Hidden In The Leaf

Secrets of the leaf. chapter. 30

.Of swift actions and sad nostalgia.pt1.

........................HAIKU(30)...................

                  NIGHT ON EARTH
  
           BUDDING MUSHROOMS

                  AND FROG SONG
     

                  .... Micheal McClintock....

.............. 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o..............

    Stillness, the encompassing tranquility of pure silence amidst the frantic echoes of one's heart. Not quite the definition you assumed, right? But this sort of stagnation held no joy nor did it forsake forlorn as Tsunade stood among the lush foliage bordering his memorial pillar. Darkness still spelt the hours after Sakura and the other's departure behind what was a rather bizzare evening thus far; and bizzare barely, sacrely lent sufficient enough description to these strange ongoings of her Student and company's new gift, if you will.

If one strained their senses enough, soft lulls of crickets chirruping, syncronized almost too elegantly with the olden croaks of dew seeking toads. This sort of orderly harmonization between preditors and preys, insects and amphibians had somewhat graduated from annoying to homely, where as they served as a form of pitiable therapy to her battered heart. Soft, short, natural and yet none of these words dearly described her best friend's character, but some how, they quite reminded her of him. Especially now, since Konaha slept away behind a veil of content, despite their leader's inner turmoil.

The sake had already been distributed, his cup running over as per his living custom and hers, far beyond empty, and now dry, barren since she'd taken the first and only shot on her brief travel to this sacred spot. Such a ceremonial ritual she knew, her nightly visits, but tonight her core was shaken. The reveals of kaguya's precognitive aptitude shook even it's mediums, let alone her or the others closely knitted to Jiraiya in the past.

"You never dissapoint do you?" Orochimaru's soft crunching were mere preludes he'd willfully shared of his approach, not that she hadn't expected it, but Tsunade wanted to stew in her bitterness a little while longer.

"Must you follow me as well Maru- all I ask is for one hour to gather my thoughts-"

"You meant one hour to sulk and crawl back into the caverns your Students rescued you from?" A hiss travelled on the backs of a heavy winded rumble, tussling greenery camouflaged by heavy two am darkness. "You should be in there, with the others planning our next move"

"Don't fucking give me that!" How pitiable indeed, she knew the cracks in her voice gave way to her hidden truth. Yet Tsunade chose defence, defiance and blame, in other words, Orochimaru's accountability, which had naught to do with this sudden turn of events. "Where were you when hell was upon us all, where were you and that self righteous nobility while Pain took away everything from us- those fucking orphans I tell you-?"

Orochimaru's patience lacked some what, but she was spot on whence it came to said obsessive self righteous nobility. It suited him only when he wanted it to, and back then, being true to him self meant seclusion, default and the breaking of bounds he'd labled in the past familial. But he wasn't about to be held accountable for Jiraiya's and her own flawed decision. He'd paid enough of a price for his own; the first, by allowing that toaded oaf in fostering those fucking brats during the peak of war. "Perhaps i should refresh your memories, but I was dead. The first to go, of this merry old group of three. Or was i not missed at all?"

This caught her displeasure, doubling her emotional rise. Indeed, he was the first to go, and by his own making which made it all the more horrifying, but his death was a paid justice, and everyone from here to Sauna knew as much. "Hey, you live by the sword-"