RunAway

[Ace Trainer]

The Hizashi compound was quiet. It was usually a little more active, the Hizashi were a disciplined but lively bunch and they tended towards larger families. However, he imagined everything that was going on had dampened the liveliness by a degree. Just as likely, however, was the key members of the clan had died in the attack, and key leaders of the clan were under strict observation (or worse). That would certainly take the hype out of any neighborhood. Ikinari had gotten to his home quickly, surprised to find it was not one of the ones under observation, or at least that he could tell. He had noticed several of the temples that he had passed on his way here had been visibly closed down, with doors marked off or visibly boarded up. He wondered what number of different reasons could cause that, whether it was the war itself, Iwa, or something different.

Pushing into his home, Ikinari’s leisurely pace would collapse into a quick scuffle through his home. He would collect up what he needed into a pack. The moment Ikinari had seen the message from Indra’s parents his mind went into formulating the plan. Indra had been sent to Konoha, Ikinari was sure of it. He had been clear about the instruction to Indra, and he had no doubt that Indra would have listened to it. That meant getting out of Sunagakure. He had little concern about this. While the borders of Sunagakure would be closely guarded, Sunagakure was in massive isolation in many ways. Ikinari was confident he’d be able to get out, for many reasons, but one simply that he knew the light would guide him.

He didn’t pack too much. Small snacks that would get him through the beginning of the journey, a change of clothes. Minor things that would make sense for the type of trip he was about to take. Too many supplies would end up being useless, or worse, slow him down. He was sure Indra would have made the several days journey to Konoha already and would be in the safe hands of their allies. Or at least, he could hope they would be the safe hands. It was hard to consider the alternatives, but Konoha would not act rash. At least, not as rash as he expected Iwagakure would.

In his room now, Ikinari would slip off his clothes marking him as a member of the Hizashi tribe. It would shed away his identity as a Sunagakure shinobi. Taking time for only a moment, he would look in the mirror at his stripped body. Scars on both his legs, a combination of the burn wounds and the skin grafts. A grievous injury on his chest from the acidic sand of Ikanbi. Large scars on his abdomen, some penetrating gut wound, other scars on his neck and shoulders. It was hard to wrap his mind around. Reaching into his closet he’d pull out a torn outfit, clothes he wasn’t even sure where they came from. The ragged outfit had little to reveal who it was under it. It would keep him covered, and his identity secret. At least for a little bit.

Adorning it, he would look back at the mirror now. Ikinari was sure many people would describe his eyes as bright, full of ‘Light’, full of hope and kindness. But as he looked in the mirror, he realized that hope was not there in his eyes, his stare flat and empty instead. Here he was, about to become a missing ninja to a village that only partially existed now.

Ikinari would look out the window, it was roughly three or four in the afternoon. Too early for this. He would need to leave at night. Kneeling on the ground, Ikinari would bring his forehead to the ground. Quietly, he would begin to pray. Over the next 6 hours, Ikinari remained as he was, his prayers reaching out to the people of Sunagakure, to his parents he’d be leaving behind, to Indra’s parents, to Indra, to the people of Konoha, and lastly, to himself. He’d pray for the Light to touch them all, for safety and protection to be bestowed upon them. For an end to whatever this darkness was to come, and for Light to spread upon Sunagakure once more.

Ikinari was no longer a shinobi of Sunagakure, or at least he couldn’t be any longer. As he prayed, he focused on the future and what the Sun would guide him into doing. It was hard to believe that a prestigious diplomat of Sunagakure was considering what Ikinari was…it was treason really. Once the sun had set fully, Ikinari would gather everything and head out into the village. Not beyond his expectations, Ikinari found that Sunagakure was silent in the night. There were no people out and about, no families on late night walks, no children sneaking about or shopkeepers closing down. The sun had set and Sunagakure had turned into a veritable ghost town. It was clear this was an effect of the war, but Ikinari had only been conscious for 8 hours at this point, and he had not yet parsed out if the change in personality within Sunagakure was how the people of the village were responding to the war, or if this was something that had been…forced of them.

He shuddered at the thought.

Sneaking through the village was a bit harder when he was the only one out, but Ikinari found that he felt more confident in what he was doing at least by taking the back alleyways and slipping about, rather than being out in the open. He didn’t notice any active surveillance, which left him wondering if Iwagakure was trying not to seem too dictatorial in their overtaking of the village. If they were watching, he certainly couldn’t tell. Perhaps things would be okay for his precious village? He did worry about his clan, all his aunts, uncles and cousins, and he worried for Indra’s parents. When Indra was identified, they would be the first to be placed under extreme scrutiny for their son’s whereabouts and he truly worried on what the scrutinization would look like.

As Ikinari approached the area of the great sand wall surrounding the village, he would stop, still hidden within the alley between a temple and a group of shops. Giving himself a final pause, seemingly trying to motivate himself in doing something he had a very hard time imagining, Ikinari would give a confident nod and begin channeling chakra. A ball of kuuton would form behind him between his shoulder blades as the gravitational energy allowed his body to lift into the air. For just a moment, Ikinari would hover a few centimeters off the ground before he would rapidly ascend, lifting into the air until he was well over the wall, and the heading off into the desert night