I Think I Owe You An Explanation?

[Niro]

Licht sat in a bar, a glass of whiskey held in his hand as he thought about the last couple of years. He had become strong, skilled, and incredibly fast. Faster than even Yaku when he went full speed because of one of his personal jutsu.

He was in Rain Country, the ever pouring rain pounding down. Ever since Yaku had tried to move Henkou's base into Waterfall he had vehemently refused. The S-rank missing nin had also kept in contact with his 'friends' in Sunagakure. Yaku hadn't been planning a move against them so if he called them if was to check up on them.

Senshou had disappeared for training, leaving him all alone. He finished the glass and ordered another one before he removed his cloak and placed it on his lap. Licht ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

Life could be shit.

Life could be horrible.

Or Life could be amazing. It was all based on one's actions and how they perceived their actions.

[Kao]

Fusae needed a drink.

Though she recently had a birthday (that went almost completely uncelebrated), the kunoichi was still underage. Had she walked into a respectable bar, there was no way she would get served. She walked into the noisy bar with a false, pleasant smile on her face. She had little to smile abut recently, but she was never one to mar her face with a frown in a room full of men.

She strolled to the bar and sat, immediately grabbing the attention of the tender. "Mind if I get a drink? Full bottle of sake. Don't worry about pouring it." The man outright refused; though her dress may have been...provocative to say the least, she still appeared just a bit underage. "Come on. What's a lady have to do to get a drink around here?"

The man mumbled, and turned away, seeming to be thinking over the consequences of what he was seriously considering.

[Niro]

"Just give her a drink, Suiken. Why the fuck should it matter to you? We're in middle of nowhere." The man next to her snorted as he closed his eyes and sipped his whiskey. Licht knew exactly who she was. Even in the while he had not seen her he could still recognize her.

"B-but L-" The bartender, Suiken, stuttered. Licht cut him off with a hard glare.

"I thought I told you not to say my name. I may be a regular but if you let people know I am then this place'll get a lot of unnecessary attention." Licht sneered out in a gruff tone.

"She should know how much she can drink. Otherwise she shouldn't be going into shady as hell bars. Damn kids.." Licht mumbled to himself in a low voice. He was sorta of wanting her to hear what he had just said to see her reaction.

[Kao]

As soon as the man began to speak, she wanted to scream. His voice made her blood boil, her neck prickle, and worse....

His voice made her heart skip.

As soon as the bartender passed the bottle of sake across counter, Fusae grabbed it and slammed it onto the edge of the bar. The loud shatter of glass cut the air, sounding above the din of the low conversation of the bar. Many of the people hushed and turned her way.

The bottle was heavy and thick, so the mere fact that Fusae found the strength to crack it - let alone completely shatter it - showed how furious she was. The precious drink dripped from her hand onto the floor as her eyes flashed with rage. Fusae dropped what was left of the bottle, her chest heaving as she took long, almost strangled breaths.

"You...goddamned jerk."

If the destroyed bottle of sake didn't show that she was enraged, her cursing sure would. Anyone who knew Fusae at all knew that she never cursed. Licht was in for it.

[Niro]

Licht chuckled unhumorously. Same old Fusae. Licht grinned to himself and easily disappeared from view, seeming to teleport. He appeared behind Fusae, chuckling.

"Same old Fusae." He mumbled. "You're pissed for stuff I did to you yet it was for your own good."

By now the entire bar was watching. Licht glared at the crowd and concentrated his chakra. "Leave."

The word sent a few scrambling for an exit and some slowly leaving as the now revealed S-rank missing ninja made himself known.

"You stay, Suiken." The bartender nodded and headed back to cleaning glasses.

[Kao]

"Well, look at you," she said, her teeth grinding. She had yet to turn around. She didn't want to look at him; all she wanted was to burn his eyes into oblivion. "Someone's grown a backbone. Or at least you don't seem to be the same lazy bastard you were."

Fusae slowly turned, shaking her hand of the sake that still clung to he skin. "Is it for my own good to leave me in the damn rain in the middle of some godforsaken country, crawling with your cronies to fend for myself? Is it for my own good to leave me in bloody cave for weeks on end without so much of a word?"

She narrowed her eyes, glaring up at his face. "And wipe that stupid smirk off your face."

[Niro]

And that's when things got bad. Licht's eyes narrowed and he got right up in her face.

"I left you a tent that was barely leaking. It was better than nothing in that situation. I didn't leave you to fend for yourself, I made sure they left you alone and they eventually removed themselves from Waterfall! I thought you would move to a different area because I was more than likely in the same fuckin' area! Everything I did was to fuckin' protect you! Get that through your thick skull!" Licht ground out in barely suppressed rage.

"Shit goes down when you have to decide whether you want to die or you want to protect those you care about. No one can be the same person forever! Humans adapt and change, we're different with every situation we're flung into!"

[Kao]

"Maybe you don't know the meaning of 'fend for yourself.' You left me, completely alone, in the rain, with a tent and a dead fire. You left me alone with NO ONE to help me or be with me. You left me ALONE, Licht. You left me to fend for myself!" She pushed him away, taking steps backward until her back hit the edge of the counter.

Emboldened by anger, she stepped towards him again. "If you cared so much, you could have stayed! Even if you DID make sure your stupid friends didn't bother me, what good with that do if I was, oh, hunted? Just because there's pansies in Konoha doesn't mean my family won't hunt me down eventually!

"Was any of that even real? I mean, you said yourself: 'it was only sex.' Is that all I am to you? A piece of meat?"

[Niro]

"And all you did when I started to walk away? Sat there. You didn't even try to stop me from leaving." Licht argued back. She had, anyway, not tried to make him stay. She had just sat there.

"You're strong enough to fend them off, more than likely. And if you mean Hoshi in any way, shape, or form? He's probably dead. No one has seen him for months. I've kept tabs on your life since I left, just to make sure you were alright. Do not accuse me of not caring when everything I did was to try and protect you. If you had ever screamed when you were injured? I probably would have come running because I was usually within screaming distance."

"Yes, it was real. But were, are, so angry at everything all the damn time. Only time you weren't was when we were out shopping and even then that was a facade! No, it wasn't only sex and you are not a piece of meat. Get. That. Through. Your. Head." Licht punctuated the last words with force as his hands clenched.

[Kao]

"How was I supposed to go after you?" she growled, pushing his shoulder. "You disappeared - poof! Cloud of smoke! Gone!" Fusae hadn't been so angry in a long time, not since Licht had broken up with her. She quickly learned to suppress her anger and tried to move on, but her emotions all crashed into her at once.

"Did you ever stop to think that I was angry because you were gone all the damn time? That stupid org had you busy and it kept you away from me. I hated that." She growled in frustration and sat back down at the counter, using her arm to push away the shards of glass and the wasted sake.

"I'll pay for that," she said, addressing the bartender. "Just bring me another."

[Niro]

"Yeah, I still walked some distance before I did. You could've screamed 'Wait!' or something along those lines. You could've done something instead of sitting there." Licht continued to argue back. While Fusae had been learning to hide her emotions, Licht had been relearning how to completely express them.

"Did you ever think I completely despised being away also!? I tried my hardest to get back to you when I was on a mission but when you're directly helping the top it's hard to catch a break." Licht complained with a deep scowl.

"Don't make her pay for it. Add it to my tab." Licht threw over his shoulder to Suiken as he brought Fusae another bottle of sake.

[Kao]

"Even if I had tried to stop you, you'd have still kept going. So don't feed me that bull, Licht." Fusae grabbed the bottle as Suiken pushed it across the counter. She grabbed a tiny cup, poured the liquid, and took a quick drink. "I don't even know why we're having this conversation," she mumbled. "This isn't going to change anything. You're still going to go back. You're still going to not be with me."

Fusae sighed, using the back of her hand to push the small cup onto the floor. She swished the half-empty bottle around before taking a long swig. She wanted to leave. "It's been three years. What's different now?"

[Niro]

"Hah, you wish. I would've stayed and tried to make it work. Don't try to turn you not trying on me." Licht shrugged as he grabbed another whiskey bottle from the counter and took a swig. "We're having it because you walked into a bar I happened to be in and went ballistic when you heard me. You don't know that. I'm on Yaku's level now, I can do anything I want until I get a direct order forcing me to do something."

Licht snickered as Fusae pushed the cup onto the floor. Still, after three years, the same old Fusae. Licht wanted to get this settled and have an idea where it was going.

"I don't know, more free reign to do whatever I want? You and I being stronger than we used to. Think, you're smart." Licht shrugged.

[Kao]

"Yeah, right!" she said, taking another sip of alcohol. Her face was already becoming flushed, her eyes slightly drooping and bloodshot. She was never able to hold her alcohol well. She pointed a shaking hand in Licht's direction. "I still remember what you said! And from the way you sounded, you were done with me. You didn't hesitate to leave me out there!"

She tried and failed several times to grab the bottle again; when she finally grabbed hold of it, she realized it was empty. "No idea what you're talking about," she slurred. She was clearly inebriated; thinking too much made her head hurt.

[Niro]

"Whatever, no point in arguing with you since all it will bring is more glares and bad emotions." Licht grunted. He grinned and chuckled when he saw that Fusae was visibly drunk. "I could probably bend you over the counter right now and fuck you and you would not even care, huh?" Licht teased.

[Kao]

Fusae turned around slowly in her seat, her cheeks strawberry red. She took the empty sake bottle with her, setting it in her lap. She licked her lips, doing it without any sexual implications; she merely wanted to get the sake from her lips.

"Oh yeah? I've gone nearly three years without you." Fusae released the bottle, letting it clatter noisily to the floor as she lifted herself onto the counter. "Who says I'd let you?"

[Niro]

"Things are so much better after a long period of time. Who says I haven't done the same?" Licht smirked as he leaned towards her. This was fun, extremely fun for the ninja. "Oh? Really?" Licht grinned a bit more as he tugged at his collar.

"It's a bit...hot in here, huh?" The ninja grinned as he tugged a bit more.

[Kao]

"Nope," she said, shooting a frown at him. Though she was drunk enough to be flirty, she wasn't exactly thrilled to see him again. She had thought she moved on since the last time they saw each other. Yet the firs thing she did when she saw him was become enraged. Every suppressed emotion had come back to her before she could even blink. Not only did her rage come back when she saw him, but so did her feelings for the man.

Had she been sober, she would have hated him for that.

But the alcohol made her nostalgic, and the way Licht flirted and teased drove her crazy. As much as she wanted to be mad, the alcohol wouldn't let her stay angry for long. Fusae crossed her legs and put her arms behind her back, then she smiled and stuck her tongue out at him.

[Niro]

Licht laughed a little. He was buzzed, that was a definite. But he wasn't drunk and could still control his actions. Licht knew he was a bit buzzed and thought for a second. Heh, might be perfect?

"Alright, alright." Licht shrugged as he 'accidentally' backed into the bar and then 'tripped' over the sake bottle she had dropped. He went over the bar and grabbed a shelf. It caused several bottles of drinks to crash and splatter his person with alcohol.

"Aw crap." He muttered as he got up. "Now I need to change."

[Kao]

"You're so...ugh." Fusae maneuvered herself on the counter, twisting her body until she was able to lie on the counter top, all while keeping her legs firmly crossed and her arms behind her back. "I'm still mad at you. I'm not going to throw off my panties just because you're older and stronger and suddenly showed up and..."

She blinked when she heard the glasses around her break, causing a chorus of shattering, tinkling glass. She snickered, "When did you get so clumsy?"

[Niro]

"Dunno." He grunted as he withdrew a scroll from his belt and removed his shirt. He withdrew a single black shirt from his storage scroll and sealed the dirty one in it's place. He quickly wiped his arms and chest off with a towel and frowned. Now he needed a shower, or run into the rain.

Licht quickly placed the shirt on his torso and stretched his arms. "Be mad all you want. It won't help you."

[Kao]

Having successfully killed the mood, Fusae smiled and rolled over to her side. "Of course it won't 'help' me. But I've never let that stop me before." She waved toward the bartender, who was standing awkwardly in the corner near the door leading to the back. Apparently he wanted to be able to quickly excuse himself (and have a good vantage point) if the two decided to...do things in the middle of his bar.

"Will you bring me some water? And a bucket...." She slurred her words and closed her eyes in the middle of her sentence. Fusae felt fine now, but that may not be the case later. "So what now? Nothing's changed, has it?"

[Niro]

"Don't bring her anything, Suiken. Just leave. I'll have the kid clean it up later if she throws up or anything." Licht told the bar keeper with a shooing gesture. The older man nodded quickly and left through the back door. Licht chuckled, "You aren't getting any object that can be thrown at me even if you weren't thinking of it."

"Things can change depending on how YOU want it. Our entire relationship has revolved around YOU. You want it? I might do it, or I might not. I'm being lead for a reason, I'm not a leader, Fusae." Licht said with a sigh at the end.

[Kao]

"Oh, bull," she said as she opened her eyes. "Relationships don't work that way. Relationships don't revolve around a single person. That's just not how it works. You say you're not a leader. No one should have to lead a relationship.

"Not only that, but you just proved you have a say in it. 'I might do it, I might not.' And you know what? You know what?" she sat up - too fast - and moved to a sitting position. A sharp jolt shot through her head, and she immediately grabbed her temples. After a few seconds of steadying herself, Fusae once again looked at him. "Do you have any idea the hell you put me through? Because, because... what, do you expect me to run into your arms and tell you how much I miss you? How much I- how much I need you?"

Her words were melting together into nearly incoherent jabber. Not only was she drunk, but the years of bottling her feelings had caused her to forget how to fully express herself. So, she did what nearly any other upset teenage girl would do:

She buried her face in her hands and cried.

[Niro]

"And what would you know about relationships?....What experience do you have in them? Hmm?" Licht asked with a bored undertone. Fusae was starting to get pissy and that usually wasn't good for him. "No one should, but people do it all the time. Look at society."

"Of course I have a say in it, but leading and having a moral conscious are different. Know what?" Licht almost laughed as she moved too quick and grabbed her head. "No, no I don't know. I'm not you, our minds work different, we're not the same."

Licht sighed and placed a hand over his face as Fusae stabbed to jabber and stared to cry. He hated when girls started to cry. He moved next to the young woman and sat next to her.

"Why are you crying? I thought you said you didn't need or want me?" He let the simple question hang there while she continued to spill out her emotions.

[Kao]

Fusae sniffed several times before she even attempted to answer. She racked her brain for any possible explanation, but her efforts only succeeded in worsening her fledgling headache. "I don't know! I mean...I don't know!" Fusae was trying very hard to stop crying, but so far, her efforts were in vain.

She removed her hands from her face, revealing her tear-streaked cheeks. The kunoichi looked up at him with a pathetic, almost pleading expression before quickly looking away towards the alcohol-stained floor.. Part of her wanted to punch Licht in the face. Part of her wanted to tie him down and set the place on fire. Part of her hated him. Absolutely hated him.

But she knew that she still loved him.

Part of her still wanted him to hold her, to tell her that everything would be okay. Part of her was still willing to wait faithfully for him for days on end, just to see him for a few hours before he had to inevitably leave her again. Part of her still wanted to be with him.

"That can't happen." Suddenly, she voiced her thoughts, though she hardly realized she was speaking aloud. "It can't, it can't, it can't happen." She swayed drunkenly with her eyes closed, then rested her head on head on his arm. "Nothing's changed. Nothing's changed at all. I'm sorry."

[Niro]

Licht looked at the girl with pained eyes. Dammit, crying women were always a soft spot of his. The poor girl was so confused, she seemed like she did not even know what to say. All she could say in response to his question was 'I don't know!'

Licht's face scrunched up in pity as she removed her hands from her face and looked up at him like a lost puppy. She looked like she hated him and wanted him to die yet still cared about him all at once. Good thing Senshou wasn't here or else things might've been worse.

Licht placed a hand on her head as she leaned onto his arm and softly stroked her hair, making a 'shhh' noise so she would hopefully stop crying. She started to mumbled again and his face fell even more when he heard her.

"What can't happen? Things CAN change but only if you let them, Fusae. You have to be open to change.."

[Kao]

Sniffling, Fusae wiped the tears from her eyes. She was feeling tired, so she leaned over to rest her head in his lap. All she had to do way say the word, and she would probably be able to have him in every way possible. All she had to do was admit that she missed him, admit that she still wanted him.

But she needed time.

Three years had changed her quite a bit, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to regress back into a relationship with someone she could barely see. "I think," she said, "we should just...see where it goes. Let's not rush into it again."

[Niro]

Little did Fusae know, Yaku had given Licht much, much more room to move around and spend his time. Since he had become stronger, he had been taken off doing the 'grunt' work and could relax while the other members caught up, and train in his tree time.

Three years had changed him a bit, physically and mentally. He looked a bit older, and sounded a bit wiser but he was still Licht.

"See where what goes? Rush into what?" He wanted Fusae to admit what she was saying, so that she couldn't get angry at him later for it.

[Kao]

"See where this goes," she said, raising her arms into a large, sweeping motion that encompassed them both. "We're both and stuff. And older. And kissing and sex and love." The alcohol was making her ramble impatiently, hardly forming real sentences.

"Unless there's full comm...commition...commitating...unless we do this right, there's not point much at all." Fusae slowly got to her feet as to not cause a throbbing headache, walked in front of Licht, pulled herself between his legs, and held his face in her hands. Then, she stood there, not saying a word but staring into his eyes.

Her face was still stained with tears, but there was a ghost of a smile on her face. Fusae always liked his eyes. She lowered her hands and her head and let out a long sigh through her nostrils. "I can't tell if you really....want this or not, so we're going to wait until you do."

[Niro]

"Us?" Licht asked with a tiny smile on his face. He felt kind of bad, seeing as she had to drink alcohol to admit it but it also felt good to hear. "Heh, definitely older.." Licht mumbled as she stared at Fusae for a good second.

"Commitment you mean?" Licht laughed lightly. "Yeah, I can commit to us now. Yaku has finally let my leash go enough to do what I want in life." Licht watched as she moved between his legs and feared for his boys for a second. A drunk Fusae was unpredictable. Instead, she held his face and stared into his eyes. He stared back as she smiled. She backed up a bit, placed his head and hands down and said something else.

"I want this.." He mumbled as he firmly, yet gently touched his hands to her face and pulled her face towards him for a kiss.