New Aquaintance

A few nights after Rika blew up her house, she was spending alot of time at the tavern. She had been a heavy drinker for a while now, and she couldnt seem to make herself stop drinking. She never drank before she killed her fiance, but the depression that came after she killed him was a dark pool and it was rising. It seemed to start at her shoulders, but now this dark pool of sadness and lonelyness had worked its way over her head and she was holding her breath. She needed somone to get her out of her own mind for a while, so the dark hole in her heart could heal. Her life as a ninja had been hard and desolate. She didnt have anyone to open up to and she seemed all alone, so she started drinking. Tonight she walked through the door and looked around. It didnt seem any more active than any normal night. The light was mellow and she moved over to the edge of the place in a corner. She liked the view out the window from there. She could see the place where her fiance proposed to her. That view always hurt her heart, but if she got drunk, she could remember those times vividly and it soothed her. She sat down in that usual place and looked out the window. She saw the place and her heart began to ache. She looked over to the server and asked for 3 bottles of sake. She waited and avoided looking out the window again. She didnt like the pain until she was at least buzzed and she already had enough weighing on her mind today. She had recently killed a genin that reminded her of herself. The shock of seeing herself in him had stunned her and gotten her wounded. She rubbed her leg that was still wrapped tightly with bandages. She would probably limp for another week before regaining full control of her leg. She had used ameratsu on the genin too. She wanted his death to be quick and respectful so she had used a technique that took alot out of her. As she was thinking all of this the server arrived with the sake. She poured her first dish of it and took a good gulp. It burned slightly as it went down and hit her stomache warmly. "Server, you might want to bring more, im going to be here for a while." she said, and continued drinking. After about an hour Rika was pretty drunk. She looked out the window and remembered fond memories to escape what had happened to her so recently. In her subconsious, she knew drinking like this was bad for her, but all she cared about was the momentary relief. She continued sipping another dish and looking out the window.

Hagane had a rough day today. Being new to the village was not a fun experience at all and having a history as a missing nin garnered him all the wrong types of attention. He was sick of receiving malicious looks from people and hearing them talk about him, behind his back. Who knew what they where saying, bad things most likely. Something along the lines of him being a killer and thief, most likely. It was quite stressful being the new guy on the block; he needed to make friends with someone, anyone would do. Someone he could talk to, someone who could talk to him. The abuse of the village was starting to get to him so Hagane decided to go get a drink down at the tavern. For now he would cope with the looks people were giving him as he strode briskly towards the tavern. Once he got there he would get tanked, drown away all the stresses of his life in the sweet nectar that was alcohol and probably chat some people up. Some sake sounded really nice right now to Hagane. It had been quite some time since he had a drink, maybe if he was lucky he might meet someone he liked. As the tavern drew closer into Hagane’s view he could see into the windows. It didn’t look too bad inside, probably just a normal night for them, he didn’t know though since he had never been there before. Hagane noted a woman in the window, she was drinking sake. She looked rather depressed; maybe she was having a bad day just like him. Hagane despised seeing people upset, he loved to help people and someone who had a frown on their face was just something he would not put up with. He placed all of his burdens aside and made the benign decision to make that woman’s day better; he didn’t care how he did it, but it would be done.

He took one last glance at the woman in the window and began to enter the tavern. Hagane was right; the place did not seem all too busy. There where people sitting around, they talked away not noticing him even enter the building, lazily drinking their sake while chit chatting about the entire goings on within the village. Hagane stood there for a moment and scanned the tavern; there was one person he was in search of. The woman in the window who seemed sad and alone, he grazed his eyes over the crowd looking for her distinctive black hair. There she was, drinking herself into a stupor over at her window table. Hagane went to the bartender and asked for a small bottle of sake. If he was to talk to her and cheer her up, he would need some confidence, albeit false confidence. The bartender handed him the bottle and Hagane took it within his left hand. He paid the man and then gripped the bottle tightly; he then raised it from the counter and pressed to opening of the bottle against his lips. Hagane could smell the alcohol, it was musky and strong. He tilted his head back and began to chug the sake. The burning sensation only lasted for a brief moment; it was quickly diminished by more sake. He finished the bottle and then set it down on the table. His chest felt warm as well as his cheeks, he took a step forward and he felt a little light headed. Maybe it had been too long since he last drank. He felt like a light weight, maybe talking to her right now would not be a good idea. Hagane’s body however was moving on its own. He was walking towards the woman and he was not able to stop, he knew that he was about to make an ass of himself. He approached the table she was at and then he looked at her. “Why the long face there princess, who pissed in your sake?” Hagane was being an idiot right now and he was too far into it to stop now. Better just roll with it I s’pose… wow she ain’t half bad lookin, maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea… THANK YOU SAKE!! He slumped into the chair opposite from her. So what’s up with you, you’re too pretty to have such a sad face like that? How bout ya talk with me, I’m a good listener. At this point Hagane couldn’t even fully tell what his intentions where. Was he trying to help her, solve her problems, or was he trying to hit on the dark haired lady.

Rika saw the man walking down the street from her window. Her brain at this point was pretty fuzzy and she didnt really register what she was thinking clearly, but she found the man quite attractive. She only thought on him for a second though because she got lost in another memory. The warm feeling the sake was giving her made her feel good like she never did when she was sober. Thats why she couldnt stop comming here. If she had somthing similar to that or a person she could confide in, she might stop drinking and stay with them instead of hitting the bottle. Though that might be possible, Rika didnt expect it. She had her chance with the man she loved and she had ended up killing him. Rika blamed herself for him betraying her and his death so she couldnt let him out of her mind. This was the only comfort that she had so she wasnt going to give it up easily. The memory faded and she took another sip of sake turning to look back in the building. Her eyes didnt pierce through everyone like they normally did and it made Rika more comfortable. She never liked seeing through everyone and ever muscles tension. When she drank, all of her pain went away with the cursed eyes. Then she noticed the man again. He had come to the tavern. Her sight was slightly more blurry than when she saw him before, but she still recognized him. The man with silver hair and a scar over one of his eyes. She felt wierd when she looked at him and couldnt tell what it came from, but she shrugged it off as somthing that was comming from the alcohol. He ordered some sake and took a small sip and started to her. Her face got hot and she turned away. Her face fell into her familiar frown and she looked out the window again. He sat down on the other side of the table and scanned over her face. He started to talk, “Why the long face there princess, who pissed in your sake?”. This threw Rika for a loop. He was the second person to have called her that. The genin she had recently killed had given her that pet name and him repeating it gave her a quick shock. She shrugged it off quickly and tried to focus on his face. He seem a little flustered with himself, but he too quickly recovered." So what’s up with you, you’re too pretty to have such a sad face like that? How bout ya talk with me, I’m a good listener." She turned slightly red again at the pretty comment, but she took his words seriously. His presence and the alcohol made her want to tell him everything she had riding on her chest, but she overpowered that thought and answered his question. "I come here all the time. I just havent had a very good day today." Even to her, Rika's voice didnt sound convincing and the words were slurred pretty well. She was embaressed because she slurred and her faced turned red again. She waited to see what else he had to say to her.

Hagane sat and observed the dark haired beauty. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, she was absolutely stunning. He watched as she blushed from his comments. He found this cute; he wanted to see her blush more. The way the redness took over her cheeks made him chuckle a bit, he began to question himself a bit. I wonder if it’s me or the alcohol doing that? He watched her closely, she looked to be in shock at something he said, she made a quick recovery though. Hagane wondered what it was that set her off. Perhaps the nickname, but who really knew, Hagane would have to be more mindful of his words from now on. He leaned back in his chair and kept observing the woman, she was drinking that sake like water and it made Hagane feel a bit out classed. She clearly had the superior drinking ability of the two of them. He sat there waiting to see if she would answer his question about her apparent depression. He took the liberty of ordering a round of sake for the two of them while he waited. He motioned with his hand for the server to bring them the other round of drinks. The server approached and left another bottle on the table; Hagane went ahead and dished out two more servings of the alcohol. As he finished pouring she finally answered him. "I come here all the time. I just havent had a very good day today." Hagane didn’t believe her for an instant, he was good at discerning truth from fiction, and it was apparent to him she was having a bad day. But he guessed it was more than that. “You do know, I’m not buying that for a second princess. Now let ne know what’s really on your mind. You would be surprised how good I am at helping. Even if it’s just a kind word or two.” Hagane watched to see how she would react, being caught up in her little lie that she told him.

Rika knew she didnt sound like she had just had a routine bad day. She did have a bad day, but that was only a small portion of what was weighing on her mind now. She got a cramp in her leg that still had the bandages on it and jerked a little trying to move. This opened the top of her stab wound in her leg and she started to bleed slightly. This was under the table, and counldnt really be seen. Unless he had good medical eyes and a well tuned nose he wouldnt have any clue that she had just reopened a deep stab wound. The alcohol was also helping with hiding it. She really didnt feel much pain at the moment. She just knew her head was warm and fuzzy to her. She still didnt feel great, so she picked up the cup of sake he had just poured for her and she sipped it down. Rika had always been a strong drinker, but after the while that she had been in here the alcohol was getting to her. She couldnt really see straight. She told him that she had a bad day and barely noticed that his face was nonbelieving. She guessed that he figured out that she wasnt very happy quickly. She was drinking alot and still looked pretty down. Then he replied to her. “You do know, I’m not buying that for a second princess. Now let ne know what’s really on your mind. You would be surprised how good I am at helping. Even if it’s just a kind word or two.” With the aura that he was recieving from him now, she could almost trust his words that easily, but a hard, untrusting life had taught her better than just to open up to people she thought she could open up to. She sat there and looked at him for a second, then felt a tingle and looked down at her leg. The bandages had gotten soaked with blood and she was starting to drip on the floor. She ignored it after that however and looked back at him. "Well i should probably tell you my name before we go anywhere else, and right now im pretty drunk. Maybe il tell you some more later. By the way, my name is Rika Uchiha, and you are right, its not just today that is giving me trouble." She finished and looked down again. A small puddle of blood was developing under her leg. She started to get up and move to the door but she passed out after taking one step and started to fall face first.

Hagane could here the dripping of the blood as it hit the floor. Each drop leaving a distinct noise as it splashed on the ground. Hagane wondered why she was bleeding, and better yet why she had not taken care of it medically. He guessed that he would offer to fix her wound, if it was okay with her. He gained a lot of medical knowledge and expertise during his time as a missing nin. It was a hard time for him, seeing as he could not enter any villages and get the proper attention he needed it was imperative to learn medical ninjutsu and how to treat his wounds in the field. Having gained all of this valuable knowledge he was quite useful around the village, operating at the hospital sometimes and just generally trying to help others around the village if need be. He could tell the woman needed help, both medically and emotionally. "Well i should probably tell you my name before we go anywhere else, and right now im pretty drunk. Maybe il tell you some more later. By the way, my name is Rika Uchiha, and you are right, its not just today that is giving me trouble." Hagane listened intently to the words of the beautiful woman. So her name is Rika eh… and she’s an Uchiha… I wonder how she got that wound, with the sharingan there’s not many people who could manage to damage her so severely. The person must have been very powerful, or close to her in some way. Maybe this was the cause of her depression? Or could it be something else? Something deeper… Hagane opened his mouth to answer Rika “Well Rika, my name is Hagane Enkouou and where might we be going? Why don’t you talk to me about your worries, I can try and help you?” He observed her as she stood up; Rika was far gone right now. The sake seemed to be taking hold of her and the wound would probably be detrimental to her well being right now. The blood was running down her leg and hitting the floor again, it was coming from a bandage over her leg. It must be a deep wound, she will need medical attention soon… Hagane stood up so that he may he may help her remain stable. It would not be good if she walked without some support right now. Rika took another step and she began to fall forwards. She seemed to be completely knocked out and this again raised a question in Hagane’s mind… Was it the wound or the alcohol? In any case he decided that he would help her. Hagane took a quick step forward and position his body in front of hers, so that when she fell, she would fall into his chest. He felt her hit his chest with a small thud, she had passed out completely. Hagane wrapped his arms around her in a hugging embrace and then began to wonder what he should do. The hospital was quite a ways away and he didn’t know if the wound would worsen before he got there. His home was closer and he had all of the medical supplies there that he would need to operate on her leg. It was decided then that he would take Rika to his home and heal her leg, then hopefully find out the cause of all her depression. He lifted Rika from the ground and held her in his arms; he was trying to be gentle with her. He proceeded out the tavern door and garnered quite a few odd looks from the customers. Hagane didn’t care about them, he was doing something helpful and if they didn’t like it,that was their problem. He began the trek back to his home with Rika in his arms.

Topic closed
<<Continued back in Housing Area>>