Better Than Home - [Open]

[Hasaharu Seizan]

The classrooms were the beginnings of every story. Every young student that sat in these chairs looked up to the blackboard as if it held some piece of truth that would save their lives. As if the diagrams and formulas would explain something deeply necessary, or the instructors were telling them the truth. None of that could have been further from reality, but it was a comfort to believe. It was the security blanket of the shinobi world, to walk into Genin-hood with a sense of service and pride. Not the knowledge that you'd be holding your guts in after an enemy kunai did its foul work. That, of course, was the "Advanced" study.

Seizan sat quietly in an empty room after classes ended, a fingertip drawing idle designs on the desktop. It was wrong to think that hiding was better than presence, but what young man didn't just want to disappear? With his hands busy, he didn't think about the difficulties of chakra. Not even the mastery of the techniques that could use it. While some kids talked about the finer points of painting, Seizan was sure that he was still struggling with knowing what paint looked like. Or the ways to mix it. It was a hurdle, but one that seemed to stretch into forever.

"Damn." he muttered, and stood up from his desk. Books and words could only explain so much. But all of the instructors had gone home, and finding mentors was an artform reserved for the lucky and the rich. Sure that he was neither, he walked over to the blackboard and hopped up onto the desk so he could try to see its scraped surface more clearly. It had been washed clean before class ended, so no wisdom remained. But there stood a young man on a desk, staring at an empty slate. It must have looked a foolish day.<i></i>

 

[Hansame]

Noroi cluelessly walked down an empty hall, looking for a sign for the classroom he was supposed to be in. As he reached the end of the hall, he checked the crumpled piece of paper with the hastily scribbled room number on it. "Right, make a few friends and don't cry" he thought silently. He promised he wouldn't cry anymore and that was a bit of a challenge. Quietly as he could, he walked in To find the classroom empty except for a boy standing up.

Thoughts suddenly raced through his head. "Am I late? Am early? What if I missed it? What if this is some joke? Is this even the right room?" As his faced flushed, he took a few deep breaths, then walked over to the boy standing up.

"Um, I-is this the advanced class?"

Noroi's faced suddenly flushed with embarrassment. That was a horrible way to ask a question, completely sounding like a pansy. Why was making friends so hard?

 

[Hasaharu Seizan]

A fingertip, pressed to the board, suddenly aimed out at the newly arrived student. Seizan's eyes followed the motion so that in the end? He was no only looking at Noroi, but pointing at him in a damning sort of way. There wasn't any warmth in his eyes, no real comfort or interest in looking after a fellow human being. Indeed, it's like there was nothing at all.

"You. Are late." he intoned, and then suddenly broke into a goofy looking grin. The face and expression, all a facade for a momentary ice breaker. "This is where the Advanced Courses will start tomorrow. Right now it's just an empty room. You're not late. You're a day early. So don't lose your head over it." The pointing hand lowered back to his side and Seizan lifted his shoulders faintly. "Did you just enroll? I don't think I've seen you around before. Come in, sit down. Best seats in the house for the class that hasn't started yet."<i></i>

 

[Hansame]

Noroi took a few moments to take in what the boy, and when he point at him, then at his goofy looking grin. That made him relax a little, but still a look of confusion pressed his face.

"I-I just e-enrolled here, I e-enrolled late." Noroi nodded, though still intemidated by the boy.
"Sorry." He added reflexively and walked over to a desk to sit down.

"I-I'm n-Noroi. Nice to m-meet you" he said, staring at the ground nervously.

"This is weird. Was he staring weirdly at me earlier, or was it just me? Urgh, this is a horrible start, i should've just layer my head low and not said anything" he thought, embarrassed at himself

 

[Michi]

OC: Mind if I join and cause everything to go wrong?

IC:
Hahaoysuna, better known as Shiori these days was alone and ambling these once boisterous halls. When she was a 'child' or at least thought she was, she too sat in those tiny desks and listened to some chuunin give them a needlessly complicated lecture. The tiny kunai that were then nearly as big as her hand and the heavy blunt swords that now seem more akin to kitchenware than weaponry eluded her for so long. She made a terrible shinobi and she had proved herself to be a useless woman on so many levels. She tried to blunt her pain with the vertigo only firewater could provide, leaving her to play the role of fool and to solidify her position in society. She could not... would not use her real name. Sousuke would kill or try to subjugate her and what little affections he harbored for her still was all she had left to cling to. The blind dedication of zealots was troublesome, she never desired blind admiration and especially when such sentiments are based on terrible lies. Perhaps she felt guilt... no, that was certainly far from the truth. Yet, somehow there was something human that crept into her soul. She was lonely, with a false family based on nothing but deceit and a love utterly unrequited there was nothing more her - no camaraderie, no true friends; the closest friend she had tried to kill her. She started it... but that is another story.

She stopped in the hall, she could see the students quite clear. That was the gift of the darkness and the song. She let out an audible sigh as she watched young people live the way youths should, conversing and creating friendships. There was a sense of envy when she compared their simple life with her own, of course this was a peripheral assumption and likely far from reality. Her life was not 'bad', she wanted for little in terms of material needs. Maslow would likely find her better off than most in the wake of the cabal incursion that decimated this community and rocked the very foundation of their security. She still has a place to rest her head and food on her plate.

"Don't stammer, even if you're scared just lie."

 

[Hansame]

" Don't Stammer. Even if you're scared just lie."

Noroi ears perked up suddenly as he heard that and turned to see a woman standing right outside.
" has she been there this whole time?" He thought. "Why didn't I notice her? Nevermind, I'll just apologize.." He kept thinking, getting more embarrassed by the moment.

"I-I'm sorry miss. I-I don't m-mean to stammer, j-just a bad habit. Sorry.." He said, his head held low, embarrassed, scratching the large scar over his windpipe nervously.

He began to really think about what she said, and she was right. How was he going to become a shinobi if he couldn't even talk clearly? Small droplets of tears began to form, but Noroi just brushed them off hastily. "Must not cry, you promised" he thought.

[err, sorry, but what does OC and IC mean?]

 

[Michi]

OC: "out of character" refers to when I am simply saying something I as a player want to tell you as a player, like "hi"
IC: "in character" refers to when I am playing my character.

Also, in case you are unaware. My Skype is bladerun40ATyahoo.com (change the AT to an @), I can add you to the sand skype group if you want. Most of us are pretty friendly.

 

[Hasaharu Seizan]

"Nice to meet you. I'm Seizan." he introduced, looking to say more before he saw a woman in the doorway. At first, it was hard to convince himself that he could see the discomfort and bad history in people. But then, living where they did? He realized that it was because they all looked the same. The men could be fit and trim, the women could be graceful and beautiful, but no one was happy in the village. Not when it came to the work at hand.

A hand came out and pressed to Noroi's back to encourage him to bow at the hips, much as Seizan was doing the same. This wasn't another student that had come wandering through. Superior shinobi deserved respect in these halls, and Seizan would give it. "Thank you for the advice." he said to the woman before standing up and offering an easy sort of grin. "...but is it good to teach us that so early? Are we never supposed to learn to trust one another with our wounds?"<i></i>

 

[Hansame]

As the hand pressed down, Noroi reflexively bowed out of courtesy, ashamed at himself because he didn't do it before. Superior shinobi needed to be respected, and he just forgot the rule. "Idiot!" He thought angrily.

He muttered, barely above a whisper "I'm sorry, please don't get mad..."

Embarrassed at his mistake and his cheeks slightly flushed, Noroi sat back down, as if trying to hide himself from the world. He knew he had a long way to go in order to become a good shinobi, but now the path seemed even longer thanks the these tiny little mistakes. Maybe he was being hard on himself, but he didn't care. He wanted to be the best he could be, but he always managed to end up looking like a shy, idiotic pansy. Noroi said to the woman, his head still hanging low:

"I-I'm Noroi. Sorry f-for s-stammering miss..."

Noroi then asked curiously: "u-um, shouldn't we trust o-our comrades' words miss?" "Sorry..." he added

 

[Michi]

"I-I'm sorry miss. I-I don't m-mean to stammer, j-just a bad habit. Sorry.."

The young man apologized, his stammering persisted. Shiori frowned. "Is it a speech impediment or a nervous tick?" Shiori inquired. Her brow furrowed with perhaps false concern or perhaps she had a soft-spot for children. That would be a first. Thankfully humans grow fast, they would be men and dead in the blink of an eye if it was the later and she would still remain, perhaps not as she was today but in some form she would always persist. An avatar of the desert itself, ever shifting but never fading. Her eyes fixed on the scar he nervously fingered.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Seizan."

The young man politely bowed, his hand pushing on his nervous friend's to mimic his own social obligation.

"Thank you for the advice."

And so dammed polite, he was making her look bad. Some parents knew how to raise their kids 'right' - submissive and soft. How they ever survived to adulthood in these god-forsaken caves was beyond her. The truth was, most of them never survived to adulthood and humanity was quickly becoming an endangered species in Wind Country or at the very least the heart of wind country. Humans were such an invasive species, they had already invaded much of the known world not that she had interest in the world... only Wind Country. In the absence of ancients, there was nothing else to govern this world until her brothers were born again. Humans were a necessary nuisance, at the terminal point in their reign with the loss of the Sunahoshi clan but the dawn of the Ancients was potentially centuries away but much less if she had her way.

"...but is it good to teach us that so early? Are we never supposed to learn to trust one another with our wounds?"

"You are a shinobi, eventually one of the most formidable creatures in this world."</B><i></i> She announced, stating a partial truth. "Apologies are for when you are defeated if you wish to live another day,"<i></i> she added. There was a time when her kin bowed and scraped, she was not among them due to her interminable pride. She did not feel that it prolonged their lives, all it did was reinforce defeat in her eyes. It demonstrated to the victor that they were superior in your eyes as well. "But, I doubt it would prolong your life in a significant way."<i></i> Her words carried with them a grim truth. They had likely lost much these past few years, between the monsters and anarchists taking so many lives and causing such pain. Would they apologize to demon for killing their family? Then why apologize to the victors in battle or to her. "You will never survive if you take what you are given at face-value."

"I'm sorry, please don't get mad..."

The young man whispered. Her keen sense of hearing was eerie, she could hear the beat of their hearts and the churning of gastric contents. She could even hear the tick and click of millions of blood vessels. "I am not mad... Sometimes, pride is all we have when everything else is stripped away,"<i></i> she explained. A twinge of guilt perhaps in seemingly torturing the young man. Pride was an old value, a value of her kind. It was a fatal flaw but it was also the reason for their dominance in the time of the Ancients. A trait she was guilty of neglecting as she continued this charade as a human rather than an an ancient. She had nothing, that was the truth. Even her pride has to be discarded to survive but she has endured against all odds. Eventually the Kazekage would learn the truth about her and take her life or she would take his. That would be a terrible day that she looked forward to with infamy.

"I-I'm Noroi. Sorry f-for s-stammering miss..."

The young man brought her back to the conversation at hand. Back to the simple reality she now catered to. This 'human' life. "Get strong... don't die... and only bow if you can get something out of it or you want someone to think you are weak. If your pride is not worth anything... claim and feign weakness, but never be what you are."<i></i> She recommended. This was not the kind of lesson a teacher would ever tell a student but she was not a teacher, not today at the very least. She looked at the stammering young man. "Pretend to be someone else if you cannot be you and address me again." She nodded her head towards the idealist. <B>"Pretend you are him."<i></i>

 

[Hasaharu Seizan]

There was a moment of comfortable patience while the superior shinobi addressed them and spoke so well to his newfound companion and friend. Noroi may have felt that he had a long way to go in order to find the starting line, but like any other student? The young man had a greatness in him. Seizan could tell, if only through Noroi's attention to detail. If only he wouldn't stumble over himself so often! It was something that was written on the wall of Seizan's memory for later considering.

Her words seemed well placed, but... distant. Away. As if she had seen things to take her past where people were meant to go, and into the dimness that religion often tried to salve. He pursed his lips and let her chiding settle into his thoughts. Something to consider, even as his mind rebelled immediately. He rubbed his fingertips together, feeling the softness of them. He wasn't a battered warrior in the field, and neither was Noroi. But they had promised to be, by putting their names in for Academy training.

"...I'm getting something out of showing you respect, I promise." he said at last, but took a little half step aside. She may have spoken to him, but she asked a task of his friend. An immediate act of deception and masquerade, to pretend to be Seizan. That couldn't be too hard, could it? But there it was.

His heart thudded in his chest, realizing not for the first time that they were in the presence of a person who could simply kill them. A little fold of her fingers, a press of her pinky, and their bodies would simply stop working. That was the story of how techniques worked, weren't they? When on thin ice, the brave danced and the fearful prepared to swim. Why not both?

"Did a teacher ask you the same thing, when you were young?" he asked as an aside.<i></i>

 

[Hansame]

"Pretend to be someone else if you cannot be you and address me again" the woman said firmly. Noroi thought about this for a moment. Pretend to be someone else? That seemed deceptive, but Noroi was willing to try if it meant he could stop with the stupid stammering habit. Thinking he was His new classmate Seizan, he tried again.

"I'm Noroi, n-nice to meet you miss." He managed.

Woah...only stammered ounce. If only he could do this naturally. Why couldn't he be strong like Seizan or the intimidating woman standing in front of him. He suddenly started scratching the scar over his windpipe again and the stammering came back.

"Th-thank you for th-the advice, m-miss." He said nervously, as if in an instant someone would pop out and strike him down for saying the wrong thing.

His eyes then looked around the room nervously, just to make sure no one else was watching them.

 

[Michi]

"...I'm getting something out of showing you respect, I promise."</SIZE><i></i>

He was, he was differentiating himself from his peer. A fine line between bowing and scraping and preventing a potential time-bomb from going off. It would make him a formidable shinobi in the coming years if he lived long enough. Sunagakure has attracted many, she would know because she let them in. She did not care, was half-asleep, perchance even drunk off her ass when she opened the doors. In the wake of such calamities, the doors should have been bolted closed and it was far from a benevolent act for her to invite them inside. She did not know what she wanted any longer, she hated humanity utterly but she had also come to identify herself as one of them.

She envied them... She loved them... She reviled them...​

<SIZE size="85">"Did a teacher ask you the same thing, when you were young?"

"Never," Shiori answered immediately. "But that was because they too are liars, telling you that by being honest men you can succeed in the vocation you have chosen,"</B><i></i> when she was a 'youth' lacking the understanding that the world is what it was. When she was limited to a single life, that of a disabled invalid in fact her purview was small and her world even smaller. Wide-eyed with no sight, a blindness that went past a physical handicap. She lived a lifetime as a fool, a charade that persists still. She could have hidden her short-comings as her peers had, as her instructors had. It was something that came natural, something that came natural to the confident young man. He might be afraid, she could hear the patter of his heart but his face nor his words betrayed him.

"I'm Noroi, n-nice to meet you miss."

"...Hahaoysuna" Shiori stated, completing his statement. People today butcher her name and the false one she is known by is relegated to her previous form, an appearance she takes to entertain her cousin until their fateful final encounter where she would be forced to see his true face. These days, only historians and Oracles would recognize the term, perhaps a fellow Ancient. It was a dangerous choice for the red-head to make but it was not the first time her true name had been uttered as of late.

"Th-thank you for th-the advice, m-miss."

He returned to stammering and Shiori's lips cocked to the side. He might be better off just not talking and claim to be a mute. The scar did, however trouble her. Reasons... there was always reasons... <B>"Your neck.... how or who?"<i></i> She inquired. She would invite the confident younger to assist in removing the scar but he did not seem like the medical-type. If she were to guess, he would likely attempt to take the path of an ANBU. The nervous one, perhaps customer service. Sadly, most of Sand's unhappy customers are dead so there would be no market for him there. "Just pretend to be strong until you are... there are plenty of ways you can cheat." <i></i>

 

[Hasaharu Seizan]

Such a swift answer. The young man knew then that the elder ninja had swallowed that bitter pill, to lie when the truth was a stony path. Anyone would have made the same decision in their life, but she? She was sour about what had come to pass. It was clear to him then that whatever teachers the woman had seen in her life? They had done her a foul turn. They had betrayed her in their teachings, making her believe that up was down or that fire couldn't burn her. He fell quiet then and watched her speak to his friend.

The name was one that rang no bells, but could trip even a capable tongue. He resolved to try and learn to say it with some grace, even while he kept his eyes on the interaction. In asking about Noroi's neck, did she give herself away? In that almost-perfect question from his fellow student, had he given himself away? One ninja with a concern for the well-being of others, painted over by years of bile and blood. One student with a stammer intrinsically tied to the mask he wore. It was a bright twist of people, and Seizan was set to ease with it. Not too easy, of course. But enough to finally plant his backside on the desk that he was nearest.

"Fake it until we make it, is that it? Can we pretend to be immune to kunai and senbon as well? Will you teach us some secret way to..." he paused, realizing that his easygoing tone was going to betray him. He waved a hand a little and grinned a forced grin. "...some way to cheat death? If we can cheat and pretend to be other people, can you tell us how to live forever?"<i></i>

 

[Hansame]

"Your neck, how or who?" Hahoysuna asked

The scar. A reminder of the incident almost a year ago. Noroi could still picture the memories perfectly. The man in the white animal mask with red stripes, the terrible hallucinations, the slicing movement of the kunai. All horrible memories. Noroi's eyes started to tear up a little, but he didn't bother to wipe them off.

"J-just a r-reminder of a b-bad m-memory.." He said quickly, embarrassed at his habit of tearing up every time he thought of that horrible morning. Then he heard the next part of what Hahoysuna was saying

"Just pretend to be strong until you are... There are plenty of ways to cheat"

Cheating? Noroi hadn't thought of that until now, but then again, shinobi weren't exactly role models for honesty. Maybe he'll look into it and give it a try.

"Y-yes miss H-Hahoysuna" he stammered quietly, pondering the idea of cheating, but trusted Hahoysuna

 

[Michi]

"J-just a r-reminder of a b-bad m-memory..

He stammered. Then be rid of that foul nuisance if it plagued his heart so. A scar would be a remedial task for any medic to... and then there was the waterworks. Why do humans leak? And such precious resources as water... Uh..

"Fake it until we make it, is that it? Can we pretend to be immune to kunai and senbon as well? Will you teach us some secret way to..."

She might have hit a sore spot on that one, but thank the elements she had. Comforting humans was not a strong suit, she still remembered that kid she tried to poison. Again with the tears and whatever that feeling was where you wanted them to stop and would take back the cause if you could.

"...some way to cheat death? If we can cheat and pretend to be other people, can you tell us how to live forever?"

She let out a sigh. "Death just means you did not have the right friends."<i></i> She mused out loud. She was a capable necromancer, that was what she did. The recently departed could be brought back if she was willing for forfeit some of her power. Even when the dead have been long departed, perhaps even forgotten some remnant could be recovered. That final latent spark that only a dark sage could take from the twisting nether. "But it is easier to remember to keep off the pointy side of a kunai,"<i></i> she stated with a thin smile. Not the kind that made her seem pleasant or even tolerable but rather the kind that one gives someone when they are making a smart-assed comment. "There are shinobi's wholly capable of bring back the dead, but... then again it is taboo. For some reason we want to keep our loved ones dead."<i></i> It seemed almost selfish that humanity rarely sought the resurrection of their own kind and those that did were reviled for their taboo act. "Make yourself strong enough to withstand the might of the blade or fat enough to avoid it. OR, make the right friends with the wrong people."<i></i> She recommended.

"Did you want a demonstration?"<i></i> She queried, eyeballing the cocky teen.

 

[Hansame]

Noiri quietly watched Hahoysuna as she continued to talk, listening to every word. Bringing back the dead? How could a shinobi do such a miraculous task? Was it a long term process? There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he was afraid to know the answers.

"U-um, you kn-know a l-lot about m-medics and r-revival. A-are you a t-teacher or a medic n-nin?" He asked softly, the tears still there.

Noroi scratched his scar nervously and looked at Seizan. He seemed so relaxed and at ease, with his smile. "If only I could be strong like him.." He ponders the thought of being strong for a moment, then the hallucinations piped back into his mind. The blood. There was so much blood. It just seemed so real, then the kunai sliced and everything went dark. Noroi thought some more about the man with that white animal mask with the red stripes, and where he was from. In fact, Noroi had seen a lot of people wearing strange white animal masks lately

"Um, m-miss Hahoysuna? D-do you know Wh-who are the people wearing those a-animal m-m-masks?" He asked nervously, scratching the windpipe scar a little more vigorously

 

[Hasaharu Seizan]

Smoothly, his hands came up to ward off the suggestion of a demonstration. He had no interest in seeing that undiscovered country and coming back as a rotting piece of meat. Or worse, looking just like himself. The sentiment left him with a shiver and a shudder, and he resolved then to ease off of the questions. His seat on the desk became like glue, sticking him there rather than the customary moving-around he would do. No, no. Not now that he sensed he was getting on the woman's nerves. He just shook his head in the negative, and looked pale for the exposure.

Noroi asked about the masked figures that were sometimes seen, and Seizan looked up as well. Fear was a good motivator to silence, but she seemed to be in the mode of answering questions. This was one he wanted to know, as well.<i></i>

 

[Michi]

"U-um, you kn-know a l-lot about m-medics and r-revival. A-are you a t-teacher or a medic n-nin?"

The kid asked, his eyes brimmed with tears. "Neither and I don't kill kids,"</B><i></i> Shiori frowned. Hell, she did not kill adults these days either it would seem. The sanctity of human life might have been utterly irrelevant to her, but her time as a human has forced her to understand life's finite but relative purpose. In exchange for the span of a mayfly they had such wonderful potential but they only had a single opportunity to realize it. She had a hundred-thousand lives to live, but the burden of limitation to stifle her. "You only get one chance to live your life right - be it brief and cruel or long and dull,"<i></i> she admitted. "But, there are things humans can do to extend their life or at the very least make them strong enough that they will not fade quietly into the good night."<i></i> Shiori's actual age somewhat showing in her eyes. There was something about grabbing onto power and obtaining a strength that surpassed their own that benefited the once great ancient. Power ultimately and utterly corrupts, it takes time... years... even centuries but in the end it is the avarice of man that overwhelms. While counter-intuitive, strength is meant to be limited. Limits exist for reason and while humans are capable of breaking past this barrier where morals are an ephemeral limitation, it comes at a consequence. What they forsake in favor of power is often worth more than their gains. Yet in the intermediary, their gains were significant. If they chose the vocation of shinobi, long-term consequences are not something they will likely survive to suffer.

"Um, m-miss Hahoysuna? D-do you know Wh-who are the people wearing those a-animal m-m-masks?"

"Just the ANBU as far as I am aware."<i></i> Shiori echoed. That was a strange inquiry to make, she found the ANBU to be a rather innocuous bunch these days but considering their leader anything was possible. The ANBU were led by Mikaboshi, a mysterious and dangerous former Lord of the Deep Court. Somehow subjugated by Sousuke's Ebon Blade, he was in service to the Kazekage Steward as the ANBU Sennin. "They are nothing special," Shiori added shaking her head. She did not have a great affinity for the ANBU although their leader had piqued her curiosity, one such as her he was. But history had not remembered him fondly, a devourer of souls. A taboo even Shiori was unwilling to commit, ever since Orochi's defeat at the hand of her and her brothers only barely there was an innate fear hidden within her thin frame of the consequence of that much power. <B>"Mikaboshi can be found if you visit the Obsidian, or he might find you if you say his name too loud,"<i></i> that was in fact how he found her. They both were mere shadows of what they once were, but of the pair she felt if it were not for the unseen tethers that bound him to the Kazekage that he would be a terrible sight.

 

[Hansame]

The ANBU. Who were the ANBU? Why did they kill his parents? Worry started to press into his face. The tears were still in his eyes, and more tears were coming, but Noroi didn't care. All sorts of emotions and feelings started racing around in his mind, and noroi's legs trembled. He was scared of the ANBU and scared of knowing their leader, Mikaboshi. A look of fear replaced all other emotions and the tears were starting up again.

"W-would th-the A-ANBU ever h-have a r-reason to k-kill s-someone?" He asked, scared. Maybe some questions were better left unanswered, but Noroi wanted to know more about his parents' death. Even if they neglected him, they still provided him with a home, and Noroi still felt something for them. Not exactly love though, but Noroi wouldn't know what the feeling love is if It walked up to him and introduced itself. Kinda sad, but he didn't seem to mind. Perhaps if he knew, maybe Friends would help, or when he got put into a squad. Yes. A squad. Two other friends and a jonin. That would be a complete dream come true. Noroi liked that thought, and it comforted a little, but the tears and the fear on his face still stayed there in place. Time would tell if friends and a squad would happen, but there was always A chance that he would be placed by himself, forever alone.