Starring:
Date: October 18, 2010
Summary:
Doubting himself and doubting his Clan, Hinotori seeks guidance and a purpose. How fortunate that Fuyu happens to be available to provide both.
"Finding a purpose"
Fishing Pond - Konohagakure
The sun is slowly setting, dusk was upon the Land of Fire and for the most part the village was quiet despite the recent events thats troubled the village. Having been doing quite a bit of thinking about this new team he was on and the lack of a challenge he had with sparring partners, Hinotori was starting to feel he was in a rut. He hadn't felt like training, he didn't know which direction he was wanting to go. He was apart of the ANBU and Karsu which was formed by the previous Head of the Uchiha. Sitting at the edge of the pond, Hinotori sits there looking at the fish as they swam about.
Fuyu is back at the pond for some reason. Maybe she wanted to check and make sure the fish they had tossed back were still proceeding with their fishy lives, rather than floating around in fishy death. But either way, she is here now, still a bit banged up, but at least recovering. She spots Hinotori nearby and just waits where she is, watching him. She has her own thoughts to deal with, so she looks at the pond as well.
Having been here for a while, he stands up and turns around and as he does so, he sees Fuyu. Smiling then bowing his head, "Hello Fuyu-sama." he says to her. It has been some time since the two of them have been alone talking. Most of the time they were either on missions or just not near one another. "Care to join me?" he asks her as he gestures to the edge of the pond where he was standing. "I'm actually glad your here, I've been wanting to talk to you." he says to her giving her a wry smile. He turns around and sits down.
Uchiha Fuyu nods briefly in response to Hinotori. She has no reason not to join him, so says, "Alright." Then she walks closer and stands nearby where the younger Clan member sits. She looks out across the water briefly, and then thinks about what Hinotori might want to talk about. Was it the fishing pond mission with the lamprey? Perhaps something to do with Ankoku Cave? Something to do with Rainos? Something else entirely? She says, "What's on your mind?"
Thinking for a moment as Fuyu asks him whats on his mind, "Well I don't know." he says to her honestly. Lowering his head slightly, "Well I did want to thank you for allowing me to join your team. Granted you could've picked Abel or some of the other Uchiha besides me." he says to her. Sighing a little the younger Uchiha looks off to the side, "I just hope I don't dissapoint you." he states. "Lately I've been feeling a bit lost, like I have no drive, no ambitions. I'm confused about a lot of things and well, I just need to reach out to someone." he states as he turns to look up into Fuyus eyes. "I guess I just need someone to talk to and well, you and I haven't really talked so here I am."
Looking back at Hinotori, she remains standing. She nods to the thanks offered, and snorts a bit about Abel. "Abel? The one that knocked himself out when I told him to stay put at the Amaterasu Budokai?" Of course she knows who Abel is, but she was making a sarcastic point rather than really asking if that was Abel. She shakes her head and looks back at the fish. "There honestly are not many other Uchiha I want on a team with me. Most of them are incompetent, inexperienced, or lacking motivation to succeed. Or all three! So to hear that you are losing your drive…" She looks back to Hinotori, furrowing her brow a bit. "…Is a bit troubling. I'll try to help you resolve whatever confusion you have, if it will get you going again. So ask whatever you want to."
Looking back to the water as Fuyu spoke and for her to feel that he was one she could actually use was a bit surprising. Standing up he looks to her for a long moment as she continued, "I know." he tells her. Hinotori thought he would never find himself in this state ever. But with all thats happend, friends who really don't come around him anymore, one who he's lost interest in friendship due to said person saying that he hates him for the fact that he was Uchiha. "I never had to deal with something like this before Fuyu-sama. I used to be the first one ready for a mission. Constantly training until the point of exhaustion or passing out. I did have friends who I could trust and now I don't even know if they concider me a friend." he sighs. "Also with all the hatred still between us and the Senju. It's driving me crazy." he tells her. Now that he is fully looking at Fuyu, she would be able to see dark circles around his eyes. That fighting spirit that he once showed is slowly starting to fade.
Fuyu frowns a bit. "Hmm…" Hinotori describes his problems and she looks him over a bit. "Well, the Senju have given us plenty of reason to hate them. And I admit it is difficult to work and fight alongside people that everyone around you hates… But even if, just hypothetically speaking of course, I hated the Senju that would not absolve me of my responsibilities. I would not have to be friends with a Senju, not even if it was the Hokage herself, as long as I do my duty and fight for the survival and betterment of the Village. Personal emotions are meaningless. I will hate and be hated in return, even if I am miserable the rest of my life. I will do this because I know that if I have stayed loyal to my friends and allies, even in death, then I lived a life of purpose. Can you do the same? Can you make the same sacrifices? Can you abandon friendship, love, and joy, for the sole purpose of ensuring others do not have to? That is up to you to decide. But you might not have to. Talk to those whom you consider friends. Let them know how you feel, find out they feel, and see if there is a way you can still be friends. If not, find out there is a way that you can still work together, even if you do not like each other."
Looking to Fuyu, Hinotori looks a bit shaken, "See thats where I differ from our clan." he frowns. "I've killed many Senju, and others who came after our clan. But when we decided to put our differences aside, I thought that was a good thing. Maybe to push to bettering all of us. But no, we are only keeping a tolerance of the Senju." he pauses. "Well others are. I on the other hand feel that I'm stronger when I'm protecting everyone." he says to her. When aske if he could live without friendship and love, he frowns, "There is one I care about, one who I wish I understood more, but it feels like everytime we see one another she is just waiting for our time to end so she can go back to be with her clan mates." Shaking his head, "I'm over her, could care less honestly, but I still respect her." Hinotori covers his mouth and turns hsi head as he yawns. "But I know that I can't give you my all if my attention is divided. Also if my skills are lacking, I have no way of protecting our team or our village." he says. Turning to look back at Fuyu, "I always see you alone. Why?" he asks.
Fuyu hears what Hinotori says. She understands in a way. But she disagrees. "I can still protect others without needing to love them. The fact I can put aside my own loathing for the Senju in order to keep them — and us, and everyone else — alive is, to me at least, more evidence of strength than defending those you already care about. After all, if you care about someone you are inclined to help that person. But what about protecting your sworn enemy? What about supporting those that would strike you down? And what about doing it for no other reason than because — at that particular point in time — it is the right thing to do? Most people would find that idea impossible to grasp. One does not protect one's enemies. One destroys them! I feel the same way, and yet here I am." She gestures vaguely at their surroundings, but presumably means the Village in its entirety.
"Loyalty is everything. Whether you like someone or not is for personal time. When you are on duty, or I am duty, I expect that we both will abide by our loyalties… Everything else takes a distant second place. If at all. On your free-time, however, feel free to bond with others, form friendships, and so on. That can give you additional motivation in times of need… But ultimately, your will to succeed and your dedication to those you are loyal to should be the driving force behind your every action as a ninja. Deadening one's emotions while on a mission can often be not just a matter of personal choice, but one of survival."
Fuyu then sighs and says, "I am alone because I do not trust anyone. Or at least, I do not trust anyone to be too close to me. I will fight alongside a Senju or a fellow Uchiha. But that does not mean I trust either one. The Senju are our mortal enemies, who have killed so many of us and we in turn have killed many of them. Do you really think they can forgive us so easily? They wish to grind our Clan into the dirt and make us submit. They want us to vanish from history and be forgotten! A minor footnote in the books about the 'glory of the Senju'!" She shakes her head in disgust and spits on the grass, dark emotions evident on her face.
"I do not trust them. But not all Uchiha are as prudent as I am. Some of them trust the Senju more than they do their own families. And you can never tell whom is whom. Your closest friend can be a traitor lying in wait, ready to reveal your every secret eagerly to his or her Senju overlords just for their approval and a pat on the head. Like a dog. A leprous, filthy, backstabbing DOG!" Her voice raises a bit as she draws and throws a kunai from her side of the pond all the way across to the other side. It slams into a tree trunk about 350 feet away and sticks there.
Right now, while Fuyu often is surrounded by an almost tangible anger and lethality that is not quite Killing Intent, but more akin to an aura of aggression… Right now she is radiating Chakra — enhanced by her hatred — on about the same scale as Rainos, or perhaps the Hokage herself. It is not a pleasant Chakra either. Gritting her teeth, Fuyu turns her eyes back on Hinotori, and her Sharingan lies awake and aware in both. "What about you, Hinotori? Are you a dog? Will you lick at the same hand that strikes you? Or are you a MAN? Will you stand by your principles, rather than chasing dreams of a peace that will never come until either the Senju or the Uchiha are gone? Will you be one of the scarce few I can trust in this Village? Or will I have to keep you at a distance too?"
This was something he had not thought about, but then again it has been something that played at the back of his mind. He wanted to know more about Fuyu and now he does know quite a bit just by what she was saying. There had been quite a bit of changing here in the village, the Uchiha the Police Force of the Village, what good way is it to watch your enemies and what they do. But then again, Fuyu was correct on the count of would he think the Senju would allow their mortal enemies to be so out of their reach. But also the Uchiha were doign the same thing. A silent war was happening, one only both Senju and Uchiha know about.
As the intense chakra flooded from Fuyu as her agiation and anger grew, he steps back from her. But then when she asked him if he was a dog or a man. One of very few she could trust, that hit him hard. Looking back at Fuyu, his evolve Sharingan showing in his eyes he steps forward toward Fuyu. His eyes determined, that spark of fire again back in his eyes as he looks at Fuyu. "I'm no dog, nor a punk to be fooled Fuyu." he says to her. "I am a man, and if you have finally lowered your guard to let me in, to let me be the only one, or one of rare choice to be trusted by you. I will not soil that trust." He knew in his heart that he did not trust the Senju more over his clan or family. He knows he will have to watch both, but will make sure if the Senju did try something, that his family and clan will be protected. His chakra flares around him to buffet some of the aggressive chakra being forced from Fuyu, but as his flares, the heat around them also shoots up. The Fire Dragon Uchiha looks to Fuyu, directly into her eyes. "You have my complete trust and friendship Fuyu-sama." he tells her. The protection of the village is his priority as well as the protection of the Uchiha to make sure they don't fall into darker ways or be seen as traitorous. He loves his people and he loves the people of Konoha Village and he will make sure their safety is his utmost priority.
Fuyu is a skilled orator. She can start a revolution or disperse a lynch mob through words alone. Her speeches are things spoken of widely by those who have heard them. She just as a way of swaying the hearts and minds of others to her point of view. It is not because she is good at manipulating people. It is because she puts her passion into her words. She puts her fiery determination into what she says, and appeals to the true emotions of listeners — their true natures as human beings. And so it is that Fuyu finds Uchiha Hinotori pledging his loyalty, friendship, and trust, when moments before he was openly weary and unresolved in terms of the relationships between the various Clans within the Village. He was tired of hate on both sides.
Fuyu does not necessarily want Hinotori to hate. That would alter and taint his judgement — at least at this stage in his development. He is a good man in trying times. With that in mind, the two Uchiha stare at each other for several seconds, their emotion-enhanced Chakra contrasting each other. One fierce and cold as a blizzard, the other as raw and untamed and hot as the Great Fireball Technique itself. Then Fuyu relaxes a bit, sighing out and closing her eyes. When they open again, her Sharingan is no longer present, no longer blazing red in the sockets. She smirks slightly. "That's what I wanted to hear. You are on your way to becoming quite a fine man indeed, Hinotori. Do not despair over the current state of things. Though there may be treachery waiting in every shadow, and daggers ready around every corner, we will still continue to do our duty to the Village, and to the innocents, and to our Clan. Under our watch, no enemy, whether he be Senju, Uchiha, or other, will be permitted to destroy all we have worked to accomplish. Not with guardians and warriors like you. That is what it means to be Uchiha. Power is not the GOAL. It is only the MEANS we are using to achieve peace for all. And until that peace comes, we will fight our hardest so that others do not have to."
"We are Uchiha," she states simply. "This is the path we walk."
Hearing and feeling her words were something that he's heard before but nothing like this. He could feel all of the emotions that she was putting into this speech which was just for him. Hinotori was starting to begin to speak more with others to help them push on, something he found that he could do during the clan wars. But nothing of this magnitude. It did feel good to have that spark that he lost back. He's been tired of the hate on both sides for a long time, but Fuyu had truth in what she told him and as she finishes her speech, he too closes his eyes and when he opens them again, his sharingan isn't active. "We are Uchiha, and we are the true Guardians of Konoha." he smiles a little. Feeling a great weight that he hadn't even known was there fall off his shoulders he looks to Fuyu for a long moment, "I still wanna spend more time with you if thats alright. I need to get back into fighting shape, and right now your one who I feel will be a driving force in that."
Fuyu nods solemnly. "Of course, Hinotori. We have much to discuss, you and I. And if there is one thing I know I am good at, it is training others. I'll make sure you are ready for whatever comes your way, to the best of my abilities. For now, though… You look like you need a bit of sleep. Tommorow morning we can see about teaching you some things. And it may be very interesting to see how quickly you pick them up compared to me. The same lessons that Madara-sensei gave me will be given to you in turn. And perhaps we will BOTH grower stronger from this relationship…"
Fuyu makes a mental note after saying this to have a full investigation performed on Hinotori when she gets back to the office. She wants to know who this non-Uchiha girl is that rebuked Hinotori, and who this other 'friend' is who hates him for his Clan. She wants to know, because problems like those can not be left unresolved. Not at a time like this, when Hinotori is still emotionally unstable. He must be allowed to grow into his decision of loyalty. Distractions of bickering children are no longer his concern. If they can remain friends, wonderful. If not, then they will need to be spoken to.
And if Hinotori passes all his tests… Then he may yet be the youngest Uchiha to ever join the Loyalists.
