Hokkaido Sinoko and the Konjiki Plight

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Awai Konjiki made his way down the alley off to the side of a main street in Konohagakure no Sato, a very grave look on his face as he pocketed a large sum of money. After a few turns down the cramped alley, he came to a clearing, where several rather fierce looking thugs were waiting for him, headed by another man with crimson eyes, white hair, and what appeared to be ivory gauntlets carved into spikes.

RingleaderShow

The sinister figure stepped forward, and spoke briefly, a harsh tone to his voice. "Were you followed?" Konjiki shook his head. The man extended his hand, motioning to Konjiki to give him something. In turn, Konjiki slipped the stack of bills from his pocket and tossed them to the red eyed criminal. After giving the bills a quick count, the ringleader gave a nod and the other thugs vanished. He himself turned and walked away, calling back as he left. "Akogi-sama thanks you for your father's continued business, Konjiki-san," he said flatly. "He also wishes to remind you of what would happen should you fail to make your payments on time..."

The man walked off with a chuckle as Konjiki eyes bled seething hatred. He turned and walked back towards the street, his teeth gritted and his fist clenched. It was apparent that Konjiki's father had dealings with someone seemingly dangerous. But who exactly? And why was it that Konjiki suffers because of it?

[Cheese]

Sin slipped around the corner, leaning against the wall right at the entrance to the alley. The uncomfortable girl clothes forgotten, she crossed her arms and watched as Konjiki came closer. He had seemed like such a nice boy back at the academy... but even nice boys got pushed around by adults. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she peered past him toward the other end of the alley.

"Konjiki-kun... what the hell's going on?" she asked softly, her gaze locked on the boy again. She couldn't be sure if he was close enough to hear her or not, though he'd most likely seen her by now. Right then, though, she wondered if she was supposed to stay out of sight and tail him, or if confronting him was the right thing to do. She winced. Oh dear, she hoped showing herself was okay...

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Sinoko would find that luck was on her side that day. Or it seemed that way, at least.

The young man was so stuck in thought that he didn't even register the fact that Sinoko was there. Instead, he simply walked past her, focused on his own dark thoughts of hatred and vengeance. He turned out of the alley and made his way towards the residential areas where he eventually stopped at a modest house, opening the door and nearly slamming it shut as he gave a sullen greeting. "I'm home, Dad."

Slowly his foosteps receded as he moved further into the house. Whatever shady business Konjiki's father was in merited more investigation...

[Cheese]

Well, seeing as breaking and entering was something even Sin refused to do, the girl was forced to sit and wait for Konjiki to leave the house again. There was no telling how long that would take. She sighed and scratched the back of her neck, remembering the icky girly clothes and wondering idly if she'd get in trouble for changing into her normal ones. Deciding not to risk it, she glanced around and chose to hide in a nearby tree despite her clothing issues.

Thinking back to her academy days, Konjiki had been hush-hush about his home life. Not that she'd cared, really; that was his business. She only noticed him for his pranks and the way the other girls fawned over him. Ew girls. Well... except Yuki-dono. Her flower jutsu was so cool! Sin couldn't wait to learn it and surprise her brothers with it. They'd never see it coming... She smiled mischievously and drifted off to LaLa Land, imagining her brothers' faces when she proved she was better than them.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

She wouldn't have to wait long, as quite suddenly, a commotion was heard and Konjiki was forcefully shot through his front door. As his bruised form hit the ground a good 20 feet from his house, Sinoko would hear an obviously drunken father shout from inside the house in an inebriated rage. "You just shut up and do what I tell you, boy! Brats like you are supposed to keep quiet and listen to your parents! And don't even think of telling anyone about this, or you'll end up even worse than your sister! Got it?!

With that, a slamming door could be heard from inside the house as Konjiki wearily got to his feet, obviously injured. The injustice of this whole situation was worsened by the fact that the street the two were on was completely abandoned; his confrontation with his father had gone unnoticed. He began to slowly limp away, most likely to hide and tend to his injuries.

What would Sinoko do?

[Cheese]

Sin was starting to dislike this day more and more. This wasn't her business... but she couldn't just stand by and let it all happen. What happened to the carefree, happy village she'd grown up in? She'd never seen this side of Konoha, and it was starting to worry her. Sin shook her head as though to get rid of her thoughts, and dropped from the tree quietly to follow Konjiki. How would tailing an old classmate all day help her with Sei-sensei's plans for her week with Yuki-dono? This made no sense... but Yuki-dono had suggested she find out what was wrong with Konjiki... in so many words.

As she started to follow Konjiki, Sin once again cursed the attire she'd been forced into. Such clothes wouldn't help her shadow someone, especially not a fellow genin. She was actually surprised he hadn't seen her yet. She'd thought Konjiki was a better ninja than this, but he was acting more like a civilian. This made even less sense than the fact that she was following him to begin with. Her week was getting weirder and weirder, beginning with the moment she met up with Satoshi and Cire on top of the academy.

She couldn't wait until the end of the week.

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

After making his way towards the main street, he turned a corner and vanished... only to reappear behind Sinoko, pinning her to the wall by her wrist with one hand, and a kunai brandished in the other. This act, however, was done more on instinct than anything else, as his eyes refocused and he actually paid attention to who he had grabbed. His eyes widened in surprise. "Sinioko-san..."

He released her and instead went to gently inspecting the wrist he had so harshly grabbed, looking for any damage he might have caused. His voice was heavy with weary concern and a small amount of panic. "I'm very sorry about that. I thought you were... someone else."

Despite the obvious nature of his wounds, he tried his best to play them off, attempting to shift focus to Sinoko with a nonchalant smile. "I saw you earlier today with that rather beautiful woman. Is she a friend of yours, Sinoko-san?"

Even though he was addressing her casually, Sinoko would notice that he never put his kunai away...

[Cheese]

He'd caught her so off-guard that she was barely able to hold back a gasp of shock when she found herself against a wall. Her first option was to fight back and draw blood, to teach the guy a lesson about how to handle a Hokkaido... and girls in general. Her scowl deepened at that thought, since she had just grouped herself in with the rest of the female population, but it was true. Yet when she was released, and before she could act on her violent urges, he was checking over her wrist and sounded way too sorry and worried that she forgot all about her revenge.

"You could say Yuki-dono is a friend, I suppose..." she started, shrugging and pulling her wrist free of his grip. "Sei-sensei told me I had to spend a week with her, probably because he read about the girl thing in my file. She's... cool, but I'd rather be doing some actual training, you know?"

Even as she talked about her new, albeit temporary, mentor, Sin kept quite a close eye on Konjiki. Like the fact that he never put the kunai away, even though it was her and not the... someone else... he'd mentioned. And that he was obviously hurt, yet he seemed to be just fine. Was he really trying to hide the truth from her, a friend and a fellow prankster? "You're acting kind of weird, Konjiki-kun. Is something wrong?"

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Konjiki had seen that his attempt to subvert her attention had failed as the smile slowly faded from his face. And as Sinoko looked into his eyes, she saw how truly exhausted he was. His eyes were strained and irritated, he was paler than normal, and he even had a tiny case of the shivers.

The most painful thing Sinoko found in his eyes... were the overwhelming senses of despair and defeat. He had fought for so long by himself, never asking for a reprieve nor receiving any, suffering a hidden pain so intense, it stole the very sleep from his eyes and the peace from his heart. A torrent of sadness and anger waited to burst forth from him, only held back by the mask that helped him maintain his own sanity... a mask that Sinoko, with a few simple words, had completely and utterly shattered.

He suddenly fell to his knees, his head hanging down as it gently rested against Sinoko's torso. This would have most certainly been a cryptic action had Sinoko not heard the ragged breaths that followed... and felt the tears as they hit her feet. Awai Konjiki, one of the nicest and strongest guys amongst her contemporaries, was crying at her feet.

[Cheese]

Her expression of utter shock disappeared at the first tear that hit her foot, and she glanced around quickly as though checking for someone, anyone, who knew either her or Konjiki and tried to blackmail one of them for being in this... unexpected state. "Uh... Konjiki-kun...?" She took a single step back, worrying briefly about what Yuki-dono would say if she saw dirt on the kimono, and shrugged as she knelt beside Konjiki and...very slowly and carefully, put a hand on one of his shoulders.

"I... uh... didn't mean to upset you..." she said awkwardly. What the hell was she supposed to say to a crying boy? Her brothers had never cried... not that she knew of, anyway. Crying was something she'd always associated with girls. When he didn't immediately look up and grin, letting her know it was a joke (even a mean one), she winced. "Oi... Konjiki-kun, what's going on? You can tell me... right? Remember that time in the Academy when you took the heat for one of my pranks? Let me help you this time. Please."

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

For a little while Konjiki didn't answer; all Sinoko would see or feel was the occasional shuddering along his back. When he did speak, he did so through gritted teeth and barely above a whisper.

"...I hate him."

He never raised his head from where it rested on the inside of her shoulder blade, just up and to the right of her chest. Instead, he clenched his fist around the kunai he still held in his right hand and his sporadic shuddering was replaced with a constant quake as his rage bled into his voice. He continued in the same murderous whisper. "Ever since my dad died, my mom had never been able to get past the pain of losing him. She kept looking for someone like him, hoping to regain the happiness she once had with my father. Yet, she couldn't find anyone like him. She kept searching in vain... until she ran into our step-father."

He took a moment to gruffly wipe the tears from his face before continuing. "He was kind, patient, and encouraging, everything my dad had been. She fell head over heels for him. It almost seemed too good to be true. After a short while, he proposed and she accepted, and for a time, we were happy... and then my mom died from poisoning. And then my sister and I saw the real man behind the mask."

He raised his head upwards a bit, looking off into the distance. "He changed almost overnight into this greedy, self-centered, hateful bastard. He abused me, mistreated my sister, and squandered the inheritance granted to my mother by my father. Eventually, I started tracking him... and I found out the truth: that vile man... he was responsible for the deaths of my parents. He arranged for my father to die in the field of duty and poisoned my mother all for the inheritance money."

He rammed the kunai into the ground next to him in frustration. "But before I could report it to the authorities, I was caught and... punished. My sister was sent off to a drug lord's mansion as collateral... and to prevent me from ever revealing his crimes. One could only guess what would happen to her if I spilled my guts."

Sinoko would notice, if her hand ventured past his shoulder and down his back, that he bore deep gashes on his back, no doubt from a very brutal flogging...

[Cheese]

She frowned, listening intently. Boy, and she thought losing her father and never knowing her mother was bad. At least she had a chance to find her father... and her uncle claimed that her mom was still out there somewhere. But Konjiki... he'd lost both parents with no chance of ever getting them back... plus a bastard that was nothing like her kind and gentle uncle 'taking care' of him, in the loosest sense of the phrase. All the times that she and Konjiki had joked around and annoyed their academy teacher, that they had pulled pranks on guys a lot like Satoshi... all that time, he was dealing with something like this, and she hadn't even known. What kind of friend did that make her?

"Konjiki-kun..." She really couldn't think of anything to say. What could one say to something like that? 'Don't worry, we'll find your sister and beat your stepfather's ass'? Like hell! She may have a large ego, but even Sin knew she wouldn't be able to take on this guy, or find Konjiki's sister without some kind of clue. She wanted to help... but really, what could a mere genin do? "Tell me how I can help... and I'll do my best, okay, Konjiki-kun?"

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

It seemed almost as if he was about to dismiss her concerns, but as he tried to stand, Sinoko's hand slid across his back and he winced in pain as he slinked back down. Carefully lowering himself to his knees so as not to aggravate the wounds, he pulled out a large roll of bandages. His next request was forced; Sinoko could see that Konjiki didn't want to ask this of her. "Well... do you think you could bandage me up a bit? I still have to keep a low profile. I can't go to a hospital; they'll investigate into who gave me these cuts."

As he slipped off his jacket, Sinoko would notice both the distinct smell and crimson splash of blood. A large cut spanning from his left shoulder blade to his right hip had reopened, and the blood flowing from the wound had stained the back of the tank-top he wore beneath it red. And from what she could see, this was one of many different scars on his back. This boy had as many cuts and scars on his back as a bird has feathers and plumage.

[Cheese]

"Maybe you should go to the hospital and get it checked out anyway, to make sure it doesn't get infected. I'm no medic-nin, and you need more than just bandages on something like this," she said after a moment of tense silence, during which she stared at the wound in disbelief. But, with a soft sigh, she took the roll of bandages and got to work. She'd gotten used to seeing pretty bad cuts from her brothers accidentally injuring each other while practicing out in the yard, but this one beat all.

He didn't need to go back to his stepfather, but she knew that to voice this opinion would push him further away than he already was. He'd obviously never planned on anyone learning his secret, and besides, his sister was on the line. But now that she knew, she couldn't just let it keep going on as it had before. "You need help, Konjiki-kun. Not even you can do this by yourself. I can talk to Yuki-dono; she'll be glad to help out..."

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

Despite the many wounds and injuries, Konjiki was very strong for his age, and he most certainly had the physique to prove such. His toned biceps and forearms were linked to his solid core and abdominals by sturdy, muscular shoulders. Even with the bandages, he was quite a sight to behold.

"Thanks, Sinoko," he breathed as he reached for his tank-top. He hesitated, taking another look at the shirt reevaluating before tossing it into a trash can four feet to his right. Wearing a blood-stained shirt would definitely raise a few eyebrows, and that was the last thing he needed at the moment. Very carefully, he set his back and head against the wall behind him, raising his head and closing his eyes for a second. Slowly his eyelids parted... then they snapped wide opened in panic as he inhaled sharply and stared upwards, gritting his teeth.

Above the two genin was the ringleader of the thugs Sinoko had seen before, staring down at the two with his freakish crimson eyes from the top of the building.

[Cheese]

Sin followed his gaze and narrowed her eyes, recognizing the man. Not this guy again. Sure, she liked being noticed, but not when being noticed was bad. And this was pretty bad, and getting worse.

"Konjiki-kun, you're not gonna fight him," she muttered, hesitantly reaching for his arm. "I don't care what you think, but you're still hurt, and he's not gonna be that easy to beat."

[Yasashikaze Seiken]

After Sinoko's short exchange with Konjiki, the oddest thing happened.

The man leaned forward... then forward some more... then he quite literally fell over the edge taking a good 60 foot fall before landing right before the two. As he fell, Konjiki quickly slipped his arm around Sinoko's waist, deftly pulling her towards him before catching her with his other arm as well, then flipping around until his back faced the man, gently holding Sinoko with his right arm around her waist while the other laid across her back, his hand cradling the back of her head, and his torso pressed against hers, close enough to even feel his heartbeat. It was obvious to see what he was doing: he was attempting to shield Sinoko with his own body.

What took the two genin a bit of time to realize, interestingly enough, was that the man hadn't landed on his feet, but rather... on his face. And if they looked a bit more closely, they would find a large welt on the back of his head and two flowers sticking out of his back like shuriken.

A gentle voice rang out from above. "Well, Sinoko, it seems you've found yourself a cute boy... and a complex situation."

Above them, where the man previously was, now stood Yuki, her war fan close, and an intrigued smile on her face.