Temporary Escape [Travel]

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The young Hyuuga walked down the main streets of Moon Village, her tired and half-dead expression clearly visible on her face. Running on her third day in a row of not sleeping, she was beyond tired, her mind and body screaming for her to stop. But the stubborn woman had already made up her mind. To be fair, restless nights have been the reason she refused to sleep. She would just hold out as long as her body would let her. Any short of that she would be stuck of her failures in life. Her mind fluttered briefly to Karite and Keiji but quickly pushed the thoughts away.

Not today...

Indeed, she had something important to do today. She had requested to go on a mission away from Gekkousatou, needing a change of scenery. Every time she walked the village streets she'd end up somewhere that held onto her memories and she didn't want that anymore. Ami needed a temporary escape. So she was relieved when she received news of a wild attack near the Sun Village. She had only just finished delivering a package, so she hoped at least the guards there would recognize her and not think she was trespassing. She enjoyed her casual visits to the other village, having a completely different landscape than her own. Ami would walk slowly down to the gates, her scroll in hand.

"I'll be back in a couple of days." She showed the guards the scroll and informed them casually of her return date. It wasn't necessary but she always felt obliged to. The girl would walk past the gates and onto Kataki road, the wind blowing lightly through her hair. She had chosen to wear her black dress with high heeled boots of the same colour, her sword in the same position as always, tucked underneath her belt to her left, and her weapon pouch strapped to her left knee. She also tied her hair up with a red hairtie today, to be a little different she supposed. She remembers the last time she here, when she delivered a package to the Sun, how she had made the horrible mistake of venturing out in the middle of the night.

Ami looked up at the clear skies, thinking about the mission she was going to do. She would have to stay completely focused and collected. How many times she had either wounded herself carelessly because her mind was wanderer. She was not going to think about Keiji today, she concluded as she was a shinobi who had something to prove to the world. The girl would continue to work at a slower-than-normal pace, her eyes glancing left and right for any unusual activities and would soon come to the outskirts of the sun scorched desert.

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It was already close to nightfall when the Hyuuga found herself once again on Kataki Road, heading back to Gekkousato. She had finished the hyenas mission with Kannagi and Faustein and had stayed behind a little, exploring the lands before she headed home. It was merely because she wanted to buy time, to take a break, and explore unexplored territories. But her real motive was still to try to get over the now seemingly petty heartache. At least she hadn't let her team down, reflecting back on their day's adventures. She hoped to get to see both Sun shinobi some time soon, as she had enjoyed taking the mission on with them. Perhaps she just needed that change of pace and scenery.

The girl was given a bottle of plum blossom sake, as the owner of the restaurant in the village had told her. He had offered it to her for free, after she had dined there post mission. Perhaps he had seen the sadness in her eyes, as he told her that because the desert was such a dry and coarse place, the chances of finding plum blossom flowers was close to impossible. He had gone to other regions to find the flower to make his special sake. Ami had thanked him for his gift, now holding two bottles of the sake in her left hand as she walked down the deserted road. She was going to enjoy it when she got back to her own village, in her usual spot, slightly excited to finally get a chance to sleep after days of struggling.