Chance encounters {Open to: Konoha Nin}

Hio stood at a crossroads. She could return to the safety of her father to her old home, or she could try and move forward with her own path. As the chilly midday air swept across her, she contemplated the consequences of each action, and where she would be in ten years if she even lived that long in the first place. Long lifespans didn't seem the way of the ninja as most went out with a bang at one point or another due to the deadly nature of the profession, but Hio was a thrill seeker deep down and she knew the allure for danger was great. To stay safe in her old house and just live out her days was tempting, she wouldn't have to worry about anything and could be as lazy as she wanted, but then her mind always drifted to how abusive she would turn towards others and how her mind would be twisted by arrogance. She was already flawed in how she judged people, imagine if she used all that wealth and the decent influence to ruin others lives for her benefit? Looking out over the village Hio sat one arm over a raised knee and sighed.

She could be selfish, or she could attempt selfless actions, this was the moment in her life that probably mattered the most, and she didn't have anyone to talk to about it. Hio had royally screwed up in that department, she thought all the others around her were either against her or just not worth her attention and so she didn't have any friends, by her own foolishly judgemental choice. She couldn't ask anyone from her family as the answer would be to return, and she didn't want to hear just one side of the story but what might be best for her. Thus she was stuck and struggling, trying to find the determination and knowledge of her own attitude deep within. She had thought that coming up to the top of the kage mountain might help, but she didn't realize that the inspirational faces would be underneath her and not where she could look at them, so really all she got was a pretty vista as the sun beat overhead.

"I really screw things up all the time." Chatting with herself like an insane or just a lonely soul Hio began to think of heading home to figure things out there and possibly finish packing half of her suitcases or to wear her headband and go train more. Clasping it in her left hand the hand whose arm rested upon her knee, she struggled.  There was no else around her, to her current knowledge, it was once again just her and these struggling thoughts, a war of the mind that she just couldn't get over.

"Or maybe you have to look at the brighter picture." Said Kyo as he heard her words and began walking up the side of the Hokage's face towards her.

She apparently did not see him sitting on the nose of Uchiha Kosuke below where she was. He came up here as he always did to recollect his thoughts. The heat of the midday sun did not bother him too much. He had his sunglasses to shield his pearl like eyes from the rays of the sun and the wind that washed over his slender frame was a comfort to him.

As he reached up to the plataeu, he had his hands in his pocket. He had no weapons or ninja supplies on him. His his leather jacket with his chest and stomach exposed. And his black leather jeans and boots. The spikes of his white hair danced effortlessly in the cool wind that caressed him. He was relaxed and confident as all who were of the Hyuga clan were.

"My name is Kyo of the Hyuga clan." He continued eyeing her carefully. "I see you like coming here too." He finished with a smile.

Akira was heading back towards the Uchiha District after a long days mission on the other side of town, yet she looked pretty 'perfect' for having gotten off ninja work recently. From the girls long hair to the forehead protector wrapped around her waist as a belt, she still looked much like a doll as she passively strolled down the street. On the way home she decided to go over the homage mountain for a better view of the night and to see how Rei's face was coming along. However, Akira instead found the other black haired girl sitting there. What was she supposed to do about this? She overheard the comment and couldn't just leave someone in trouble atop the mountain alone, but this girl also looked like a lot of hassle. Without an expression, she make a decision. Akira walked forward, pale skin clear in the night stepping on a branch purposefully to cause a *crack*  to ripple through the air, standing there to see what the other girl would do. If she wanted help or advice? Someone like that would naturally reach out if they noticed someone watching and it held off from her speaking longer. Akira really did not like speaking to strangers.

Of course, then someone else came and Akira took a step back even if he was from her teachers clan, she didn't like outsiders.

"Usually it's more quiet here, though," came a voice from below, not immediately visible to anyone that looked over the edge of the face. That's because she was sitting in a swing made from her own hair, the tips of which were anchored quite unfortunately in the nostrils of the late Hokage. Yori could quite literally hang anywhere in the city itself or outside in the Nishizaka sacred grounds. She was odd like that, though she often failed to see why people actually found it odd.

Either way, she swung backward and planted her feet on the great stone upper lip, using her chakra to grip it so she could pull her hair back into a hot-pink bob. Yori was feeling a little flashy today, especially after eavesdropping such a serious conversation in its beginning moments. Soon she popped over the edge of the stone face, putting faces to voices. One was a man's and the other belonging to a female that seemed near her age. Oh, even the little Uchiha girl was lurking nearby! A party. Yori offered a unabashedly friendly grin. "Yori Nishizaka. Don't be so hard on yourself. At least you aren't bald," she offered without any context whatsoever, though she seemed to think she made quite the valid point.

Blue eyes blinking to scan the sprawling city they all three seemed to currently call home, she sighed. "I don't see how anyone can be negative with a view like this. So many lives going about their way, winning and losing, good days and bad. People thinking it's the end of their world, yet the city goes on as if everything is just fine. How small are we...just a blink. I don't want to waste my blink being a bad hair day..."

Was Hio simply blind, or were the ninja of Konoha actual ninja's and knew how to hide? She felt so foolish for not noticing the small gathering of people that had appeared once she opened her mouth, but since they all gave her some encouragement or at least a comment, she couldn't complain too much. Hio's own comprehension of the situation strained as she tried to comprehend the various comments hitting her at once, she had never heard so many people talk outside of the academy, her home had always been a very traditional and quiet place. She didn't hate it, she was just a bit taken aback by it was all. "Brighter pictures are hard to see when you can't see past your own foolishness." She wouldn't have blurted out such a personal inner thought, but out of her own desperation for some form of answer, she threw her normal quiet caution to the wind to speak, how badly that would bite her was yet to be seen... "I'm Hio of the Senju clan though I don't feel I live up to their rep. As for coming here, my first time."

The other voice revealed itself to be a girl, who apparently liked her hair or hair, in general, a lot. Hio was more into outfits but Hair went with outfits, so that was some common ground? "Less the view and more my own eyes being clouded, as I just stated my own foolishness is keeping me back. You are all strangers but I don't have anyone else to really talk to, so forgive me for being so down." Taking a small breath Hio would continue, "I can either put in the work and try to become more of a ninja, or I can go to a cush life at home. If I do the latter I might become selfish, but if I do the first then I might not live long enough to enjoy my accomplishments. Bleh, I'm being a downer, sorry about that." Hio stated standing up and rubbing the back of her head feeling a bit embarrassed by the whole situation and involving strangers in her mental musings. As she turned to fully face the two, or at least one of the two strangers, Hio noticed out of the corner of her eye the shy girl who for some reason hadn't spoken up. What, was she scared of human interaction? Hio could definitely understand her feelings. casually tilting her head to the side towards the girl Hio spoke towards the other two. "She with you guys?"

The Hyuga's gaze shifted from the one who initially spoke to another as he heard a branch creak. There was a girl with strangely large ebony eyes with her hair being of the same hue. She looked as if she was cautious. He could not blame her but she was completely safe in the village. He simply nodded at her in acknowledgment. He she would come closer to them when she's ready he supposed.

Yori Nishizaka eh? He had heard her name a few times in the village. It was to be expected too. She was of higher rank than he was bit he never could put a face to her name but now he could. Her hair was like nothing he had ever seen. She was beautiful as well and reminded him of the Hyuga of old with their hair.

The one who called herself Hio. Looking at the brighter picture was easier said than done and he had to acknowledge that fact so he smiled at her words and nodded. She was of the famed Senju clan. Unparalleled in their skill all round. This Hio, regardless of her words was their spawn. He listened to her reasoning well before he gave a reply.

"Forget all that." Continued Kyo but in a mild and comforting tone of voice as he looked directly at Kyo. "You think any one of us can accomplish everything on our own? No. We are the leaves of Konoha and we are all part of one great tree. We are here today I think not by chance. I think we all came here because fate brought us here." He said looking at everyone.

Akira's silence, especially once revealed in reasoning? Could be interpreted either of two ways, the first was that she was simply a stuck up Uchiha, the second option was that she was so awkward with people outside of her Clan due to having not interacted with them, she didn't know how to. These recent days, not even the girl herself knew which it was, did she just think no one was as important as her kin or was she was she frightened of screwing up interaction with those outside of the district, people she had not interacted with almost her entire life. One could never know, but she did low key listen intently to every word uttered, thus she was not underinformed or spacey just because she seemed opposed to speaking even a single word unless she nearly necessarily had to, normally she would never speak up.

Hio spoke and she wanted to pass the words off someone being whiney. Yet, the other girl was almost speaking per word the same thought's she struggled with daily being the only known Uchiha in the village without an awoken Sharigan, and now significantly older than her family when they awoke theirs. Akira would be lying if she claimed her mother or siblings had never lightly suggested she may want to give up on becoming a Ninja, they never said the second part directly, but what was an Uchiha without their blood rite, just a liability on the battlefield. "Your clan's rep." before she could really realize and stop herself, she had walked forward gracefully to stand in front of the other girl, pulling her hair over her shoulder's and turning her back so that Hio could see the Uchiha crest sewn unto the back of her very nice garment. "It's suffocating isn't it?" turning back around releasing her locks, she wondered why she would do this, but then realized that maybe she needed a 'heart to heart' as badly as Hio seemed to, even if it meant speaking up in front of three people.

"Someone can say not to take it so hard, that it's a matter of time or training, but it just feels more like drowning." she moved her own hand up, to cover one of her eyes. "I'd know." she let out what was likely an eerily chuckle coming from someone of her appearance. "Even at fourteen it still sleeps, I can only see half as well compared to any other Uchiha." she grimaced and sighed as she let her hand fall from her face, looking up at the moon that was rising in opposition to the sunset, slowly. "But you know." blinking away from the moon she looked back at Hio, offering a small smile that was so easy to miss. "It may be time to be selfish already." it sounded weird, but odd compared to the norm was the only thing she really did well. "Eventually we all go down in flames, even choosing the easy path doesn't always ensure the good life." she shook her head slightly, of course, the other girl already had to know this, or it wouldn't be a debate. "If the way all life ends in death is inevitable, I don't know about you, but I would rather go down fighting to mean something, apart from a sow for another set of eyes, even if I end up meaning nothing. It's not about the reputation of our clan's, it's about becoming who we want to be in spite of how that reputation is like water so far above our heads we can't even see past it." when was the last time she had spoken this much to someone outside of her clan? Placing her hands behind her back, Akira realized this was likely more then she spoke to her own team.

Akira glanced at Hio again, looking off to the side "It's not being a downer." because she wasn't the only one.

Her back remained to everyone but Hio whom she had chosen to stand to the side of, ebony optics looking up towards the rising moon which reflected nicely in her inky orbs. Standing there she rolled her eyes listening to the Hyuga speak, didn't he see they couldn't forget, and that tree was part of their problem? Being part of the tree was all fine and good, but not when you had no idea where your leaf rustled against it. "Fate is a crock, only two types of fate exist, someone will be born into this world and someone will die, everything between is our own fight." she intended her's to be a very good fight, filled with tons of laughter, tears, accomplishments, failures and everything else to experiance in between. Once more she glanced back at Hio, before returning her gaze to the moon.

Yori fell pretty silent, backing up a few steps reflexively. She was standing in the presence of three of the most prominent leaf clans; Senju, Hyuga, and Uchiha. Such powerful bloodlines. While she was prideful in her own clan, and could honestly relate to the two girls' views on the pressures associated with their clans, she felt that familiar sting that she didn't quite belong. The Nishizaka had perhaps already encountered and overcame the issue these two faced, but she found any words of encouragement dying in her throat. Would they want to hear such things from a "lesser" clan?

Suddenly, Yori's pride seemed to reassert itself, leading her into an easy smile. Maybe her words could help these two, even if she wasn't as important. It would be their fault if they tossed away the encouragement of someone who had already stood in their shoes. Her hair darkened into a blue-onyx, wrapping itself into a loose bun atop her head in an attempt stay tidy in the wind just as her arms crossed over her chest.

"You're right. It is natural for all life to end, and making the most of it until that happens is the best course of action though sometimes it's hard. But...I was behind my clan mates too. My parents didn't want me to try to be a ninja because I couldn't take advantage of our kekkei genkai, but I pushed on and trained twice as hard so my disadvantage hardly mattered. And guess what? When it was meant to happen, it did and I was leaps and bounds beyond where I'd have been if I'd had my advantage all along. I ended up the strongest Nishizaka in a long time...their pride instead of their weak link," Yori contributed in a soft voice, tilting her head to the right. Her eyes were bright. Stretching her arms out as far as she could reach on each side, she inhaled a deep breath of that sweet, earthy dusk breeze. "It does feel like drowning, but that means you learn to hold your breath three times as long as everyone else."