A Need for Escape [Private | NF]

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The sun was beginning to set, the perfect time for a little winding down. And that was all Ami wanted to do after a long day of training. She hadn't trained for a very long time though, but the thought of being able to escape her parents and her other clan members for a little while was heavenly. The Hyuuga was under a lot of stress recently, being one of the heirs to the clan. She sometimes wished they didn't have as much influence on the village as they did, simply so that she could breathe and live a normal life. But she knew that from the moment she was born, her life was bound to be nothing like normal. It was suffocating...and she wished people around her just could understand.

The girl made her way to Lake Biwa, a place she had happened upon when she was out on one of her night strolls one day. She instantly fell in love with the place, a secret lover of any large bodies of water. Ami enjoyed watching the sunset, with a warm cup of coffee in her hand and a cookie or two. She would literally sit there for hours until well past sun down, thinking about life. She wasn't a pessimistic person at all though. On the contrary, she was pretty happy-go-lucky, as you would call it. But there were just moments, moments like these where she wanted to be alone to ponder her life.

It was hard on her not only because she was a Hyuuga. The thoughts of the upcoming Chuunin exams also weighed on her mind, something that probably every other Genin would be worrying about too. She was not really a strong shinobi, having put more of her recent attention into meeting new people and putting her training in the back seat. She was incredibly afraid of the exams actually. She didn't know what to expect and didn't know the strength of the other shinobi in the village.

She sat by the lake, her lavender white eyes looking at the distant horizon, marveling the beauty of the glistening waters. She desperately wanted to be free, to experience what it was like to have no worries or problems. Ami closed her eyes and took a deep breath while sipping on her coffee slowly. She took in her surroundings with her senses, trying to clear her mind in the process. The Hyuuga would stay like this for a few minutes, so absorbed in her own little world that she would fail to sense that a person was approaching.

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Ami did hear the sound of metal against wood and turned her head left and right, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound. It was a little too quiet, Lake Biwa, she noticed, with no other sounds other than the occasional bird flying low above the waters of the lake. It was a beautiful and wonderful place she soon realized. The Hyuuga was just about to stand up when she heard a big thud. Ami could hear the sounds of a person muttering not too far away.

As she put down her coffee next to the ground beside her, she found herself staring at a man who...was covered in dirt. Ami guessed that the sounds she had heard just now came from this stranger. She studied his face, which looked quite tired, and ran her lavender white eyes up and down, silently looking at him for a couple of minutes. She would stand up now, not comfortable sitting while someone else was standing, and would make her way to the man.

"Are you alright?" her voice was soft but quite audible due to the silence surrounding them. The Hyuuga would try to give him a comforting smile, a sign that she wss not an enemy as she approached. Ami would stop a couple meters away from him and her smile would broaden. Smiling was probably the only way she showed her friendliness, looking like a child at times to strangers. She wondered why he was covered in dirt but would wait for his reply.

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Ami couldn't help but let out a small giggle as she listened to Ryojin go on and on. She had never met a man who talked as much as he did. To be honest she'd never met anyone else other than herself who actually enjoyed talking. Her smile widened while listening, taking in all the information he was telling her. The Hyuuga nodded her head as he guessed that she was indeed from the Hyuuga Clan, as most people could simply tell from her eyes.

"Oh wow! That's amazing!" Her eyes lit up as he showed her his ability, making two ice kunais form. Ami had never seen others with that ability although she did remembered reading about it in some textbook. She always wished she could make things out of ice, since she loved how ice things looked. She had always been drawn to things that were shiny and to her, ice would count as one of them. For a moment Ami would look like a child seeing a magic trick, her expression of awe somewhat cute for her age.

She blushed at his comment about her eyes. It was rare to hear such compliments, remembering her academy days when some people would even make fun of them, calling her scary or simply running away from her. She smiled and looked away, unable to come up with a response to the sudden compliment. The girl would turn her gaze back to Ryojin after a moment at the mention of a swim. "I can't swim..." she hated admitting her weaknesses out loud, her pride getting the better of her.

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Ami watched Ryojin's movements in awe. She was always surprised and a little embarrassed when people could do things she couldn't. And there were unfortunately many things she couldn't do. The Hyuuga listened to the man talk about boats, which seeing as there were none in sight, the only way to get across was to swim. She was a little reluctant about swimming, or actually just entering any body of water. But she reminded herself that she was a shinobi and shinobi shouldn't be afraid of anything.

"Do you mind teaching me?" Ami asked Ryojin softly. She faintly recalled her parents trying to teach her the skill when she was young but couldn't seem to remember the details of what had happened. Her father had said that all shinobi should know how to swim, if she aspired to be one. She faintly recalled she was around five years old. But anything other than that she couldn't remember anymore. It seemed so strange to have a void in her memory like that.

"I like ice more than water." Her statement, quite irrelevant, was true. Ami likes how ice felt cold to the touch despite her hatred of cold weather. She secretly wanted him to make more ice things but wondered if it would be too ride for her to ask. She was going to have to be satisfied with just swimming lessons, she supposed. The Hyuuga would walk slowly towards the glistening waters.

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And just like that, her first lesson on swimming started. She had definitely not expected to be taught how to swim when she first came to this lake today. But she knew that swimming was an important skill, especially used outside of the village, for traveling and while on missions. She had procrastinated the learning for many years, an innate fear of water in the back of her mind. She loved looking at the water from a safe distance, such as on a beach or through a window. Going into the water would be her first. She hoped she wouldn't disappoint Ryojin with her slow learning.

"Like this...?" she would concentrate her chakra to the balls of her feet. She had never climbed up a tree either but the imagery she got gave her some understanding as to what she had to do. Ami smiled widely as she began to stand on water, afraid of taking a step in case she somehow fell through to the waters below. Taking a deep breath, she would put her right foot out cautiously, trying to take her first ever step on water. It didn't seem so bad, she thought.

The young girl was really happy to have accomplished something. She let the concentration of chakra go from her feet and instantly dropped into the waters. Eyes widening as she fell through, the fragments of her past that she had forgotten up until now surfaced. Her body immersed in the water, flashbacks of her childhood began to surface. She saw the image of her father teaching her how to swim, by throwing her in a lake and watching her drown. He didn't even move to save her as he watched. All of this now was coming back to her.

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She felt the strong grip of Ryojin on her shoulders as she fell into the water. Ami knew that they were in shallow waters but her mind had been running on its course since making contact with the unforgiving liquid. He pulled her to the surface, everything about her drenched and like a mess. But she was too absorbed in her thoughts to take any notice of that. The green haired shinobi followed his directions, coughing up some remnants of water that was in her lungs. Her body trembled because of the cold but also because she had remembered something she probably should have forgotton.

In a shaky whisper, she would look at Ryojin and ask "Have you ever had...had terrifying memories?" it was a strange question she knew and she didn't expect the man to answer truthfully. They had only met an hour ago. But she was intrigued, and really wanted to share what she had learned about herself to someone without it sounding like her trying to seek attention. Her body continued to shake a little, as she sat on a rock, looking out at the glistening water once more.

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"Naturally. I think everyone does in truth. Nobody can constantly live a consistently happy life...." she listened to what he said, about where he was from. She guessed that he was from somewhere in the north seeing as he used ice jutsus. She had always wondered what places outside of Gekkousato was like, seeing as she had never been anywhere remotely outside of the village. She had always been curious, always wanted to learn more. But from what Ryojin had said about where he was from, she thought it was unwise to ask about it anymore.

"I guess so. It's just sometimes it's more difficult to kind of forget about your memories. But then again, you're right! What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!" She returned his warm smile with a big grin as well. The young woman nodded a few times in agreement with all he had said. She did have an issue with always lingering on unpleasant memories. Over the years she had learned to improve this flaw but still at times...she just found it too hard.

"All the dirt is gone." she noted the obvious when she looked at his clothes. Ami studied him a little longer. She just liked staring at people perhaps. The young kunoichi didn't know what to make of him. He seemed nice, kind and friendly at least. She wanted to know more about him but wasn't sure if he was willing to be her friend. "So...what brought you here?" she asked, trying to start a conversation.

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Ami listened intently at what Ryojin had to say. It seemed like he had had it rough as a child, something that she couldn't relate. She took the time to reflect on her childhood, which to this day seemed like something every other shinobi wouldn't mind having. The girl was born into a prestigious clan, had one of the loveliest kekkei gekkai in the village and nobody in their clan ever diverted from the law. It was an unwritten rule that the Hyuuga would always protect the village, no matter what. And they stayed away from politics too, which meant less conflicts with other clans.

She let out a sight as she looked at him floating in the water. The lake was beautiful as always, a perfect spot for hanging out or just reflecting. The young girl smiled as the two of them sat there, in silence for a few moments. "Do you usually go on missions? I haven't done any recently to be honest and wanted to see what they're like." Again she chided herself for her lack of good conversation starters. She hoped all these questions wouldn't drive Ryojin away.

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Ami thought about it for a moment before replying. She loved the thought of going on missions with someone she knew, especially since she had only gone on one mission with someone before, Karite. The young woman smiled, a broad grin now that she felt more relaxed around Ryojin. He seemed quite nice actually. "That would be great! I'm very weak so thanks..." she hated admitting that she was weak but it couldn't be helped.

She watched as he spun his bo staff around, apparently trying to dry it. The young woman sneezed, the cold waters of the lake getting to her. The Hyuuga was prone to catching colds which also made people think that she was more frail or weak than she actually was. Ami didn't like to be called weak, or even viewed that way. She trembled a little from the cold, not having dried her clothes or hair since falling into the water.