A shiver ran through her at the sight of their foreign land, buildings so vastly different from those of her childhood, a cliff that stretched above an entire village- four carved stone faces staring down in surveillance. All things stood out in prominence and her gaze did not know where to fly next, each direction, architecture, the complex clothing each person seemingly wore, chatting casually. The lack of samurai was replaced instead by men and women with green vests or specialized gear- their eyes discretely tracking her. Though it was not meant to truly be hidden, and she knew as much, it was a warning from people of war and bloodshed- eyes she did know. Her foot was now bandaged, due to her -guard? Escort- being disguntled with her slow pace, and then irritated at her not telling him that she was injured before he took the splinter out and wrapped her foot with a pack of bandages kept in his pouch. The village roads were made with gravel rather then stone as she was used to, and certainly dirt would have been caught in her wound had her injury gone unnoticed. Perhaps she looked something of a tourist gazing about with open expression as she was- only the firm grip of her escort holding her arm truly spoke otherwise.
The wind was strong and her oak brown hair kept flying everywhere, braid or not, it made her wonder once more about cutting it, especially as it flew into her mouth. Perhaps it was rather subtle, but she heard a sniffled chuckle from behind. They were pushing through the main street towards a large building with the fire symbol bright ontop of it. The stairs echoed as they stepped up each one, the forbidding darkness of the corridor and the minimal green tinge the walls held did not ease her mind in anyway. Her escort knocked at a wooden door, in a special pattern she noticed, though she was uncertain as to why exactly. A rather croaked reply of 'come in' was muffled by both the door and the volume of it, unto Chouka it sounded old. She found herself to be right as she was pushed in, an elder man sitting on a large cushion starring at them both with a consideringly warm expression, a large wooden tobacco pipe in one hand. The room, likely in result was rather fogged by smoke, she coughed, the scent not necessarily disturbing her from experience, but with the quantity within the small office it did disrupt her a slight more then usual.
"Hokage-sama, I found this girl climbing over from the Land of Heaven's side of the borderwall." Oddly enough, at least unto the young woman, their leader, the Hokage, smiled more upon hearing this, rather then frown. It was not what she expected, and it made her a bit more nervous in uncertainty.
"Oh? Do you have chakra then?"
The day was rather slow for him, no inspiration had crept up and he had spent most of the morn sitting entirely idle. He had created a perch for himself underneath the shade of surrounding trees in hope of a sudden outburst of creativity, yet no such miracle had occured. The heat wasn't stifling as it could often be beneath the branches, and there was just enough breeze to cool one down when needed. His ink pen was sitting, sadly, unused on his lap, notebook right beside in much the same state, though different astray sentences made three days ago still sat on the paper, unfinished. Presently his eyes were on the birds by the stream splashing about, a mother and two babies, though he knew little of birds, indeed he did not even know what type they were, they seemed content. It was a slight melancholy smile that fitted across his face then, not enough to be taken as truly saddened, though there was a fondness within the gaze brought- it was obvious to any another emotion simmered beneath, which was not plain to comprehend.
Sighing, he clasped his pen to his notebook, reached behind and shuffled a bit to get the item into his bag. Then he muttered to himself before rocking back and forth a little. Starting off his movement in the grass he found; was always a bit irritating, but with momentum he propelled himself along; he was lucky enough that his early years hadn't gone to waste and he had a significant enough upper body strength to manage- not many civilians could. If upon reaching the dirt path he sagged a slight in relief, well that was his business and there were no staring eyes judging him for a weak disposition as it were. Just as he was about to confront his old foe- a steep bridge, he found himself to be propelled along with ease, and he let go of his wheels to sag against the back of his wheelchair- wondering if the sun had dehydrated him more then expected, or if his sudden exhaustion was the result of his night of nightmares.
"Have you even eaten lunch yet?" There was a edge to the question, a rough scape at tender concern melding into exasperation. It was stubborn pride that had him wanting to hit at his friend's hands at the handles simply to avoid the conversation. Though only after they got over the rather slopped bridge.
"I wasn't hungry, I'll have a bite when I'm home." Though not a lie, it was spoken enough between them that it was known to be merely acknowledgement stating 'I will try to remember.' There was no dedication with the statement and arguing would bring nothing but a fight.
"Oi, you know you could come eat with me and my team, they wouldn't mind." Strongly spoken and with a confidence undeniable to any ear, it was said in kind a gentle option. Though it provided little reassurance to the man in the chair, his stomach clenching in reproach. Much to his own chagrin a prickle at his eyes, that which he snubbed by allowing a margin of anger to creep into his mind.
"Right, I want to sit around all you shinobi. Your lots'gossip is interesting enough I'll admit- but I might as well just hear that from you. Simply being around them is uncomfortable enough Yuri-baka." Though he had attempted to tame his voice, his words did come out more harsh then he intended, resentful. The girl behind him didn't pause for a moment however, rather unfazed as she didn't snap back or call him an idiot, and similar, too accustomed to his own mal temper when on a sensitive subject- and he snorted a little at the guilt tickling his brain. "Sorry." The sound of laughter was small but unmistakable behind him, though it was a fraction mocking, it did make his guilt disappear fast; he rolled his eyes.
"Seen as you like it so much, 'you want some gossip now ass?" He let out a small laugh, she would speak it whether he wished her to or not. Though the joke, of option- even if not truly a joke, was appreciated nonetheless. They entered his clan district with a few astray waves from those nearby, though most were gathering for a meeting and time didn't permit for much of a greeting. He glanced up as best he could at the woman pushing his chair; his best friend, a lovely woman with thick wavy black hair that stopped at her shoulders. Her skin was a brown caramel with darker eyes and several mole's about her face, and a somewhat chubby figure. He knew for a fact she had a meeting of her own to attend, but with a selfish tilt in his stomach, he didn't mention it. "There was a young woman brought into the village by one of the guards."
"Oh yes, very gossip worthy." Came his instinctual sarcasm, at one point he had been trained to hold it at bay.
"Shut up." Was the the amused reply and though he wasn't looking it was obvious unto him that the women behind had stuck out her tongue. "Anyway- the guard that found her was apparently the one on patrol around the Land of Heaven border, how's that for gossip worthy." It perked his ears with a slap of information, comprehensive and confused in equal measure, with a dash of concern thrown within the mixture. Their land was one without chakra- protected exclusively by samurai -and despite never having fought one of theirs he was more then confident they were capable warriors, they would be at extensive disadvantage in battling those from any of the elemental nations. To send in a spy would make little sense, for while rather traditional in their beliefs -according to the outdated information Konoha had of the culture there- they were not fools. His brow pinched at the odd circumstance; there was the slim possibility she was a liaison of sorts, an opening for diplomatic discussion? Where his past optimism whispered to him it could be so, his present day made pessimism overrode such considerations with a darkened fist.
"So you know why she's here?" It was a rather foolish question to put unto a woman who was not yet a jounin, regardless of how close she was to the status.
"Kyuukoku-kun, how the hell would I know that? All I know is that the higher ups are twittering about it like nervous birds." With the terrible try at a pun thrown in, his eyes nearly rolled into his skull- it was common, yet had never managed to be funny; what was, was the fact she continued so valiantly to try. After their three years of knowing each other, and not yet one success.
"Very funny, was she found in the valley too? Maybe with a bunch of doves surrounding her?" The fact that his name meant 'dove and valley' for some reason spurred her side for making puns about it- attempting to. As predicted his chair was then rocked on purpose, he did chuckle at that. He contented himself with that relaxing simplicity- for while his mind still threw itself into the thinking patterns of a shinobi, he was one no longer and it would do him no favours to focus upon it.
"Oh and I've also heard your dear mentor is back in town."
"Not my mentor."
"He teaches you doesn't he?" A small amount of criticism hinted in her tone, and he wished to match her for it.
"In writing, he hasn't taught me in any shinobi techniques since I was twenty, for obvious reasons." It was a weak gesture -out of exasperation- to his legs. Those which were held forward in a perpetual laying position out before him supported by his chair. He wasn't incapable of moving them, however he could not walk far or stand for long without pain to his bones and a resulting feeling of extensive weight on those limbs. A result of a mission gone wrong, an enemy from Iwa during the Third Shinobi War had used her chakra in the form of small needles to piece through muscle; he hadn't been able to block. It had caused large fissures throughout his femur and tibia and had partially sliced through several of his tendons. As a result it was advised he remained in his wheelchair as much as possible, lest he accidentally worsened the damage; such as fracture the bones completely or cause a full tare though his tendons- though by positive news he had been told there was a chance of partial recovery within five to seven years, depending on the ability of the medic. Though perhaps a slight underhanded, if Jiraiya was back in the village as Yuki had said, then there was the possibility of contacting Senju Tsunade, a true prodigy in the art of medical ninjutsu and operations.
Writing was where he had situated himself for the time being, with little hope for recovery it was what he found most joy in, a rather bland comfort by comparison, in candour. Least, one could take comfort in the fact that things within Konoha were rarely boring, there always a drama amongst the shinobi ranks along with the civilans alike. There was a large sense of community within the village even being as large as it was, of course Kyuukoku spent most of his time near his clanmates, but that was hardly the full experience. One could travel the gravel roads and smile at several people as an acquaintance rather then a stranger or 'that shop owner.' It was jovial, especially in comparison to the times of the war naught but three years ago.
So many frightened looks and nervous glances back then- whispered uncertainties drifting in the breeze along with the leafs. A worry that the next wave of returning shinobi would bring more bodies then the last, or worse; none at all, but so many missing spots in the line. A darkened sky surrounding even when the sun shone bright, so dim one could choke on the grey depression as if it were thick smoke. Now it was nary the opposite, with a lightness even under rainclouds. Warming for everyone, and though he sometimes stared to the trees nearby with somber eyes and defeated dreams; the fact of that they had peace once again comforted him with mumblings in his head saying that it was all worth it.