A Learning Experience

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The heavenly shrine was not a place she had ever been to, or even considered going to. Ever since she had become a shinobi, her form of relaxation had always been that of the hot springs, preferring to allow the hot steam and waters relax her muscles. But somehow the hot springs didn't appeal to her on this particular day, perhaps reminding her too much of Keiji. The girl hadn't been to the hot springs lately, avoiding all places that she had visited with her lover in the village. It was her own form of escapism, so to speak. But out of sight didn't mean out of mind, as she started to have thoughts about their relationship again while she walked down the streets of her village. She needed some form of meditation, or a place that she could forget her troubles. And she seemed to recall just the place near the heavenly shrine. Ami had heard about it from her father, who had told her that he used to go there for training and meditation. Perhaps he too was worried for his daughter, seeing the shift in her personality and mood lately, that he suggested she paid the place a visit.

Ami would make her way to the unknown place, taking in very little of her surroundings. Her mind was preoccupied, and as preoccupied minds were, she failed to recognize anyone or anything she crossed paths with. This was dangerous for a shinobi she knew, but the girl wouldn't pay half the attention today. She was wearing a short black dress, her two katanas sheathed tightly underneath a white obi. It was her go-to uniform, being to lazy to change up her attire. Her lavender white eyes would look into the distance, registering nothing in its path. At first glance Ami would look pretty scary, her eyes piercing through a person without even meaning to. She would hear the sound of the waterfall from a distance, knowing that she had at least found the right place. Not sure what exactly to do she would continue to walk and stop, just meters away from the waterfall.

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How rude!

Ami hadn't even noticed that there was another presence. She was slightly taken aback by how direct and outright rude the person was. She would locate the voice, which she could now see belonged to a white-haired girl. It seemed that she was here to meditate or perhaps relieve some inner frustration, judging from the harsh way she spoke. Ami was not untrained to people who had a quick tongue, nor would she be deeply offended by her outbursts. She was actually used to people who talked like that, and even more used to people who hid their true self underneath an exterior of that sort. So Ami merely stared at the girl a little, choosing not to answer her.

The waterfall was such a relaxing place, she realized. Ami would close her eyes after a moment, taking to the rocky grounds that gave her the full view of the waterfall. She would sit herself down about three meters way from Yatari, looking at the cascading waters, lost in thought. The girl wasn't here to pick a fight either, and was perfectly content with just minding her own business unless the other girl had any thoughts otherwise. Ami was tired...mentally and emotionally fatigued that she could care less about what the girl thought of her or what the turn of events would be for them at that moment. .

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It really did seem that the other girl was dealing with some kind of emotional struggles as she saw her shift away from her, only to be doused by water. Ami couldn't help but chuckle a little. She would give Yatari a small smile, a pleasant one that had no mocking intent, as she looked at the other girl. Ami had never met a girl with white hair before, and for some reason she reminded her greatly of her teammate Jayy. They didn't look alike at all, possibly equating the same hair colour to being more of a similarity than it actually was. "Would you like me to leave you alone? I know meditating needs a lot of concentration and I'd hate to distract you further than I already have." Her words were genuine, her voice soft so as not to irritate the girl.

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It perplexed her to no end why the girl was acting the way she was. It couldn't be puberty, could it? Or some kind of hormonal imbalance. Ami would choose to ignore the obvious rude comments by Yatari, waving it off as rebellious and immaturity at its prime. Of course Ami was unaware that the girl simply depised the Hyuuga clan, so she took it as Yatari not liking her as a person. Although mystified, the woman would bite her tongue, turning her attention to the waterfall. The water cascading peacefully down, a never ending stream making contact to the small rocks created a very calm atmosphere. Ami was able to appreciate her surroundings a little more, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. She could stay here forever, she concluded.

Her thoughts drifted to Keiji and then to Sojiro, the two men in her life she had unintentionally intertwined her fate with. She wanted to free herself from these conflicting thoughts, remembering how much she had enjoyed the chilling waters at Kellen mountains. How she wanted to dive into the waterfall, to be engulfed in its depths. It wasn't a death wish, a little like swimming perhaps, finding tranquility underwater. But this wss no swimming pool and as she opened her eyes again, she would stare at the waterfall, deep in thought.

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And then she had had enough...probably from her own emotions than that of the girl before her. She would take her two katana and put it beside her as she stood up, her eyes staring at the gushing waters in front of her. She needed that escape...not death, but the sanctuary of the waters may help calm her fleeting heart. She would walk towards the edge of the waters, her expression blank and emotionless. Ami wanted so much to dive deep into the waters, to be enveloped in its calm and chilling sensation. She was always a fan of water and knew that it was probably the best way for her to ponder and reflect.

So she plunged into the depths of the waterfall, hoping that she wouldn't startle Yatari too much. If the girl knew anything about the Hyuuga, she wouldn't be at all surprised at her sudden and rash actions. But unfortunately she wouldn't know and like every other person who would see her now, she imagined that the Kaguya would think of her as trying to end her life. Ami only wanted a chance to breathe and to escape, as ironic as it sounded, under water. As she dove deep into the waterfall she would close her eyes once more, the cold rushing through her veins.

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Contrary to popular belief, she wasn't looking for any kind of attention. In fact, Ami secretly hoped Yatari wouldn't mind her sudden actions. She would stay under the water, her body adjusting but somewhat failing to, the temperature. Her muscles relaxed and she allowed the chill to engulf her, shivering on the inside as a subconscious reaction. She wouldn't hear anything Yatari would or could have said to her. She was in her own little space and bubble, for lack of better words to describe her current state.

She would stay underwater for awhile unless Yatari decided to either get her out or there was a reason for her to not stay there. She enjoyed this time alone, although she would have much preferred to not have anyone within proximity to begin with. But of course, she couldn't and wouldn't stop the Kaguya from sharing the same space as her. It was public space after all.

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Ami was profoundly confused at the anger the young girl was displaying towards her. She wasn't against her aggression and was definitely not disturbed. But she was definitely confused as she heard her scream nonsense. Not only was Ami not moving underwater, she hadn't planned to. Opening her eyes at the sound of her yelling, the young Hyuuga decided to resurface, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the bright surroundings. Although confused, she would smile at Yatari. "You should come join me. It's not half bad down here, you know?" Her smile widened a little against the Kaguya's obvious upset face. Ami hoped that she could help her manage her frustrations and anger a little better.

It was tough for shinobi, especially for girls to be recognized, to be seen in the shinobi world. She understood that many would take to aggression or pure coldness to counter the fact their frustrations towards the world. She secretly wondered if Yatari was that type of person or if she was just a naturally troubled child. Whichever it was, she felt that there was something more to her than what met the eye and ears, hoping to use her gentleness to dissolve some of the anger that she obviously felt for people. "Do you hate the Hyuuga Clan? I mean...we're not the best people so I would understand but why? Has our clan ever done anything to you?" Ami had picked up from the little words that were exchanged with the white haired girl that she didn't like Hyuugans and she was determined to find out why.

Yatari almost got whiplash from her surpise. This disgusting creature that was far beneath her responded not only calmly but invited her to join? Why would she ever do that? It wasn't often that someone was nice to Yatari, especially when she acted out, so right afterwards her heart sank and she simply sat down in the waters, eyes wide open, clearly unable to believe the Hyuuga said what she did.

No, she's just trying to trick her into a sense of frailty. No prideful Hyuuga would dare be nice, not even to their own family.

"Damned trickster, I will not join you.You aren't worth the bubbles of air that arise when I try to drown you in a few moments."

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Ami was almost dumbfounded at how stubborn this white haired girl was. She was about to say something, something perhaps not so nice when she suddenly heard a rustling of leaves from near where she had been sitting not too long ago. Her eyes immediately narrowed as she tried to silence the other girl, alert as she stopped moving herself. The smile and friendly nature of the Hyuuga switched to her serious and calm self. Ami would spend a good two minutes just floating in the water and listening, the waterfall cascading a bit of a nuisance. She hoped Yatari wasn't going to be rash and react to the sounds, if she even noticed the sound. The sounds would reveal themselves to be a group of black bears, a group of four. They had caught some scent perhaps, and had made their way from whereever they had been to the waterfall.

"Looks like we got company.." she would whisper softly, getting out of the water. Her clothes were drenched, her hair was drenched but she paid no attention. Ami's movements were slow and calculating, knowing that if she even moved a fraction of a second faster than her current speed, it may alarm the bears to attack them. The girl would look over to Yatari, wondering if she was going to lend a helping hand. Having fought more bears than any other living creature in her shinobi lifetime, Ami wasn't at all needing the help, but she also didn't want the other girl to get hurt in the process.

Immediately after the rustling Yatari was in battle mode, weaving her fingers expertly to form three handseals before allowing the bones in her fingers and seemingly attack another bush, one that did not contain the bears, what emerged from it would be a puppet, one that was like few others and was made from bones rather than wood.




Soon after the puppet would launch its attack, its bones rattling and almost seeming to cackle in malicious intent. Its tail slashing towards the beasts although not hitting them. Yatari knew that it was possible for a bear to overpower her puppet with its sheer strength and if she pissed it off enough by actually hitting it it would do so, but if she intimidated it by having it also stand on its hind legs then the bears might just run off.

Yatari, unlike the Hyuuga, was not slow about anything. She ran headfirst into the action many times although this is usually because she has thought out her actions long before anything might have happened, hence why she had stowed away a puppet nearby knowing that someone or something can always come along and pose a threat. The faster she got rid of such an inconvenience the faster she can get back to insulting Ami.

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And as Ami had suspected, Yatari would prove to be as hot-headed in her judgments as she was with her words. The Hyuuga would give a small sigh, watching as another bush rattled. At first she thought it would be another bear, and was somewhat relieved and surprised when she saw a...puppet? Although Ami was no puppet user and knew very little about them, she had been around enough puppet users to see their puppets. Yatari's looked visibily different, seemingly made out of bone. Bone...? The girl would search her brain before it dawned upon her. Kaguya?! The girl certainly had the same hair colour as both Jayy and Adam, the only other Kaguyas she knew. They shared strikingly similar personalities too...impatient, hot-headed, cocky...

But a Kaguya puppet user?

Although intrigued, Ami kept her thoughts to herself, her eyes fixated back on the bears. It seemed like it was best to take them out separately. "You want to take the one on the far right and I'll get the other three?" She would motion with her head at the right most bear. In an instant her eyes would change, veins appearing around the corners, as she activated her Byakugan. She was going to plan how to take down three bears at the samectime, if Yatari agreed to her suggestion. At least the bears weren't actively attacking them yet which gave the duo some time to think of strategies.