Starring:
Akane, Kasuya
Date: Unknown (log received February 26, 2011)
Summary:
No summary provided.
"Right and Wrong"
Rakurai Bar
Kasuya only attended the bar in the past month, and now she's become hooked. Not only does it sound and smell better than the usual bar, the sake is free. Usually it is packed during the daytime, so she came at night. A few monks and shinobi finishing up from late missions are sitting in knots. Kasuya sits by herself at the bar. No matter where she is, she's usually alone, but she doesn't seem to mind. She's drinking from her second bottle of sake, and whether it's from her place or the bar, she has a massive pile of sweet buns, pastries, and custard. Currently she has a pen and, unnoticed by the monk bartending the table as yet, she's doodling absently on the surface of the wood while conveying the occasional sweet bun to her mouth with her free hand.
Akane had never been to a bar before, after all he was still fairly young. However he found himself stressed and needed to rest and enjoy a serene atmosphere. Akane would enter the Rakurai Bar for the first time and would be a bit surprised. He was told by various wanders that bars where intoxicating places and on rare occasion a fight fueled by ignorance would break out. However he was astounded how refined the bar was the monk who ran the place seemed very friendly. Akane would look around for a place to sit. Some tables were full with groups of shinobi or monks and they seemed to be having a good time, however they were a bit loud. Akane looked for a table where he could sit alone and enjoy some solitude. A monk approached him smiling, Akane bows to the monk and the monk bowed in return before motioning Akane to follow him. Akane would follow unsure what was going on, he would hate to stick out. Akane was lead to a table with one woman already sitting at it. A massive plate of sweets was at the table as well, the monk motioned Akane to sit and he would do so politely kneeling. A cup was placed in front of him and before Akane could tell the monk he doesn't drink Sake the monk had already turned to wait on some other guests. Akane would sigh slowly and peer at the cup "One little cup couldn't hurt," he would say as he picked up the cup.
Kasuya raises her eyes over her cup of sake when Akane sits before her. Her eyes are red rimmed as if from tiredness, but she looks alert otherwise. In fact, even in this relaxed environment with over a bottle of sake, there's a strange tension around her. Then, she'd simply drop her gaze back to her drawing on the counter. It's an optical illusion picture. Looking at it from her perspective, it's a beautiful woman. But upside down it seems like an ugly, bearded slob. As she works on this it seems as if she won't say a word, but after a few moments she says, "I don't think I've met you. I'm Kasuya." She'd glance at Akane, and then at the pile of dumplings, a clear indication that he can help himself.
Akane would stare at the cup while he tried to muster up the resolve to drink the Sake, for him not to drink would be an insult. Akane's lips were at the rim when the woman would speak. Akane would blink abruptly and set down the cup without thinking. As she stated her name he would try and recall if he had heard the name before. Akane drew a blank and would greet "A-ak," his voice was meek at first. He would clear his throat and try again "Akane," he said. He would note her gesture and put up a hand "Thanks but I'm not too hungry," he would look at her now noticing what she was doing he leans forward a bit interested trying to see what she was drawing.
Kasuya is adding in the lips of the woman, which only serves to make the reversed face have greater wrinkles on his forehead. She pauses in the act of drawing and says neutrally, "Nice to meet you Akane-san." She'd take a bite out of a bun and then drink some sake. It's then she notices Akane has left his untouched. "Sake isn't bad," she says. "The taste is strong, but it has a sweet after taste." She draws in one of the ears, and would tap her pen against the picture. "This is like all people I meet," she says. "They know themselves as beautiful, but the rest of the world sees them as evil, weak, or ugly. The truth is…that person /is/ bad. Those who are wicked do not truly think they are wicked, or at least that their actions are forgiveable. The most dangerous type of villain is the one who thinks they're a hero."
Akane would peer over a to his Sake "Yeah," he says agreeing with Kasuya. His hand a bit shaky but once he grabbed the cup it would become still. Akane took a sip of the Sake and realize the woman's description was spot on. He promptly set down the cup and would let the strong taste subside. "That was….different," he stated with a grin. The picture was a bit abstract from Akane's point of view, he couldn't make it out to be anything however once he imagined looking at it from Kasuya's point of view he would see the true image. Akane would smile "I see," he would say as he can see the beautiful woman and the burly character. "It's all about perspective then," Akane would say reaching for his Sake. Without realizing it he had acquired a taste for it.
"Perspective, precisely," she says. "Evil and good, it all depends from where you're standing. But in the world of shinobi there is no one truly good." She's drawing a messy scar on the person, so that both sides are becoming disfigured. "Nor is there anyone truly evil. There's only…comradely. Evil may be necessary. Good is a bonus. In the end, the person who decides history and what is right, are the victors. Strength is all that matters." She takes a sip of sake. Upon closer look, she is getting a bit tipsy. Her face is warm and to those who've met her, she is far more talkative than usual. "Don't you agree? Akane-san."
Akane slowly sips his Sake before shaking his head. His face was reacting to the strong flavor but he was growing used to it. "No, not entirely," he would poke into his pouch and pulls out a lump of clay. Taking the clay in his right hand he would reveal a mouth, the mouth wwould swallow the clay and chew. While it did so Akane would speak "I think you're confusing good and evil with right and wrong," Akane smiles "That is to say what some call right may not be good and the same goes with wrong and bad. However good and evil have been defined since the very beginning," Akane nods. "A friend of mine, very close, and I were on a mission. A retrieval mission. Our mission was basically complete, we got what we came for however we where noticed. Persued by the enemy we were certain that one of use would have to die for the other to escape and complete the mission. I tried to sacrifice myself for the sake of my friend and the mission. As the enemy closed in on me my friend had time to escape but he didn't he came back for me and surrendered the mission objective," Akane took another sip of his Sake, he cringed as it went down.
"ANyway upon our return he was chastised for his actions. He was wrong to do what he did. Now from my point of view he did a good thing, however it wasn't right," Akane stated "I should be dead but because he chose to be wrong I'm alive today. Now I ask do you think what he did was a good thing? Abandoning a mission and betraying the trust of his village to save a friend's life? You see at that time no amount of strength could've saved me but one reckless act of foolishness permitted me to live," Akane sighs "He died on a similar mission, only that mission was completed…however I had to let him die," Akane finishes his Sake and as he drinks it this time he wouldn't cringe "Good and evil are unmistakable, as I knew I was doing the right thing, I abandoned a friend whom I owed my life. So I am stained by that act of evil forever more," Akane chuckles "Anyway the difference is that strength determines right and wrong, but good and evil are set in stone even in the ninja world,"
Kasuya sits up a little straighter when she sees the mouths within his hands. Her look is one of powerful surprise. "I've seen those…once," she says wonderingly. And she hadn't seen them in the village of Kumogakure. She settles back down after only a moment. Despite eating a pastry, her eyes never leave Akane as he speaks. It would seem that this conversation is getting interesting; and a little dangerous. "That was good," she says, "and right. It is a rule to always complete the mission, but it's also a rule of mine to save a comrade. Still, let us say that your friend's choice was still the best. But you know that friend will go on to kill. Murder. Lie. Torture even, if he's chosen for a certain organizaiton within the village. Is it so good for the world to save any shinobi who will inflict violence and blood for the sake of their village?"
Kasuya finishes her sake and sits back in her chair. "This isn't my first village I've fought for. In a village I worked for, they decided to drive out a group of yakuza run by the Takada family. They were drying us out by doing missions for cheaper, but the final blow came when they killed some of the shinobi. So I was sent with a small team to assassinate Akito Takada. Send a message. I went and it's then when I got there that and gathered intel that I learned the leader was Roku Takada, that scum; a thief, murderer, rapist, and he had mutilated the bodies of our shinobi after killing them. Akito was his son…his infant son, and I found the baby in a cradle. Seeing that, I considered merely kidnapping the boy. Killing a baby in cold blood…hmm. But then a group of enemy shinobi burst into the room, and the only thought was: kill or don't kill." Kasuya grabs a bun. "Certainly it would have helped our cause, and my leader had ordered it, but what would be the right thing?"
Akane nods as Kasuya seemed to recognize his clan's trait but he would comment on it. Akane would grin at Kasuya's first question and would shrug "You have a good point," he would leave it at that for now. Her story is what really interested him. As he listened he would remain stoic however he was a bit disguised at what her story entailed. A business decision was basically the cause of her having to make that decision right there and then. Akane would speak and he would be a bit saddened by his answer "Sadly your mission said to eliminate Akito Takada, for you to do so would've been the right thing to do….from a shinobi's perspective," a monk would come by and set another cup of Sake by Akane. Akane smiled and bowed slightly thanking the man "So…" he started as he drank his Sake more willingly this time around. HE was very curious "What did you do?" he asked her. His hand was still chewing in fact the noise of its mastication could be heard in the silence.
Kasuya shrugs. "I didn't know what was right," she admits, "but I knew if I could get a few moments to think, I'd be able to decide. So I ordered my team to kill every shinobi standing there, and we were doing well except against… Roku Takada. He was there fighting for his son, and he looked so scared yet determined. It's then I decided. I grabbed that baby, moved to a window (since we were in a tall building) and said, "Roku-kun, kill yourself with that kunai you hold. If you do, I'll spare your son. I saw it on his face then. He was willing to die fighting for his son. But certain death, with not even a tiny chance at life, is something different. He shouted and lunged at me rather than surrendering. So… buh-bye, kid!" She pantomimed tossing a baby. "He watched as I threw the kid from a window because he was too cowardly. Then we fought our way out. Only two of my four man team made it out alive; he was angry. At the bottom of the tower my teammate looks around at the ground and says, 'Where's the kid?' So I released the illusion for a sec, and there was that runt in my arms. I handed him to my teammate and said, 'We'll kidnap him. Hold him for a sec, I need to bandage this wound.' And as I was taking bandages out my teammate dashed that brat's head against the wall and flung him on to the ground. He said, "Leader's orders." And I knew that was true, yes, so we left. It'd be something I had to live with. But after awhile I said, "You know killing that baby was evil, right?" And he said, "Yeah, but the leader told us to." Since we were in the woods, I took him to a tree and hanged him there. Funny, if he had thought it wasn't evil, we would've both made it back to that village. But having done something so abominable, and knowing it well, I couldn't go on. Whether or not it was right to kill him, I couldn't stand even looking at him. After that, I didn't even return to the village. I left. I wandered many years. And I finally decided to join the village who seems to have the lowest baby killing record." She sighs.
"How cryptic," he said as he looked to his hand. It seems whatever he was making it was highly detailed. "I see, well that is a good story. You did the wrong thing twice, killing a comrade and failing to return after the mission was complete. However," he would take another drink of his sake, he was beginning to like it "Hmm, not bad," he remarked as he looked back to Kasuya "I'd have done the same thing in your situation, I'm not sure I could bring myself to kill an infant," Akane stated as he returns his hand to his side. Akane would incline his head "Your intentions were good, it's a shame things didn't work out," Akane would check his hand and it would spit out the finished clay product. Akane smiled and would glance up Kasuya "I guess it all comes down to one question," Akane would glance solemnly down at the table "Who are you? I'm sure every shinobi has asked themselves. I do it myself still," he would set his clay creation on the table and it was an exact replica of the woman's drawing scar and all. "What about you Kasuya-san? Who are you? Kasuya or a shinobi of Kumogakure?" he asked curiously waiting for her response.
"Who am I?" Kasuya muses. She looks down at the figurine, and actually laughs. She's so out of practice that it comes out as almost a bark. "That's…very skillful, Akane-kun. As for who I am…I'm a very bored person. Wandering gets old. So I chose the village where I thought I'd be most useful. Namely the one flooded with taijutsuists. You know.." She grabs a pastry and takes a bite. "..I guess you could say I am 'Kasuya of Kumogakure.' It's a good ego booster to be here. I'm the best genjutsuist, I think. Largely because I'm the /only/ one to the point that I've been made a specialist." She takes a bite from a red bean paste bun. "I'm top notch, you won't find a better genjutsuist out there. Heh. Anyway, that's classified information, about my specialty, so no spreading it. Jeez, this sake is good." She finishes it off, and says, "So who are you, Akane-kun? A shinobi…or a hero?"
Akane would nod at Kasuya "A nice answer," he smiles faintly. He would take the clay creation and return it to his pouch. As he does so he would laugh at Kasuya "A genjutsuist you say? Well I've never seen one in Kumogakure so I think you are accurate in saying you're the best," Akane would ponder her question as he would finish off the last of his sake. He sighs as his head begins to feel a bit, light. He would dismiss the feeling as fatigue and figure he would need sleep soon. Akane would look back at Kasuya blinking abruptly before grinning deciding to answer her question with another question "Who am I? Well what would you call a mixture of good and evil?" he asked as he would prop his arm on the table and rested his head on his hand.
Kasuya shrugs. "Certain people would say if one part of the apple is rotten, it is all rotten. I say…if it's a good enough apple just eat around the rotten part and enjoy the fruit. So I would call you…a shame to waste. But a clay-user is far from a waste. I wouldn't say you being here is as unlikely a person as I, but I find it unusual that the Stone would let go of a Toujitakumi—and one blessed with the talents of clay manipulation, at that. I'd like sometime to hear how you got here, Akane-kun." She picks up her pen, and is about to elaborate on her drawing, when a monk at last catches sight of her vandalism. Suddenly, the trademark peace of the bar is shattered, and Kasuya would find herself very quickly stuffing her dessert in a bag and halfway to the door before she knows what's happened. "Hmm…I should go. It was interesting meeting you."
Akane grins at Kasuya "You're overcomplicating the question. Put simply the mixture of good and evil is human, but I'm certainly no hero," he nods standing. He would bow to the monk as he came by to collect his cup and clean up the table. "People always seem interested as to how I ended up in the Land of Lightning. I guess I could explain it one day," Akane would notice the monk's reaction to Kasuya's vandalism and incline his head. He watches her stuff her dessert and make for the door. He would be leaving too, he was tired and needed to rest his head. "It was interesting to meet you to Kasuya-san," he smiled and continued to walk out of the bar and back to his home.
