Again?! [Private | Yuna]

[Honnou]

Too much personnel around the borders wouldn’t necessarily be the most effective method to increase surveillance. And yet… after the meeting, he’d tried his outmost to accommodate the Sennin’s command with the amount of ANBU he could afford to add onto the border’s nigh airtight mapping. Really, anything to avoid a second Tama situation.

Hon also knew… this felt like the prelude to another great conflict. Especially after what he’d learned about the Sand. He personally documented whatever rumors there were about the Ancients from his brief interrogation with Tama. It wasn’t even confirmed knowledge yet, but sometimes, even rumors could be extremely useful later.

…

He couldn’t be witnessed falling asleep on his desk in the vicinity of his subordinates. That’d be an embarrassment he’d never live down. Closing the file, he stood up and was aiming for his own quarters, but it meant passing by one of the passages leading back to Yuna’s office. I… I’m still wondering about that, he thought to himself, She has to explain herself…

It had been a while since the meeting, and whatever business she had with the returning ANBU Captain should be over by now… but at the same time, the topic he had in mind made his heart sink with weight. No. It’d probably be easier to just… huh…

Sorry, Ziren… I should’ve probably told you back then, but… I… I never imagined I’d grow this fond of your daughter.

Hell, above all else, he didn’t want to remember the first time they ever talked to each other. Hon was ridden with a sense of awkwardness unfit for an ANBU Captain. He tried to move away from the door to her office, but his feet wouldn’t budge, and then…

Ah… this old habit of his, standing still in the middle of the hallway without even making his presence known. Just standing there… Kitsune-sama would shake her head in disapproval if she saw this.

WC: 323 [MFT]

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

It's been a couple of hours since the meeting with the Anbu captains as each of them have shared their own concerns as she gave them the information to be able to work in their required positions that they are in. After her time in the compound, she had done some research into different ways to push her chimera powers to a higher degree.

There, she met Kitsune-sama who had given her the upgrades that she had asked for. Now she carried the powers of the Tidecaller once more, that in of itself is a vast power that is now back at her fingertips. The second power is a genetic implant that Kitsune had to rewire parts of her brain. It was the power of the Empath. It was safe to say that.... This new sensation is overwhelming to say the least.

It made her more hyper aware than even her Chigokai abilities to hear blood flow of people. Something that makes her able to track and hunt her opponents on a more deadly frequency. The only problem? The Sennin has spent years suppressing her own emotions. Sure she has felt a lot of emotions, but ever since she took on the title of Sennin, she has pushed most of those emotions to the side. The only ones that peek through is when she is dealing with a lot.

Like the death of her father... She sighed. Yuna had her time of grieving and came out on the other end. But during the surgery that Kitsune had done to her... She had a dream of her father. He was right there in front of her. He had said such wise words even though he knows the impossible task that she has told him about.

She would lean back in her chair and close her eyes. One moment... Two.... When she opened her eyes again, she felt like she probably fell asleep. Rubbing her eyes, she could feel a presence at her door. The emotions seem to be complicated as she doesn't either know yet or she is still waking up to realize what the emotions are. So instead, she listened to the blood flow. It sounded familiar. She recalled about her father's teachings. That there will come a time where she is able to tell who someone is just by their blood flow. She was never as good at it as her father was. Even when he had nobody to teach him he had caught on quick to what his powers were once he unlocked them.

So she listened to the blood flow. She began to guess who it could be. Not much people that she was familiar with outside of the Anbu with few exceptions. And the blood flow seemed to be familiar to her, more so than that of Kouin's.

"I know you're there Hon. Come on in." She guessed it was him. It would be the only logical explanation about it.

 

[Honnou]

Ack- okay, fair enough, she could tell it was him. Perhaps it was her Kekkei Genkai or something else, but Hon decided to drop the discretion and enter the office. It was a well-guarded office, even without active guardians around – such was the design, so that it could function as both a safe cell for the Sennin as well as a makeshift bunker in case of invading forces or natural disasters.

“S-… Yuna,” he addressed her by name. She had done the same for him – that was good. Some weight was dropped off of his shoulders that way. “…”

How the hell was he supposed to bring this topic up?

“…” Sighing in defeat, he took his ANBU mask off. His mask depicted a combination of three faces – that of a tiger, that of a fox, and that of a fowl. “I’ve been… meaning to talk with you about something. Something not so… relevant to our duty. Just couldn’t find the right time to talk about it. If now’s not suitable, I understand.”

He still tried to keep a somewhat professional tone – mask or no mask, this was still his superior and the head of the entire ANBU Branch. But… a small blush was slowly revealing itself on his nose, betraying his attempts at veiling his inner turmoil. “… Back then… when you kissed me… s-so are those your… your fee-E-lings-”

His voice cracked…

…

…

Should Yuna but a mere blink, she’d see him on his knees. Hands on his thighs. And a random, sheathed katana laid horizontal in front of his legs, resting on a classic sword stand. The scenery screamed honor, dishonor, and suicidal redemption. That crack in his voice was embarrassing beyond repair. He wanted to turn to dust. He wanted to disappear.

WC: 297

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

Oh yeah.... She did kiss him at one point. Perhaps she had done it while she was in a rather unstable state. Yuna knows that the beginning of her time in the Sennin rank her own mind was a mess. Perhaps she wanted to find some solace in that kiss. Something to ground her to reality even just for a brief second.

It felt like a near lifetime ago and here she was, with Hon again. A faint blush crept onto the Sennin's face. A rare occurrence but perhaps it is due to the empath core ability that has rewired her brain that is now making it hard for the Chimera to suppress her emotions.

She got up from her seat and walked up to Hon. She reached up and caressed his face with her left hand. She studied his eyes, trying to find the right words. "Hon..." Her voice came out like a soft whisper, "My.... My own mind was a mess back then. You of all people knew more than anything about that."

But even as she said that her fingers traced along his jawline, almost trying to memorize it as she leaned a little closer to him. "For the longest time, I've been spreading myself out too thin at times. Wondering if it is all worth it. Having some doubt in myself." Her other hand would reach up and lightly graze his neck as she looked up to him. "And to be honest... I am tired of having this self doubt."

She would hesitate for a second and then kiss his lips once more. This time, she wouldn't pull away. However much that she has suppressed her own emotions, she was tired of it all. And in this moment, she knows what she wants. She would pull Hon possessively closer to her, wanting to experience fully what she has only allowed only a small taste of what she had allowed herself in the past.

 

[Honnou]

Slight touches from her hand on his face felt like getting small shocks through his skin, but it wasn’t painful at all. He was just hyper-aware of how she… felt. She was also close. Really close. More and more of his ANBU façade melted down, and his eyes widened in a very apparent reaction.

But her words… her first words… left him a bit… uh… let down? Saddened? But it made total sense – she was under a LOT of pressure back then. He should’ve really been able to deduce this himself, he wasn’t that unaware of her burdens, but… why didn’t it come to mind? And why did the thought worry him? “I know…”

Yeah, she was right. She needed something to anchor herself, or maybe it was just a fleeting moment. Or maybe… uh, something. He felt so stupid and clueless right now, but she still caressed his neck, and it even tickled a little. Despite her prior words, having her so close felt… great. The shine behind her eyes, her fair skin, and her imminent, violet hair.

She was a gorgeous woman, really. He thought nobody could rival the likes of Kitsune-sama, or even the old crush on the Koto-girl that he never managed to meet again, but he was dead-wrong.

He started feeling more relieved that he could at least get some more clarity from her, but she wanted to get rid of her self-doubt. He was taken by surprise – his lips tightened a bit around hers, and that was when he realized that she was kissing him. Deeper. Deeper, tighter, warmer…

He knew what he wanted.

His arms wrapped around her waist to pull her in, a warm hug while his lips were on fire. M-More… more… m-more… I-I want you more… and more…

‘Pent-up’ couldn’t even begin to describe the source of his relief right now. Genuine love bubbled in his heart. Did the room grow brighter, too? He didn’t even care where he was right now.

Yuna…