Silence Makes the Best Song(Open,No Killing)

Kurai stood at the entrance to Kirigakure no Sato,staring out past the gates. The guards that had been posted,merely watched him uneasily. They probably thought he was planning to go rouge. No,just taking in the silence.

Why is it the silence can make one hurt so much? And yet,sometimes the silence feels the most real. It makes me think,the silence.

The wind blew gently,brushing his hair in his eyes. He stared out into the misty forests past the gates. It was quiet...silent....empty. His life up until now had been so clear on a purpose,but in the silence it was gone. It gave him a sense of being lost. He was lost in this world,he had a purpose,but when it was quiet...he often pondered if it was really worth it. So many friends have died,did their deaths have meaning? Or were they just wasting their lives? Sometimes silence is frightening like this. Maybe it's only Kurai,but the silence makes him different. Different....empty...lost.

He took a step,the guards' looked more attentive now. He glanced over at them for the first time since standing here. "Don't...don't waste your lives,like so many have. I'm not leaving. Just wondering if it's worth it. I could kill you both,if I did,would your deaths have meaning? Hell no. Why waste a life? Is it worth it? Is it any different on the battlefield? I think the answer is different for everyone. But the fact remains,attack,I will fight back,you will die,with no meaning. Don't.",Kurai said coldly.

Never had Kurai said anything cold like that. Never had he expressed his doubts like that. The guards were looking at him strangely now.

Rain began to fall over them,lightning crossed the sky a couple of times. A storm was beginning. "Maybe it's just me.",Kurai muttered to himself. "The silence...it always makes me....different."

Amaya peaked up over on of the walls, and looked at the man across the way, reading his thoughts for only a few seconds. She pouted a little and flipped up onto the wall into a crouch "Hiya! Ne'er seen you before nu." She smiled brightly, bent backwards, laying her back against the side of the wall. "Sorry if you were enjoying the silence, but I just thought I'd be friendly hm." She scurried off the wall, waving at the guard that was on duty, and strode over to the emo person outside the gate. She sat on the ground with a quiet thump and cocked her head to the side, her eyes all glittery and such.
"Are you alright Mister? You look all sad..." Amaya wasn't the best at communicating, or being sympathetic for that matter, but she took any opportunity to make friends. This was one such opportunity. "Sorry if your in a bad mood. I can leave if you me to. Its cool if you need space hm..." Of course she just noticed she was talking to much so she just shut up and rocked back and forth, whistling silently until he answered her.

As Kurai gazed silently out of the gates,he heard a voice. Much younger,and different than the guards that's for sure. Of course he hadn't noticed anyone's arrival,what with gazing into space with no focus at all.

She was younger than him. By the looks of it a Genin most likely. Kurai was pretty good at picking up on things like that. After a second he finally registered she had asked him a question. Kind of out of it,but what could you do?

"Well...I wouldn't say sad.",Kurai replied softly,as if completely blissful. And yet,as calm as it sounded,it also came out sounding a little lost. "You don't have to go,I could probably use companionship to take my mind off of...other things.",he admitted. Other things:doubt,sense of hopelessness,and feeling lost. Those other things.

Trying his best to smile,and sound conversational he asked,"What brings you here then?" It was pretty easy to tell how fake the smile was,which was unusual for Kurai who so skillfully hid his emotions most of the time. Today was different,his outlook,everything seemed so...different.

Amaya smiled wider, and laughed a bit. "If you say so mister. I would like to stay awhile, I was going to find some herbs though.. Oh well." Her eyes sparkled with only a little rebellion. She has always been a happy person, and looking forward to any chance to make the elders angry.
"So... Why do you feel so hopeless hm?" She cocked her head, blinking a few times, and tapping her fingers on her hard leather boots. She hoped reading his thoughts wouldn't get her punched. It happened before sadly. Amaya tried not to do it, but she only likes to help people, whether they want it or not.

Kurai only smiled at first. It was a weak smile,but he was trying to seem relaxed,unworried. Then he sighed,deciding to answer. "Well...it's complicated,and hard to understand unless you've been through everything I have. It's pretty hard to explain,and someone as young as you may not fully understand my perspective.",he replied,trying not to sound whiney.

A cool breeze blew by just then,taking Kurai's mind off topic for a moment. He was usually focused,and for people who knew him,this would strike them as extremely odd. He looked into the sky as a streak of lightning passed over it,and the loud bark of thunder echoed across the village. The rain fell heavy on his face,as he looked into the sky.

"It's not something I want to burden someone else with...",Kurai finished after a moment of gazing thoughtlessly and wordlessly into the stormy skies above him.

Amaya pondered what he had said, and frowned deeply. She leaned foward, dragging a finger around in the dirt, making a few circles, connecting each one through the middle with a line. She looked up at the man. "Oh its ok, I have this wierd ability to cope with things. I'm almost never sad, but I have been before." She leaned in farther setting up for a whisper, looking around. "My mother died when I was around 5...I think I know how you feel. Though none of my friends have died...Maybe cause I never had any" She laughed a bit, and sat back with a puff of dirt going up into the air.
She gave him a sidelong glance, then continued her little picture in the dirt. The picture she was making was actually determined by what he was feeling. She scraped a few storm clouds over head, and two or three water drops below the circle. When she finished, it was symetrical, and looked something like a ship broken in half. She frowned again and though some more, maybe she would be able to help this man after all.

Kurai was intrigued by the girl,she was certainly friendly. "You've never had friends before? I find that extremely hard to believe." Kurai told her.

I would think someone this friendly would've made plenty of friends.... And her mother dying,at such a young age? It's not exactly fair... He thought,then he looked down at her drawing in the dirt.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mother. That's nothing someone should have to go through so young,I've always thought things like that are completely unfair..." Kurai voiced his thoughts,almost without noticing what he was saying. It was all true though,not like he made any of it up,but just said so without thought.

Then he looked over to the gates again. I know running away would help nothing,I want to protect the village,but can I really take so much death and loss. Innocent young people,just like the one in front of me,could one day die at the hands of our enemies. Sure,we have no big impending threat,but all the same,death is here even in times of peace. Well,times close to peace.... Kurai continued to think silently.

"What are you drawing?" Kurai asked,trying to take his mind off of his useless thinking again. It kept gnawing at him every time he stopped talking even if only for a second.

Amaya smiled a bit and tipped her head, a strand of hair falling down over her ear, scratching a little more into the dirt. "Its alright...I hardly remember her. And as for the friends thing.. I guess they think Im bossy." She shrugged lighthearted and laughed someone. She leaned over and sent another whisper "I'm older than you think haha. I just started the Academy later than most people." She smirked, though judging by her little girl face and shortness, she could appear less than 16, her actual age for the time being. She sighed gently and drew a sword in between the jags of the broken ship, that had a stripe through the width of it, suggesting a need for peace, but a need to portect loved ones. She looked up at him for a second then back down at her picture.
"I'm interpretting your thoughts actually...You seem...Rather broken hearted, hence the broken ship. And maybe an important person that you lost, a friend..the ship represents comradeship. And the sword...represents a want for peace, but a surging need to portect then ones you love." She let out a soft sigh, and lifted her head to look him in the face. "Is this accurate do you think?..." She was still pondering his thoughts, but she still felt as though she was missing something important. Something he didnt wish to share. She wouldnt pry and farther than that though, she didnt want to see pushy or nosy.

Kurai's eyes opened in astonishment. "That's about dead-on..." Kurai muttered loud enough for her to hear. He looked at her,wondering if she could read his thoughts,she had done so well at seeing through him. Of course,he wasn't really trying to hide anything,but still...

His mind was racing. The words echoed in his head,was he that obvious? Or was she good at these things? Kurai didn't know,but it hardly mattered.

"How are you so good at reading people? I've never seen a Genin with such intuition,or maybe you're just extraordinarily good at guessing?" Kurai said to her,with a faint smile on his face. He was intrigued by her,no doubt,she seemed friendly enough like he had thought before. She didn't come off as bossy to him,but maybe it was because she was trying not to do so.

All the same,this encounter definitely had done well enough to take his mind off of his dreadful doubt,at least for the moment. No doubt it would seep into his mind as soon as silence ruled again. No matter,now was now,not the future.

Amaya smiled proudly, and leaned back, leaving the stick at a slanted angle against a small rock to the side, and sigh a little bit. "Well..I can read chakra. If you don't understand so far.. Your chakra can become strained. The most intense your feelings the better I can read it. My foster mom taught me..." Her eyes sparkled, she felt proud of herself, because this was her first interpretation of someones emotions. She whistled quietly, noticing he didn't like silence very much, even though it could be pretty soothing. "Hey... If you need some place to calm down, you can always come down to my camping glen on the outskirts. Its pretty nice... The birds and cicada's are almost always chirping. There's even a nice little brook too." She gave him a gap toothed smile, her cheeks flushed a bit around the edges. She just noticed the heat from the sun, and flipped out her huge fan and stationed it against the ground, a few small pebbles skittering away from the sudden breeze. The fan had sent a good amount of shade over the two of them. "Ahh...Much better." She giggled a bit, in her mischievous kind of way. Waiting very patiently for him to reply to her inquiry's.