Hinote sat bolt upright in bed, his eyes and ears straining in the darkness. It was quiet, too quiet. He leaned over towards his nightstand and flicked on the small lamp there. The dorm rooms at the Konoha Shinobi Academy were small and efficient. The walls and ceiling were white and unadorned, and the floor clad in beige tiles. All the furniture was made of cheap, laminated particleboard, and there wasn't much of it. A desk and chair, a twin bed and nightstand, a two-drawer, underbed dresser, and a small bookshelf. The only splash of color in the otherwise modest room was the royal blue comforter on the bed. Hinote shook the blurry fog of sleep from his head as he tried to figureout what had awoken him in the first place.
It took a minute, but he eventually figured it out. It was the silence. He was so used to the sounds of his parents and sisters snoring (like little freight trains, I might add) that the silence had shaken him from a deep slumber. Hinote fell back onto the bed with a sigh, turning his head to check the time on his alarm clock. The dim crimson numbers read 2:16am. Hinote cursed under his breath. He was so excited to finally be out from under his family and into his own "place". Hell, he about had a conniption when he saw that he had his own bathroom. His parents weren't nearly so thrilled. If it weren't for Hinote's infalible agument that he could do better at the Academy if he didn't have to commute and he was able to focus solely on his schooling, they might not have relented. Funny, he'd so anticipated getting out on his own, he hadn't even considered that he might have trouble adjusting to his newfound solitude.
After tossing and turning for a few minutes, Hinote finally abandoned the idea of getting back to sleep and stood, shedding the covers with a grunt of disappointment. Perhaps a walk in the crisp, early-morning air might help drive him back to the shelter of his blankets. He quickly pulled on a pair of black, silky athletic shorts and a purple t-shirt before grabbing his room key from from his desktop as he headed out the door.
The dormitories resembled a two-story apartment building with outdoor walkways instead of indoor hallways. Hinote's room was somewhere near the middle of the long row of rooms on the first floor. As such, he was able to walk right out onto the grass and head towards the training grounds. His initial assumption as to the temperature of the evening air was correct. It was seasonably cold, cold enough to see one's breath, anyway. The grass beneath Hinote's bare feet was crispy with frost as he trekked onward. Steam rose from his feet as he walked, unperturbed by the cold. Hinote was well known (by his family, at least) to radiate heat like a small furnace; as such, he was never really bothered by the cold.
Looking up at the early-morning sky, Hinote found it surprisingly clear. He could've sworn he heard something on the radio about there being a high chance for rain. Millions of little stars looked down from their velvety-black perch, while the moon only deigned to reveal a a thin sliver of it's visage. A gentle breeze rustled the still mostly bare branches of the trees, only a few of which had begun to sprout tiny green buds in anticipation for spring. Hinote was so lost in the beauty of his own surroundings that he didn't notice that he had arrived at his destination until he was standing dead center in the middle of the training grounds.
It was eerily silent here, too. The moonlight washed out all color, leaving the world tinted in a dim grey-scale while simultaneously lengthening and deepening the shadows. Funny, even though it was such an ungodly hour of the morning, Hinote could almost swear that he could feel eyes on him. Like he wasn't alone.
{MFT}
It took a minute, but he eventually figured it out. It was the silence. He was so used to the sounds of his parents and sisters snoring (like little freight trains, I might add) that the silence had shaken him from a deep slumber. Hinote fell back onto the bed with a sigh, turning his head to check the time on his alarm clock. The dim crimson numbers read 2:16am. Hinote cursed under his breath. He was so excited to finally be out from under his family and into his own "place". Hell, he about had a conniption when he saw that he had his own bathroom. His parents weren't nearly so thrilled. If it weren't for Hinote's infalible agument that he could do better at the Academy if he didn't have to commute and he was able to focus solely on his schooling, they might not have relented. Funny, he'd so anticipated getting out on his own, he hadn't even considered that he might have trouble adjusting to his newfound solitude.
After tossing and turning for a few minutes, Hinote finally abandoned the idea of getting back to sleep and stood, shedding the covers with a grunt of disappointment. Perhaps a walk in the crisp, early-morning air might help drive him back to the shelter of his blankets. He quickly pulled on a pair of black, silky athletic shorts and a purple t-shirt before grabbing his room key from from his desktop as he headed out the door.
The dormitories resembled a two-story apartment building with outdoor walkways instead of indoor hallways. Hinote's room was somewhere near the middle of the long row of rooms on the first floor. As such, he was able to walk right out onto the grass and head towards the training grounds. His initial assumption as to the temperature of the evening air was correct. It was seasonably cold, cold enough to see one's breath, anyway. The grass beneath Hinote's bare feet was crispy with frost as he trekked onward. Steam rose from his feet as he walked, unperturbed by the cold. Hinote was well known (by his family, at least) to radiate heat like a small furnace; as such, he was never really bothered by the cold.
Looking up at the early-morning sky, Hinote found it surprisingly clear. He could've sworn he heard something on the radio about there being a high chance for rain. Millions of little stars looked down from their velvety-black perch, while the moon only deigned to reveal a a thin sliver of it's visage. A gentle breeze rustled the still mostly bare branches of the trees, only a few of which had begun to sprout tiny green buds in anticipation for spring. Hinote was so lost in the beauty of his own surroundings that he didn't notice that he had arrived at his destination until he was standing dead center in the middle of the training grounds.
It was eerily silent here, too. The moonlight washed out all color, leaving the world tinted in a dim grey-scale while simultaneously lengthening and deepening the shadows. Funny, even though it was such an ungodly hour of the morning, Hinote could almost swear that he could feel eyes on him. Like he wasn't alone.
{MFT}
