Starring:
Date: May 27th, 2010
Summary:
Ibaraki Renji is relaxing on the beach when he meets up with Ito Kurohana. They discuss themselves and aspects of themselves.
"Dimensions of Humans"
Black-Sands Beach
What a peaceful day in the Land of Water. Oh so… quiet and tranquil. The war between Kumogakure and Kirigakure has brought the ruckus to the Land of Waves as of late, and from time to time the Jounin laying on the beach has had to go to that foreign land to help out with defending it. Today, though, he is away from the war and resting up… laying on a blood-stained towel that is wrinkly spread out over the black sands of the local beach. "Too bad." This is voice, his idle thoughts slightly voiced for a moment, however quickly go retreat back into his mind. The well-built young man's arms are over his head, hands interlocked behind his head as he stares up at the white clouds… his eyes the same color as the sea before him glinting in the sun light.
The sounds of waves and the calling of birds, the light breeze of cooling wind. It was all pleasant to sleep in. The rock unfurls though, the difference between the black, obsidian overhang and the cloth that had filled in the space revealing itself.
White skin becomes visible. There's a human somewhere under that cloak. Her hands gather up the fabric, pulling it up with stretching arms and allowing bits and pieces of her body to be shown. Woman, at that.
Reaching upward, she grasps the edge of the rock and jerks her small body upward. The cloak makes a rustling noise as it billows out and rests calmly about her shape. Kurohana perches there, crouching down and watching the sea. From this point, her eyes begin to wander beneath its shadowy cover, falling briefly upon the ninja. He must be one of that old man's lackeys too. Perhaps he's the one sent to watching her.
She looks up and down Renji's body as if checking him out. Not bad, old man. Not bad. The Mizukage listens well.
The shinobi's hands unlock from one another and from the opposite side of where the girl is sitting… a handle of liquid is lifted with his now free left hand, brought to his lips, and a swig is taken.. all for the wanderer to witness. A moment later, his body jerks and his mouth opens; most likely a hiccup let loose in a silent manner. "When… Hell… Will the chaos break loose…" This is muttered from the young man, his idle thoughts once again coming to the surface… on the matter of war between the two villages most likely. A shrug of his shoulders while laying down, he sits up and stares out over the wide-spread ocean.
Kurohana watches him, the man's casual demeanor seeming to not interest her all that much other than the whole checking out his body part. She hears his musings and it forces her to giggle softly, her voice rather melodic underneath the hood. Her words hiss out though in the bottom of her high-pitched register of a voice. "Perhaps when your Mizukage finds something worth fighting for other than personal gain." Yes.. leave it to the short kunoichi to insult his Mizukage to his face. She's definitely got some balls. Smirking, she rises up, her full five foot straightening out. Her eyes focus upon the ocean, giving his visual parts some alone time.
"Finally talking, huh?" Renji's head turns to the right, those sea-blue eyes staring at the intricately dressed woman for a moment before turning his attention back to the ocean. "I don't care what he fights for. It can be power, money… whatever…" The shinobi instantly leaps to his feet and begins to stretch, "As long as I can feel the excitement of battle and rush of destroyin' another in the thrill of battle… I couldn't careless." His hands slide into the pockets of the hakama pants on his legs and he turns; a smirk slightly lifting on his lips as he returns that relaxed and bored gaze to the woman. "Who might ya be, by the way?"
Kurohana turns her head once he's finished stretching, her eyes narrowing in the shadowed hood. "Wouldn't you like to know.." It's meant as it sounds, a smart alec comment. If he doesn't know who she is, then he isn't the one who was sent to follow her, whcih means that he was just out here in coincidence. Not as exciting.
"Ito." She gives him the same name she gave his fearless leader, her arms crossing over her chest. Nothing of that three letter word would sound familiar. There's no clan attached. It's likely her parents made it up to keep her being separate from their own. Joyous parents. No matter. She's too grown up to worry over things so trivial. "Who are you?"
The woman turns and leaps down from the rock, landing in the sand near him and peering up with a pout on her lips. She seems to have a problem with something he said.
Renji raises an eyebrow at the name given and then a hearty laughter escapes his entire being, echoing througout the area before coming to a halt… he asks, "Is that your surname or given name? It's rare for someone to have only a given name…" When the girl leaps down near him and stares up with pouty lips, he frowns and forms a somewhat taken-a-back expression for a moment. "What's with that pout?" For a moment, he looks away to stare out over the ocean again and say, "Ibaraki Renji," before slowly looking back down at the wanderer; His expression laid-back and bored.
Kurohana doesn't answer his first question, finding no need for it really. She isn't a ninja here; therefore, her name is none of his business, or perhaps that makes it all the more. Regardless, she doesn't surrender any more of it.
When he looks back, her arms would be crossed and her toe is lightly tapping. She's studying him, sizing him up and down. This is really starting to bug her. "Is there nothing more to you than battle? This village is disappointing me…"
"Leave then." Renji shrugs his shoulders. "Why stay somewhere that is disappointin' ya?" A smirk raises on his lips, however and he explains, "No human is one dimensional, Ito-chan, so yeah… I have more to me than battle…" His smirk grows into a slightly sick grin for a moment and then falls back into his apathetic expression. "…but I ain't goin' to explain my dimensions. Ya know why?" His hands release from the hakama pant pockets and move up to his chest, his fingers interlocking before stretching to make a continous popping sound; His knuckles loosening up. "'Cause I ain't goin' to give information when the person asking for it ain't willing to give some of her own," he informs.
Kurohana purses her lips. He's got a point. And she loathes him for it. A hand reaches up to tug her hood back. The messy locks of hair cling to it and then come to rest about her pale face. Her eyes squint, adjusting to the light and then relax to reveal the pretty, gem-like green. "Kurohana. Ito Kurohana. I've told you more than that odd official type." She makes a dismissive gesture, referring to the Kage. "I like the weather here. That's why I've not left. I couldn't stand living overseas anymore." Her shoulders tense up as she inhales a deep breath and then her whole bosy seems to relax.
Eyes glance up to him, hoping he'll give her a little more reason of himself.
"There ya go. We're gettin' somewhere now." Renji lets out another hearty laugh which dies down into a smirk for a moment before he turns his back… while dealing with an unknown individual? Well, he must not be too worried. "You asked if I had more to me than battle…" He looks up toward the sky, his red pony-tail moving to touch the center part of his lower-neck before asking, "Is there more to the sky than holding the sun, moon, clouds, and stars? No." His eyes close and reopen, his knees bending to lower his body and take a hold of the handle of rum… a swig taken slowly. "As a Shinobi, a tool of destruction and blood-shed, there is nothing more to me than battle. The exhiliratin' feel of adrenaline rushin' through my body as I battle to survive. The feelin' of blood splatterin' against my body and the sound of your enemy's lifeless body hittin' the ground. There's nothing more glorious to me as a warrior, but…" He then turns toward the female, his endearing eyes on the female as he adds, "…as a man there is more to me than battle. As a man, I want to enjoy my poison, relax, and flirt with girls. Maybe settle down with one someday, but can't ya tell? These two aspects of me collide from time to time…"
Kurohana listens quietly, her eyes focusing on the center of his back. Odd indeed to turn around on her like that. She relates to the feeling he's talking about. Of battle. Her battles have been won in close quarters, more subtle ways, but she understands. Gripping a person's neck and feeling their pulse race? Yeah, she knows it. There's something about fighting and killing that's much akin to more adult pleasures. It's got the same release to it almost.
His last comment in junction with the notion to face her causes her pale cheeks to blush a pretty pink. Kurohana looks at him for a moment before her eyes turn awkwardly away to look at a rock next to her foot. How she wishes she still had her hood up to hide the feverish sensation upon her face. "Interesting. Perhaps your Kage will show to have more depth as well. For now, I only see him as a fool." Reclaiming her nerves, she straightens up, choking back the color from her face.
The feverish pink on the women's cheeks is noticed, but Renji makes no mention of it… right now opting to refrain from flirting with a member of the opposite sex. "Mitsuo is a Kaguya. His clan is defined in battle… I relate to that clan and their teachings, but I am not entirely an object of war like them as I explained…" A shrug of his shoulders and he adds, "And if he is a fool… well, he is a strong fool who can kill us both, but I'd definitely like to fight him someday." The young man's sea-blue eyes glint with a hint of excitement for a moment, but then relaxes… turning his attention back to the girl and no longer on the sky. "I'm no fool either. I'd wait until I become stronger before ever challengin' him to a battle. I value my life even if I understand it'll end someday… If you live by the blade, you'll die by it…" And that's exactly why he doesn't hold a grudge against the Kaguya.
Kurohana tips her head to the side as she listens, her eyes drawing upward to the sky. She's watching the seamless clouds, the way they roll by, neverending. "I suppose that's true. I have the tendency to be opposed to figureheads for whatever reason I can find. It doesn't sit well. The idea of a single person making the decisions of a body of people. I'd work to overthrow him.. and that Hokage as well if I had the resources and the strength. Things were simpler before." She sighs softly, uncurling her arms to draw them up behind her head. The motion tugs the cloak away from her body and she revels in the sensation of cool air against her skin. "I suppose that your Mizukage's conquest to usher in a great age of power is more honest than trying to bring people together.. or whatever that woman said."
"A village is run by a council of people. He might be a figurehead, but he needs to discuss his ideas with the council and the country's daimyo before goin' through with his plans." Renji would explain this and then add, "If you overthrew either kage, another would be appointed and if not… all chaos would break out. Anarchy.. not that I'd mind." A sadistic grin raises on his lips for a moment, a glint in his eyes, but then it turns into an apathetic look when she mentions the idea of bringing people together, delivering a shrug soon after. "That woman running that village is an idiot. She can try to bring the lands together, but there will always be someone like the Mizukage tryin' to conquer more land and gain more power. As long as differences remain in the world, there'll never be world peace. She'll never succeed… and that's a good thing." Another swig of his rum is taken before asking, "Mitsuo is lettin' ya wander around our land without a keeper?"
Kurohana looks over her shoulder for a moment. "He said someone will watch me though I've yet to see a face. Either he's really good at hiding or he said that to keep me on my toes. I had hoped it was you for a minute there. Would have meant that he had kept to his word. But since you didn't know my name.." She lowers her arms and shrugs a shoulder.
"All I've presented myself to him as is a venomous snake with no fangs. I've not outrightly threatened him or his village though my nature leads me to be suspicious.. aggressively so." Her eyes lift up to Renji. "You'd likely be the same if you were me."
"Promise? Am I that interestin' or somethin'?" Renji raises an eyebrow, wondering what agreement this woman and the Mizukage made, but when her final comment is made… well he becomes curious. "If I were you, Ito-chan? What's the story behind that?" A light 'hmm' is heard and a yawn follows before a swig of rum is taken once again.
Realizing what she said all her defenses immediately come into place. She's said too much to him. Don't show it though. The woman releases a heavy breath and looks to the sea. "Well, being a shinobi untied to a village. I've little protection. Groups have tried to recruit me, through force a lot of times. I'm not just going to up and offer my abilities to the highest bidder. I've got to be involved in something I can support, morally." She mentally wipes her brow. That was a close one. while not lying, she still didn't reveal all the details of her 'story.' A suitable answer in her book.
"I was once a shinobi without ties. I joined this village for a suitable place to live and a steady income." Renji explains. "If ya spoke with the Mizukage, he might allow you to join, but not without proper background checks, Ito-chan." A small smirk touches his lips, somewhat reassuring and offering, but then he shrugs and breaks into a yawn. "You know the Kaguya slaughtered my parents? I was only ten years old. It was a tradegy, but a blessin' too." He lifts the bottle in his hand and takes a swig, and then another before moving it back to his side. "If that never happened, my eyes would've never been opened to the world around me," he states.
Background checks. She purses her lips. What a bother. She's got no idea where to send him. Perhaps just being honest is the best course of action, but still.. It would just bring up an unwanted history.
Fingers fidget within her cloak. But they could offer protection. A breeze picks up the woman's hair, rustling it about her face. "There are no records to verify anything." She finally speaks, her hair coming to rest back against her unmoving shoulders. "As far as he could know, I was thrown up out of the sea." Which that idea has crossed her mind more than once. Her 'parents' never did seems to care like parents ought to.
Renji polishes off the bottle and tosses it into the air, causing it to puff into a white cloud of smoke before taking a few steps toward the girl; slowly and lazily. "What do you mean no records?" The Jounin of the Mist lifts his right arm and points a finger forward, lightly tapping it on her forehead. "All that needs to be known is in here. The Mizukage could let someone skilled in probing the mind check you out. Even if ya don't know everything about your past, a person skilled enough in the area can figure it all out and find out if you'd be acceptable for Kirigakure," he explains. The finger slowly slides down her forehead, to her nose, and then backs off to fall to his side. The entire time, his expression is lose.
Her eyes watch his hand suspiciously. She backs away a step when he removes his hand, seemingly a tad bit offended. Her expression is pained and she tugs the hood back up to cover it.
"Well, if that's the case, then no. No one is going inside my mind with me in a state of.. uncontrol." She crinkles her nose as if the idea stinks. Her arms fold over her chest in defiance of the idea. He might very well like what he finds. It's just the idea of letting someone in. Never again. Not a shinobi of all people.
"Remain a shinobi without ties then, Ito-chan. This village can provide protection, a steady income, and a place to live during off time. If that is what ya want, then ya would have to meet the authorities in a deal." Renji shrugs. "Maybe if we get to know each other further, I could protect ya from time to time. The future is never forseen…" A small hearty laughter comes from his lips and he asks, "If you'd want to get somethin' to eat, I'll treat. It would be the best way to get to know each other further. Deal?" He looks back to the girl and actually smiles instead of smirks, his features handsome and his sea-blue eyes inviting… despite all of what he said earlier about battle and blood-shed.
Kurohana listens quietly to him. Still be without ties and get an income all the same. That wouldn't be a bad offer. She'll keep them at arm's length and them her. Not a bad idea at all. The kunoichi grins softly. It's the first reasonable offer she's gotten since striking out on her own. A hand reaches up to tug the fabric out of her face. "I'd like that, Renji." She smiles up to the taller ninja, genuine as well. She doesn't feel the need to hide around him. Not yet.
