~Rushing Water~ [Open]

Posts : 372

Rushing Water

There lay Kumo, comforted by the mountains that surrounded it. The clouds an unfinished puzzle in the sky, the sun filling in the puzzle pieces that were missing, lost to the wind. The mountains sat there, letting time pass them by, letting people, and the elements just run them down. Take a look closer, and you see plants, people, animals, using the mountains as their home, their safe keeper. One could say that the mountains that surround such a beautiful valley, now filled by a village, were nothing but givers of life, and were anything but selfish. Though, there were those that could say that we are the ones that take from nature, giving back nothing but misfortune and pollution. Yet, in the end, the Gods, nature, or whoever it was the ran the world outside of time, space, and conflict, would make the final decision.

However, until they or it makes that decision, it is clearly up to those who are thinkers, philosophers, believers to make inferences and theories as to what exactly was going on. That leads us to the gardens that litter the Cloudy Pass, which also leads us to the Kumo chuunin, Musami, Aki. He, like many others before his time, is a philosopher, a believer in all that is nature and God. Though, like any human being, he had his doubts at times but today he was his mind was wrapped around the fact that the mountains that he existed upon at the exact moment, were actually being deprived of life because of their need to support other smaller things around them.

But the question was, did philosophers actually think much on the subject at hand? Was the world around them of any great importance? Or is it what only affects them, their studies, and philosophy that mean any bit of logic to them? Aki didn't know for sure, but he knew that nature was very important to him, seeing as it gave life, and took it at the same time. He believed that at any moment, nature could decide the fate for all shinobi, all of life. But, then came the question as to who gave nature the choice? A God possibly? Maybe, but as for Aki, he believed that a God, one mighty being, controlled the very aspects of nature, and through it, gave life and took it at the same time. This belief of his is probably derived from the book that he found as a kid called, "The Bible". It said, that in the beginning, there was the Word, and the Word was God. That he, God, created the Heavens and Earth. Also that he created light, water, land; all that is nature. So maybe, just maybe, there was a God out there, making decisions, and thinking just like Aki was, outside of time. Then there are those who would call this type of thinking blasphemy, saying that it was the Japanese Gods that created everything, that there can not be only one, supreme god. Due to the fact that the most common religion in the lands today was Shinto religion. Though, Aki knew that if people learned of his beliefs, he'd be an outcast, so that is why today we find him sitting on a bench on the Cloudy Pass, contemplating with himself what to believe in and what to find false in the minds, and hearts of others.

So there he sat on a bench, his back to the waterfall that poured itself into the small pool of crisp, blue water below it. His mind, lost in the fathoms that were man, nature, and what would become of them years from now. As people walked by, they'd stop and stare at him as his eyes stared out into space, his mouth moving, but no sound being voiced from it. It was in addition to these stares that people threw comments such as, "weirdo" and "creep", at Aki, but they didn't seem to even pierce his mind, his thoughts. That was until a beautiful falcon caught his eye as it went into his blind spot, making Aki turn his attention to the bird as his gaze followed its fluid like wings as they beat the air. However, the bird suddenly folded its wings to its sides, and dove towards the pool of water that lay below it only to snatch up a small fish, and go back the way it came, fish in claw.

"So, the mountains give life, then life takes life that feeds off the resources that the mountains give to life. How does this work...?" he said aloud, grinding his teeth as he began to become lost in thought again.

Age : 31 Posts : 2547

It was a day for relaxation. Tensei had been given some time off due to the dedication and success rate that he showed on missions. It might have been a little favoritism as well, since he was the Raikage's younger brother, and there was a time when that bothered him, but he was starting to enjoy the perks. He had always been a very idealistic person, a very compassionate person, who would give all of his money away if it meant saving the life of one person without means. The problem was he was never given any money that he was allowed to handle, the Hougaku clan had complete control over everything he gained from his parent's passing which had created a deep resentment in Tensei's heart. If he had control over his fortune, he'd probably give it all away to those that really needed it, and that was likely why he couldn't have it. The greedy bastards.

He sat in his bed, tapping his chin while looking at the ceiling. There was but one thing on his mind, and it had been that way for a few days. All he could think about was Miku. He wondered what she was doing, if she was okay, and just the thought of her made him giggle. He had never before been so intoxicated by anyone that he met. She was smart, oddly hilarious, and beautiful. His eyes twitched for a moment. The truth was he didn't really find much entertainment in not doing anything, and had second thoughts about agreeing to take time off. It wasn't much of a question though because if he even attempted to refuse, his sister would give him the biggest scolding in history, as she was concerned that he had been overworking himself. Tilting his head up, he glanced at the small black book that sat on the dresser directly in front of the bed. It was the poetry book, and he hadn't written anything in it in months. It wasn't writers block that was stopping him, it was something else entirely, something that he couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it could've been the fact that he was in love? Maybe he wasn't even in love. Things just didn't make much sense to him anymore. He slowly lifted himself off the bed, walked over to the dresser, picked up the book, and began flipping through it. He particularly liked a line on the second page, that read, Where hope is lost, chaos is found. to which he didn't remember writing, but that was because it dated back to when he was but seven years old. He grabbed a pen from a drawer, flipped to a page unwritten, and started to brainstorm. Hair lit up like a sunset, she glows like no one I've ever met. He wrote and immediately ripped the page out.

"No, no.. that's no good." He mumbled to himself like a nut-case, and sighed deeply. This just wasn't working. He could no longer write anything that he found satisfactory. "Maybe it's an issue of atmosphere." he thought to himself, putting the book and pen down and once again tapping his chin in contemplation. He thought about places that would be good for him to concentrate, and maybe then he could write something decent. If he wrote something decent, he might even explain his feelings to Miku, though he worried about how she might react to something like that. "Perfect!" He yelled out to himself. He would go to the most wonderful, beautiful, peaceful places he knew about. The Cloudy Pass. Not a moment later, he grabbed his Jitte, poetry book, pen and headband and went straight out the door to a spot he hadn't been to in over 5 years. He was excited.

Travelling at his top speed, it didn't take long for him to reach his destination. He took a few moments to look around, it was quite an amazing place, just how he remembered it. Looking on, there was only one word he could come up with. "Damn." Someone was sitting at his favorite bench, there just wasn't any other bench like that one and he always had trouble writing while being in such close proximity to another person. It made him extremely uneasy. He walked over to it slowly, examining the bizarre man that didn't seem to notice as everyone else had been examining him too. As he got closer, he faintly heard the words the man spoke, which startled him at first as he thought it was directed at him. Once the sentence registered in his mind, he couldn't help himself but laugh a little, something he hoped the man hadn't realized. He was just going to have to try to write while near him, because there was no other spot that would be as good. He sat on the other side of the bench as far over as he possibly could, and took his poetry book out. "How I long to tell you, the true beauty you possess, because no woman is like you, so please undress.. No, that's way wrong." he mumbled to himself as he wrote it down, and immediately scribbled it out afterwards.

Posts : 372

The blue sky was mirrored in the young shinobi's eyes as he starred off into space, still trapped within its many mysteries. His hands were folded in his lap as thumbs, unaware that they were playing a game of thumb war. You could tell that Aki was a very thoughtful, anxious man, having given every last thought, and burnt about every single neuron on what he had been thinking about for hours. The stone that he sat on began to become warmer as his body became flustered with stress, tired of Aki playing the game of "philosopher". Subconsciously, he was aware of what others were saying and doing around him, but he himself ignored what his body naturally observed. But, that was until Aki's nerves got to him, and when another man sat on the bench, it startled him. As the man sat there, he seemed to mutter stuff to himself, as if it were a secret he was trying to keep with himself. Being quite sneaky, and secretive himself, Aki observed the man as he kept to himself.

From what he could see, the man was quite clean, possibly too clean. His blond hair was pushed back, a stray piece here and there hanging over his forehead. Moving on from his glowing hair, Aki tried to see how fit the man was. Seeing as his clothes fitted quite well, Aki could tell that the man was quite physically fit, but that comes with being a shinobi. The man's eyes were brighter than the skies, but seemed to be deeper than the ocean, which Aki found quite interesting, as to his belief, he believed that you could tell what kind of person someone is by looking into their eyes, you know, studying their soul. Though, besides his eyes, Aki's eyes moved back and forth between the skin tone the man next to him had, and the pigment of his own skin. "Gah, someone almost as pale as I am. Very interesting..." thought Aki as his eyes now wandered back to the shinobi beside him. "Ehh, he seems to be interesting, but not interesting enough to talk to..." decided Aki, but it was as his eyes began to move away from the man, that he noticed the journal like book that the shinobi held in his possession. Quickly, Aki's eyes scanned it, smiling as he recognized what form of writing it was.

So, not minding his own business, Aki quickly began to read the short poems that the man was writing in his poetry book. They all seemed quite similar, focusing on one subject, which of course, was a girl. However, another thing he noticed was that there were scratches every other poem, as if they weren't expressing what the young man was trying to explain in his short verses. Though, with yet another swipe of his pencil, he scratched out another as quickly as he had wrote it. Smiling, Aki turned his attention to the waterfall behind him, and recited something of his own out loud so that the man could hear it. "Your beauty, your very being drives a stake through my chest. Yet, my love for you is to hard for me to confess.." But, it was as soon as he realized how cheesy it sounded that he turned his head the other way, he prepared to walk off in embarrassment.

Age : 31 Posts : 2547

He tapped his foot continuously, now paying little to no attention to the man sitting next to him whom seemed to be just as odd as he was. His book now laid on his lap, as he sat back and looked around. Everyone walking by still seemed to stare at them, even though now they were doing nothing that was all that unusual. Tensei always had a problem with people who so blatantly stared without caring about being rude or inpolite, and he was tempted to yell something at everyone but feared that would only perpetuate the issue. Instead he now looked straight back at them, giving them what he liked to call the stink eye. This had proved to be a very successful method at making people feel uncomfortable and then ultimately leave him alone. His hair swayed beautifully in the wind as he made a face most people would interpret as him wanting to kill them. It didn't take long for everyone that once could not look away to get the hell out of there as fast as they could which pleased Tensei. His expression now changed from seriously pissed off to a happy grin, as he looked back down at his small black poetry book.

He started to once again think about what he might say to Miku, what would be the best possible way to express himself without completely freaking her out. It was difficult. Would it just come off weird if he recited his feelings in the form of a poem rather than some kind of speech? Would anything actually work? Such questions were starting to give him extreme grief and anxiety that he was worried he would end up passing out. He started to breathe deeply as he continued to write passages that he would eventually either rip out or scribble out. Nothing was working! He squeezed the pen his anger, and felt like throwing it, but luckily stopped himself before he did because it was the only thing he had to write with. He took a moment to calm down, and started again. "I should go with something easier, perhaps a speech would be more appropriate." he thought to himself, tapping the pen against his chin in thought.

Ever since I first met you when we were heading to the Kage Summit, you're all I can think about. Words are probably incapable of describing my feelings adaquetely, but I'll do the very best that I can. You are the most beautiful, kind, funny person I've ever met. In the past week or so that we haven't seen each other I've never been more unhappy and I know exactly why that is. I've fallen madly in love with you, Miku Tetsumi.

The words practically wrote themselves as they came from within his heart, yet he still found it to be insufficient. He stopped writing once again, this time putting the book away entirely and looking over to the waterfall. As he glanced at it's beauty, he couldn't help but wonder why he ever stopped coming to the Cloudy Pass in the first place, as he had loved it so dearly when he was younger. His eyes widened, hearing the man next to him speak. "You thought I was..? Look, uh.. I'm very flattered, but that's not my style, if you catch my drift." He said under the impression that the man was speaking about him.

Posts : 372

It was only but for a second that Aki thought that man didn't hear him, but, he soon found out that the shinobi heard it clearly. The shinobi's reply was quite clear as well, but when it finally registered in his mind, Aki's face took a turn for the worse. It first, looked as if he was constipated with a bit of food sickness, his face turning red and purple. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head, his lips sucked into his mouth. After about two or so seconds, his face looked like a balloon ready to pop. Then, being very loud, he erupted into a ferocious series of laughs.

"Bahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Are you that really full of yourself, to where when I mentioned beauty and love,you thought that I was talking about you?! I follow the Word, and in his eyes, what you just mentioned to me would be an abomination!" he said, still laughing, seeming as if he would never run out of breathe. But, with a quick flick of his wrist, a copy of his Bible flew into the shinobi's lap. "That, would be the holy book by which I follow, mister confused." he said, still giggling as he still found the whole situation hilarious.

Hoping the man would look through it, Aki stood up, quietly, his head turned away from the man. The situation, that Aki still found funny, didn't seem to have disrupted the peaceful surrounding in which it had occurred. So, having hoped to have broken the peace a bit, Aki looked at the shinobi he was interacting with and said, "Well, poems and letters are not always the best way to express feelings towards people, especially beautiful woman. Sometimes, a song is a great way to express yourself," said Aki, politely to the man. "I girl once broke my heart, its nothing but the past now, but, this is how I felt." he explained to the man, now smiling. Then, all of the sudden, started to sing.

"I see you driving 'round town With the girl I love and I'm like, Forget you! I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough, I'm like,forget you! And forget her too! Said, if I was richer, I'd still be with ya, ain't that some shhhh? And although there's pain in my chest I still wish you the best with a...forget you!" sang Aki, as he walked around with swag, people joining in with a choir like approach. "Yeah I'm sorry, I can't afford a ferrari, But that don't mean I can't get you there. I guess he's an xbox and I'm more atari, But the way you play your game ain't fair!" Though, after singing this verse, a couple came to his side and sang back up. "I pity the fooool that falls in love with you oh (oh she's a gold digger) Well (just thought you should know) Ooooooh, I've got some news for you,yeah go run and tell your little boyfriend!" As Aki continued continued to sing, people on the Cloudy Pass started joining in, expressing how they were once heartbroken. ""I see you driving 'round town With the girl I love and I'm like, Forget you! I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough, I'm like, forget you! And forget her too! Said, if I was richer, I'd still be with ya, ain't that some shhhh? And although there's pain in my chest I still wish you the best with a...forget you!" Aki repeated, as he pointed to a couple really enjoying themselves with the song, but, as soon as he pointed, the couple sang a verse of the song. "Now baby, baby, baby, why d'you wanna wanna hurt me so bad? (so bad, so bad, so bad) I tried to tell my mamma but she told me, "this is one for your dad" sang the couple. Then, as soon as they finished, Aki joined back in, saying in a tune like matter, "Why? Why?! Why, baby, baby! I love you! I still love you!!!! Yeah!"

From there, Aki and the whole crowd of people sang the whole verse again, Aki and others singing, some dancing, and some people doing flips. After the song, however, the whole atmosphere of the place was full of excitement, sweat, and applauds to Aki and their friends. It was then, tired, Aki took his seat next the man again, "You see? Song is the best!" he said, glowing.

Age : 31 Posts : 2547

Tensei was starting to feel uncomfortable. The man sitting next to him had just made a pass at him, that had been the first time something like that had ever happened. He didn't know how to handle it. Immediately after replying to the abnormal guy, he started making the weirdest face that Tensei had ever seen, this making him even more uneasy, and he nonchalantly scooted himself over even though there wasn't much room left to scoot. When the man's lips sucked in, Tensei's heart started racing, and he thought about running to get the hell out of there, under the impression that the man would now try and kiss him. His eyes widened once again and he kept his hands down, ready to use them to maneuver himself up in case anything was actually attempted. The more time went by, the more odd the man was looking, as his face was glowing a bright red. Maybe he wasn't actually flirting with him, and now he was pissed? Tensei gulped in fear and confusion.

When the man finally explained himself, Tensei was relieved, but also a little insulted even though he didn't show it. Everything about this man sitting next to him he found to be unusual, from the way he dressed, to the way he laughed. His relieved demeanor changed quickly upon hearing that it would be an abomination. Tensei wasn't personally a homosexual, but he found no problem in being one, and therefore found the word 'abomination' to be extremely offensive and downright stupid. He clenched his fist, this obviously unnoticed by the man. He felt very tempted to punch someone for saying something like that, but knew that probably wouldn't be a good idea with so many other people around. If this was a shinobi, innocent bystander could get hurt. After a second, his fist was unclenched, and then a book gently landed on his lap. He looked down at it as the man was speaking, and felt a certain feeling of disgust. It was the bible. Something that Tensei could never understand, and probably never would, was religion. The belief that there was something more out there without having any actual proof that there was. It made him think about the term, blind faith, and how inaccurate that was because all faith seemed to be blind. If there was a God, and he loved everyone so much, why were good people that had done absolutely nothing wrong dying everyday? He had heard the argument for this, that it was the work of the devil, but if the devil was able to intervene in the lives of humans then why couldn't this so called God do the same? It was all just another rather elaborate fairytale designed to make people behave themselves.

He kept staring down at the book, tempted to spit on it and set it on fire, and he would have if he wasn't a nice person. The man stood up, and Tensei was once again relieved, thinking that the man was about to leave and he would finally get the peace and quiet he needed to write something good for Miku, but it didn't work out that way. The odd man started to act odd again, breaking into song, and dancing around. This gave Tensei the impression that despite what the man had told him he was actually a homosexual and the bible was just a facade, an overcompensation for the fact that he was actually gay. Tensei pitied people like that. Overall the song wasn't actually that bad, in fact it was quite catchy, although there were a few words in it he didn't understand such as ferrari and xbox. He couldn't help but laugh as everyone started to join in with him, and then he was tempted to do so as well. He didn't, he sat there in observance, waiting for it to be over. Once the man was finished, he sat back down next to Tensei and the crowd cheered to their heart's content.

"Pretty good, but watch this." Tensei said looking over to him and then standing up. The crowd just looked at him, waiting for something more. ♫ Love. I don't like to see so much pain. So much wasted, and this moment keeps slipping away. I get so tired, working so hard, for our survival. I look to the time with you, to keep me awake and alive. ♫ Tensei started, and the women in the crowd cheered while most of the men felt uncomfortable. ♫ All my instincts, they return. And the grand facade, so soon will burn. Without a noise, without my pride, I reach out from the inside. In your eyes. The light the heat. Your eyes. I am complete. In your eyes. I see the doorway, to a thousand churches. Your eyes. The resolution, of all the fruitless searches. I wanna touch the light, the heat, I see in your eyes. ♫ Tensei stopped, and the crowd cheered again, this time even louder. Tensei took a quick bow and then sat down, breathing rather heavily for a moment. He then stuck his hand out for the man to shake. "Tensei Hougaku." he said, waiting for the shake. The crowd now much larger still stood in front of them glaring.