It's Painted in the Clouds
Faint rustling and a soft brush of something akin to velvet skimmed an undisclosed path down my face. Starting from the left temple, drifting down a high set cheekbone, skirting around a sun stained nose littered with a handful of freckles, snagging on chapped, bitten lips, the object's exploration came to an abrupt stop. Reaching a hand up to reveal the unknown object to a pair of lazy, deep moss-green irises, a small smile crept across my dry, cracked lips.
Mirth bubbled up from within my chest and spilled out of my mouth, taking the form of sound. Laughter. Between the scarred pads of my index finger and thumb lay a small leaf. Twisting the surprisingly sturdy stem between my heavily lacerated finger tips, in turn, causing the little leaf to turn to and fro, baring its secrets under the concentrated glare of spotty sunlight. Bringing the tiny plant closer to my inquisitive eyes, my newly discovered specimen is suddenly plunged into the cover of shadows.
It dawned on my travel weary mind what had happened. I was so caught up in my new discovery that I had actually been slowing down my walking pace until I had eventually came to a standstill. Tilting my head back, I fully observe my current surroundings, absorbing every tiny detail through half closed eyes. Cataloging every piece of visual information, filing it all away to the deep recesses of my iron fortress like mind.
I note the natural lighting supplied to my analytical eyes. Darting to and fro, playing hide and seek with the random gaps between the thick foliage canopy raised far above my head, the playful sunlight leaves a trail of spots, blobs and obscure shapes, illuminating my path. Like some sort of divine marker highlighting my predetermined course in the erratic sequence that is life, I take step forwards, towards the inevitable.
Picking up my previous walking pace, I thread the tiny leaf into the braid framing my tanned face, the end gently swaying against the edge of my jaw. Almost inaudible in sound, a small but content sigh escapes my weathered lips, hooking the ends up just enough to be anything but a miniscule smile at the corners of my mouth. Brushing aside an errant stand of thick hair, rubbing my forehead underneath my thick bangs with my right hand, I reach down to tighten the ends of the braids framing my face.
One holds the delicate leaf, while the other braid is deprived of such treasures; however, both braids end at the outer edge of my jaw, situated on the polar sides of the contours of my face. Reminiscent of the color of a forest's under soil, dark after a heavy rainfall, rich with all the nutrients and water it's soaked up, under the harshness of the sunlight, the deep brown threads were forced to give up their natural coloring.
Closing my moss-green eyes and letting the sounds of the forest lull me into a quiet compliance, I rest my mind and free my tired spirit with the knowledge that after almost two years… I was finally coming home.
"Konoha," I whispered to the subtle breeze, "please wait just a little longer for me."