somewhere to just think and sit, sit and think about her life. Somewhere to meditate. Somewhere away from the crowded streets.

The Durian tree. She had heard of it a few times before, about how no one went around it because of it's smell. But... She had also heard that the tree was a spot that her sensei favoured... Maybe she could sit up there and relax and maybe even met Midnight-sama. One issue. She was told that it was on the roof of the Administration building. Well... She'd get there some way, somehow.

And that she did. Quietly she now stood on the roof. She could feel a point of highly concentrated chakra in two points. She looked towards the first point, the closest, which just so happened to be her Sensei. "Hello, are you Midnight-sama?"

While watching the clouds, Midnight found that a lot of them made shapes that were reminiscent of animals he'd never even directly seen in life before. That was not to say that he didn't know what they were; that much was obvious. Others still were more common forms such as weapons and tools he was familiar with. The entire event of his imaginings was shaping to become more or less an ink blot test with no results but Midnight's amusement. Which was definitely good considering how bored he was feeling before he had come to the tree. At least there was still the part of him that was amused by so many things within him.. But how long would that last? Would it too fade away like his Swift abilities? Midnight shook his head to clear it of those bad thoughts.

What was wrong with him? This wasn't like him. Midnight was a person whose sole purpose in life was to make his village a wonderful place and to have fun. While the prior had fallen in his priorities, it wasn't like he was abandoning his village. He still cared for them and wished them well. It was just... He wasn't sure about anything anymore. His life was beginning to fall into what he had feared most. An empty existence living solely so as to not perish. Midnight refused to believe his life was heading towards its falling action into the end. His anger welled up inside him as he clenched his fist and slammed his hand into the ground.

He sighed. Now was not the time for theatrics or rude behavior. He could hear someone shambling their way up towards his position. Midnight pulled himself back up to a sitting position and replaced his eyepatch over his eye. He looked over to Shenlong, but wasn't surprised to see that its wings were already aflutter. There certainly wasn't any cause for concern, especially since the person coming up seemed to be having a hard time even getting up there, but Midnight was alert despite that fact. Ninja weren't masters of deceit for no reason. To his surprise, his eyes found that a frail looking girl was ascending the mountain to his location.

The girl looked to be younger than he, and certainly much more pale. In fact, her skin color made her look ill. Why was such a girl even coming up here? Midnight watched as she shambled closer, with a cane to assist her, allowing Midnight to properly see her fabulous outfit. He looked her over. If she were a ninja, she certainly seemed to be one that was either damaged or just recovering from something. If not, then she was way too young to be looking so tragically ill. Again though, perhaps it was a ruse. Midnight could pass no judgement until the girl herself stated her reason for being here...

Not that anyone needed one. It was just so rare for a person to be up here, that it was almost suspicious. Midnight  watched the girl as she looked at him. Shenlong made the first move. The blue and black butterfly took flight towards the girl, acting much more like a butterfly than Midnight had seen before. He could see flecks of chakra dust fall from its wings and fade away as the insect made its way towards the girl.

"Hello, are you Midnight-sama?" The girl asked him as Shenlong made itself comfortable in her hair. Midnight's jaw dropped and was stunned for a moment. Shenlong was never friendly with anyone, yet it already decided that it liked her? ... The world is a crazy place, it seemed. Midnight closed his mouth and regained his composure. "Why yes I am, who are you?" He inquired, wondering just who this strange girl was who seemed to have actively seeked him out.

She would continue to lean on her cane. It had taken her a little while to even be able to stand with it, so this was a pretty decent amount of progress for her to have made in one day. Getting out of the hospital and going across the village. Her legs were tired to say the least, as was the rest of her body, but she wouldn't give up so easily. She was going to walk without a cane by the end of the week if she had anything to say about it. She would not be worthless, she would be a great asset to Kumogakure. It's what she wanted, to be appreciated and cared about. She felt one point of chakra flutter to her, nowhere near fast enough to be an attack... The closer it got, the more it seemed like some sort of chakra using butterfly; perhaps a pet of sorts? She didn't shoo it away as it settled itself in her hair, in fact, she rather liked it being there.

The man answered her that, yes, he was in fact Midnight. Wow. She had found her sensei quickly... She wondered what he would say to her, how he would act, what he would expect out of her... He was a former Raikage. She had heard most of the rumours about him, and now she'd get to find out if they were true or not. She wasn't going to bombard him with questions though, she didn't know if he would like that very much.

Quietly she took three steps forward, bracing herself constantly against her cane. "My name is Haruto, Himitsu... I was told that you are my sensei..." She her words hang there in the air for a moment. She was tired, her legs were a bit shaky, though it wasn't that noticeable. Five years of apathy tended to do that to people... All of her muscles were tired, unwilling in the want for movement. "... It's nice to finally meet you, Midnight-sama. I've heard a lot about you." She said in her normal soft voice.

Midnight looked the girl over again. She looked good with the butterfly in her hair, despite how frail she was. Midnight could also tell that she was quite determined. After all, she did try to get all the way up here despite apparently being crippled. He realized that this meant that he was apparently of some importance, at least to this girl. How interesting. Since he'd stepped down as Raikage, he had been trying not to get into other people's way, yet here came a girl that stepped into his path down life. He listened intently to what she had to say, quite curious by now as to her purpose.

"My name is Haruto, Himitsu... I was told that you are my sensei..." she told him. His mind raced. In his relaxed state, the thought of finding his student never really occurred to him. As far as he would've guessed, he expected lower ranked ninja to be happy that they could have some time off from having some other teacher barking orders at them. Yet, here she was. No warning, no notification, just approaching him, while apparently injured, making quite an effort to find him. How... admirable? Foolish? Midnight weighed his opinions. He looked at the girl again.

"... It's nice to finally meet you, Midnight-sama. I've heard a lot about you." she continued. Certainly not prideful of who he was, Midnight ignored the possible compliment that came with being known. Being the leader of the village was reason enough to be known without having a good connotation come with it. The better question was what did that mean for him? Were they good rumors? Was he infamous for being a bad leader? Midnight was curious about these things, but curiosity didn't trump protocol.

His inner Kage kicked into gear and made his mind race with possibilities. Most of them, thankfully, were non-lethal. His student had appeared before him. He would have to take care of her now. Not only in training, but personally. It wasn't that he was feeling particularly responsible for her, but Shenlong took a liking to her, so she was obviously a good or powerful person. Or both, really. Midnight didn't really understand what made Shenlong get attracted to her, but he put the question out of his mind for now. First things came first. Addressing himself in a manner that suited him as the teacher of this girl would have to be first. Trivialities like personality would come later.

"Well hello then, my student!" Midnight exclaimed, smiling now. For the most part his initial deduction was over. As with his past students, he would need her to prove herself to him. As he had dismissed the fame comment, he continued speaking, "It's very nice to meet you for the first time." He stared at her breasts for a moment with a slightly concerned, slightly annoyed look about his face. "I just hope... those don't get in the way of our training, he explained, pointing at her chest. Midnight was beginning to feel excited; he had something productive to do again and he would be helping a person from his village. Though he could have done the same by doing missions, it was different now since he was on a more personal level.

As if his comment was literally not an insult, Midnight continued further into the conversation. "So. Since you're here, does that mean you're ready to come train with me? Or would you prefer to prove your abilities now rather than later? Though I don't remember much of your skills, I know that not everyone necessarily has skill in physical abilities, and I'm willing to bet that that's not all you're about, am I right?" Watching her body language, Midnight waited for her response. He was both curious and excited now to have this pupil. Oh, what fun this might turn out to be, he thought excitedly.

Well, he seemed rather happy to meet her, he said that he hoped 'those' wouldn't get in the way... What ever he was referencing to, she had not a clue... He wasn't like a normal person, she could only feel chakra in one small ring like band. "My what, Midnight-sama?" She interjected, clearly not having any clue to what "those" he was talking about.

He continued to go on to ask if she was ready to train with him, or if she would actually like to prove her skills right then and there in front of him... Well... She had literally just gotten out of the hospital, she was still walking with a cane. She couldn't even hold her own weight up by herself, she had gone through five years of atrophy, and it hadn't been nice to her. If she let go of the cane right now her knees would buckle and she would eat the ground, or if she was lucky, she would land on her ass, which, at least was plump... At least she wouldn't bruise her tailbone. But her sensei also said something else, that not everyone had physical gifts, and that's what he bet about her. That she wasn't the big strong physical type of fighter or person for that matter.

This was indeed very true. "You are right, Midnight-sama. I've never really been all that physical, and my current atrophy makes it hard to walk without a cane... I'm highly adept in field of medical practice, and many people have told me that I am very intelligent, I can sense chakra as well, so that makes up for my blindness a little bit... Though, I would prefer to prove myself at a later date, when I am less shaky. I just got out of the hospital today, I was in a coma for quite some time after getting struck by lightning..." She trailed off, somewhat embarrassed at herself.

"Is the butterfly in my hair your pet, Midnight-sama?" She asked in her soft voice... She hoped that she wasn't too much of a disappointment to him. What was she? She was just a weak little girl striving to be something great... For all she knew, he had probably wished for a better student, this was the former Raikage for Inari's sake!

"My what, Midnight-sama?"

Midnight was perplexed at why the girl didn't know what he was talking about. He furrowed his brow and looked at her closely. Surely she wasn't dumb. He clearly pointed at her chest. Did she not see him? She was looking right at him, how did she not see? What do you mean 'your what'? he thought, losing his train of thought entirely. Even while he was so obviously confused, he let the Genin continue speaking without interruption, instead opting to think over the matter rather than jump to an early conclusion.

She explained what he had guessed earlier on when she had first arrived. Well, the first part of her explanation anyway. He figured that she was a genjutsu type that got into a physical battle and lost-- badly at that. Then came the conclusion to Midnight's heavy thinking; she was blind. To make matters worse, there was no fight at all, which would've made sense since there wasn't any obvious bruising or broken bones, etcetera. She had been struck by lightning! For some reason it reminded him of his father... How angry he was at Midnight for being born. For his mother dying on his birth. He didn't remember it himself, but with all the times his father had drunkenly lashed out at him... Midnight stopped his downward spiral before it became physically apparent. His puzzled look became a blank one, just a hair away from being an angry one. It was a wonder why he hadn't already killed that bastard.

"Is the butterfly in my hair your pet, Midnight-sama?" Her question shocked Midnight back into reality.

It was a moment before it registered in his head that Shenlong was actually on her head and wasn't actually just a hair accessory. He still didn't understand why it did that. Whatever; he wasn't about to bring it up in Draconic in front of her. Perhaps he could teach her the language in the future? Midnight was getting ahead of himself. Back to the beginning.

She was blind, so of course she couldn't see the gesture he made towards her breasts. Further still, that was an indication that she couldn't see his body even with her chakra sensing, since his chakra system was contained within his ring. She could also likely see that Shenlong had chakra, explaining why she asked if it was a pet rather than just some random insect. Time for some answers, then.

"Ah, I'm sorry, he began to explain. "I didn't realize you were blind. I didn't think that blind people reacted so much like, well, regular people. Excuse any offense, I'm not sure how to phrase that," he continued. He struggled for the correct terminology so as to not make it seem like she was any lesser of a person for being visually impaired, but he just couldn't put his finger on how to say it. It frustrated him a bit, really. "Anyway, I won't pressure you to show me your skills." He figured if she wasn't capable of showing her best, then it wasn't worth the effort of trying to force it. He was quite excited to have a student, but one so... injured might be an issue to deal with at the moment. Guess that meant a bit more downtime for him.

"Yes, the butterfly is my-- well, not mine per say, but it is indeed a companion. I don't find it right to claim ownership of a sentient being." He smirked. That was going to be the only hint that the butterfly was actually much more than it appeared.

"At any rate, I suppose you should get some rest... or maybe.." he trailed off, thinking quickly now. He was a Sannin now. That means that he could take any rank mission. Having a plus one shouldn't be much of an issue especially since she couldn't get in the way any. His power basically dwarfed hers at this point, but hopefully he could change that. His idea began to snowball. "We should go take a mission together. You decide on what you think we can handle, since I don't know how restricting your current handicap is." He wasn't asking. He was far too excited to get her up and at 'em. Being his protégé, she should definitely become strong.

Shenlong fluttered its wings a bit as the wind picked up for a moment, making itself comfortable in her hair. It didn't seem to have a single thing to say. Perhaps Shenlong would talk later. Who knows. Midnight, excited again, was smiling as his mind began to race with ideas. So many options, so much to do.