Open existential crisis

[Yume Izanami]

After a full day of classes and self training, Mitsuha decided to take in the sights of the sun setting. Being on top of the Hokage rock was kind of a crazy and surreal moment. People, who, in the shinobi world are famed and strong. The ones that so many ninja want to be like, but rarely few ever get to that type of status. Her wanting to be famous, not just meaning her outshining her parents, but also possibly the kage as well. But...

She leaned on the railing looking out at the horizon. She doesn't know a thing about how to get famous. She doesn't really want to ride her parents coattails and just be remembered as the famous couple's child. Maybe she can pick up dancing? She shook the thought out of her head. She'll just be a copycat of her mother if she chose to be a professional dancer. Be a musician or part of a band? Nah, she feels as if she did that, a) there's probably a lot of competition going into that now, and b) it would mean she would have to deal with an enormous amount of people, something that she would rather avoid. Or perhaps....

"Ugh! I don't know what to do!" She would exclaim out loud, then clamp her mouth shut, looking around. Thankfully nobody was around. If there was, she'd die of embarrassment and would want to hide in her mansion. She sighed and sat down on a park bench nearby and tried to blend in in case someone came looking for whoever yelled. She brought out a manga from her bag and buried her face in it, half reading it, half just hiding her face.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

With the majority of the day behind them, the Inuzuka duo once again found themselves free of responsibility and aimlessly wandering the village, soaking up the sun and simply enjoying the fresh air. With evening sailing inbound, it was always nice to head up the Rock and enjoy the view of the setting sun over civilisation.

"Hey Moru, we should head to the library bef-"

Someone suddenly cried out, making the boy jump, freezing in his tracks halfway up the steps. From where he stood, he could make out a small figure, maybe a young girl, leaning against the railings, not that much younger than himself. Halfway between morbid curiosity and his urge to offer his help if she was going through something, he looked down at the Shiba puppy, Morutobu, at his feet. They exchanged a knowing glance. They continued their ascent, keeping an eye on the girl, but staying discrete and out of sight as she headed for somewhere to sit.

"Hey, you gonna share that?"

The voice would seem to come out of nowhere all of a sudden; without making a noise, Keiyaku had seated himself on top of the bench's backrest, so he was looking down at the girl, as if he'd just spontaneously appeared there. Keiyaku had a playful, jovial air to him, despite his rather feral appearance; the fangs and the slit-pupiled, almost cat-like eyes tended to unnerve some. He also wore an ANBU rookie's uniform which looked to be covered in grass stains with patches of mud here and there, like he'd just been rolling in the grass.

"That's the new issue, right? I didn't get a chance to buy it today - mind if we give it a look when you're done?" The young Inuzuka asked amicably, pointing to the Shiba puppy now sat on the other side of the girl on the word 'we'. The puppy let out a happy whine at Keiyaku's suggestion.

 

[Yume Izanami]

A sudden voice made the girl literally jump out of her seat in surprise. "AHHH!!!" She had toppled backwards, her manga falling right on her face. Her face was red. Geez, why do people have to talk to her? She swears, the one time she chooses to find a secluded place away from people, in hopes of not being a people person and enjoying nature, only to have to... talk....

She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. But she wasn't really good at talking all that much. While the manga was covering her face, she reached her hand out for her bookbag, eventually finding it. In one swift movement, she removed the manga from her face and covered her face again with her book bag. Then she said in a muffled voice, "Herf you fo. I've alreadff read it a couple timfff. My dad hafff giffen me the iffue that iffn't effen out yet." She was aware that her speech is probably bad while being muffled by a book bag, but it's a small price to pay to have as little interaction with people as possible.

She had heard the boy talk about a 'we' but she swears only the boy was the one talking. She risked the peek to see a cute little dog making cute and adorable noises. "Wow! Aren't you a cute little puppy!" She reached out to pet the Shiba puppy.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku couldn't help but snicker at the girl's reaction. Obviously, he felt a bit guilty for startling her, but on the other hand, it'd been a slow day and it was nice to goof off and play tricks on people. He took the manga when it was offered and begun to leisurely peruse it, occasionally looking up, but still very much able to talk and converse.

"No way, you get unreleased stuff too? Does your dad work for the publisher?" Keiyaku's voice was full of wonder, excited to be let into this most exclusive secret. He scarcely noticed that the girl was now burying her face into her bag. Morutobu on the other hand, was more invested in the girl, laving being the center of attention as always. He inclined his head to accept any and all scritches, giving a little whine as he sniffed around her. The look in his eye clearly conveyed 'you don't have to tell me I'm cute, I know it.'

"Oh, that's Moru, my dorky little brother. I'm Keiyaku by the way," he looked up, flashing another friendly smile.

Moru whined again.

"Yes you are, and you know it," the boy replied almost absent-mindedly.

Moru barked and whined in a more curious tone, and Keiyaku translated this lazily, way more interested in the book, "oh, he's asking why you shouted out loud earlier, something about doing something?"

The Shiba puppy's expression was one of 'why do you always make me sound like that?'

 

[Uchiha Asuka]

Asuka chakra walked on her own face as she munched on her dango stick. She yawned as she looked over the village. A bit flabergasted at her previous conversation with Takeshi. Maybe she could run and just become a circus performer. She did have a couple of nice tricks up her sleeve. Hearing the random scream she took a quick look up. Allright, no battle sounds so it was just a random girl. No need to get involved.

Looking back up she re-considered her position. But again chose not to get involved. But why was someone screaming? Maybe they had a love feud.. Or they were dying. Love feud was more interesting. But no, this was her alone time she didn't need to get involved. Random reasons started moving in her head. Love feud, family drama, opera performance, monkey dancing. Maybe it was a new chakra technique that lets you be a megaphone! Gods be damned.

She kept walking up her face towards the summit, taking a quick peak at what was going on. She didn't expect to meet Keiyaku again so soon but here he was and he was with a girl? Oh... so it was a love feud thingy. "Oi!" She yelled out "Hokage rock is not a good place for lovey dovey stuff! The rock has an echo!" Of course it didn't, but what fun would it be not to mess with the love birds.

 

[Yume Izanami]

Still hiding her face underneath her book bag, but only peeking out every now and then to see and pet the puppy. "Nah, he's just a co-owner of a growing business. You probably seen it? A kinda new thing that's been around called cars. It's really a hit among the non-chakra people. But he's really good friends with the author."

The boy would introduce himself as Keiyaku and his puppy, sorry, brother? His name is Moru. Still paying more attention to Moru, she then said, "My name is Kaguya Mitsuha. And did you say brother?"

Keiyaku and Moru seem to be having a small conversation when the boy asked her why she shouted earlier. "Well I- EEEP!!!" She cut off at the sound of another human being. Her hand retracted from petting the nice puppy and making sure her book bag covered her entire face. "I BARELY EVEN KNOW HIM!!!" She yelled into her backpack, enough to where her words didn't sound distorted through the bag. Just her luck. She was just about to get used to one person, mainly because they had a dog, when another one had to show up! And they didn't even bring a dog with them for her to pet. How dare they! "Too mafffy people..." She had went back to lowering her voice and thusly back to being muffled whenever she spoke through her backpack.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku thought it was funny how shy the girl seemed to be, but she seemed to explain the situation about her father with confidence; maybe just getting her onto the right subject made her lighten up a little? He continued to read the book, obviously engrossed in it, letting Morutobu be the social one.

"Yeah, brother. We're from the Inuzuka clan; he's my dad's nin-ken's son," the feral-faced boy responded, seemingly unaware the fact he'd referred to a dog as his brother was weird; with Moru having human-level intelligence, Keiyaku always had trouble noticing that people saw the puppy has a pet.

"Ah, it's nice to meet you, Mit-"

The sudden scream, once again, caused Keiyaku to jump, fumbling the book who was holding for a second. A familiar voice had yelled to them, one which was getting closer. When the woman finally walked into view, Keiyaku beamed a wide, welcoming smile.

"Teashop Lady? Lovey-dovey my ass, I'm here for the literature," he retorted, barely looking up from the manga he'd been lent. Morutobu, on the other hand, still being pet by Mitsuha, seemed unable to contain himself around the sight of another new person. He jumped off the bench and bounded towards her, jumping up at her legs, tongue lolling happily about.

"What brings you up here? I thought you'd be busy murdering Shusuke?"

 

[Uchiha Asuka]

She laughed at their reaction. It was always very fun to mess with the youngsters. Their sense of importance was laughably basic. Although, it also was very pure. Some would it's feelings purest form. "Like I told you. Name's Asuka. I swear arms are gonna start flying off if people keep calling me horrible nicknames." She yelled back. Yawing as son as she finished. "Shushuke's dead." She gave a slight smile. Taking another bite from her dango stick. "You love birds are interrupting my alone time and might turn out the same way he is right now." That wasn't neccesarily true, then again. She hadn't lied. Shushuke did die.... he respect for him that is. "Besides." Asuka looked at Mitsuha. "Barely knowing someone isn't neccesarily a reason not to pursue a relationship. Think of it as an experiment."

Turning around she took another dango stick from her sleeve. "In our line of work there's no point living in the future. Rather you get your lovey dovey as soon as you can since today... you literally might get hit by a meteor." She swatted her hand a few times at them. "Stop being shy and get it over with. I want to sleep." She gave a shaky laugh as she turned on her back, looking up at the sky.

 

[Yume Izanami]

As both of the young boy and the older woman started to talk, Mitsuha tried her best to disappear from their conversation by hiding behind her bag as best as she can. But low and behold, the woman named Asuka had different plans. "BOTH OF YOU INTERRUPTED MY ALONE TIME!!!" She would yell through her bag again. She would then add, "Meteors are stupid space rocks that need to stay in space." After saying that, she would try and move like a worm away from the duo, all while covering her face with her bag.

Unknown to her, she would move dangerously close to the edge, where she exclaimed in surprise as her bag nearly fell off the side of the monument. Instantly, bones came out of her hand and dug into the ground, anchoring her there. She stared off down below. All of a sudden, she would feel dizzy and kind of sick to the stomach. She looked up to try and not get sick. At her non-chakra school, they had taught her about phobias. What she might be experiencing right now is Acrophobia. When she looked up, she felt better, but somehow, she knew that if she looked back down, she would get that sick feeling again. Okay, people and heights... One totally avoidable, the other... not so much. She had managed to roll herself over away from the edge, along with her bag, but when she tried to get up, her hand was still stuck in the ground.

She would look up at Asuka and Keiyaku, first time seeing both of their faces. Keiyaku looks kind of feral, whereas Asuka looks a little weird. Too much red hair. But nonetheless, all she could say was, "Help?"

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

"What? He's dead, and you didn't invite me to watch? I'm hurt, Lady Asuka, simply hurt," he said with a fake look of torment, unable to keep himself from snickering. The sudden yell from the girl made him almost jump out of his skin.

Keiyaku was a little shocked to see the girl edging towards the sheer drop at the perimeter of the monument. He began to get a little closer as well, a sinking feeling in his stomach. His ears registered the scream before his eyes realised what was happening; he lurched forward, instinct taking over, about to grab her hand to help her, narrowly avoiding getting his hand skewered when her skin suddenly disgorged some sort of white, pointy something. He stared at it, completely nonplussed, stepping back a little bit as the girl managed to pull herself back up, but still with her hand stuck to the ground, the bone matter dripping with the viscera of her skin slightly.

"What the actual fu- is that.... are those... bones?"

The Inuzuka wasn't sure what other conclusion to make; he'd never seen anything of the sort before. His first thought was that this girl had suddenly developed the onset of some hitherto unknown medical condition. He looked over at Asuka, a little stunned, silently asking her for answers. However, when the girl prompted them, Keiyaku stepped forward, using his claws to dig through the rock and the dirt until he could get the strange bone appendage loose.

"We... I.... should.... should we get her to a medic, Lady Asuka?"

 

[Uchiha Asuka]

"Those space rocks hurt." Asuka giggled giving the kids a wide smile. Besides, it didn't seem as though it would be enough to calm tthis love birds down. "And you interrupted my quiet time by being one loud brat." She continued "Man, you really have no sympathy for your comrades. I feel bad for whoever ends up in your team."

Hearing the gasp she looked over at the tumbling girl. Some of these kids really had bad sense of balance. She was about to jump down and save her when the girl actually stopped herself using... bones.... oh... she was one of those. Not only that but it looked like she was afraid of heights. A shinobi, afraid of heights. Well that is something you don't see everyday. "That's a Kekkei Genkai." Asuka sighed slowly standing up. "This particular brat can manipulate her bone structure. Hence why the whole bones grabby thingy." Patting herself up she moved a couple of steps towards the child. "What baffles me is her fear of heights with a bloodline like that."

"You are one airhead." Bending down towards the kid as Keiyaku dug "My only guess is that you are pursuing the civilian life. Or at least dream of it because as you are right now. I wouldn't suggest enrolling in the academy." Getting a bit tired of the sound of the digging Asuka stuck her hand on the ground and just pulled out a small chunk of dirt. The kid's hand still in it. "Nah. Her hands stuck. Meaning it was her own lack of control that got her in this mess." Standing up Asuka patted Keiyaku on the head. Looking back at the girl she shook her head. "Get that ability of yours under control otherwise you might end up killing someone." She went back to her original spot, sitting back down and enjoying her dango stick. "Would appreciate no more shenanigans."

 

[Yume Izanami]

Mitsuha could only listen as she was stuck as the older woman would berate her. Controlling her own bloodline. Get her head out of the clouds of the civilian life. She gritted her teeth but haven't really got the courage to speak up. The problem was that she had lived a rather sheltered life. She has only experienced very little problems in her own life.

But... the girl couldn't help that the woman was right. Her biggest issue was the need to control her bloodline. She was already enrolled in the academy, but it probably won't be any good information to Asuka. She clenched her fists, the exterior bones that had formed around her hand cracked and fell off of her hand and onto the ground. "Wha-" She cut herself off. Speaking to people without covering her face is such a big difference. Gritting her teeth and wanting to curse herself for not having the courage to speak. She took a deep breath and tried to put on a brave face to stare at the older woman in her eyes. "Wha-what if I prove you wrong? If I gain the rank of genin and control my bloodline? You can't act all mean forever." Despite her fake bravado, she was shaking like a leaf. This is the most human interaction that she has had other than that one time she was training with another woman who was teaching her all about weapons. The difference is that she had nothing to really distract her from the fact that she was having human interactions. She could definitely feel her face turn red as she made an angry face. "As for me and that boy, we will NEVER date. His dog is cuter than him."

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku had, as would be obvious to anyone watching, already managed to disgorge the girl's bone clad hand from the ground by the time Asuka came to bend down.

"Kekkei genkai? Really? So you've seen this kind of thing before?"

All this talk about manipulating bone structures, coupled with the slightly unholy vista of bone tearing through skin like a hidden blade, made Keiyaku want to take a step or so back, nonchalantly setting the manga issue back down on the bench beside him, within reach of the girl. Even Moru backed up a little bit, scared of being skewered if she really did have such little control over this ability.

"You seem super young... I... didn't think a kekkei genkai like that would appear so early..."

Coming out of his reverie, his brain finally exited danger-mode, and he was able to focus on the slightly more trivial aspects of this conversation. When the girl mentioned Moru, the Shiba puppy puffed up his chest, suddenly looking shockingly smug, grinning up at the Inuzuka boy.

"Ehhh, maybe don't say that.... Moru's head is big enough as it is. Plus, everyone knows, I'm the cuter brother!"

Apparently, any mention of the words 'dating' and 'lovebirds' seemed to sail right over his head. Moru seemed to be in a dilemma of wanting to approach the girl to receive pets now that he'd been called cute, but also fearful of getting an impromptu hole in the head.

 

[Uchiha Asuka]

"I have. Almost got stabbed by someone with her abilities once." She remembered. Man, that was a long time ago. Kind of made her think of how time moved in a faster pace when you weren't thinking about it. Shaking her head Asuka took a bite as she relaxed in her seat. "There{s no really any set date for when a bloodline manifests itselfs. It's usually a trigger that does it. It's rarer at that age due to lack of external influences. People tend to protect the young ones from the horrors of the world." The last part was true, it was more probable to awaken the bloodline at an early age b being an orphan than a kid with parents. Trauma. What a funny thing.

Giving a slight look at MItsuha Asuka sighed. Well, she had to give her guts and determination as a good trait. "See." Asuka responded getting tired of the love bird story line. "Controling it isn't enough. A bloodline isn't useful unless you know how to use it. Kind of like a muscle. Without training it's useless. With training you could break rocks with it. You have determination, but only you can determine whether you have the discipline to push yourself to the next level." Asuka shrugged. "I'm not being mean. I'm being realistic." She laughed "THAT kind of attitude will get you killed one day. Heck, Keiyaku here is already a Gennin and he still needs work. It doesn't end with Gennin. It never ends."

 

[Yume Izanami]

Kekkei Genkai. A skill that would be only obtained through few individuals. She knew her power of controlling the bones in her body as a weapon was almost unheard of. She only activated her when... Her mouth opened on its own as she spoke, "Me and my parents were attacked. Someone had kidnapped me and wanted my parents to pay a ransom, but..." She paused, "My parents got hurt and I wanted it to stop. I shot a piece of bone at my kidnapper." She is lucky that both of her parents are alive and well.

Turning back to Asuka, Mitsuha listened as the older woman speak. It was true that she needed to learn more about her bloodline and grow with it, train with it. Heck, she's been training in the Forest of Death for one whole day there. She's even trained her abilities at the Academy on a training dummy.

She's been training nonstop, and only seeing small improvements. "Well guess what, I will control it, use it, and perfect it! Then I'll work on it even more!"

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku blinked as Mitsuha explained about how she discovered her kekkei genkai, and how she'd managed to save her parents.

"Yeesh, that must really hurt, pushing bones out through your skin. I guess it's something that takes a lot of time to get used to, huh?" Keiyaku commented, looking down at his hand for a moment; he remembered how painful it was when his claws started growing in for the first time as a little kid. He couldn't imagine what that must be like with your bones, and all over your body at that.

"Still, at least you'll never be short of a weapon."

Moru seemed to be getting a bit braver around Mitsuha and actually approached her, trying to use his natural cuteness and soft floofy fluff to placate her.

"Uh yeah, we're still Genin, Moru and I. I mean, you'll basically be a work in progress your whole life, right? No one's perfect. You should just... make sure you have yourself a good sensei, Mitsuha."

Moru let out a few friendly-sounding whines and grunts. Keiyaku translated.

"Ahahaha, yeah, make sure you tell new friends about it; you might hug someone and then accidentally shish-kebab them."

 

[Uchiha Asuka]

"At least you understand how to defend yourself. That is a very good thing." Asuka finished her dango stick as she continued to talk. "But don't forget restraint is also a good thing. Learning went to back off is a skill you will need." SHe giggled, throwing the stick into the ground, a small crack appearing as it impeded in it. "Looking forward on you getting stronger." She sighed as she stood up. Cleaning the dust off of her Kimono.

"Good sensei is always good. But branching out and learning from each other helped me the best personally. At one point you'll have to discover things for yourself so don't neglect your personal stuff." Giving an annpyed sighed Asuka looked at them. "We don't need another shanking accident. So I would really appreciate it if you didn't, the paperwork alone makes me suicidal." Clearing her throat she looked over the village. "Well, I would like to stick around but unfortunately this is my quiet time. Swing by the academy if you need anything. Todaloo!" Giving a salute Asuka vanished.

[Topic Left]

 

[Yume Izanami]

Mitsuha would pet Morutobu as she had listened to Asuka speak. The woman was right, that she needed to get stronger and learn more control. It had really grinded her gear how the woman talked though. But there was something about her that was... familiar. She can't put a finger on it. But as she had pondered on who this woman was, she had vanished right before her eyes. Her anger was now replaced back with shyness, as she now has no reason to be angry, red flushed her face as she remembered that Keiyaku was there. But she tried to keep her composure as she spoke, but...

"Um... Yeah, I'm gonna go this way. Bye!"

(topic left)

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

[Topic Left]