Fabric of Night

[SimpleSerenity]

The air was brisk and hung heavy with the sweet scent of summer in the mountains; fresh, tinged with the acrid musk of the city and heady with earth and wet. Shu loved the smell; it was home. The young genin was alone, sitting cross-legged on a hill overlooking one of the many great valleys on the village edge. He regarded the sight quietly, enjoying his respite with the sort of familiar awe that comes with growing up on top of the world. A contended sigh escaped his lips, turning into a groan as he stretched his limbs, falling backward to lean against a conveniently placed rock. Evening had settled around him, and now as the sun-kissed clouds grew ever darker on the horizon the sounds of night could be heard to approach. The faint cooing of birds readying themselves for sleep, and the distant cry of a wild cat, preparing to hunt; these were the sounds that threatened to lull Shu into an early rest.

Shu fought to keep from the velvety clutches of sleep, but the air was just right, and the rhythmic cacophony of Iwa in the evening was calming, lulling and dragging him under a thick, heavy blanket restful indifference. A soft smile played upon his lips as the boy drifted away, murmuring nonsensical protests against the darkness. While he slept he dreamed, and while he dreamed he was content. Shu loved sleep; it was one of the few times he could allow himself a reprieve from all the stress and anxiety of daily life. He was constantly thinking, something his mother had surely imparted, and though he tried valiantly to emulate his father’s carefree air, he couldn’t. A soft snore escaped Shu’s lips as he smiled peacefully, now fully enveloped in night.

[Amy]

It had been another long day of training for Aimi but she wasn’t slowing down yet. “There is never a moment to be wasted when it comes to your training,” she mockingly thought to herself. Her teacher’s favorite sayings. Having a private trainer seemed odd to Aimi to say the least but he was a long-time friend of the family and he was good. Really good. Annoyingly good, actually. And snarky. Overall he was pretty terrible but he had improved her skills greatly. It was a huge part of the reason that Aimi was one of the strongest Chuunin in Iwa. And he, Taiko, kept trying to get her to rank up.

Aimi knew that it made sense. There were certain restrictions that she was held to in the village because of her unwillingness to take on extra responsibility. Or, rather, that’s how they viewed it. Really, Aimi just wasn’t sure where she was going in life and just couldn’t find herself able to commit. Who would have known it could be such a terrible decision to make? To top it off, no one in her life really seemed to understand.

Shaking the unsettling thoughts out of her head, Aimi ran harder. She played a game with herself every time her parents were away on a mission. On her wall was a list of how long it took her to run home from the training grounds. Each day that she beat her old record, she rewarded herself with whatever meal she wanted rather than what she knew she should have. Plus, honestly, it gave her a reason to go home.

But today was not going to be the day that she beat her record because she was just not paying attention. And when she went to leap over a large rock planning to tuck and roll on the other side she was not expecting there to be someone there. In the infinite wisdom of an overtired and overworked ninja, rather than using one of her many techniques to save from stomping the poor young man’s stomach, Aimi decided to attempt to alter her course of direction.

Which mostly almost worked, save for the glancing kick the boy received to the side of his head.

Dusting herself off, even well after she was clean to give herself something to do with her hands, Aimi laughed anxiously, hoping the boy was OK.

"Uh, sorry. I didn’t really see you until it was too late. I’m Aimi...are you alright?"

[SimpleSerenity]

Shu's momentary bliss was interrupted with "BANG" so to speak. Hi peaceful thoughts shattered by the haphazard kick. He suddenly found himself awake, in pain, and immediately annoyed. He was sprawled on the ground now, knocked off-kilter by the sudden blow. He instinctively reached up to rub the growing knot on the side of his head. A half-grunt of ire escaped his lips as he attempted to right himself. He was no longer alone, and certainly no longer resting. He let his eyes roam over the newcomer, studying her details and committing them to memory. She was short, he could tell that even with her standing over him. She was young, roughly his age, perhaps a bit older, her height and features made it hard to tell. She was physically powerful, that much was obvious. Her arms and hands showed a strength in her delicate frame. She's got style at least. I like the coat, nice design. Kind of plain looking though, 6/10. Shu liked to rate things, people, ideas. It gave him a chance to neatly file them away where they belonged. This girl, yes, she made a good 6.

A kunoichi, higher ranking than me, perhaps a special jounin or chuunin given her attire, definitely not a classmate that I ever had, which means she's older than me. Great, just what I needed tonight...

It wasn't that the boy disliked strangers so much that he disliked being kicked in the head by them. The girl seemed sincere in her apology, at least, enough to keep him apathetic. He absently wondered how ridiculous he looked sleeping against a rock in the dark. He consoled himself with the notion that while his actions were strange, they certainly weren't as strange as lurking around in the dark, kicking sleeping men in the head. He gave his head a good shake and the rest of his body a quick once over before preparing to stand and face his uninvited companion.

Shu rose slowly, taking a moment to dust off his coat and pants before facing the girl; her size becoming more apparent as he did so. Shu was by no means large, but he towered over this girl by at least half a foot, maybe more. He'd deduced she must be older than him, but it was hard to imagine seeing her "at level." Not one to forego manners, regardless of the situation, Shu bowed slightly to her, or rather, the air where a normal sized individual would have been.

"No need to apologize M'am. I'm quite alright. I am Wang Shu, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Do you often make a habit of kicking sleeping men?." Shu tried to keep the smirk from tugging at the corner of his mouth, but it took all of his restraint to do so.

Seriously, who goes tearing through the dark with no regard to their surroundings? Didn't see me until it was too late? Right.

[Amy]

Aimi couldn’t help the slight look of disgust that made her mouth curl up. M’am. That was horrifying. It was clear to Aimi, knowing her own age of course, that she was definitely older than Shu but she wasn’t that much older. Maybe she had been training too hard, she mused silently to herself while unintentionally staring past Shu’s gaze. Could that age you? She wasn’t getting wrinkles already was she? That couldn’t be it...right?

“The formality isn’t expected, or desired, really. Just Aimi will do. M’am makes me feel old.”

Still not seeming entirely present in the conversation Aimi closed one eye and tilted her head to the side while she scratched an itch on the side of her head ruffling her hair. In truth she was deciding how much effort to put into this interaction. There were really only a few good options. She could just leave. Apologize again and walk away. That was what Aimi was naturally inclined to do. Idle conversation was tiring as it did not come naturally to her. But that annoying trainer of hers was all:

”You’re a ninja, not a hermit. You can’t just live your life in solitude. If you ever want to be worth anything you have to build contacts. Have people you can learn from. That’s the only way to get better. Blah blah blah blah….”

So annoying.

Shaking her hair out slightly and running her hand through it, smoothing it down again, Aimi finally checked back into the situation at hand. Seemingly unaware of the fact that she had been silent and staring for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“Not unintentionally, no. Well, actually, not much in general I guess. I’m not very good at the flipping around and stuff you usually need to do to kick people in the head. You just created a prime opportunity for me though.” He didn’t seem like a terrible human being, so far anyways. Was this where naturally friendly people invited the stranger out for tea? Dinner? No, that was weird. Maybe just repeat his own type of musing back to him.

“Do you often find yourself sleeping outdoors at night, hidden behind boulders? If I didn’t know better I’d say you were just inviting trouble to yourself.”

Yeah, doing the nice thing was easy. If not also incredibly painful.

[HarleyQ]

It had been a long, hard day at the shop. Harue’s father had recently received and order for thousands of kunai and shuriken from the village. The product itself was common fare for The Black Mountain Smithy, however the volume of the order was far more than the Kuroyama’s were used to. Harue used her ninjutsu to help speed the process along by creating raw kunai and shuriken with her kouton jutsu until her chakra reserves were depleted. She would rest and get back to it when her chakra had recovered.

Now it was late and Harue’s family had closed shop for the night. Her muscles were sore from a good day’s labor so she decided to take a nice relaxing walk to cool off. Some light still remained in the sky but Harue figured she should go ahead and light a torch just to be safe. As she approached the outskirts of the village a glint of reflected light in the distance caught her eye. Curiosity got the better of her so Harue began walking toward the source of the glint. As she got closer she began to hear voices talking. For a time she couldn’t make out what they were saying but as she got closer she heard the female voice say “Do you often find yourself sleeping outdoors at night, hidden behind boulders? If I didn’t know better I’d say you were just inviting trouble to yourself.”

It was then that Harue noticed that the glint she had seen was probably the reflection of the girl’s forehead protector hanging around her neck. She couldn’t make out anything about the boy however as his back was to her. Oh! A fellow ninja! I wonder if she uses weapons much, i would love to become her supplier. And the boy… I see some fabric wrapped around his head so maybe he is too. Maybe I can make this a two for one special!

Harue approached the two and put her saleswomen smile on. “ Good evening! Hope I’m not interrupting anything important. It was a nice night for a relaxing stroll and I caught the reflection of my torch in your forehead protector miss. My name is Harue of the Kuroyama family, blacksmith and fellow ninja by trade. My family owns the Black Mountain Smithy inside the village. I was wondering do either of you have an exclusive weapons provider? We at Black Mountain specialize in mass production ninja tools but I am striving to hone my skills and become a true artisan. If you want I could give you each a free sample of our work, what kind of weapons do you each prefer?”

Yeah I know that was a bit long but Papa always said when making a pitch be assertive and make it hard to say no.

[SimpleSerenity]

Shu blinked; startled at the sudden appearance of yet another person. This one was also seemingly a shinobi, and a talkative one at that. From the bits and pieces the young man heard it appeared as though he was being subjected to a sales pitch. A sales pitch, at God-only-knows o'clock from some guy with a weird voice. It was weird enough that three people had managed to meet, here of all places, in the middle of the night, long after most people had retired indoors. What was stranger still, was the fact that none of them knew each other, despite coming from the same age group (roughly) and currently all being shinobi. Sure, Iwagakure no Sato wasn't exactly a small village, but still, this was odd. Shu was always awkward in situations like this. His natural inclinations were to avoid people usually. He wasn't unfriendly, but being "the quiet one" in the group wasn't exactly fun. It was just one of those things, he supposed, that he would have to get used to. Sighing heavily he did his best to smile and keep his voice friendly.

"Hi... er... um... yeah, hi. I don't know if you're lost man, but the market is just down the way. I'm just napping... well, I mean, I was nap- relaxing I mean. I don't have much money, and I don't particularly need anything in the way of... whatever it is you said you're selling. Sorry man."

Shu was glad for the darkness, lest the color of his cheeks get make this any more awkward than it already was. He turned to face the girl, automatically straightening his posture as he did.

"I do apologize for being in your way, madam. I had no intention of falling asleep; I merely succumbed to the lull of nature. I will do my utmost to avoid a repeat performance of tonight's events in the future. Are you injured? I am medic; I would hate to leave you unattended if you damaged yourself when you mistakenly kicked me directly in the head while I was unmoving. I imagine that must have been a very painful experience for you."

Shu wasn't entirely serious in his comments, but he was still a bit annoyed at the throbbing in his head, and the sudden intrusion on his night by two random people now, in such short succession.

Perhaps tonight wasn't the best night to come out for some R&R.

[Amy]

Aimi'a eyes drifted slowly to the newer newcomer. She would have taken the time to wonder why there was suddenly a third person there but Aimi just assumed that they had a reason the same as she did, the same as Shu did. Unless there was an attack or someone was dying, there really wasn't a reason to care. As Harue talked, Aimi found herself zoning out of the conversation. It wasn't that she was trying to be rude, but this wasn't where her head was at. Having any sort of conversation tonight wasn't on Aimi's schedule and so to her, she had already well exceeded her quota for social interaction. And besides, weapons weren't really her thing.

Luckily, Shu was the first to speak so Aimi could take some time to herself to think. She had to resist the urge to just walk away, to just leave. The time for this in her day was over. She had seen everyone she had to see. Talked to everyone she had to talk to. She was supposed to be home now, cooking or cleaning, or just laying in a bath. But instead she was listening to sales pitches and sarcasm.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, Harue, I'm not much into weapons and I'm full stock on everything else I use...sorry. She offered up a small, awkward smile. Not wanting to be rude but feeling very out of place. but as for Shu, he seemed to be trying to hit a nerve and she found herself leveling a stern gaze in his direction.

"As for you, the sarcasm is truly not becoming. I did apologize, there's not much more I can do beyond that unless you are trying to tell me you need to be escorted to the hospital in which case I would be more than happy to oblige. Being nice isn't my strong suit, so I highly recommend you call me Aimi, as I requested."

She didn't mean to lecture. It was a habit that she entirely blamed on Taiko. Sighing deeply to herself, Aimi rubbed the side of her head with the heel of her hand. She was being rude and instigating. But fixing it meant even more social interaction. Swearing quietly to herself, Aimi forced herself to make the "right" decision.

" I know of a place that's still open. Either of you up for a late night snack? My treat."

Supposing they agreed, they would have to head back the way Aimi came from, towards the town center.

[HarleyQ]

Harue felt a slight wave of anger wash over her with the boy’s words. He had called her a man twice. Granted she did not possess a body that would be considered particularly feminine, nor was she particularly well-endowed as of yet, but she was still a growing girl. She did her best to suppress her anger but this boy seemed intent on picking a fight as he turned to the other girl and spoke with a clearly deliberate edge to his choice of words. Though one thing he said did catch her interest; he’s a medic. That gave her an idea of how she might earn his business, despite the pompas jerk. Albeit it was not a strong suit of hers, she had mostly forged weapons her whole life, perhaps she could create a scalpel out of chakra for him as a sample of what her family could do.

She began making hand seals as the other girl spoke; she too had turned Harue down, and began molding her metal chakra into the shape of a simple scalpel. She at least managed to catch the girls name as she pushed back on the rude boy, Aimi, a nice name Harue thought. As Harue finished molding the scalpel out of her chakra Aimi made a suggestion, join her for a late snack, and she was treating. Perfect, this will give me the opportunity to get to know her and see if I can’t figure out something for her.

Harue smiled, ”Sure Aimi, I’d love to join you for a snack, I just got off work a few minutes before I found myself over here so I could use the food, though you don’t have to pay for me, thanks for the offer though.”

Harue turned to the boy and held out the scalpel she had just made. ”I made this for you, it isn’t much and medical supplies aren’t exactly my usual fare so I apologize if it isn’t to your liking.”

[SimpleSerenity]

Shu smirked, he wasn't normally so combative, but his irritation at the suddenness of unwelcome company and the pain in his head were combining to make him far more irritable than normal. He was also enjoying teasing his new companion as a sort of revenge for his headache. The newcomer was strange; Shu had met merchants with less aggressive sales pitches. He mentally assigned the child a 2/10 rating for future reference. He sighed. This was all becoming more trouble than he'd initially thought possible. The girl, Aimi, was clearly kind of a bitch, and though Shu realized he shouldn't antagonize someone of higher rank it wasn't like she was really going to do anything about it. With a sigh the young genin through his hands behind his head and stretched, once again trying to alleviate some of the stiffness that comes with a bed made of earth. It doesn't make any sense to decline her invitation, aside from the fact that it would bothersome. The polite thing to do is to accept. What is with this kid though? I've never met someone so forward or pushy outside of the merchant district. Going to have to do something about that. For now, though, the medic turned to face his favorite new antagonist.

"Oh I do apologize. Not graceful, self-aware, or very kind. I didn't realize things were so difficult for you. I am truly inspired by your clear determination and hard work. It must have been very difficult for someone with your... ability, to achieve the rank you have now. I commend you. I am truly honored by your invitation Ms. Aimi and I humbly accept. I would follow our new friends fine example but I am but a penniless genin with no money of my own. So kind of my senpai to take pity on me."

He'd been trying to ignore the kid, but he supposed that it wasn't going to be possible. Kouton huh? Not bad. Pretty impressive actually considering his age. Maybe he's more of a 4/10. Turning to face the younger shinobi Shu gingerly grasped the newly-made tool. It was crude, and wouldn't really assist him in any way since he was far fro being a surgeon, but the gesture was appreciated. "Impressive talent you have there. I appreciate and am honored by the gesture, however I am far from being skilled enough to wield such a tool. Your skillful work would be wasted on one such as I." Shu bowed slightly to show his sincerity. He didn't hold any real ill will towards Harue. It wasn't like the kid had done something heinous like kick him in the head; he just wanted to show off his skills and make a few coins. Shu didn't see any harm in that.

[Amy]

This dumb Genin was going to get her in trouble with her own Senpai. She could see it now. The sweating, the puking, the burning in her muscles. Taiko’s loud voice covering every inch of their training room. He didn’t usually do what could be considered “screaming” but he got pretty close. Projecting is usually what Aimi called it to herself. But in this daydream he was being very very loud. All about how she couldn’t just go around beating Genin up. How she affected his learning because of the many broken bones. Possibly brain damaged. She was just a terrible disgrace.

The popping of her neck drowned out the sigh that escaped her lips as she left her short-loved daydream. First, she shrugged at Harue and her insistence to pay for herself. Aimi didn’t really care about buying so if Harue was trying to be polite and didn’t really want to pay for herself she was going to be oh so out of luck.

"Whatever is best for you, Harue. At least you have better manners than this one over here. "

As she finished speaking, Aimi turned to face Shu. She was already so tired of his face. The thought of listening to him speak any longer made her want to vomit. But, she was supposed to be the adult here. Sort of the adult. At least in this scenario she was going to claim that she was.

"Kind, no. Graceful, not so much in my day-to-day actions. I will even give you that self-awareness is not my top three traits. But, at least I wasn’t still a Genin when I was your age." Aimi guessed, anyways. She didn’t actually know how old Shu was. "But, I would rather be un-graceful, un-kind, and un-aware but also good at my job than the other day around, any day."

For the first time that night, Aimi actually smiled at Shu.

"And if you don’t watch out, one day you’ll be just like me. All of the potential in the world to be the best but shrouded in bad attitude and snark. Oddly, most people don’t really appreciate those things."

It had taken longer than usual but Aimi had talked herself out of being mad. She knew for sure that at least half of what she said was true. His attitude would be as bad as her own one day if he didn’t start fixing it now. Then again, Aimi was pretty sure that even if she had started four years ago, she wouldn’t have succeeded in fixing her own attitude. So, maybe it was already too late for Shu too.

"Now, children, let’s get going. Harue, if we pass it, point out your family’s shop to me. I don’t use many weapons but I know others who do and are always looking for quality shops."

That was good. Nice. Supportive. It was so much easier when they were automatically respectful and polite. Either way the place they were going to wasn’t far. Aimi figured she could be home within forty-five minutes as long as nothing interfered with the current interference.