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 Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:06 pm
(Okami means 'great god'. The word actually is supposed to have a little line above the 'o' but Proto doesn't know how to do that...))
Nyame's eyes widened. "What?" Her voice dropped to a whisper: "H-how long ago?" But the brunt of the realization came with the surprise: Anzu had kept this secret to protect her. "H-how...why would Akane-sama...abandon us... I-I mean..." She had meant even if Zephyr was a good choice. "Does the other Council know...?" No...she suspected they knew.
And they didn't tell her, so devastated and focused Nyame was on preventing a war between Konoha and Suna...because accepting the war would mean accepting Shikaenja was gone. But he was safe now, in her arms. But the Council...they had treated her like a child because she was as fragile as a child during the long weeks when Shikaenja was gone. Her small frame shook. "T-that's right...he lives...he'll always be with us... Zephyr-sama was Yokou-sama's sensei...he'll make Konoha great..." However, from how she trembled, even if Nyame was trying to convince herself the Hyuuga head of family's former teacher was a suitable choice...
Her heart hadn't accepted it at all.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:13 pm
"I know how you feel, My heart doesn't accept it either. It makes since though. Akane sensei was our teacher. He was like a father to us." He said and then tryed to smile. "Listen. We can't mourn. We can't be sad, and we can't make ourselves happy. We have to be ready for what ever we have to do." He said with a serious tone. His eyes were no longer tearing, and he wasn't even going to be sad anymore. "Nyame. Okami. Please help me. We have forces in Iwa, and we have to figure out a way to help them, and us." He said. He was taking the mature role.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:04 pm
She looked uncertain. "Should we go?" A pause. "I know the village is understaffed currently... True, Anzu and Moku-han might be able to handle it..." But with the deteriorating relationship with Suna...would that not be a risky venture? "But Yokou-sama is there...with Shikamori-sama and the rest..." Nyame twisted a lock of hair around and around her right index finger, deep in thought. "Fine. We should. At the very least, Zephyr-sama must return to the village...Chuunin Exams or not in Iwa...the problem with Suna must be settled first, or strengthen the village's fortifications." She shook her head lightly. "Akane-sama's people comes first. And he has inherited that duty. He must return."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:50 am
He took her by the hands, and held them tightly in his. "Whatever we do. We must do it together." He said. "Yes let us go, and get our village back together. It will have to be only you, and me. I don't think Anzu will approve, and in the case of an attack we need him here. Our village comes first. The problems with Suna will be dealt with. After we get our Hokage back." He said, and then smiled. "Get everything you need, and tell no one. If you have leave a note." He said, and because his parents still thought he was dead he would leave it that way. If they knew he was alive. They wouldn't want him to go anywhere, and that excaserbates things.
[move me to the main village thread. I will post there, and if you need anything to do before we go then post there, and I will post in the village waiting for you.]
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:12 pm
Nyame nodded. However, she will have to tell at least Gekkani...since the western gate was under that child's jurisdiction. The young sentry captain will be able to cover for her for a few days...the child has the right chakra levels to do it too. Well...of course her clan won't be happy about it since they'll notice a henged doppelganger right away... But if all goes well (she'll tell Gekkani to steer clear of Anzu), none of the Council members will notice her missing. "Right! I will meet you at the western gate half hour from now." There was not a moment to waste.
((exit))
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:34 pm
Megumi stood in front of the memorial stone. Tears ran from her eyes, falling into her small palm. She had decided. It was done. Her body shook underneath her overcoat, and she felt... Empty... She had never felt completely at home. She had never felt completely human. And now she was completely useless as a wife. So she would never feel like she belonged. But Irihi was more important than that. If she had had another attack while they were out..... She forced herself not to think about how the hot-headed boy would be slaughtered by someone who could beat her. A sigh escaped her softly.You did the right thing."How can we be sure?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:15 pm
Irihi was released from the hospital after a checkover for minor injuries. He was fortunate - and had gotten away with minor cuts and scratches. However... That was dangerous. His Kaiten was flawed, imperfect...what if he hadn't managed to ward off Hajime's killing blow? It made him shudder to think... Lailah, in his shirt, whined, and licked his cheek. The boy realized he must've had a frown on his face. "It's alright, Lily." He whispered, petting the young snow-white wolf.
Next to Irihi, was the southern gate sentry captain - the Hyuuga genjutsu mistress, Meimu. At that time, she was off for lunch duty. Because Hajime had entered through her gate, she asked to take responsibility for the incident. But the Council could not punish a high-ranking Sannin...and besides, she wasn't on duty when it had occured. As it turned out, Gekkani was supposed to temporarily watch over the southern gate but then decided her gate takes priority (facing two shinobi villages)...and so hadn't sent replacements during the period where Meimu was absent.
Clearly, the defense system was incomplete - flawed. It did not effectively use the talents of the sentry groups. Senju clan was clamoring over new methods, however...Irihi knew better. Without the Hokage present, there was very little that could be done without the Senju lord's consent. Meimu had offered to bring him to where Megumi was (the doctors would not allow the boy to leave alone otherwise), in case he was attacked.
Patta-patta. Feather light footsteps, without a sound. The two Hyuugas - the halfblood and pureblood entered area soundlessly. However...when Irihi caught sight of his sensei...guilt tore at him. Because he wasn't strong enough...he had made Megumi worry. Light footsteps grew quicker, into running...a soft embrace.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Gomen nasai the child whispered, over and over again. Never again. He would grow stronger, so as that he would never again worry Megumi...never again...
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:42 pm
Megumi had flashed her hand so quickly across her eyes that Irihi would not notice, not to say the the other Hyuuga wouldn't. An embrace that a mother could envy wound its way around Irihi. She wasn't shaking that Irihi could feel, but if they had looked.... "Irihi. It seems I owe you even more than I had before. If it wasn't for you... I would be dead." There was undeniable truth in that statement. As if it were a tangible substance. Responsibility to Irihi had brought Megumi back from that hospital. And his extremely risky maneuver had given Megumi just the chance she and her brothers had needed to slay Hajime. "And don't you dare apologize for doing what you think is right."
"But dammit, kid. you scared us." He spoke with a soft chuckle
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:43 pm
"I...it...it was scary..." The boy admitted. To say such a thing...something a pureblooded Hyuuga would rather prefer to die rather than admit... Hadn't Irihi always wanted to fit in, with the clan that had taken him in? However...yet still... "I knew that battle was out of my league... However..." He whispered. There was a steely glint in those pale eyes now, darker colour than the pureblooded Hyuugas...but yet the same... The strong willed Hyuuga line. "My teammates...I have already lost them. I will not lose sensei too."
The southern gate captain stood in the background, watching, a smile on her lips. And she had good reason to, too... With this boy's next words: "But because I was weak...I was a hamperment to Megumi-sensei." True, Megumi had barely gotten him out of the way with Kawarimi the first time when the Kaiten failed...costing the Jounin what could've been the determining factor in a life or death match.
"It won't happen again. I will be a shinobi..." His voice trailed off. "...who will make Sensei proud." Why not to the Hyuuga family? Because...Irihi understood only very well. To be the connecting line between two differing families...with a foot on each side...yet, he can never truly cross fully to either side...
However...there was people he could make proud. Megumi. Nyame-sama. Those who cared for him as a person...not because of his background...
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:57 pm
"The fact that you could make a decision at all, even while so many jounin were frozen, makes me proud, Irihi." A soft smile crossed Megumi's lips as she released Irihi and looked him in the eyes. "If you're going to want to become strong, I think I'm going to have to be around a lot more. Damn. There goes sleeping in late." She laughed softly, a musical sound as she recalled the first day she had met Irihi after she had come back. As Megumi's hand slid by Irihi's pouch, she would slip something into it quietly. A note worth 1,000 ryo.
"So. How are you?" This question was as much a judge of his mental health as his physical. he had just seen a man get turned into a slinky.... Some people react differently to that.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:10 pm
Irihi blinked, the boy seemed to be surprised at the question. "I...I was wondering...I mean...that person..." His tone softened, almost with the slightest tinge of pity. Without a doubt...by that person, he had meant the man who had just attacked them. "He just had such sad eyes..." But then the boy nervously laughed. "Haha. I might've misread...I did fail all the divination classes after all..." Then why had his expression grown sad? "If only...if only..." He whispered. If only killing wasn't necessary... The words could not come out. It was foolish, after all.
He was a shinobi, from two shinobi lines, born into a shinobi world. His path and fate had been decided from the start. Yet...
Such a pure spirit...a dazzling white kei. But it wasn't just for the sake of Hyuuga clan's traditions either. True, that family rarely delivers the killing blow unless deemed absolutely necessary...however...Irihi's reasons were much different. He...just found it a pitiable thing, to hunt down another human being...almost as if they were nothing but a mere animal. And even animals... Unconsciously, he hugged Lailah closer.
Humans could be so...unbelievably cruel...
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:27 pm
"Shuuryou, Hajime.... Konoha's 'Beginning of the end.' He was a young boy, at one time, and an excellent ninja." Megumi made sure to stress the word 'ninja.' Hajime had not been a shinobi for a very long time.. "He had killed at least one innocent Hyuuga... And who knows how many guilty shinobi. Once he went rogue..." Megumi sighed. Rationalizing killing was never easy... "He was suspected in hundreds of murders. He was insane. And never question that what happened was absolutely necessary. We did not kill a man, nor even did we kill a monster, for he was not even that. We killed no one. We saved thousands. We saved thousands from the pain of watching their loved ones dying. We saved millions from sharing others pains. Every action we see ripples out infinitely... If one Hyuuga girl had seen it in her heart to befriend a lonely boy...." Megumi sighed. The name of the Hyuuga girl had never been revealed. It was classified so highly that Megumi doubted even the Hokage knew exactly who it was. "One act of kindness can change the course of fate, Irihi. But when someone is performing countless acts of evil without the chance of stopping...."
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:38 pm
"Nankurunaisa..." Whispered the boy. "Live for today, but always look forward to tomorrow. Nyame-sama's favourite saying." A soft pause. The boy's expression was almost blank, doll-like...as he held his arms open to the stars of the night. "Hyuuga family doesn't believe that fate could be changed...when one is born, supposedly, their fate is drawn out in the stars. Yet still, Nyame-sama urges me to look forward to the future. The fate of a shinobi..." His voice trailed off.
"...is to be a weapon...a living tool... But sometimes, I think..." The sakura grove in the open meadows, near the burial area of the memorial stone...the breeze carried a few snowy white petals over. Snowy white, not stained with colour...like the legend that the sakura groves change colour from the blood drank from the buried corpses. "...the older generation likes to blame themselves too much. Forgetting that they too are human, and there's no need to carry the weight of the world..."
A pause. "Shinobis too are human...isn't that why, even cursed with a *markless death, there will still be those who mourn?"
"I think...the saddest thing is...to die without a trace. No mark, a name blotted out from the pages of history...nothing to ever prove existence..." Irihi casted his gaze down. "The Uchiha are taking care of the undertaking, correct?" Hajime's corpse would be burned...that would end the story of one human being - and a name to never be uttered again in history.
"But okami-sama can be as kind as he is cruel...I want to remember... I want to remember all the people I come across..." His voice trailed off. "So I'll pray for him...and what he could have been."
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:49 pm
"Hajime knew a lot of things. He is being taken care of with the utmost precision. Although, I don't ever think he's going to be forgotten." Megumi smiled again, ignoring the stars. "On to brighter subjects. I believe that it might be time for you to learn something new. With your bow, you are one of the most talented I have seen... But I believe you may need to have something a little more.... Versatile. Do you have any ideas?" Once again, Megumi was asking Irihi what he wanted to learn. It was becoming apparent that Megumi saw the life of a ninja as more of a game than a chore... Although Megumi had already had ideas as to what Irihi would ask... And the weight of a weapon was already pressing against Megumi's mind, hidden near them.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:27 pm
Irihi looked thoughtful. "The clan elders want me to complete Kaiten with them... So I guess where it concerns Juuken Kempo school, is pretty much settled." He looked...a bit unhappy? Irihi petted Lailah. "In another month or so, Lailah would be a full-grown adult. The Hyuuga Council doesn't want me to learn the Inuzuka techniques...but...I do look forward to working with her." The albino wolf let out a little happy bark in agreement. "I..." The boy's glance shifted. Good. Meimu had left to give him privacy with his sensei. Then it became understandable why he had seemed a bit nervous.
"...will most likely be working as a sniper." Irihi looked over his shoulder, to the bow and quiver slung across his back. "I'm well aware of the Hyuuga Council's opinion. Even if they had taken a mutt in, they want to keep me as restricted as possible...seeming as close to the purists as they could get. However..." A soft pause. "I understand my position." Meaning his dual sharing in the Inuzuka and Hyuuga legacy.
Hyuuga clan's code to never initialize attacks of opportunity... It was quite well known, especially to the other Konoha villagers, the Hyuuga family's elaborate honour code. For...even if they had spotted a hidden opponent with their Byakugan...they demand for the opponent to show themselves first before striking.
"I will be breaking my clan's code. However..." Irihi's voice trailed off. "...it's not because I find the sniper class honourable or enjoyable sport. Out of necessity..." His hands shook, slightly. "If it's the best way I can make use of my dual heritage...so be it." Irihi shook his head, as if trying to rid the very thought...how it must have troubled the poor child, knowing his best skill was in sentry-type, assassination work... Yet...
"I...came up with a possible way to extend Juuken Kempo's range. True, the steel arrowheads are much too big and too much chakra will dissipate before actually hitting the opponent. However..." Irihi looked thoughtful. "I have been researching into one of the ancestor's battles. If thin, fine wire is wrapped around the arrow head, over the length of the shaft...considering several hundred feet of wire on a spool is available...I can channel all the chakra needed for the Juuken school into that thread. And the range would become as extensive as the wire would allow."
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