Starry Night [M]

Night had once again fallen upon the Hidden Leaf village and the Uchiha Clan district. The sun had left them for now and in its place rose a bright full moon, covering the district with a silver light. Accompanied by the multitude of sparkling stars all over the sky, it made for a beautiful sight. There was a certain charm to living in the feudal age of shinobi: There was no beams of light in the village, and beyond the walls there wouldn't be a strong light source for miles and miles. This meant that not only could the stars be watched, but that the color of the night sky would differ from dark into many shades of blue, purple and green.

The night very much resembled the first night Akihiro had met Kimiko. Back then things were a tad bit simpler, however. The threat of war didn't hang above their heads and the constant pressure from the Hokage to succeed wasn't present either. Other thing had changed too. Akihiro was older, slightly taller and his hair grew a bit longer to keep up with his body growth. Up in the sky there was no longer any comet to gaze at, but the memory was still imprinted in him thanks to the Sharingan.

The roof was very much the same, tho. And he had hopes the person he wanted to find here would be the same as well. Truth to be told Akihiro hadn't been the best of boyfriends in the last few months. Between managing Mockingbird, the Uchiha restlessness and the attack on Moonspire, he'd hardly found time for Kimiko which he regretted a little, especially considering she'd fought without him at the Land of Earth.

That being said, things weren't looking like they'd improve on the complication aspect. War would soon be upon them and Akihiro found himself realizing that he just [b]had[/i] to make time for Kimiko. It was unrealistic to dream of a day when the two of them could be together without any sort of responsibility, when he wouldn't have to choose between his duties as a ninja and his love for Kimiko. That day would never come, and it was unwise think it would.

He sighed, leaning against the balcony of the roof.

Kimiko wore a simple outfit. It wasn't a night that required her to dress up, so she had decided to just go with a classic Kimiko standard. Shorts, boots, a black T-shirt, and a zip up jacket. It was an easy one. Some people liked to wear a properly kept Kimono all the time, and while she enjoyed it, she felt like looking fancy all the time took away from the moments when it was most appropriate.

Still, she was missing Akihiro. They hadn't gotten to spend any real alone time together in a while. Between his duties as leader of Mockingbird, and his duties as the Clan Leader of the Uchiha, plus his position in the village, and Kimiko's own missions and stuff in Iwa, they found very few moments to see each other.

Still, missing him as she was, Kimiko figured she would head up to the roof where she had first met Akihiro during the Comet event. It seemed like that time had been worlds away from now, even though it had only been a couple of years. A lot had happened since then. The roof wasn't a particularly important one, but it had sentimental attachment to her now.

Upon arriving, she was shocked to see Akihiro standing there, leaning on the balcony.

"Oh, hey! Missing me too?"

Her words music to his ears, the sound of her voice the very reason that made the night come alive. The astral sight above the Konohagakure no Sato's horizon seemed to glow brighter. He had hoped, but he hadn't known. It was truly a magnificent feeling, to have your hopes raised high and matched. One Akihiro rarely ever got to experience. The logic and rules behind every one of his decisions made it so that he ever rarely needed to rely on hope for anything, and yet as he heard her voice he found himself wishing he did.

He would turn himself towards her, allowing himself the genuine smile he rarely ever showed. "You know I am. Always." A side of him wanted to apologize for not making enough time for her and for not being there during the war either. But what good were apologies for? They had both done their duty towards the Clan and the Village, their duty as ninjas. Sometimes he wondered if life would be simpler if he'd been born outside the Clan, as no more than a farmer or perhaps even a sheppard. Surely life would have been simpler then, no? But then, would he have met Kimiko? Most certainly. Some encounters were just bound to happen, by fate itself. He believed in that- and that implied he was also curious about what else in his life had fate reserved for him.

Curiously Akihiro wasn't wearing his signature cloak as it had been sealed inside his current shirt. Of course he kept to the black theme, wearing black sandals, shorts and a black shirt with the Uchiha Clan symbol engraved on its back. He wasn't entirely sure why he kept to a black theme, but perhaps because it went well with anything and contrasted nicely with the Uchiha Clan's symbol of a white and red fan.

He gestured at her, so she'd join him in leaning against the balcony. "Come over here, I have something for you." There was a certain degree of wickedness to his smile and the look he gave her, as if he had a secret kept that no one else knew about- not even Kimiko. And to an extent, this was completely true. The world was about to be turned upside down and thus Akihiro liked to hang on to the one thing he knew was true. He loved her. Everything else would eventually pass, dust away with the wind or destroyed by human hands. But not this, and not tonight.

Kimiko walked over to Akihiro, joining him at the balcony. He said he had something for her, an odd smile on his face. She began to analyze him, watching his movements to see what it was that he was talking about. Her sharingan activated as well, the three tomoe swirling around and keeping his movements on lock. She was able to see that he wasn't hiding some jutsu, or anything like that, but that wasn't really why she'd activated her Sharingan. She wanted to see if she could see what sort of gift he had for her.

It was the equivalent of someone shaking a present before opening it. It never actually helped, but Kimiko was a curious girl, and couldn't help herself.

"Well that's a shame, I don't have anything for you..." she said, pouting slightly. She'd think of something depending on what it was that Akihiro wanted to give her, so that that way she'd be able to match or surpass whatever it was.

-0.2 Sharingan
Analyzing Akihiro 1/2

Ever the curious girl, Kimiko had activated her Sharingan to try and figure out what it was Akihiro had for her. Unlike the rest of the Clan's, Kimiko's sharingan had slightly different features in the sense that the red iris twirled over a black canvas instead of your usual white one. A signature Dõjutsu appearance that made her unique and Akihiro liked that about her too.

"Well, you can always give me a kiss and we'll call it even, what say you?" he'd take one of her hands within his own and raise it above her head, inviting her to a twirl in place before he took her into his arms. "I'm afraid your eyes won't be able to see this my dear, for as pretty and perceptive yours are even the Sharingan can't see every secret."

"What I have here for you today is...well, freedom first of all. Freedom to fly through time and space as you will, freedom to see the world's greatest views in an instant, freedom to not be bound by the limits of the physical world.

I have for you the wings of the Flying Thunder God. That is my gift to you, and is already yours. " Akihiro didn't want her to mistake this gift for a conditional offer. The wings of the Flying Thunder God were his present to her, an unconditional one. She could still refuse it of course, but ultimately what this meant was that the Flying Thunder God was hers regardless of her answer to the next question.

"But perhaps more importantly, I have for you something else. More than wings, I offer you a nest. More than the ability to soar, I offer you a chance to return home and rest. And..well, if you'll have me... I'm also offering you a life partner." He'd smile, hoping she would understand exactly what he meant by those words. But just in case she didn't, Akihiro would let go of her for a moment, to take her hands into his.

"Two years ago in a night like this we met for the first time, and ever since I've cherished that memory. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to make more of those memories by your side. So, Uchiha Kimiko. Will you marry me?"

Kimiko giggled, being twirled around in a random spin. It was ever so slightly romantic, and a side of Akihiro that many people didn't often get to see. "Freedom? I'll be able to go anywhere I want then! Ya know that's all I wanted. The ability to travel the world, to see different places and explore. That's half the reason I keep going to these battles in other lands. Of course I accept your gift silly."

She placed a gentle kiss on Akihiro's cheek. Of course, the next thing he'd offered came more out of left field, surprising her even further than the offer of Flying Thunder God. While she wanted to be able to travel anywhere, she was even happier to say that she had a family of her own that was more than just her parents and her. More than just the clan.

A nest. Somewhere she could rest when she wasn't out exploring. Of course she'd accept. Moving closer into Akihiro, she kissed him with more force, pushing him slightly against the balcony, but not enough so as to push him off the edge. When she broke the kiss, she reached up and ran a hand down the side of his face, staring into his eyes for a few seconds.

It took her a moment to realize she hadn't actually responded, as her mind had started to wander as it was wont to do. "Oh, uh, yes! Of course! But you're taking my last name, I'm not giving mine up!" Of course, that was a joke. Obviously they both had the same last name. "And I get to mark you with my seal as well."

For a tiny moment Akihiro was worried. Both that she'd say no but also that they'd both fall off the balcony after the kiss she planted on him. But he was a lucky man, graced with not just ability but lucky enough to have found Kimiko as well. He'd chuckle at her one and only demand for marriage- the name keeping. "Well I think we'll have to negotiate that better... my Clan can be very picky with these things, you know? But somehow I think it'll turn out alright."

He blinked, activating the Sharingan. The tomoes would spin softly, calmly in his eyes. Then with a slow gesture he'd lightly push away Kimiko's hair so that he'd be able to see both of her eyes while she stared into his. A rare sight indeed. Then ever gently, he'd use Genjutsu Sharingan on her. At this moment, the secrets to the technique he'd developed after fighting at the Blood Prison would be passed on to her. The secret to time and space manipulation, the ability to realize that nothing was a matter of "where" but always a matter of "when". Kimiko would see how the formula brought space and time together, manipulating them as if they were a single entity. She'd learn the secret flying through the fabric of space-time and the meaning and function of every symbol in a Flying Thunder God formula.

"Well, now you know how. And since we'll be partners for life, you should mark me." He'd kiss her again, taking advantage of the opportunity of having her so close to him. His free hand pulling her into him, until the kiss broke and they'd find themselves close enough so that their foreheads and tips of nose would touch. "Just please don't mark my forehead. That'd be awkward."

Kimiko was presented with the formula for FTG with the aid of the Sharingan's Genjutsu. It was something that she hadn't fully understood until she was given the formula. How they tied in the "where" and the "when" together. It was such a simple thing, but yet so complex. Folding in space and time to transfer one object to somewhere else depending on the location of the seal. She opened her mouth slightly in the shape of an O as she realized the true nature of the FTG seal. Knowing what it did, and knowing how it did it were two separate things. Understanding something was much more important.

Pulled so close to Akihiro, she lifted his shirt slightly and pressed a hand to his lower back, matching the area that he had marked her. "There. No forehead." she said. The FTG seal would attach to him, and that would mark her first one. It was definitely good to know that she would be able to reach him at any point in time that she'd want. The two of them would always be able to find each other now, regardless of the distance.

She was definitely interested in trying to use the seal at this point, to test out how the teleportation worked. Breaking their embrace, she grinned at Akihiro, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Don't move." she said, and then launched herself off the building. Shortly before she hit the ground, she activated the technique, and with a jolt of her surroundings that confused even the sharingan, she was back up on the roof, standing on the balcony edge behind Akihiro. It was slightly nauseating and disorienting, but she'd certainly get used to it at some point.

Hopping down from the balcony and safely onto the rootop, she laughed. "Well now, that's sure something, innit?"

-Learned: Flying Thunder God
Analyzing Akihiro 2/2 (just in case he tries to stop her from jumping )

He felt a shiver run down his spine when her hand touched his lower back. The Sparrow wasn't quite sure why but the exchange of Flying Thunder God formulas seemed to make their commitment more official than any ring exchange could ever. The shiver didn't happen because he was scared but rather because he was excited. He had to wonder tho, would he need to create some sort of rule for Kimi's teleportation as she did for him? That was an interesting thought to discuss, but before he could open his mouth to say anything about it, she gave him one of her wicked smiles and ordered him not to move. He complied initially, until she jumped off the roof.

Akihiro would instinctively lean over the balcony in an attempt to grab her. Her devious smile made it apparent what she was about to try out. Akihiro himself hadn't exactly tested the jutsu like this on his first few attempts, and perhaps that showed how different the two of the really were. How well the two of them went together despite their differences was perhaps one of the greatest mysteries which Akihiro's mind couldn't and wasn't interested in solving. It simply happened and he was glad for it.

That being said, the sight of Kimiko free falling those meters down towards the solid block of road below wasn't the one he liked the most. He turned his head just as her body was about to hit the ground, turning to the side and watching her appear before him with a joyous expression on her cheeks: the face of victory. He'd smile at her as she hopped down from the balcony and onto the rooftop. "Well I have to say, jumping off from a rooftop was not the worst scenario I imagined when I considered what would happen after I proposed."

Truth to be told he hadn't imagined any scenario but the opportunity to make the joke and tease Kimiko a little bit was there so he took it. He'd run his gaze over her, making it obvious he was examining her. "No apparent nausea, vomits or loss of color or hair. I would say you're a natural!" Flying Thunder God didn't make one lose their hair, but once again he took the opportunity tease and see how she'd react.

"Now, regarding the guidelines to teleport to each other..."

Kimiko flashed a wide grin as she was praised for her natural ability. Even though she knew that he was mostly just teasing. She twirled, holding her arms open as if to say "Of course, it's me." Impulsive as always, Kimiko was super free spirited and often took incredibly stupid risks just for the fun of it. Even if the teleportation had failed her test though, she was a sturdy girl, and would have only been slightly bruised.

Risks to her body at this stage of her life were more or less restricted to high level combat, so she often did things without thinking too much. Akihiro was a wet stick in the mud compared to her, but she liked to think she brought out his more fun side. The two of them were young, but Akihiro had to act a lot older and more mature than he needed to for someone his age as a Shinobi and as a clan leader. Kimiko was a grounding force but also slightly more immature and impulsive, always looking for the next adventure, and that kept a youthful spirit at hand.

"Guidelines? Pft. Fine, I guess it's only fair. Unless it's an emergency, I'll show up with my eyes closed. And.... you're good to also do the same. I can't really think of anything else that wou- Oh! We should work on a seal that serves as a warning sign to link us. Then we can tap the seal, which would transmit the tap, to let us know the other is coming. Then we can tap back if it's okay to, or double tap for no?"

The idea came to her rather quickly, and true to fashion, she never finished her previous thoughts before moving to a new response. Interrupting herself with an idea wasn't anything new. Plus, she was the type of girl who would probably be tattoo'ed up with a ton of seals because tattoos were fun, and it was surprising that she didn't have any. This would just increase her aesthetic.

(This post counts as flashback)


"Oh?" Akihiro blinked twice. Her idea was actually quite brilliant and he wondered why he'd never thought of it before. Perhaps because it somehow removed the mystery from wondering how she would react once he appeared. It was a bit selfish but now that he had the effect turned on him Akihiro felt more willing to leave the embrace of mystery to other techniques. Or...did he?

"Well you can have a seal if that's what you'd like. It's a good idea!" He encouraged her to get one. Mostly because there was a good chance he wouldn't need to show up with his eyes closed anymore. As for him tho, he had decided upon a different course. "As for me I'm not sure I want one, if that's okay with you. You can teleport to me whenever you want, it's fine!" It was a big risk he was taking but Akihiro really didn't mind. There was nothing he'd want to hide from Kimiko and even if there was a chance of her teleporting into inconvenient situations, Akihiro would rather take that chance than have to give her permission. "I think there's a certain appeal to a world where you can show up and brighten my mood, without warning. I like that idea... And you shouldn't close your eyes either, I could be doing something dangerous." Well Akihiro was a ninja, dangerous missions were kind of part of the job description. But with Flying Thunder God there very few things that could pose a threat to Kimiko. Even then, there were other sorts of risks...

"Of course, there are other sort of risks but...you'll just have to live to learn with them~" Akihiro winked at his fiancée. Speaking of which, they now had a wedding to plan!

"I wonder how many assassination attempts we'll have at the ceremony. They say if it's less than 3 you're not really that popular you know?" This was a joke, obviously. Akihiro wasn't really keen on having his wedding interrupted by assassins, but he was sure there'd be people betting on these sort of thing. Might as well laugh with them.

"Consent is sexy though Aki. We should both get one when we can." Kimiko said, frowning. "And what if you're using the bathroom, or at an important meeting or negotiation, or screwing the cat girl, or in the middle of a fight, I need to know what sort of thing I'll be walking in on so I'm properly prepared myself. I'm sure I can surprise you every so often if you want, but I like a little forewarning myself. We can come up with a system. 1 press of the initiator for "Can I come", 2 pressed for "Can you come", 3 presses for "HELP", 4 presses for "I'm coming".  And then for the receiver 1 press could be "Sure", 2 for "No", 3 for "In a bit", 4 for "I'm screwing the cat girl", etc. I'm sure we can work out a better system, that's just what's on the top of my mind."

She was mostly joking about the cheating thing, but Kimiko was a somewhat jealous girl, and she didn't miss an opportunity to make him sweat. She looked into the sky and smiled. Without missing a beat or really allowing Akihiro much time to respond, she'd moved on already, in true Kimiko fashion. " I don't really think much about assassinations, you'd protect me whether it was 1, 3, or 100. But ya know what would fun? Skydiving. We could probably stay in the air a really long time if we keep throwing Kunai marked with Flying Thunder God to get us higher and higher. Like more dangerous juggling."

Kimiko plastered a grin on her face and jumped onto Akihiro, forcing him to the ground in a tackle so that she was straddling him slightly and pinning him to the ground. The balcony hid them completely from view of anyone at that point, and Kimiko lowered her head down closer towards Akihiro's, her lips hanging just above Akihiro's, eyes staring directly into his. "Sex also could be fun. We should celebrate our engagement, which would ya prefer, skydiving or sex?" She was often wild and unpredictable, but the message right now was fairly clear. She wanted her fiance pretty badly at the moment, skydiving wasn't really what she wanted, but as she'd said before, consent was sexy.

Akihiro would shrug and open his arms in a sign of defeat. He could probably argue endlessly about how since he said it was okay she clearly had his consent, but he felt that discussion wouldn't bring them anywhere and Kimiko was likely too strong willed to be easily persuaded. It simply wasn't worth the effort an-Wait, was Aki getting used to the married life already, before he even walked down the aisle? It was an odd thought that crossed his mind. Could it be that all couples went through this "is this really worth arguing?" process? If so, he was already learning. "Alright alright, fine we'll come up with some sort of signal an-" He raised an eyebrow while Kimiko kept speaking. He'd figured it wasn't worth arguing but it wasn't like he hadn't been paying attention.

"Wait, what did you say the 4 taps were for? Screwing the ca-" He wasn't allowed to finish his question before being tackled to the ground. In a moment he was wondering why Kimiko had spoken to him about screwing cats, mentioning it twice. In the other he found himself grounded and pinned by her. Yet again he found himself staring at her with a large canvas of stars behind her. But as she lowered her lips towards him, he felt himself caring less and less about the stars.

Akihiro would raise his left hand and touch her cheek as she asked yet another question. There were a lot of typical Akihiro answers he could give, all sorts of jokes he could say. For a moment he almost couldn't resist the temptation of feigning shock and indignity at her proposal of sex before marriage, but before those sort of words could leave his mouth and perhaps ruin the moment, he'd occupy it. By raising his head a little Akihiro's lips would meet Kimiko's and he'd deliver a passionate kiss as his left hand travelled to the back of her head. In the meantime his right hand would somehow innocently find its way underneath her zip up jacket, touching her over the shirt and moving across her belly and waist towards the woman's lower back. But it wouldn't stop there. Akihiro would lower it down further as the two kissed, slowly but steadily so that Kimiko would know exactly what he was doing when his hand finally reached its destination and he squeezed it.

Despite Akihiro's usual confidence he was quite new to this situation so he was acting more on instinct that anything else. Even so with Kimiko as his partner he found himself comfortable enough to not be afraid of doing something wrong. He could almost hear his own heartbeat, and as he felt himself stiffening he couldn't help but wonder if she'd feel it too. At this point tho, he remembered he hadn't exactly answered her question. He'd break the kiss for a moment, as a devious idea crossed his mind. "Let's do both." There was now a wild grin on Akihiro's face as well. A knife appeared over his chest, unsealed from his shirt. Hopefully she wouldn't stab him. Akihiro would lower his left hand and touch the knife, marking it with a Flying Thunder God formula. "Throw it upwards." He'd casually suggest. The knife had a peculiar property: It didn't lose momentum. This meant that at least in theory it would never stop after being thrown. "I'd do it myself but my hands are occupied..." by this point his left hand had already left the knife and found its way underneath her shirt.

Kimi giggle as Akihiro gave her a squeeze, having telegraphed his plan very well. Or maybe he was just the opposite of sneaky, it really depended mostly on whether he had wanted her to know where his hand was going. She wasn't particularly experienced in all this sort of stuff, but it felt right enough, and she hung out with vulgar people and heard her fair share of techniques throughout the years, so she gathered that they were doing the forplay bit rather normally.

Well, normal enough, until the proposal of doing both skydiving and having sex came into question. Kimiko wasn't fully against the idea either, that was exactly the sort of interesting and adventure that she'd go for. The real shocking bit was that it was Akihiro who had suggested it.

"Hmmm.... interesting proposal." Kimiko sat up for a moment, picking up the knife, marking it with a FTG seal. Her back arched slightly as his hand found its way under her shirt, both of them feeling her body. Setting the knife down next to them, she leaned back down onto him. "We can definitely do both, but first let's try it on solid roof first."

Sliding her left hand down his chest, Kimiko's right hand trailed through the hair on the back of his head, and she nudged his head to the side with her own, sucking gently on his neck, and moving down to his collarbone. Nipping it gently, she sat back up, her left hand resting on the waistline of Akihiro's pants. Removing her hoodie, Kimiko tossed it onto Akihiro's face, covering his vision for a moment, as she removed her shirt as well, exposing the rest of her torso to the open air.

She waited until Akihiro had began to remove the hoodie from his face before throwing the shirt onto his face again playfully, but leaned forward once again, removing the shirt herself. She had opted not to wear an undershirt or bra, so she was completely naked from the top up.

Slipping her left hand back into Akihiro's pantline, she trailed a finger gently on his member, before using her other hand to slightly push his pants down, freeing him from the trappings of his clothes. She was sitting almost directly on his lap, with very little room between her gap and his, separated purely by her shorts and underwear at that point, but she began to gently run her hand over his shaft, pumping it slightly as she went back for the kiss.

She wanted to take it slow to start with, unless Akihiro was going to take charge. Most of this was about feeling him out, seeing how he operated and responded, and learning her partner's nuances in bed. Or on roof as it were. Some people liked it rougher, some people needed a warm up, some people just liked it gentle, and some were.... quick to pop off. It would be interesting seeing which one he was.

Kimiko was fairly quick to realize something was wrong. Akihiro was unresponsive, and she quickly picked him up and took him into her home to take care of him. The Plague could take out some of the strongest shinobi around, and Akihiro had been victim of it before. In fact, he might be frequently bothered by it, something that Kimiko didn't really like all that much.

She'd need to make sure that he was well taken care of until the point in time that he was able to walk around again, but their sexy time and celebration had been, unfortunately, cut short due to Akihiro's untimely passing out.

[Exit]

Claiming: FTG's taught slot
Marked: Akihiro, and the Disciple's Knife