[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

The stars let themselves be known that night, as Asahi laid in the grass and looked at the night sky above him. He hadn't been able to sleep, not because of the excitement that came with the exams, but from other things. Why couldn't he get that monster out of his head?

He sighed as he held his gaze on the unknown above. He reached out a hand and held it up from his laid out position. His hand could cover plenty of the stars from his vision, but that didn't dispel what Asahi already knew. He was so small. They were all so small, so fragile.

He sat up and adjusted the green tank top that matched his hair. His golden eyes scanned the area around him as he held a blank expression. The house that all the genin stayed at was off in the distance from the park he sat in the middle of now.

There was little foot traffic around him, and most that did come by, seemed to be passing through. Aside from the sounds of the nature around him, the night was quiet and peaceful. If only his head could grab and hold on to some of that peace.

Asahi found himself conflicted, longing and embracing that feeling of being alone he had right now, but also fearing it. Small, alone, and afraid. Those were the feelings he tried to hide from everyone, including himself. And deep down he knew it, yet on the surface, here he was, trying to escape it again. With another sigh, he let himself fall back to the grass again, and continued to look up at the infinite.

Notes: 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS

[Suzuki Taru]

Night was an interesting thing. Humans were not made to exist in it. It wasn't that they couldn't - they often did. Many shinobi excelled in the skill of creeping quietly through the night, making it their cloak. But humans were meant for the day. Many often feared the dark and what could linger inside of it, the expansive and infinite nothingness that stretched out before one without light. Yet people were compelled to the night anyways. 

Taru was one of those people. She enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the night. Nothing that nature could offer in the dark frightened her. When all the other humans were resting and nature could be at peace, sometimes it made urban environments like this feel more authentic. Though she was excited to be here in the city, she missed the wilderness. 

Sneaking quietly from her room at night, she made her way to one of the local parks, trying to enjoy the fresh air and reset, get back to nature. The trees here were beautiful. Many pine and birch. Pine were difficult to climb, unfortunately, so she favored the white-wooded birch. 

While she wandered the park, admiring the trees, she spotted someone else lying in the distance on the soft grass, staring up at the stars. It was an odd hour to be out and an odd hour for them both to be here. He seemed young - probably another participant in the exams. She stood for a minute, pondering if she felt the tug of fate trying to draw them to talk. 

It wasn't strong, so she wasn't sure, but she followed the impulse anyways and quietly approached. 

"Did you know that it's the season of the Black Warrior?" She asked him, looking up at the stars in search of a constellation. After some triangulating with her arm, she pointed out a set of stars. "Right there, in the north."  The black tortoise and the snake, entwined together.

[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

Asahi was so in his head that he didn't even hear the rustle of the grass as she approached. Her voice brought him back to the ground, and he turned his head to look at who had joined him. The boy's golden eyes were watery, but the dam hadn't broke. Her arrival helped it hold the water back until it receded. "Season of the Black Warrior?" Asahi asked, a little confused as he sat up.

He followed her pointing and put it together. "Ohhh it's a constellation..." the boy said as he sat up to a crisscross position and gazed at the stars she pointed out. "I see the pattern, but what exactly am I looking at? I'm not familiar with the Black Warrior. How'd it get that tag?" Asahi asked with curiosity. Asahi had seen the opportunity to push away his own head and took it.

His eyes went from the stars and back to the girl who had pointed them out. She looked like she may have been close to age as him, so she was probably another participant in the exams. Regardless of who she was, she wasn't a stranger. She was Asahi's escape, his savior. And his eyes thanked her before he averted his windows to his soul back to the stars.

Notes: 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS

[Suzuki Taru]

The stranger's eyes shined in the moonlight. Had he been near tears? She didn't know him personally, so guessing was hard, but maybe she could offer him a welcome reprieve from his mind. Since he had welcomed her conversation instead of being bothered by her presence, she allowed her legs to fold under her and sat in the grass beside him. 

"The Black Warrior is a tortoise embroiled in combat with a snake," she informed him. "Can you see it there... The box of the shell, and then the tail of the serpent around it. They are both named Genbu and are twins. They're one of the four protectors of the compass directions and rule over the north and winter." 

It was an interesting constellation, one that some other cultures might recognize as a 'dipper' instead. 

"Their story is that they were once the intestines of a human. The human studied to become divine and when he ascended to godhood, his intestines remained behind and became demons who troubled the earth. He went to slay them, but the tortoise and serpent showed repentance and decided to train under him, becoming his warriors." She mimed actions of fighting. 

It was an interesting story in her opinion and a pin in the common symbolism of the tortoise. Perseverance and strength! Growth over a long time. The interplay between changeability and unchangeability. Those kinds of things. 

[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

Asahi listened to the story behind the constellation she had pointed out. In the middle of that story, he realized that it was one of the dipper constellations. He kept his head toward the sky but glanced back at her. Where was she from?

"I see..." Asahi said as he looked back the constellation. "A human who ascended into godhood..." the boy thought out loud as he stared up.

Asahi recognized it for what it was. A tale from wherever this girl was from. But even if he didn't believe the same thing, he could still entertain it in a genuine way. He wasn't the type to just write something off, not anymore. A certain man had changed him in that way.

"When we're so small and weak, how'd they manage to become a god?" His words spoke more to a disbelief in himself than a disbelief in her story. How could a person, shinobi or otherwise, become a god? With his own fragility recently exposed, he found that part of the story the hardest to buy.

~That's right. Become a god? HAHAHAHA! You're weak. You're nothing. I could squash you like the ant you are, whenever I want. Never forget that, little one.~ the monstrous centipede's imagined words reminded Asahi of his place.

Notes: 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS

[Suzuki Taru]

The idea that humans were small or weak was very interesting to her. Mostly because it was incorrect. 

"Humans are some of the most resilient creatures around," she informed him, with a sort of bright-eyed curiosity. She wasn't disagreeing so much as information. "Most animals lie down and die when the break a bone, but we'll stand up and walk on it. We can live through a lot. Our strength is mostly in comprehension. We're capable of wanting things, and wanting to know things. That's what makes us stronger than most other animals," she explained to him. 

There were some more intelligent animals out there, but often even the ones who could maintain chakra and a level of human intellect could never reach the skill level of a human. 

"Anyways, he studied the way, learning about the other gods as well as living with simplicity and having harmony with nature. He'd retired to the mountains to live in isolation. Eventually he attempted to purge his earthly sins. That was when the whole organ and tortoise and serpent thing happened," she said. "Once he purged his sins, he was able to truthfully connect with nature and ascend to godhood, becoming able to control the elements." 

He was just one of many gods of mythos, though. There were a lot. She preferred the ones closest to nature and stars. 

"Why do you think humans are weak?"

[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

Asahi listened as she did speak some truth. But resilience didn't equal strength. At least, not in the boy's eyes. He didn't voice that though. Instead he just listened. Her vibe was...strange, but Asahi found it...inviting?

He wasn't quite sure what word to put on it. A question came that wouldn't allow Asahi to be silent anymore. It was his turn to speak, and with a claim so strong, one would have thought he'd have an answer to her question. But it stumped him. He sat there quiet for a moment, thinking about how to put it into words.

He turned his gaze down at the ground beneath his legs, but really looking at the scar on his wrist. He wanted to say, because he'd experienced it first hand. Been shown their weakness in comparison to things like Heiou. And Heiou was an anomaly. There were things far weaker than the giant centipede, that still stood above them.

"Because, we let that wanting to know things go to far and that kills us. We go to war over the smallest of things and that kills us. Sickness, famine, poisonous plant, or animal. Anything around us can overpower us and kill us..." he said trailing off. "Maybe I'm just weak," he finished, but those weren't words he believed. He knew that for his rank and age, he was in a solid place, maybe even further along than many who claimed to pursue the medical arts. This was beyond that.

"Because I've spoken to a god who could swat me like a fly whenever they wanted. Could do it to anyone, and has to many," Asahi confessed with his hands over his head, and head between his bent legs, as if trying to curl into a ball. She was the first he had spoken about that incident to, but it wasn't the whole truth.

He held back how he had sold his soul in exchange for that life not being swatted away. And how that fact, scared him the most. But his body gave away that fear.

Notes: 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS

[Suzuki Taru]

He spoke of interesting things. Many things could overpower humans, but humans could weather them for a long time. Things like famine, or drought, they were... amorphous. Not things which could be strong. Could one be called weak for falling to something that couldn't possibly be strong, because it was a concept and not a thing? Animals were easier, but even then people survived awful things.

Heads inside of the jaw of bears and still came back alive. Claw out a wildcat's eyes and live to tell the tale. People could live through being thrown about in storms, their bodies broken, their health collapsed into a miserable state... Was it weak that sometimes luck was not on people's sides? 

This was more personal. 

He confirmed it when he brought up a god. A frightful one he had seen. The language of his body was like a child talking of a nightmare, curled like one defending themselves even against an invisible presence. 

Taru leaned closer, inspecting him. 

"What kind of god?" She asked, brow knit tight together. Most gods were peaceful. There were some troublesome and warlike ones that she had read about, ones that enjoyed battle, but for the most part they valued harmony. Had he been in contact with malicious spirits? Possessed and troubled by demons, maybe? It reminded her of the troubles people would bring to her parents when she was a child. 

"You seem weighted by some knowledge. You should speak of it."

[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

Asahi felt the girl lean in closer as she asked for more. Her proximity didn't seem to concern the boy, because he was lost in his head. Trapped by his fear. As he spoke, it was as if he saw the monstrosity in front of him all over again. "A massive god of bones and blood. I dont-" he began, cutting himself off before continuing. "I don't know if I believe in good and evil, if things are that concrete or black and white..." he said trailing off, collecting his thoughts.

"But this was a god of rage. A god of destruction. A god who doesn't care about any life in front of it. A god who actively opposes life, at least life like ours. I could see it in it's eyes. Feel it in its mercy it granted me." Asahi admitted, referencing the creatures he had criticized moments ago, humans. He was like a bottle ready to burst, and for some reason this girl felt like a good outlet, a safe outlet.

"I made a deal with that god. Traded life for life, and now I don't know what to do, or what that god will do with me. I don't even know what the deal I made means...That's what scares me the most." Asahi admitted more, curling up more as he did so.

It didn't matter that he said the words out loud. It still felt like there was nothing he could do about it, and looked like he was right.

Notes: 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS

[Suzuki Taru]

Asahi spilled out a wave of fear and remorse, clearly wound tight, his body filled to the brim with it. It was good that he was talking about it. Communication was like a form of exorcism. When you spoke your thoughts aloud, you freed some of them up and helped to reduce their hold on you. Of course, if you told it to the wrong company, it could end up in a feedback loop, but talking things out had a way of releasing them from the mind. 

"I see... That does sound troubling," she said, furrowing her brow in contemplation. "Deals with gods are always tricky things. Especially one so fearsome. You must be very strained right now. Yet..." 

She considered her words very carefully.  

"It's not here now, is it?" She asked him.

"You're here by yourself. It is not omnipresent or omnipotent. You have a chance to thrive away from it even still and that means your situation isn't inescapable. Creatures that use fear do so because they have weaknesses that can only be hidden by such feelings of terror. What it wants is for you to be afraid."

She picked a leaf from her hair, crunching it between her fingers, a little energetic tic.  

"That doesn't mean it's wrong to be scared. I think fear is a natural thing. Something that doesn't make you weak. Fear exists to help us survive. ...Have you told your sensei about this?"

[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

When she asked if it was here now, Asahi didn't respond. Probably not? Mabye? No? Asahi was so scared and paranoid of the thing, he felt like it was always there, hovering over him. But as she spoke more, his eyes widened and his shaking stopped. A chance to thrive? His situation wasn't inescapable? He looked up at her, meeting her eyes as she spoke and her last statement really reached him. 'Creatures that use fear do so because they have weaknesses that can only be hidden by such feelings of terror. What it wants is for you to be afraid.'

"A weakness?..." Asahi muttered to himself, not even aware he had said it out loud as he processed her words. The thought of the demon having a weakness, didn't seem like a possibility before it came out of her mouth.

The crunch of the leaf from her hair brought Asahi back to the present and further away from his distress. The fear he felt didn't make him weak? This girl spoke to him in a way few had. Said things, few had. There were many others who would argue against her on that. Yet, somehow, this girls words felt more true to him than the other side.

"N-No, I haven't." Asahi responded, breaking away from the girls eyes. The boy didn't really have a sensei, but he had a mentor of sorts. A man he had aligned himself with and who had taught him many things so far.

Maybe Yuuta could help him out with this. Or maybe involving Yuuta would just lead to both of them dying. "I-I don't know if it's safe to. I don't want to lead anyone to a death by this thing, especially not him." Asahi said with genuine concern at the thought of leading Yuuta into danger. Leading Yuuta into danger by their own doing was one thing, but something like Heiou...that was another.

"The only person I've told the whole story to so far, is you." Asahi admitted. And just telling her made the weight on his shoulders feel a little bit lighter.

It didn't even cross the boy, that he didn't know this girls name. She had made him feel comfortable enough upon their introduction to skip all of that. Why? How did she? Who was this girl? His look of distress had faded now, like a comforted baby. Now his face held a curiosity about the person who had comforted him.

Notes: 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS

[Suzuki Taru]

It seemed like she had done a decent job in calming him down, even if he was still slightly stressed by the topic and his proximity to this strange and terrible god. If even through that terror he was able to find a moment of peace, he would be able to center himself and handle the situation, of that much she was certain. He had only told her. That part was what was really bothersome to her. His friends and instructors might have insights that would help him understand his foe. 

"Ah... Your sensei is probably a lot stronger than you, though, right?" She asked, scooting even a little closer to him. "Shinobi who get high enough to be instructors are usually even stronger than we think they are. So a god that seems frightening to you might be much different for your teacher." Would she tell Yoshiki in this situation? Probably, though she'd probably also be much less afraid than Asahi was in the first place. Different minds processed troubles differently. 

"Isolation is like food for malevolent spirits. It lets them grow faster than anything else. The spiritual power of someone who is a lone is much smaller than when they're with others who can help them." The power of a group was exponential, not multiplicative. So if his teacher was really strong, maybe the two of them could even face a scary god together! Maybe. 

[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

He nodded at the girl's question. His sensei was stronger than he was, definitely was. Why hadn't he told Yuuta yet? Surely it would interest the man. The genin didn't know what blocked him from doing it then, but he would come to know it as feeling shame. But this white haired girl was right, Yuuta could probably help him. "You're right. I'll tell my teacher when I get back to Konoha, and see what he says about it," he vowed to the girl and himself.

Isolation was like food for malevolent spirits. This girl had spoken many gems that he would put in his back pocket. She reminded him of his mother in a lot of ways. Finally his brain couldn't take the disconnect any longer. He needed to put a name to this face.

"You speak about all this with such ease. You weren't even surprised when I told you about Heiou...W-who are you?" Asahi began with his questions, voice soft. "A-are you a spirit? Or a god too?" Asahi continued his questions toward the soul who had joined him.

If she gave him an identity, he would return with the truthful admission of his own. "My name is Asahi Ōorigami. Thankful to meet you." Asahi said, a slight alteration to the common introduction. But she had brought him slightly farther out of his head, and even offered him some advice on the situation that he was too deep in to see himself. That deserved a thank you.

Notes: 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS

[Suzuki Taru]

Of course she wasn't surprised about that information. There were many gods that existed and many spirits and hearing about closeness to one did not concern her much outside of the fear Asahi felt. She didn't know any devoted followers of any religions herself, but she knew they were around and often compelled themselves to their gods. So someone mentioning gods felt natural to her. When he asked if she herself was a spirit or a god, she would beam at him, but shake her head all the same. 

"I'm no spirit or god. I'm Suzuki Taru," she introduced herself. "I live closely with the spirits, though. I grew up in Kashiwa where fireball and lantern spirits live all throughout the forest. I ventured in when I was younger and stayed with them for weeks, so now I'm very attached to them," she explained, idly playing with the grass. 

"It's nice to meet you, too, Asahi. I'm glad we were fated to meet under these stars." She tilted her head at him, considering his name. "Your name means morning sun. That means that you're someone who's destined to meet new horizons," she informed him. "The morning sun is the start of a new beginning. Keep that meaning in your heart and it will make you stronger." 

[Ōorigami Asahi]

SOMEDAY WE WILL CONNECT THE DOTS AND UNVEIL THE WORLD

Asahi listened to the girl as she told him who she was with reverence one would give when addressing a spirit. But she revealed that she wasn't a spirit. Suzuki Taru. Asahi wouldn't forget her name or face, that was for sure.

Although he never stayed in the wetlands that long, all the time he spent in Kawa helped him relate to her experience of being in the forest. Although he hadn't found any spirits in his time there. All he found was nature, and learned the respect it called for.

Her saying she was glad they met, brought a small smile to the boy's face. And her explanation of his name made that smile grow ever so slightly. He had never even really thought to ask his parent's what his name meant... He had never really cared. Morning sun...Destined to meet new horizons...The start of a new beginning...

He would do as Taru said, and keep her words close to his heart. She had given him good advice so far, so he trusted that advice just as much. "I bet the spirits find just as much comfort from you," Asahi said genuinely.

"I grew up on the border's of the forests of Hi No Kuni and Kawa, wetland territory in Hi No Kuni. Spent a lot of time in the swampy forests but never came across spirits or gods...until recently... Anyway, where's Kashiwa?" Asahi asked with curiosity seeping out. Once he could he wanted to travel all over the world, and would want to add Kashiwa to the list.

"I'm sorry-" Asahi stopped himself, realizing that he may have been stopping her. "Were you going somewhere or doing something before you came across me? I don't want to keep you from your own things, or keep you up." Asahi said out of consideration for her time. Although he brought it up, Asahi didn't want Taru to go anywhere, or at least not go anywhere without him, and that probably showed through.

Notes:
 
Tag: Suzuki Taru

MADE BY MINNIE OF FTS & GS