End of an Era [Private/Yori]

Hibiya sat quietly on top in the hot spring n top of his house, lying gently in the water with a relaxed sigh emitting from his lips. A nice warm sunset was out in the distance for him to enjoy, only a few minutes until it would set before the moon came out and the sky flooded with darkness. A shame considering how much he's been enjoying himself with the water, but all good things came to a temporary end before they were to be set back up again. His blonde hair dripped water beads from the tips of his hair from the sweat caused by the heat. His sisters and brother were likely waiting for him to come back down to play with them for a bit, but he was going to stay up and have some alone time.

Life couldn't be much better for him at the moment. Chuunin ranking wasn't a common rank among the ninja of the land, so he was proud to wear it. Another step into making the Ayano clan something special for the foreseeable future. Remembering the wise words of a certain jounin that he knew, it was possible for him to write history in a way that made his people the victors. Just the thought allowed him to close his eyes and lean back as the water would consume his body to the point where it numb. His legs still had feeling thanks to a pair of swim trunks, but the rest of his body lacked much feeling.

Just as the Ayano boy leaned back, reveling in his luxurious peace, Yori flickered into view as silently as possible. It was probably weird, but she watched him for a few moments. She always found that how people acted when they thought no one was watching was their true, natural self. Given her lurking tendencies from growing up as a black sheep, she'd had a lot of time to come to this conclusion, making her quite the sly people-watcher. Yori had no reason to suspect Hibiya of putting on a metaphorical mask, yet it didn't stop her from taking a moment to just observe.

Before coming here, the young woman had been meditating. It was clear from the weightless and glittering qualities to her hair that she'd spent some time in the woods, but it hadn't been very peaceful for her. Mulling over the images in her mind had her feeling a little off center. Maybe that's why she was watching him now. Perhaps she was trying to decide if he was someone she could confide in as well as someone to have fun with. Before now she'd dealt with difficult things on her own, or simply buried them and tried to forget. This last mission had disturbed the burial grounds, adding new phantoms to the old.

She perched near him, though didn't disturb the water. There were bandages on her cheek, her left arm, and the left side of her exposed middle. Deciding it was time to let him know she was there, she found she was equipping her own mask without meaning to. But who wants to be greeted with such a somber face? She pulled on a smile and her hair reached out to poking him in the belly

Considering how tricky of a young girl she is, it was no surprise for Yori to suddenly appear when a clump of hair poked his belly. He looked up to see Yori standing behind him, a smile on her face... But no words. Odd, she usually would be saying something like "Hey Hibiya! Mind if I join you~" or some other flirty line for her to toy with him. At this point, he was used to her seeing him without a shirt on. But it was just a smile. "Hey Yori! I don't think my parents recalled a young girl trying to see his son in a hot tub." The blonde explained with a smile of his own. "You can join me if you like, the water is nice and hot. The view is great from my angle too."

Something struck him as even more odd to him. Some bandage placed on her cheek, a wound of some sort. It's been patched up, but he couldn't recall seeing that mark on her from the last time they spoke to each other. "Are you okay though? Did something happen?" The Ayano asked, tilting his head to the side now. The poor thing seemed to have little to no words for him, odd for her nature as she is usually more expressive and playful than just poking him on the stomach.

"Ah...rough mission, I guess," she supplied, pulling her hair back to her. She took up his offer, pulling off her outfit down to her under garments. Carefully, she stepped into the water, gasping a little in shock. She was used to the cool waters of the waterfall. These were much hotter, but they did feel nice. Sinking down, she winced as the hot waters soaked through her bandages to the few wounds she had left. Once acclimated, she sighed and leaned back a little.

Yori glanced at him, still seeming unsure about speaking up about whatever was bothering her. "I went on an A-rank mission yesterday," she said offhandedly, seeming calm, though a bit somber. "It was a tough one!" she exclaimed, attempting a grin. "All shinobi have those kind from time to time. This one... just could have ended better, you know?" There was a tiredness about her, like she hadn't slept well. After looking at him again, it seemed she decided to attempt to talk it out. "A missing-nin captured three young genin and was holding them in a cave. The mission was to save the three and kill the rogue." Yori told him, leaning her head back more to look at the sky. Her brows furrowed together, the images flashing before her eyes like before. With twisting insides, she continued. "I...I rescued two."

It brought him some joy when his offer was taken, the Nishizaka also stepping into the water after removing her attire. For once, they were equal in skin. But the meat of the event was her explaining that she had a “rough mission”, usually that meaning perhaps just a bit of trouble. The Ayano stayed silent through her whole rant about the missing-nin who held hostages, three to be exact. Two came back, Hibiya could do the math and connect the pieces. Sounds like she was having more problems than just a “rough mission”, and what kind of a friend would he be if he weren’t there for her now? Though he didn’t work the best with emotions due to being a logical thinker, he figured he could apply said logic to cheer her up a bit.

“Hey Yori, did you know I have siblings?” Hibiya started, moving a bit closer to her due to how personal this might sound. “Three of them, in fact. And I love them all very much. Do you know how bad I’d feel if I lost any of them?” This seemed like the wrong way to help out with comfort, but there was a point to be lead up to, so it took this bitter beginning in order to reach his point. “Do you know how much worse I’d feel if I lost all of them?” He asked, his eyes trying to stare deep into hers to read any emotion that comes out from it. Plus, it added a bit more weight to his argument. “I would be devastated to hear that all three of my siblings are dead… And I’d be angered because no one did a damn thing to save even one of them.”
A smile formed on his lips right after, his right pointer finger gently finding its way to Yori’s nose to give it a gentle playful point on the tip. It was more psychological, testing which two signs of love the Nishizaka had. Physical touch and words was his guess. “But if I hear that a Jounin saved two of my siblings, I’d hunt them down to the end of the earth to give them a hug.” The sun seemed to set further, the darkness of the night slowly closing in on the two of them. “Because despite what they couldn’t do, I saw what they did do. And what they did do is something more than what the village would have done if you weren’t there.”

Daringly, he placed his arms out loosely to offer the said hug on behalf of the ones who wished to do it. “If It could give you a bit of closure, would you like a hug?”

Yori wrinkled her nose cutely as he touched his finger to her nose, eliciting a small smile out of her. She seemed to listen very intently, having no trouble meeting his eyes and holding them. It was as if she was searching for anything that would ease her turmoil over what she'd witnessed. He offered a unique perspective, one perhaps she couldn't have since she was an only child. It was true...while the family and friends of the lost one were mourning, at least they had a body to bury and closure. The family and friends of the survivors probably appreciated her efforts. Plus, she'd prevented there being further victims of the missing-nin. Leaning in, she accepted and returned his embrace. Yori felt better about the outcome, but the memories themselves still twisted her insides.

"Thank you, Hibiya," she said quietly, seeming reluctant to pull away, though she didn't want to considering what she was going to ask next. Such a dark subject wasn't something she let herself dwell on, so speaking it aloud to another person was even more bizarre of a concept. However, it felt like it was being drawn out of her, whether she liked it or not. As if her own subconscious needed to sort through it, and for the first time she had someone there to help. Her blue eyes searched his for a long moment, before her expression cracked a little. While she'd cracked his zen many times, this was the first time her own was showing wear and tear. "How...how do you deal with the horror you see?" she asked, then tilted her head. "Or have you seen it yet? Have you seen death...or caused it?" He was a new chuunin, right? Maybe he hadn't had these experiences yet. Her voice was barely a whisper, as if she didn't trust it. Clearly, she was fighting herself. "Heh...even that is normal, actually," she almost laughed, though it was hollow. "Oh, Hibiya...that missing-nin was eating the genin. How can I unsee it?"

Surprised at herself that she'd actually said it, she flinched back a little, then hid her face in her hands. "Sorry! Sorry... forget it."

The poor troubled girl did her best, the both of them holding in a firm embrace as if to take out stress. Hibiya stayed for as long as Yori felt she needed to, thus eventually letting her pull away. While she did her best to equip her rough attitude, her face seemed to lack the strength to hold the facade and revealed a softer side to her. Before he knew it, she spilled her heart to him without a problem, letting him off with a few openings for him to reply with.

"Oh Yori..." Hibiya started, searching for any tears to wipe away for her, though refraining from doing so since there seemed to be none. She was distressed and sad, but not yet in bitter tears. At this point, he left the physical touch love language go for now unless it was warrented again. "That mission really messed with you. But I say I would take out the sources of my problems so they can't do anything. But my parents taught me to not hold grudges and seek revenge twicefold and beyond."

She then masked her face with her hands and began to apologize. Seems the warrent has been lifted already. "No." He replied to her apology, aiming to place his right palm on the back of her neck. He'd try to pull her face gently onto his shoulder, regardless if she wanted to cry or not. It was clear she wanted comfort, what kind of a friend would he be to deny her of it? "Please stop holding back, jounins have emotions too, you know?"

Yori let him pull her back in, taking comfort in both his warmth and that of the water. Pulling her hands from her face and putting her arms around him, the young woman rested her forehead in the crook of his neck and shoulder. She allowed the comfort in fully, heaving a heavy sigh. She managed to avoid flat out sobbing, though a stray tear forced its way out and down her cheek. "You're a good friend," she said after a few moments of silence. The horrible images were still there, but she felt they had less of a hold on her. She no longer felt as nauseated by them, so apparently talking the issue out with someone close to you was a good thing to do from time to time.

The Nishizaka found herself smiling, a much more genuine smile than when she'd arrived. "I imagine this is the type of relationship team members are supposed to have. Not only combat support, but emotional support as well. That is something I've never had. I never saw the merit in it until now," she mused, reflecting back on her past teams and missions. "I almost had friends once," she noted in a neutral tone. Apparently touch really was her dominant love language, because she'd never felt so connected to another human being. There was a truth to physical contact, as if it broke the barriers normally put up with distance.

She rested her weight on his body when he pulled her in, accepting his offered comfort with the embrace. As her head rested on his shoulder, he gently placed his hand on the back of her head and gently patted it as she remained there. The poor Nishizaka told him that he was a good friend, in which he smiled in response. It was a silence that felt comforting to him, knowing that he did his best for her. Yori went further on to explain that this is what relationships among team members must feel like, emotionally helping as well as in combat.

"Maybe. But we are not teammates, we are good friends." Hibiya explained with a gentle voice, as if soothing his little sister the same way he did when they were a few years younger. Maybe he didn't have a team, but he damn well had fun with Yori despite her not being a teammate. "And while we are friends, we do this sort of thing. Help each other in our time of need. Even if your clan doesn't approve of such forbidden love~. Hey, he couldn't help but try to amuse her a little bit, though he didn't let go because of a bit of lightheartedness.

Still, he would look down to see the top of her head at an age as well as her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling much better," she looked up at him and smiled, leaning away but staying close enough to touch shoulders. "My clan can't keep up apart!" Yori exclaimed, giggling soon after. She admired the view he'd spoke of earlier, now that she could focus on something more light hearted. Idly, she stretched out her legs, poking her toes above the surface of the water and wiggling them. "You know, this is very nice. I've only ever enjoyed the cool waters of the waterfall. I didn't even like hot showers...but now I may have changed my mind..." she mused, her cheeks rosy from the heat.

"I wonder...what would your family think of us? It seems that our passionate love affair should have at least one side support it...or would it be more interesting if we have to fight nearly impossible odds just to be together?" she joked, nearly back to her usual self. "You're rejected and banned from Nishizaka territory, I'm rejected and banned from the Ayano hot springs....truly a tragic tale..."

Yori seemed to return back to being the normal playful self he was used to seeing in her. The embrace was broken, but she still stayed close enough to where shoulders could touch, legs raised high enough so her toes could surface. Seems like she was truly relaxed for the moment, and he smiled at the little play along she did as well. "That they shall not do, for my sweet Nishizaka maiden is oh too beautiful to let go of!" More dramatic readings with a voice that could be used in Shakespeare's plays. His back rested against the wall, lifting up a little bit so at least his chest was above the water so that it could cool down from the hot water a little bit.

"Well, I guess that depends. We're up here, two half-naked adolescents in a hot tub together." Hibiya explained, recalling the last time one of his brother's did something near similar. The belt lashes echoed loudly throughout the whole house, they did not want to mess with women like that. Though Yori was a friend, his mother certainly wouldn't see it that way. "Let's just say that if they find us like this, you better not act the way we just did if we both want to live to see another day." The Ayano explained, smiling though as he enjoyed these quiet chats.

Until the sun was still set... Yet a bright orange light shined brightly among the night sky. Black smoke rose above the light... Fire, visible for both of them to see...

Yori's stifled laughter created ripples in the water, as she found his response both humorous and frightening. She didn't want to be caught and killed by a mother thinking her dear son was either deflowering a young woman or the other way around, but the thought brought only more giggles. Her giggles only started to falter when she smelled the unmistakable scent of fire. It seemed close. Hating to see nature burn due to carelessness, she instinctively leaned up to see where it was coming from so she could help put it out.

She stared at the glow for a few moments, as if the dots weren't quite connecting though she knew they should be. Soon enough, it dawned on her and she abruptly stood up, eyes wide. "Hibiya!" she breathed, dread seeping in. "T-That's...That's the direction of my clan," she said, then leapt from the water, hurriedly getting dressed. Yori wanted to think it was just close by, but not actually her forest, but she knew better. What could have caused this to happen? All Nishizaka were as vigilant if not mroe so then she was when it came to protecting nature.

"I've got to go!" Her voice was panicked as she glanced back at him only a second before jumping in the direction of home.

"Wait... Your clan? But that means..." He paused before he realized what she meant. So there is some event going on in the forest and Yori was panicking. Considering the smoke... Hibiya's theory would allow him to understand her fear. "Not without me, you aren't!" Though he lacked clothes to actually do it. He was going armed with just a pair of swim trunks, but he was prepared to fight alongside Yori. It was them against some fire, so he would leap behind her and follow her the best he can.


Ahhhhhh, the screams of pain as nails ripped and bones were burned from the inside felt like a bliss cry to the young Fuya clan. Her clanmates made sure to rip through all the clan members, doing all the unimaginable events. The women enjoyed tormenting, ripping the bodies of the men and making them scream with pitches higher than a man should possibly let out. The men enjoyed their sick hormonal ways and took any female member of the clan... Yeah. Genocide of the Nishizaka clan, extracting their lovely hair and using said hair to tie nooses around the necks of their victims seemed like fun! Seri was one of many, a young ten year old sadistic girl with a donut in her right hand and a lever in her left. Crank the lever and the child trapped in the nightmare wheel Genjutsu screams at the dead air, for they suffer such powerful torment all within their mind. And the members nearby just laughed like it was some sick prank.

Yeeees, scream louder for my ears! So sweet, beautiful tone and tune!
Sing... SING

"Hurry!" she called, running as fast as she could into the forest. Even as her heart raced knowingly in her chest, she still hoped and prayed the blaze was just an campfire carelessly gone out of control near her home. It was clear the moment she realized no amount of optimism would change the fact that everything was wrong. Her sage mode activated with a tap of her wrists, flooding her senses with the ugly and confusing truth as she saw the chakra of strangers milling about familiar chakra....as the familiar chakra flickered out rapidly. "NO!" she screamed and she flickered out of sight.  After a few minutes of suffocating travel, Yori found herself in hell. She heard the yelling and the screams through the crackling of flames, but also laughter and sick celebration. "Oh no....no...what is happening?" she groaned, not even able to see anything yet besides flames.

Busting from the fiery bushes that edged the Nishizaka clan's village, she skidded to a stop. She jounin froze in abject horror. The atrocities that befell women in the streets and in rooms with the walls busted out burned into their eyes. Blood soaked the grounds. All genders and ages hung from nooses made of their own blessings, like morbid shrine charms from every tree within the grounds. Her mother and father's screams, then the lack thereof. These..these strangers were destroying them and everything they set their gaze on. A quivering hand lifted to her mouth, the horror electrocuting her and threatening to make her throw up.

The raw, unfathomable torment condensed itself into rage and action. She sprung forward while screaming, hair whipping and lava adding to the already burning grounds. She had to try and save them...any of them...

All the torture brought an adrenaline rush to Seri, watching all her brothers and sisters bring misery in all shapes and forms. This was a normal day in war, resistance for a little before they eventually overwhelm their weak enemies. These few were no different, even their men couldn't hold a candle to Seri. A small smile lapsed on her face when she saw the eyes of the boy she tortured roll back, just barely standing on his own feet. Now to leave a signature on her handiwork, leaning her lips to his for a small peck of a kiss before flicking his forehead. Just this flick unbalanced the empty shell of a human and made him crash to the ground. Success~

Now that she was free, Seri looked towards the source of the scream to notice a Sage trying to kill herself by entering the celebration uninvited. It brought the blonde child amusement when she noticed the men who were waiting for their turns with the Nishizaka women being the first ones to target her. Another bite into the donut was taken before watching the show.



They charged into a bloody massacre coated by the fire to cover their tracks, and anything inside the flames was bound to be left without a trace. Hibiya's eyes widened a mass amount upon seeing blood being spilled like water from the waterfalls. "Oh no..." The Ayano muttered, looking back to Yori..  Only to notice she dared scream and try to attack back! Hair lashing a couple members of the clan nearby, though the severity of the damage nulled thanks to the blood of the healing tribes, making them barely flinch.

"YORI, NOOO!" Hibiya cried out, desperately looking to pull her out from the battlefield as he summoned all five chakra blades around his body. He had no choice but to try to guard her long enough to prevent the group from reaching her.

Her lava was targeted by the Lumination effects of the Fuya, instantly turning all lava chakra into light particles. Her hair was a Kekkei Genkei, it was safe from such manipulation. Still however, the light particles made from the lava would be used to swarm her body. They traveled at a speed of 100 and will be locked onto Yori to try and drain all her chakra. A source, one of the five men must be the source of it! Taking on all five of them was going to be hell,  he had to go in with blades swinging if he wanted Yori alive at the end of this.

Seri watched the Ayano however, a snarl being left from her lips as she remembered how badly he damaged her in their last encounter. "Ayano..." She muttered with disgust, angrily clenching her fists. Hibiya didn't even notice her, giving the Fuya girl an opening to slam her knuckles onto his face. The force of the impact knocked Hibiya back onto the surface of the tree.

"Ah!" He exclaimed upon impact, a small imprint left on the bark.

"Yours will be a marvellous death~ Seri declared, her fist smashing the donut. Talk about a sore loser. She didn't hesitate to summon her own chakra blades by her side, three of them in her case before ramming them through his chest in an attempt to strike his heart... Successfully.

But the blessing of the Ayano gave him the strength to only pass out. He's alive, hanging by a sword against a tree.

Lava won't work. A simple thought, somehow cutting through the chaos in her mind. Her body went into momentary auto pilot, suspending her ninjutsu and instituting taijutsu only. She didn't even feel the pain or the blood oozing from her in the process, nor did she register or hardly even see the attacks that caused her deep wounds. Perhaps her shinobi training was truly kicking in, detaching the paralyzing and unprocessable trauma from the actions required. Oh, she was still angry as hell- no, that wasn't accurate. There wasn't a word for the level of rage she felt. She'd thought the mission where her team were all permanently injured and the one yesterday where the genin was eaten had let her glimpse the limits of her rage. Those seemed like a walk in the park. Normally, when angry, she naturally tilted toward her more devastating lava release as a physical representation of her darkness, but even that was deprived from her in the face of every family member she had being murdered in the most horrible ways.

"Hibiya..." Yori breathed, now seeing even her friend had fallen victim, too. Ice and fire somehow burned her veins simultaneously. Things slowed down. How was that little girl even using the Ayano's special ability?  He made it sound like only his small family with the mysterious past could do it.

She flickered out of sight of the nasty, hungry eyes of the men advancing on her. She used her hair like spider legs, boosting her speed even further to near max. While they expected an offensive move, no such thing happened yet. However, one by one her clansmen hanging from their own hair were placed on the ground, the nooses missing. When she finally stopped moving, it was only long enough to add all the Nishizaka hair to her own, where it attached and incorporated into her own. Her eyes glowed within the dark gray sage band on her face.

With a primal roar, her own hair and the added hair of her family expanded. There was ten times as much as usual, and lengths able to stretch for miles. It seemed almost capable of being able to act on its own, targeting any attacker within range with any attack with her hair she'd every thought of. Some tendrils were coated in obsidian and slicing, others forming into points and jabbing, grabbing and stabbing. Strands tried to trap foes in paralyzing genjustu, others whipping, sawing, drilling, punching. A two big scythes formed, tearing through buildings like ripping the tops off of canned goods to see what was inside. It was quite terrifying, even as she used her Sage Art: Arial Step to rise in the air for a better vantage point to view all those she wanted to eradicate from this earth. It was as if she had manifested at Mikami himself, showering a god's angry wrath upon those desecrating his people and grounds.

Seri was one of the many targets to the attacks with the sudden tendrils, her attention now focused onto the one little Nishizaka that tried to slaughter them with as much might as she could. Looking from side to side, he noticed that plenty of men in the Fuya clan seemed to be getting impaled, beaten, tortured for a mere moment. It was about a loss or two on the Fuya clan's end, but this power was enticing to Seri. The whip that tried to smack her in the face would meet the Fuya member's palm, Burning light chakra sent back to Yori with as much force as possible. Since it was inserted in the hair, the light was bound to reach the scalp of Yori before it entered inside her head. "Time to make you a ticking time bomb~" She declared, prepared to be the savior of the Fuya clan. "GET OUT OF HERE! SHE'S ABOUT TO BLOW!""

This wasn't the first time this death seal has been applied. All the women in the Nishizaka clan that were left weak, the few that they were for survived such a brutal assault on their bodies, they laid on the ground with tears streaming from their eyes as they couldn't move, bound to take the bullet. Hibiya still hung, his eyes barely opening as when he heards the ticking time bomb comment. Knowing full well of light release and their capability of causing chaos, he painfully pulled the handle of the chakra blade impaling him out from his body and fell to the ground. Fuya clan members stampeded away from the scene while Hibiya stumbled towards them.

As the yellow light continued to travel towards Yori, she lightly wasn't going to be dispelling the chakra without complete elimiantion of her hair. Not while she was under the mindset of murdering the Fuya clan. Hibiya saw only one chance, one Yori will not like in the slightest. Should she fail to resist him in doing this, the blonde would follow the trail of the hair so he could locate Yori. With the adrenaline pumping through his body and blood gushing from his chest like mad, it was an ugly sight. Should be be unable to come to her senses long enough to do what he would do... Hibiya would find the light chakra coursing through Yori's hair and chop it off through the middle.

If this was all successful, the explosive chakra would fail to find it's trigger and disperse. As for the Fuya clan... They're gone. All the dead bodies of the Nishizaka clan, not a single member left to breathe. Even those who weren't attacked with weapons were too tired to continue on, finding it impossible to breathe from the smoke and lack of chances to breathe. The genocide of the Nishizaka clan.

As for him, he'd weakly stand on his own two feet, finding it difficult to look back to the clan of his close friend without feeling terrible remorse. "Yori..." He muttered.

A indication of how distraught she was, she didn't even flinch as she felt a weird chakra come up her hair, and still didn't respond as part of her hair was even cut. All her focus was on sensory, her insanely extended deadly locks chasing the Fuya for a couple miles before they inevitably escaped her reach. With enemies gone, her body lowered to set her back on her feet, where she stood silently soaking in the gore and horrific remnants. Her body sagged a little, chakra very low from her rage filled expenditure. The signs of sage mode disappeared, leaving a bleeding and devastated Yori to slowly pull in her hair.

The ninja numbness quickly wore off, leaving the girls chest heaving and her eyes wide and watering. Every ounce of chill was demolished. She felt like her chest was being ripped in half and her heart was being smashed by hateful hands. A powerful, guttural lament tore from her throat as she succumbed to a level of sorrow she didn't know existed. The pain was indescribable. Worse than any physical wound.

Her eyes roved the ruins, looking for any sign of a survivor, but it was pointless. Her people were stolen from her. Her home was charred ash, as was her once peaceful forest. She was alone, left to try and process. Well, almost alone. As she looked around, she found the injured Hibiya looking at her. "... h-how...?" She asked nonsensically, voice broken as her very being.

Yori looked like she was staring at a ghost, voice shaky through all the trauma as the Ayano limped towards her weakly. A small blood-coated smile was shown, yellow and red making a surprisingly ugly mix together. "I'm an Ayano..." He started, coughing a bit afterwards before trying to continue his statement. "Weapons... Can't... Kill..." He sputtered through blood still pouring from his mouth. While they can't kill, they can certainly damage the body if they hit the right area. Hibiya survived because of the blessing of the Ayano clan, for their link to weaponry is stronger than those who mimic what has been gifted to them. Like hell was he leaving Yori alone to deal with this alone, not while he had a beating heart.

"But... Clan..." Hibiya addressed as he stepped closer in lovely limping fashion. Eventually, he got to Yori to stand a meter away from her. Considering they were slaughtered physically and mentally in front of her before they died, the fact that the celebration of the Fuya clan involved nasty traditions like the applaud of torturing the children and sexual assault on women in public had to be traumatizing to Yori. Even if it were a dying breath, which it wasn't, he was going to see to it that she didn't suffer alone. "Yori..."

Yori lost the ability for speech for now. On shaking legs she closed the distance between them, sobbing her heart out but still possessing enough awareness that she noticed and worried about her friend. Actually, worry was putting it mildly. Seeing him in such a state considering what she had just witnessed sent her into near hysterics, assuming he would drop dead in front of her any second and she'd be hopelessly alone. Reaching out a trembling hand, it flickered a few times before she was successful, but she started to heal his most serious wound.

"..w-who..." Yori started, choking up her own blood before she could continue. " ..who...would do something like this..?" she asked, though whether she actually expected an answer wasn't clear. "Your blades...?" she continued, devolving into fragments of thoughts spoken at random. "Who....why?" she whispered. The heinous visions were on replay in her mind, threatening to send her sinking into madness. "Oh...my god...why didn't they just take me..." lamented the jounin, earnestly wishing for death. She'd fought the enemy in the moment only to fail at saving a single person. Survivor's remorse was mighty real and extremely powerful. She wished she'd died along with them, rather than standing here to relive it and try to continue on.

Her palm pressed against his chest was a soothing feeling within his body, the massive gash slowly being knit together. Both aqua blue eyes were closed as he felt his body slowly regaining control, even his breathing was feeling much less of a struggle. Despite how warm it was, he felt the tension in her palm as she healed him, the results of this event being a massacre. The Ayano placed his palm gently around her wrist, his gaze aiming for her own as he let out a small, forced smile. They both damn well knew it wasn't a good moment for either of them.

To add more to the emotional stress, she began to sputter out cold questions that had little to no answers. His head hung forward, hair covering his facial expression as she was going through the emotional roller coaster once again. As if he knew any of the answers, but his eyes opened wide when she claimed she wished she could have been taken away with them. A sudden small bit of rage hit the core of his very being, his hand removed from her wrist. "Don't say that!" Hibiya ordered, gritting his teeth and placing his head back up to look back at her. "I didn't leave you, so don't you go wishing you could get away from me!"

A small tear trailed from his left eye, speaking emotionally for once instead of logically. He placed a small piece of the puzzle together. That girl had Chakra blades... They've seen the Ayano clan and murdered them for such a thing. "Yori, stay with me Yori! Snap out of it!" Hibiya cried out, attempting to move forward to pull her by the collar of her shirt, a light shaking to get her out of whatever trance she was undergoing thanks to that mental stress. It had to be that thanks to the lack of words she seemed to let go from her mouth. "We need to get out of here before they find out we're still here, wake up!"

"I AM AWAKE!" she wailed, incomprehensible sorrow bubbling from within her. It seemed he had at least stirred her out of her stammering stupor, but whether that was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen. The more coherent she was, the more the event became more real. Even as she admitted she was awake, the declaration brought with it even more pain as she had to admit fully what this wasn't a nightmare she could wake up from. It was permanent. "This is my reality now," she sobbed harder, gripping her chest in mental anguish so real she was certain she'd find a gaping hole instead of her shirt.

"I can't leave them...Mom...Dad....I have to bury them. I have to b-bury them all," she tore her eyes from his to glance at the bodies only to flinch and look away. She looked like she was going to be sick, but managed to avoid it. "Who were those monsters?" Yori asked darkly. "How the hell do I live with this? They destroyed them. My clan is gone."

Hibiya stepped back to her loudest quip yet, his right foot now in front as he braced for an impact. Fortunately, she didn't follow through with an attack. She was an emotional wreck, but they needed to bail if they wanted to live! That thought was stuck in the back of his mind, but an even greater pain awaits him if he left Yori to pick up the dead bodies before she becomes on. "I feel for your people... I wished there was some way to save them. But like hell am I going to let them go extinct, we need to go!" He pressed, trying to get some words through her skull desperately. All the bodies made that hard for him, everywhere they looked, at least one body could be located.

His worry soon became concern when he tone of voice suddenly shook him, like a demon entered her body uninvited. "Yori?" The Ayano asked softly, though likely regretting what she wanted. "One step at a time, I'll give you a chance to bury them at least if it helps your peace, but we can't do it now... Just give me a chance to give you time, I'm asking you as a friend!" A small echo could be heard from the emphasis of the word friend. The wanting to reach out to her and tell her it will be fine was mighty, but looking at the blood forest... There was no way he could say that. "What more could you want?" A question he's bound to regret.

"What more could I want?" she echoed his question, sharp eyes staring back at him. She decided to oblige him in his line of questioning, her sorrow twisting back into a deeply rooted anger. "I want to know who they were, and why they slaughtered my people. I want to know how that little girl, the one who tried to blow me up, could use your family's blades. I want to know how the hell nature allowed such people as them to survive long enough to do this. I want to kill them!" Yori listed feverishly, starting to fracture. She couldn't take it. This was too much. Too much!

"I want them back!" she shouted lastly, her voice breaking. "The old priest!" she indicated an older man nearby, relieved of his hair. He was at least laying peacefully after she'd taken his hair and freed him of his noose earlier. "My cousin!" she motioned toward a young boy, contorted unnaturally in the bloody walking path. "My mom!" she pointed to an assaulted corpse that somehow retained her serene beauty despite her manner of death, in what once was a room in her family home, though now it was little more than a smoking foundation with some low fragments of drywall that had once been walls. "My dad!" she jabbed a finger to a man nearby her mom, ripped apart as he'd tried to protect his wife. "You don't understand, Hibiya! Your parents are still alive and you never even had a clan!" she screamed through tears. It was harsh, but she couldn't stop. Certainly he could understand that though it seemed she was taking it out on him, that was because he was the only breathing person near her. Her grief was too much. Everything was too much. She was breaking apart.

She repeated his question with a scream, warning him about what's to come. "Stop..." Hibiya muttered under his breath quietly so that she didn't hear, though he perhaps wished that she did as well. Confusing logic.  The stress of the Nishizaka girl was being poured out like the blood of her clan members, listing off all the things she wanted from that one group who attacked everyone she loved. How she'd get to learn about that one young blonde bitch Hibiya nearly fell to. "Stop..." This time his voice raising, head hanging down to let his hair cover his face once again. His usually calm smile nowhere on his face. She listed that she would love to kill them all like they did to her people. "Stop." Even louder.

Every family member obtained a little piece of the rant, the priests and the parents both. Her long list of reasons to be angered continue, now irritating him a bit. Stop! This time he raised his voice, fists shaking by his side and teeth clenched!  Still, she then decided to target him with her words when he tried to make sure she lived. The instant she mentioned his clan never being there for him and how he still had his parents, his head raised up with now red eyes shot back at Yori. "STOP IT! STOP IT, YORI!" He screamed right back to her, his anger mask shown for a moment before he's eyes squinted uncomfortably. Another tear followed the previous one a moment ago, his pain taking a physical form at last.

Hibiya was at a loss for words at this point, closing his eyes and taking a leap at her with his arms wide open in an attempt to wrap them around her again. Should he be successful, he'd rest his head onto her shoulder with his eyes closed. I'm... Still here..." Hibiya would whisper to her despite her taking jabs at him with her sharp words that cut through him like a knife did an apple.