Home Sweet Home

Kurai walked to the gates of her village and breathed in the freezing but comforting air. It had been a while, but she had finally returned home to her village. Her people.

She was in the middle of a crowd, getting hugs and handshakes on her return. She smiled brightly at each and every villager who came by, thanking them for caring enough to welcome her back. She looked to the gates and saw Minoru and waved. She weaved out of the crowd. "Minoru!"

She smiled widely, noting how long it had been since she had seen him last. She had changed a lot herself. One of her eyes was now permanently inflicted with her kekkei genkai and she had grown taller, probably now up to his chin in height. Her hair was tied back in a very long ponytail and her clothing had changed. A long, black coat covered up a purple sleeveless shirt with laces at the back to tie it and a knee length, high-waisted black skirt.

She laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. "We all change, Minoru. Some more than others. I, for one, am glad that youve stayed the same as always," She went forward and hugged him, not caring if he responded or not. "Still as stoic as ever, i'm glad you stopped by,"

"You worry too much. You wont lose me," She said as she let him go. "I never leave a friend behind. Never have, never will," She promised as she looked up. "Hm...The winds getting colder, theres probably going to be snowfall soon,"

"Well, it IS called the SNOW village, Minoru," She chuckled. "Don't worry, if it starts snowing we can take shelter in my office," She reassured him. "It isnt too cold for you right now, is it?"

"Alright, alright. C'mon, we'll go to my office. That way, you can SEE the snow but it wont irritate you," She raised an eyebrow. "Is that a deal, Minoru?"

She returned the smile kindly. "Good, follow me then. I'll take the shortest route there so we dont get caught in the snow," She motioned for him to follow as she started a walk, moving surprisingly gracefully through about an inch of snow.

ooc: wtf? -.-"

They reached a surprisingly simple building, only a few floors high. In the top window, a warm fire could be seen opposite a desk and chair which was neatly organised with very little paperwork. "Here we are,"

ooc: Ugh i'm not getting involved =/

She shook her head. "Nah, i prefer to keep myself close to the villagers. I dont want to distance myself from them so i dont pamper myself with luxuries that they themselves cannot have," She explained as she opened the door. "Dont worry, its still warm inside,"

ooc: Alright, thanks

She laughed again. "Yeah, thats all that really matters here," She said as she climbed a flight of stairs to get to her office. She opened the door and stepped inside. The office was very homey and spacious. The desk and chair was situated at a certain angle which faced the fire and there was practically no clutter anywhere. There was one single huge window at the end of the room, giving a spectacular view of the village. There was a couch just under the window.

She perched herself on the edge of the desk, leaning back on her arms. "Yep, and it makes it more secure as well. If anyone were to invade, they wouldnt know which building was the kage's. So that would give me time to retaliate," She winked. "I think of everything," She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

She grabbed a cushion from her chair and threw it at him, laughing. "Hush, you. I have no trouble at all in that area of things, thank you very much," She flicked her hair in a pompous manner, obviously making fun of the sterotype that kages were above the rest of the villagers.

She got off the desk, waving her hand and using her chakra to dust all of the fragments into the corner. She opened another door which was some sort of storage closet and pulled out another chair, pushing it to where her old one had been. "Oh? And why would you think that?" She said as she sat down in the chair.

She rolled her eyes. "oh, hardly. Compared to some of the other women here, i'm not that great." She shrugged and leaned back in her chair, placing her feet up on the desk so her cloak was no longer covering them. "Seriously, its a wonder we dont have men flocking here because of all the beautiful women,"

"Heh, well thats certainly a first," She replied, a slight smirk playing across her lips. "Then again, i've always been really bad for noticing when a guy takes an interest. Not used to it. Or maybe i'm just dense," She joked.

"Never met him," She replied with a shrug as she got up yet again and took a seat by the window so she could see the snow as it had finally began to snow as she had said.

She sighed and shook her head. "I see. Let me guess, he's too dense to figure out her feelings for him so he continues to think she's just got something wrong with her so the poor girl can never act on her feelings?" She replied, raising an eyebrow and looking at him.

She returned the grin and nodded. "I figured as much. Those types of people are really bad at figuring that out. Hard to believe youre related to him," She added as she looked out the window again, resting her elbows on the windowsill.

"Eh, thats not so bad then," She replied as she placed a hand on the window. Using her ice chakra, she froze any snowflake that came into contact with the window. Before long, there was an intricit pattern of snowflakes all over the window in a sparkling display of delicate fronds.

She clenched her fist up against the window, her head dipping down as her jaw clenched. "If you only knew, Minoru..." She said bitterly, her voice pained and forced. "God, if you only knew..."

She shook her head, forcing herself to relax when his hand came into contact with her shoulder. "Its...Unimportant..." Was all she said in reply, lifting her head a little to show she was alright. Her jaw was still clenched, and she didnt look directly at him.

ooc: gtg, see ya Tony

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to clear her mind. "In our clan...Murder was forbidden. It wasn't considered humane to kill unless the person in question had a tainted soul. Killing of the innocent...Was not tolerated...With punishment of death to the clan member who did such a thing, thus becoming tainted themselves...My cousin, Ayame, took me out of the village to show me the beauty Konoha had to offer...And someone came up behind me. I reacted, and whipped out a kunai, stabbing them in the neck. Ayame took the blame...And was executed. I--" She tried to continue, but her voice became choked and she shook her head, looking down again.

She couldnt speak at that moment, but couldnt bring herself to cry either. She hadn't cried in so long it was as if she'd forgotten how. She just slowly hugged him back, squeezing her eyes shut tight and leaning her head on his shoulder so her stricken expression couldnt be seen.

After a while, she regained her composure. Her shoulders relaxed again, and her breathing became smooth and regular as apposed to the sharp breathing she had before. She opened her eyes and sighed.

She nodded, clearing her throat so she was sure she'd be able to speak. "Yes...I'm fine now. Thank you, Minoru," She replied softly, her voice steady but still quiet.

"Normally i hide it a lot better but some things are just too difficult to push to the back of your mind.." She replied, her voice slowly returning to its normal state.

"Yeah...We both have somewhat of a difficult past...I suppose we just need to deal with it as best we can," She said as she turned her head so it faced him rather than away from him so she could hear him better.

She glanced out the window and smiled ever so slightly. "Looks like the snows settled...Even you have to admit, it looks nice after it snows," She raised an eyebrow.

"I love it..But then again, i'll be spending my life around it so i have to be used to it," She rolled her eyes. "Y'know, you can let go of me anytime you want,"

She laughed slightly, not noticing how flustered he'd become. "Don't worry, its alright. At least you were keeping me warm," She joked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong? You seem very unsettled all of a sudden,"

"Alright, if youre sure," She tilted her head curiously. "You just seemed a little flustered was all,"

"Liar," She smirked, peeking at him over his shoulder. "You're hiding something, and i'll figure it out. You know i will," She stuck out her tongue childishly.

"Believe me, i will," She grinned evilly, sitting back down again and looking out the window thoughtfully while casting glances at him every now and again.

She looked at the locket, and then at him. Sighing, she pushed herself over to him again and put a hand on his arm, letting him know that she was there if he needed her. She closed her eyes and looked down so he wouldnt feel like she was staring.

She looked at him and smiled back. She gave his arm a gentle squeeze and nodded. He knew her well enough to know that this was her trying to reassure him that it was going to be okay. She knew he didnt like long, drawn out conversations.

"I know, believe me i still feel the same way about my clan..." She murmured, touching the back of his hand once with her index finger to try and get him to unclench. "But your mother wouldnt want you to live in such sorrow...She'd want you to be happy. Think about the good times, dont focus on the bad,"

She blinked in surprise, but quickly shrugged it off. "Well, even one good memory is better than none, right? I'll do anything and everything i can to help, i just dont like seeing you this way," She sighed.

Now she was the one who clenched her own fists. "Used to it...Look, i think we're BOTH used to it, but putting on a front isnt as hard as you might think. I'm not saying you have to be upbeat and happy all the time. I'm saying that dwelling wont bring her back...And it won't do YOU any good either," When she was saying all this, her voice rose in volume until she was on the verge of shouting. She sighed and took a deep breath, calming herself before turning away from him.

"I know...I'm sorry," She replied quietly, tucking her knees up to her chest. "I..Didnt mean to yell, its just...You're like how i used to be...And i dont want you to go down that road,"

"Where you end up blaming yourself...And you blame yourself so much you hate yourself so bitterly for it that you think taking your own life will solve things," She touched self-consciously at her left wrist. "When you wont even let people know how much it hurts in case all they do is hurt you some more.."

"...." She was silent, but she didnt need to. Her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She was scared. Scared of the path he was taking. Fear, worry, anxiety, paranoia and, probably the most visible of all, sadness. If he looked carefully enough he'd be able to see it.

"Good for you..." She muttered, getting up. She walked over to her desk and sat down in the chair, getting out some paperwork and making a start on it. It didnt need done but she couldnt look at him right now. Her face was set in an emotionless mask.

"Never better..." She said as she continued with her paperwork, not even looking up. The lead in her pencil snapped and, instead of sharpening it, she just snapped it in two and pushed it roughly to one side before taking out another and carrying on without another word.

She didnt speak again and sighed heavily, shaking her head and pushing the papers away. She glanced up at him, not making eye contact. She forced an unconvincing smile. "See...I'm fine,"

"What does it matter? It wouldnt change anything even if i told you what it was," She replied as she looked back down again, twirling the pencil between her fingers absent-mindedly.

She placed her elbows on the desk, looking across at him sharply. "Fine, you want in? You wanna know why? Its because of what you just said. You're gonna go insane at this rate! You're losing yourself, Minoru! I'm not letting myself lose anyone else, even if that means i have to cut myself off from them,"

"There...You wanted in, and i told you.." She got up and shoved her hands in her pockets, walking over to the window and looking out silently.

"Its hard but not impossible...It makes me wonder if you actually WANT this hatred to keep growing..." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Because it doesnt seem like you're trying to change,"