Open Lonely Nights

[Chikara]

I often walked the ruined streets of old Suna, especially on nights that I found myself unable to sleep. At night it was the best place to find wandering souls who needed saving, and as the sage of the Tadashii I was obligated to spread peace and mind to the people. Of course the people believed the Tadashii were nothing more than a religious sect of shinobi who lived underground. To a certain extent, they were right about that. The Tadashii were a selective group and like most groups they had many secrets which needed guarding. The true power of he gods was dangerous to most, and until my mother was brought back to life I couldn’t let anyone else gain access to the old temple.

“Excuse me, sir.” There was a voice from behind me, and when I turned I saw a frail man hunched over below me.

“Yes, brother?” I asked, lowering the hood of my robe to show my face. Then I crouched down to eye level with the man, but as I did so other men came out of the shadows and I knew what was happening. It was just another ambush in the ruins of Suna. I sighed as I eyeballed the approaching men and then returned to the old man who released a plume of smoke as he changed back into a young, malicious vagrant. They all attacked in unison, and as they launched themselves at me a large mouth emerged from the ground around them. As the mouth closed, the thin beam of light revealed my form crumbling into sand. As they realized they were attacking a sand clone it became clear that it was too late.

The mouth closed tight and sand back into the ground, bringing the now screaming men with it. I didn’t care what happened after that; they were a group of poor souls with no formal shinobi training, and there was no way even a group of them could take me down. As I watched the sand worm I created drag them under the sand, where they would surely suffocate, I thought about my destiny to save this village from a great threat. I thought about my mother’s corpse lying in front of the old temple’s entrance, waiting to be brought back. Kuragari was waiting for me to gather the necessary souls, and then I could use his technique to bring her soul back to her body.

“Oh, to be unburdened by the pressures of destiny.” And I actually felt envious of the dying souls. “Ai, grant me strength to finish my mission.” I lowered my head and continued to walk slowly away from the scene, a faint smile on my lips.

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