[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Two Paths Diverge

The Kumo nin stares at the door of their Raikage's makeshift office her knuckles resting against the wood, but hand yet to knock as she takes in the chips in the paint hidden from the casual eye by a fresh coat, but obvious to inspection. The her gaze tracing the spiderwebs where the new color had seeped into the old faded layers beneath it like blood filling the cracks as she swallows thickly.

While she had informed Kizumi about Toshizou it would be a lie to say she hadn't been avoiding talking about their already complicated relationship only made further so with time. The emotions the man elicited a confusion mixture of hatred, pity, and fondness mingling with bitter nostalgia and regret for what never was and could have been. Dead dreams like the husks of half eaten moths hung on a spiders web decorating the expanse of the skeletons in the Councilman's closet. The Hatake's want to be a part of her life was... strange and yet understandable. If only because how deep their similarities ran was on a level that even now Azarea found disturbing. Their paths diverging drastically with a single drop of poison.

Steeling herself with a slow breath Azarea finally rapped her knuckles upon the wood and called out with a soft voice, "Auntie... it's me."

SA's

SPOILER: Click to show

Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria [Queen's Coronation Regalia]
A mutated variant of the Aburame clans Yūdai no Omorejō ["Bewildering Grandeur of the Alpha"] resulting from the subsequent poisoning of Azarea's former Yūdai no Omorejō hive to prevent potential hijutsu theft. While the Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria lacks the Yūdai no Omorejō size instead Azarea's hive has maintained the ability to produce alpha pheromones and commanding vibrations. Evolving instead to hyperspecialize in these two aspects allowing them to produce pheramones and vibrations strong enough to be detected by human hearing and sense of smell.

Reigning Chakra Control
Fine tuning her chakra control to a razor's edge Azarea is capable of performing delicate techniques with minimal to no wastage of chakra. Allowing her to conserve her reserves in prolonged combat and managed more finickity techniques and jutsu.

Kagura Mind's Eye
Born with a natural affinity towards sensing chakra like her Father before her Azarea has trained herself to become a capable sensory shinobi. Unlocking the Kagura's Mind's Eye, and with it, the ability to passively sense chakra signatures in the distance (when using the technique), thus allowing her to not only track, but also memorize a person's chakra signature, even if barely any chakra is being used. Due to her proficiency with this technique, Azarea can currently passively sense chakra up to 500 meters and actively at 2.5 kilometers.

Techniques

SPOILER: Click to show

JUTSU GOES HERE

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | hirana kizumi

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

The quarters that the exam-runners had set up were nice, if Kizumi had to be honest. Even with the political climate as tense as it was, it was clear that Iwagakure had done their utmost to prepare for the event, wanting to make as excellent an impression as possible. Kizumi had even been outfitted with her own makeshift office adjacent to her personal quarters, so that she could continue her work even while away from home for so long. It was reassuring, and she kept in constant contact with Hayato, who was standing vigil over the village while she and the genin teams were away. She was reading and preparing to respond to his latest correspondence—another all quiet, stop stressing, in essence—when a knock sounded on her door, and Azarea’s voice floated through. Soft. "Hey, hun,” Kizumi called, and got up to let the younger woman in. It was clear that Azarea was trying to compose herself, but there were cracks in the veneer, and Kizumi immediately frowned and gestured for her to sit. Without asking, Kizumi grabbed two glasses and a bottle of whisky, pouring them both a healthy amount, and pressed the glass into Azarea’s hand. "What’s going on?” she asked, leaning back against her desk.

Aburame Azarea -- 208

LAIKA OF THQ

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Family

Azarea accepted the glass and drink with a look of gratitude as she stepped into the room settling down on one of the chairs with the shy awkwardness of a young woman jaded by the world, but confronted with the limitations of her own age and experience. She wanted so badly to look calm, collected, professional like Hayato-san, but... the best she managed was to appear polite. "I... well I met your friend Toshizou-san while I was in Konoha and we've run into each other a few times in Kuwana..." Azarea begins teeth worrying lightly at her lower lip as Kizumi pours the drink. The girl sipping at the bitter liquid to steel herself letting the drink warm her where she'd been left with the cold ashes of her prior fury.

"It turns out the Aburame were right about me being a bastard. I insisted that we get a dna test done. I didn't want to believe him because..." She slowly explains biting her lip hard enough for it to bleed. "I know he's your friend, and apparently my biological Father, but I and my hive just remember him as the scarlet eyed ANBU that tortured and interrogated us and stood there watching as... As I was force fed poison..." Azarea trails off her breath becoming to quick as panic bayed like hunting hounds at the edge of her mind. The girl trying to take a few slow breaths to steady herself before taking another long drink of the alcohol in her glass.

"And he admitted that he knew. He knew I was his daughter and he just stood there and watched. He regrets it now, but I'm not really sure what to do." She admits, the red haired kunoichi looking younger then she ever had with how her eyes searched Kizumi's face confused and pleading begging for reassurance. Begging to be told everything would be ok.

SA's

SPOILER: Click to show

Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria [Queen's Coronation Regalia]
A mutated variant of the Aburame clans Yūdai no Omorejō ["Bewildering Grandeur of the Alpha"] resulting from the subsequent poisoning of Azarea's former Yūdai no Omorejō hive to prevent potential hijutsu theft. While the Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria lacks the Yūdai no Omorejō size instead Azarea's hive has maintained the ability to produce alpha pheromones and commanding vibrations. Evolving instead to hyperspecialize in these two aspects allowing them to produce pheramones and vibrations strong enough to be detected by human hearing and sense of smell.

Reigning Chakra Control
Fine tuning her chakra control to a razor's edge Azarea is capable of performing delicate techniques with minimal to no wastage of chakra. Allowing her to conserve her reserves in prolonged combat and managed more finickity techniques and jutsu.

Kagura Mind's Eye
Born with a natural affinity towards sensing chakra like her Father before her Azarea has trained herself to become a capable sensory shinobi. Unlocking the Kagura's Mind's Eye, and with it, the ability to passively sense chakra signatures in the distance (when using the technique), thus allowing her to not only track, but also memorize a person's chakra signature, even if barely any chakra is being used. Due to her proficiency with this technique, Azarea can currently passively sense chakra up to 500 meters and actively at 2.5 kilometers.

Techniques

SPOILER: Click to show

JUTSU GOES HERE

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | hirana kizumi

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi was very carefully still. She loved Toshi. He was like a brother to her. But love didn’t make her ignorant to a good friends’ faults, and while she would never know the details of his work, she knew that he was not a good man. No more than she was a good woman, or that any shinobi could be called a good person. Morality was expensive in this line of work, and holding too fast to certain ideals was a quick way to get yourself killed. But this, Kizumi thought. This is a lot to take in. She wondered if she could’ve ended up in the same position, had she accepted the offer ANBU extended to her so many years before. Kizumi listened quietly; when Azarea’s breathing grew fast and ragged, Kizumi put her drink down and knelt at the young woman’s side, smoothing her hands over Azarea’s shoulders and down her arms in a firm yet gentle, repetitive motion. Soothing, hopefully. Grounding, if not. Keep the panic at bay. Push the memories back. You’re safe here. He regrets it now, but I’m not really sure what to do. Kizumi sighed and reached up, brushing Azarea’s hair back away from her face, revealing the scar across her right eye. "I’m sure he does,” Kizumi said softly, after a moment. "Regret is cheap, and supply only grows as the years go on. He has two other daughters he’s been trying to connect with, make amends; I’m guessing he wants to do the same with you.” She paused, thinking back to that conversation she’d had with Toshi in Port City—it felt so long ago, but it seemed prescient in retrospect. "’You can’t change what you did, and you can’t force a relationship.’ I told him that—what, a year ago now?” She shook her head. "He doesn’t learn. Don’t worry about his regret, Azarea, or what he wants—it doesn’t matter. He did terrible things to you, and you don’t owe him anything more than what you’re willing to give.”

Aburame Azarea -- 337

LAIKA OF THQ

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Wolves

Azarea glanced up at gentle fingers brushed her ragged red hair back from her face, Toshizou's face. Her own appearance reflected in Kizumi's eyes as she tries to catalogue the differences, the softer features, the scars. The changes that made her feel less like the man that had made her for better or worse. "I don't think... I don't think I can ever fully forgive him." She admits the words coming out with a pained hitch as tears pinpricked her eyes. The girl lifting a gloved hand to rub at them as the thin leather comes away wet.

"But I can understand him and that scares me." Azarea admits as a soft sniffle gave way to weeping. The tears cutting wet tracks down her cheek as she splays her hand over her face trying to cover it. Trying to hide the ugly pain. She had never been a pretty crier. "Ruthlessness is a clear. cold. line. to get where one is and where one wants to be and all you must do is follow it. Where people become numbers and the ends justify the means." She murmurs with a slow shake of her head her shoulders trembling with emotion. She'd seen the look in Toshizou's eyes. The quiet calculation. The ruthlessness. She'd seen that same look reflected on her Mother's face each time she'd smiled at her and told Azarea that she needn't worry about the Aburame's disregard.

She'd seen the same look on her own face.

"Wolves breed wolves..." She whispers drawing in a ragged breath. "I... can't ever be a blind loyal dog like Toshizou. I won't let myself be that way. I don't want to be like him." Azarea whispers finally pulling her hand away as she stares down at her palm questioning how much of Konoha's own blood was on that man's hands for the sake of protecting the 'village.'

"Gods... is this why they all hated me so much?" Azarea questions her voice quiet and face twisting in disgust, "I look just like him."

SA's

SPOILER: Click to show

Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria [Queen's Coronation Regalia]
A mutated variant of the Aburame clans Yūdai no Omorejō ["Bewildering Grandeur of the Alpha"] resulting from the subsequent poisoning of Azarea's former Yūdai no Omorejō hive to prevent potential hijutsu theft. While the Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria lacks the Yūdai no Omorejō size instead Azarea's hive has maintained the ability to produce alpha pheromones and commanding vibrations. Evolving instead to hyperspecialize in these two aspects allowing them to produce pheramones and vibrations strong enough to be detected by human hearing and sense of smell.

Reigning Chakra Control
Fine tuning her chakra control to a razor's edge Azarea is capable of performing delicate techniques with minimal to no wastage of chakra. Allowing her to conserve her reserves in prolonged combat and managed more finickity techniques and jutsu.

Kagura Mind's Eye
Born with a natural affinity towards sensing chakra like her Father before her Azarea has trained herself to become a capable sensory shinobi. Unlocking the Kagura's Mind's Eye, and with it, the ability to passively sense chakra signatures in the distance (when using the technique), thus allowing her to not only track, but also memorize a person's chakra signature, even if barely any chakra is being used. Due to her proficiency with this technique, Azarea can currently passively sense chakra up to 500 meters and actively at 2.5 kilometers.

Techniques

SPOILER: Click to show

JUTSU GOES HERE

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | hirana kizumi

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

I don’t think I can ever fully forgive him. Kizumi said nothing, only nodded, a soft hmm of understanding reverberating from her throat. She didn’t want to interrupt, instead preferring to let Azarea say her piece, get all of the horrible, painful feelings out as she was feeling them. Sometimes, she knew, the only way out was through. (if only she could heed her own advice.) Azarea devolved into weeping, covering her face as if to hide. Kizumi had the impulse to pry her hands away, but resisted it, instead going back to the slow, gentle motion of smoothing her hands over Azarea’s shoulders, a steady antithesis to the shaking. Whatever Kizumi’s own feelings were about Toshi, his character, the necessity and callousness of his actions—she didn’t know herself, in truth, as it was something she often opted to simply not think about in favor of loving her friend. But that didn’t matter. Azarea was looking to her for guidance, for reassurance; Azarea was her charge, her responsibility, and Kizumi couldn’t let her down. I look just like him, she said. And now that Kizumi was looking at her, tears and snot and all—yeah, she did, and Kizumi had no idea how she hadn’t seen it before. "You do,” she agreed softly. "I can’t pretend to know what was going on with your clan, or in the village. I don’t know what they felt, or what they thought they saw in you. But—” Kizumi paused, drawing in a deep breath. "If you don’t want to be like him, then don’t.” A simple response for a complex situation. "He made his choices. If you can understand him, what his logic is, why he’s done the things he did… then use that. Make better choices. You have a good heart, Azarea. You care.” Kizumi looked up and behind her, reaching blindly on her desk for—there. A handkerchief, old and worn but clean. She pressed it into Azarea’s hands, gently squeezing her fingers. "This line of work can be brutal,” she said, "and sometimes you have to be willing to make a hard call. But I swear to you, I will never call on you to sacrifice your humanity. Your loyalty is a gift. Give it with open eyes.” If ever there was a price to be paid for her village, Kami willing, Kizumi would pay it herself.

Aburame Azarea -- 395

LAIKA OF THQ

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Better

The red head accepts the handkerchief with trembling fingers as she wipes her face. Trying her best to make herself look presentable. Look less pathetic as she gives Kizumi a watery smile, "I know I'm supposed to be all grown up. I shouldn't... shouldn't be breaking down over something like this." She admits with a pained laugh.

"I can't... I can't even put into words how much Kumo means to me." Azarea murmurs with a wry shake of her head as she struggles to compose herself. "The first time I was well enough to go to the market to get my own groceries I remember being terrified. What were people going to think of a sick shinobi too weak to even use chakra? How much would they hate me for being a drain on the village's resources? A useless stipulation tacked on so they could get aid and Konoha could get rid of a problem." She murmurs eyes distant as she recalls those days.

"I felt so much guilt and shame, but the old lady behind the fruit stall just handed me some clementine's as a 'get well soon' gift and thanked me for my service." The Kunoichi recalls her voice soft with such immense gratitude as she dabs at her still leaking eyes tears wetting her cheeks.

"I love Kumo so much. It'd be so easy to become like Toshizou, but I... it's silly, but I want to protect those people's smiles. I want them to be able to continue to be so unfailingly kind without worry or fear." Azarea murmurs as she glances up to meet Kizumi's gaze her scarlet eyes red rimmed and watery, but filled with solemn determination.

"I promise I'm gonna be better then him Auntie." She wouldn't make Kumogakure no her adopted family regret betting on a dark horse.

SA's

SPOILER: Click to show

Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria [Queen's Coronation Regalia]
A mutated variant of the Aburame clans Yūdai no Omorejō ["Bewildering Grandeur of the Alpha"] resulting from the subsequent poisoning of Azarea's former Yūdai no Omorejō hive to prevent potential hijutsu theft. While the Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria lacks the Yūdai no Omorejō size instead Azarea's hive has maintained the ability to produce alpha pheromones and commanding vibrations. Evolving instead to hyperspecialize in these two aspects allowing them to produce pheramones and vibrations strong enough to be detected by human hearing and sense of smell.

Reigning Chakra Control
Fine tuning her chakra control to a razor's edge Azarea is capable of performing delicate techniques with minimal to no wastage of chakra. Allowing her to conserve her reserves in prolonged combat and managed more finickity techniques and jutsu.

Kagura Mind's Eye
Born with a natural affinity towards sensing chakra like her Father before her Azarea has trained herself to become a capable sensory shinobi. Unlocking the Kagura's Mind's Eye, and with it, the ability to passively sense chakra signatures in the distance (when using the technique), thus allowing her to not only track, but also memorize a person's chakra signature, even if barely any chakra is being used. Due to her proficiency with this technique, Azarea can currently passively sense chakra up to 500 meters and actively at 2.5 kilometers.

Techniques

SPOILER: Click to show

JUTSU GOES HERE

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | hirana kizumi

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

As Azarea spoke, Kizumi felt an echo of her own childhood: twelve years old, alone in a new village at the top of a mountain on the other side of the country, with nothing to her name except the clothes she’d shoved in an old worn backpack. She hadn’t even taken snacks for the journey, unwilling to rob what little her sister had earned for their baby brother. She was alone, lonely, scared—but the shinobi and civilians of Kumogakure had been so kind to her, so welcoming, that she had never looked back. Not for a second. "It’s not silly,” Kizumi said, a sudden fierceness crackling through her like lightning. "It’s why we do what we do—to protect people, to make sure everyone in Kaminari no Kuni can live long, comfortable, happy lives. That’s the point.” Azarea looked up, finally meeting Kizumi’s gaze, and Kizumi pulled her into a tight hug—pausing just long enough to allow Azarea to refuse, and reclaim her space if she wanted. So much of this issue was rooted in the lack of agency Azarea had been afforded as a child—Kizumi wasn’t going to rob her of it now. "Don’t ever doubt yourself, sweetheart,” she said, pressing a kiss to the crown of Azarea’s head. "I never will.”

Aburame Azarea -- 212

LAIKA OF THQ

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Auntie

Azarea does not refuse the hug. The girl stiffening a little in surprise unused to such affection, but slowly and surely she melts into the embrace. Her form wracked with fine trembles as she struggles against the emotions that run rampant through her as her arms come to wrap about Kizumi tightening around her Aunt like a life line as she lets out a slow ragged breath. Shoulders sagging as if some great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. To be trusted. To just be enough even if she was imperfect was a gift the girl couldn't put into words.

"Daisuke is gonna get jealous at this rate~" She hiccups out the joke with a little laugh only pulling back after a long moment. Her eyes wet, but her grin lopsided and brighter then it had ever been. "I promise even if I'm trouble sometimes you won't regret this K... Auntie." She tries the word on for size after a moments hesitance finding it a better fit then Kizumi-sama.

"Toshizou-san is still an asshole though." Azarea mutters rubbing a hand over her eyes as she shakes her head and pulls a face, "I guess this explains why I'm weirdly popular with women." She mutters under her breath recalling some of the weirder interactions she'd had when she was young enough that puberty hadn't softened her curves and she could still be mistaken for a boy.

SA's

SPOILER: Click to show

Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria [Queen's Coronation Regalia]
A mutated variant of the Aburame clans Yūdai no Omorejō ["Bewildering Grandeur of the Alpha"] resulting from the subsequent poisoning of Azarea's former Yūdai no Omorejō hive to prevent potential hijutsu theft. While the Joō no Taikanshiki no Regaria lacks the Yūdai no Omorejō size instead Azarea's hive has maintained the ability to produce alpha pheromones and commanding vibrations. Evolving instead to hyperspecialize in these two aspects allowing them to produce pheramones and vibrations strong enough to be detected by human hearing and sense of smell.

Reigning Chakra Control
Fine tuning her chakra control to a razor's edge Azarea is capable of performing delicate techniques with minimal to no wastage of chakra. Allowing her to conserve her reserves in prolonged combat and managed more finickity techniques and jutsu.

Kagura Mind's Eye
Born with a natural affinity towards sensing chakra like her Father before her Azarea has trained herself to become a capable sensory shinobi. Unlocking the Kagura's Mind's Eye, and with it, the ability to passively sense chakra signatures in the distance (when using the technique), thus allowing her to not only track, but also memorize a person's chakra signature, even if barely any chakra is being used. Due to her proficiency with this technique, Azarea can currently passively sense chakra up to 500 meters and actively at 2.5 kilometers.

Techniques

SPOILER: Click to show

JUTSU GOES HERE

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: | hirana kizumi

[hirana kizumi]

A HEART'S A HEAVY BURDEN

Kizumi could feel the tension bleed from Azarea’s shoulders, and quietly restrained her own relief. She needed to be rock-solid, unwavering; any fear that she had that she was doing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing, offering the wrong kind of support, needed to be quashed and locked away. Stay the course. This time, at least, she had gotten it right. "Daisuke is eternally cursed to bark up all the wrong trees,” Kizumi said, eyes crinkling into a smile. "That’s his own problem.” Auntie. Her heart clenched, her expression softening. So many of the village kids called her that, or some variation of old lady (affectionate), and she’d always hated it, but… she couldn’t deny that it was starting to grow on her, however minutely. "I know,” she reassured Azarea softly. And then, with deep gravity and the weight of nations—but with a distinct twinkle in her eye—she said, "You were born with the blessing of his face, my child. You must use your powers only for good, and never for ill, as you hold the fate of the feminine hearts of Lightning Country firmly in your grasp.”

Aburame Azarea -- 191

LAIKA OF THQ