One small step for me, millions to reach my goal. (18+) M-Rated

Kanara pointed toward the disaster that was the living room and asked if it was the genjutsu. For a moment, Yuichi almost told her it was, because that seemed like a nice alternative to the truth.

"No, you panicked and started shooting fire everywhere. I'm sorry, it's my fault really.

Yuichi was still feeling a bit tired. He was up way passed when he normally went to bed, and that rest really didn't help much. But there was Kanara to consider, so he rubbed his eyes and listened as Kanara thanked him.

"Well, I mean, I don't think I helped you all that much, but I did discover some things that I should be able to use to help you later." Yuichi yawned. He squinted at her while he tried to focus hard enough to say something. "I... I hope you don't mind if I just... lay down real quick."

He sat down on a wet coach, somehow, it seemed comfortable to him at the moment. The living room was pretty warm, after all. He poured two shots of the Sake and left them both to her as he slowly drifted out of consciousness and curled up on her couch. Every now and then he would get an image from Kanara's nightmare flashing into his head, and it would jolt him back awake. Kanara dealt with this every night. As he finally fell asleep, he felt very bad for her and what he had done today.

Seeing as yuichi seemingly was tired, Kanara closed her eyes too only to open them again in panic. Her body had regenereated a bit of power since her head stopped ringing and she wasnt able to sleep, because of this newfound power. With her sharingan still active, she slowly stood up on emptied both shots of sake before trying to be as silent as she could, grabbing towels form her bathroom and cleaning the mess she made. While she still was traumatised and afraid of her nightmares, she felt oddly distanced and even peaceful. Aside from that nothing much went through her head, as she slowly and methodicly first dired the water off the ground, then mixed a cleaning solution and get herself a sponge and wiped the walls clean before finally cleaning the carpets and wooden floor.

After around 2 hours and a bottle of sake she had drunken in the process, she was at the second bottle, not even realising how drunk she was at that moment. Around this time too, she encountered a problem, that being yuichi. After all he was sleeping on the couch she intended to fix up. Due to an accident she had earlier in her life with fire, the couch and chairs had changeable cloth and leather toppings, which she happened to have a few sets of. Deciding that the best solution for this problem was to pick yuichi up and put her into her bed, Kanara went to work. With a strength she didnt know she had, or maybe because the alcohol didnt let her feel how heavy Yuichi was in reality, she picked him up and carried him into her bed where she put her blanket over him while she went at fixing the rest of her living room as much as she could.

Laying down on the couch, she let her fire chakra run through her, warming her up and drying the couch in the process. The same thing was aslo quickly done with the one chair that seemingly also got hit by the fireballs. "Undressind " the couch and the armchairs she slightly giggled, as she put on the changeable cover on her furniture. If there wasnt the slight smill of burned leather in the air, one could have thought that it looked like new. Bieng now finished with the second bottle, Kanara decided it was time to lay down now.

Laying on the ground and staring at the roof of her appartment she waited till yuichi awake. She didnt want to drink anymore and neither did she want to think about anything. She was sure, if she was thinking even the slightest bit about anything that happened on this evening now, she would start to cry again, and she didint want to seem like a complete mess when yuichi awoke again. Unkown to her however, the paleness on her skin, the dried tears and slight black eyerings allready told her story, even if she didnt.

OOC:
Jutsus used:
Sharingan 0.2

Cp remaining:
104.0/110


[38]

He did all that he could to try and help Kanara, but his efforts were entirely wasted. At least, in terms of helping Kanara overcome her nightmares. He did succeed in one regard, though. He understood her pain now. Tonight, as Yuichi slept, he saw the same nightmare that Kanara saw every night.

Waking up in her room. Wandering down the stairs. The death of her father and sister. The whole thing replayed again and again in his head. He tossed and turned relentlessly, before waking up earlier than he did most days. In a different bed. In somebody else's house. He struggled for a moment in his barely conscious haze to remember what he was doing here. He was pretty sure that he had fallen asleep in her living room. How did he get here then?

He crawled to one side of the bed where he noticed Kanara on the floor. She looked like she hadn't slept even a little, but Yuichi gave her a big smile anyway. "Are we in your bedroom then?"

Yuichi looked around a little. I definitely matched Kanara's tastes; it had dark colors, it was inviting, relatively modern, it had a closet full of clothes that Kanara would like. It was very nice. Yuichi would decorate it a bit differently, add his own personal touch, but to each their own. He stood up on the bed after a thought suddenly entered his mind.

"Didn't I fall asleep in the living room, though?"

Answering without any emotion and without looking at Yuichi she continued to stare at the roof of her house. After all the hours of staring, only stopped for sortly to blink every few seconds, she noticed all the patterns on her roof, insimilarities with the colour and so on.

"Yes... you were in my way..."

Her tone was completely lacking any interest or emotion whatsoever, as her thoughts were absent. However, with yuichi now being awake, she was able to take a shower without waking him up. Slowly and painfully getting up from the ground she told yuichi:

"I have food in the fridge and the stove is easy to use... help yourself... i am going to shower now..."

Thinking shortly about how boys could be around that age, she quickly added:

"The lock on the door isnt working... please dont go in the bath while i shower", while looking yuichi in the eyes, her sharingan still active.

Leaving her room she went through her large living are, where she instantly got reminded by the two empty sake bottles about her ordeal last night, or rather this morning.

As she went into the bath she took of her clothes and started to shower as she heated up a second set of clothes. As she always washed her clothes in her large bath, she would often put them on the heater before showering as they usually were all nice and warm by the time she finished showering. Closing her eyes she let the warm water hit her body.

OOC:
Jutsus used:
Sharingan 0.2

Cp remaining:
103.8/110


[39]

She seemed very upset, still. Yuichi tried to act freindly and happy in an attempt to cheer her up. It did not seem to work as Kanara told his she was not going to take a shower. She told him not to follow. Yuichi felt kind of strange about it. Why would he follow her in? Did she think he was a creep? Did he look like a creep? He played with his earrings a bit as he hopped off the bed and wondered his way toward the kitchen.

Yuichi looked through her kitchen for stuff that he could use to cook the two of them breakfast. He found stuff to make pancakes, so that is what he decided on. After reading the box, he got started.

When he thought about it, he realized he really didn't have any male friends. Except maybe his dad. Yet he had never been on a date with a girl in his life, despite being surrounded by them. He questioned for a moment why that was as he burned the pancakes he was cooking. He decided that he would have two, and she would have four, because after last night he knew she could eat like crazy.

He could hear the water stop as he finished the pancakes. He gave her the ones he didn't burn quite as bad, and sat down to wait before eating.

He thought a bit more as he waited for her. Did his dad count as a friend? What about Haru, never mind that it had been almost a year since they had seen each other. No, it didn't seem right to count them. So, no male friends, then. He knew Dahlia, Kanara, Takara, he'd met kunoichi from all over the world. Perhaps he just got along better with woman than men. They seemed to like him, after all.

Finally, he heard Kanara exit the bathroom and start heading toward the kitchen.

Finishing her shower, Kanara dried herself slowly and dressed herself. Looking at the mirror her skin colour was normal but her eyes told a different story. Putting on the black robes the it gave off a weird contract with her skin and her crimson red hair. As she opened the door she could smell something burnt. Sighing quietly and closing her eyes she shook her head as if to scare away the memories of last night when she set her flat on fire. As she made her way towards the Kitchen she spotted yuichi sitting there and waiting for her, obviously having made breakfest for the two as she could see by the 4 pancakes that were neatly aligned on her platter.

While it wasnt nearly enough of what Kanara usually considered a breakfest, she was still thankful. Passing yuichi she headed to her fridge and got out 2 small glasses, one containing some cheap choclate cream, the other being strawberrry jely she had made herself some while ago, in an attempt to make something useful in her free time. While it turned out quite well, it was a hustle back then and with her clumsyness she brought a bit of the boiling strawberry jelly on her skin, causing some burns. Opening a drawer she also got a small flask of maple syrup out. The stuff was somewhat expensive, given how rare the real maple tree was in the land of fire. Putting all of the things on the table she sat down on the opposite direction of the table nor talking directly to yuichi.

"So, how did you sleep? I cna see that you made breakfest too..."

Swallowing the bitter taste she had in her mouth from the next question she was going to ask she continued after hearing his answer in return.

"So... when will we continue this?"

Leaving the question open she waited until yuichi were to ask or pooint out what "this" actually was.

OOC:
Jutsus used:

Cp remaining:
103.8/110


40]

Kanara looked somewhat better as she stepped out in black robes and sat at the breakfast table. She looked like she could be from some kind of evil organization. Yuichi owned very few black clothes. He loved his bright colors and that made up most of his wardrobe. He did have some stuff that he owned for training, and they were pretty ugly. But her tastes were different than his. She didn't seem to like bright colors much.

She gathered some chocolate cream, some strawberry jelly, and maple syrup. He smothered his pancakes in the chocolate.

"I slept well enough. I can't say I feel all the rested, though. I don't know if you like pancakes, though." He could see his reflection in the chocolate, and his bow was messed up from all the tossing and turning. He adjusted it a little.

While Kanara asked her next question, Yuichi put a comparatively small amount of syrup on his plate, and then a giant glob of jelly. "Well, before I do this again, I would like to study a bit. I think I can come up with something that I can really use to help you. Instead of just make things worse. I'm really not sure how long it'll take, but it won't be too long."

Digging into the pancakes, Kanara combined the jelly and choklate cream, rolling her pancakes before biting into it. Seeing as yuichi didnt feel well rested she asked:

"Why arent you well rested? Did you dream bad?"

She asked as she was blokcing most of the information from last night within her head. Her mind had quickly repaired the emotional wall she had since the incident, and therefore she simply forget that he had seen her nightmares too. But even if he did, there was no way that he would also suffer from them... after all he didnt feel what she felt, or did he? However maybe the bed was just th eproblem. Kanra liked to sleep on a very soft matress and in a heavy and warm blanket. Most people would actually start sweating if they were in her bed, so maybe that was the problem.

Finishing her 3rd pancake she heard the answer she allready was ecpecting. Mumbling quietly:

"So no rest for the damned, huh...?"

, she bit in her last pancake. Thinking shortly about it, Kanara wanted to spent the day with yuichi. While there was no romantic intention behind it, she simply needed him. Otherwise she would sit inside all day, not speak to anybody and eventually think about last night, and this in return would hurt her. While she somewhat was proficient of blocking informations withing her, she couldnt block pain. And the pan she felt last night was as real as it ever could be. After all it was great enough to unlock her third tomoe, a thing she hadnt noticed yet.

OOC:

Cp remaining:
103.8/110


[41]

Yuichi didn't want her to know that last night had such a strong negative effect on him. Lying, it seemed like, was the best choice he had, but he wasn't sure he was any good at it. "I don't remember having any bad dreams. I have no idea why I couldn't sleep."

He cut his pancake apart with his fork and took a bite. By now, he was halfway through the second pancake.

"Well, a small rest anyway. Maybe we could do something else in the meantime? Unless you had plans?"

Yuichi never had plans. He did just enough missions to stay employed, and his time was spent doing, for the most part, whatever he pleased. Except, after his arrest, he is probably still under some kind of surveillance. He doubted that he go on any adventures outside of Konoha without attracting attention. Luckily, partly thanks to Kanara, he had almost everything he needed without even having to work for it. He was close to the cash he needed to really get started on his research. After that, he probably wouldn't have free time anymore, so he wanted to hang out with Kanara while he could. He would need her in the future, and in exchange for her help he would help her.

"Otherwise I'll probably spend the whole day just sleeping."

"I... dont really have any plans for today." Thinking about what she liked and what not, Kanara went through her mind and made a list. Cooking, watching something interesting and visiting the hot springs maybe.

Even in her tired state and with all the psychological trauma she suffered this night there was one feeling she was able to properly feel, that being shame. Being finished with her pancakes her pale cheeks got red slightly again. Looking down on her plate she brought the tips of her pointing fingers together as she started to count the things she liked.

"Well we could cook and play a game at your place or here... or we could go outside the city and maybe do something there... or...", hesitating shortly, Kanara swallowed before telling her last part of the list: "...or we can go into the konoha hot springs..."

By the ime she finished her sentence her entire face was blushing. However, what else was she supposed to say when she was being honest? She despised all the lies the villages were built upon, so naturallyl she would only lie when absolutely necessary.

look:

OOC:

Cp remaining:
103.8/110


[42]

She looked down at her plate and she looked more and more embarrassed while she came up with a list of activities for the two of them. She mentioned that they could play a game or go try to find something in the village. She mentioned the hot springs. Yuichi visited them once or twice as a kid but didn't really enjoy it that much as a teenager. Something about the idea made Kanara turn red, though. Yuichi found this a bit amusing. He thought about teasing her a bit, but in the end decided that was mean. He smiled. He certainly wasn't going to the hot spring's now. He thought people would be confused by his appearance.

He knew a few people who were confused already.

"Do you have any games that we could play? I have lots of, like, stuffed animals and things but nothing we can actually play with. I know of some places we could go to. Umm... not the hot springs though."

Yuichi realized how much of his time lately that he spent reading or just hanging around in quiet places claiming to be training. All of the options he could think of were just places he liked to hang around at. Or actual training spots. Maybe even just his house. He didn't really know anyone except Kanara, either so he didn't have any social activates that at his house.

Luckily Yuichi didnt say yes to the hot springs. In oder to be there they had to be in the mixed section after all and Kanara felt thta this was too soon. Did she have any games at home? Thinking shortly about it she had multiple boards games that she could easily put in her backpack, although she didnt know what games Yuichi liked. Looking up to him again she started:

"Well i have multiple ones..."

Finishing her last pancake with a quick bite, Kanara lifted up her hand as she got ready to count down the board games that she had here. Evenwith the nightmares being stronger then they ever were before, thanks to Yuichi, she hadnt lost her appetite. Or were the nightmares the reason for her large appetite? Banishing the thought from her mind for the moment being, she focused back on her board games.

"I have a collection of standart games, cards and then i have 2 or 3 more complex ones... They are about warfare and you get troops and have to defend your village while getting more money to win..."

Being drawn in by her explaination, Kanara didnt really see if Yuichi payed attention. After all, the game she was talking about was one of her favourites, and the only game she really knew how to play, aside from the standart games and blackjack.

OOC:

Cp remaining:
103.8/110


[43]

He swung his feet in the chair as he listened to her explanation of what games she had. He felt a bit nostalgic as he thought about how he used to play all kinds of boardgames with Haru while they were locked up in their house together. Yuichi always let Haru win, or course, but Kanara his age, at least he thought, so he wouldn't have to go too easy. Yuichi excited showed, as he spoke in a bright, high-pitched voice. "I wouldn't mind playing one of the ones about warfare. I could check out your options and pick something. I have played chess plenty of times, so I imagine I will be able to adjust to any rules the games could have."

Yuichi hopped off of the chair that he was in and shuffled his feet around a bit excitedly. "So do we want to play in here or should we go to another room?" In his house he only used his kitchen for cooking and eating. It was a rule that his mom had that he still followed for some reason.

"We can play on the couch table i would say..."

Getting up from the table, Kanara got both of their plates and quickly cleaned it in her kitchen sink as she thought about the games she had. By the time she was finished she rinsed the plates off and put them down to dry and let excess water run off of it. Returning now to yuichi and putting away the jelly, maply syrup and chocklat ecream she silently and quickly disappeared as she got the game. Heading now towards the couch table she saw that yuichi allready had seated himself.

Opening the large body she put out a large cardbord map and literally dozens of figurines in 10 different colours which she placed a few of them on the board and many many more next to it. Being done with the simple setup she handed both of them out some fake money which they would use to keep the finances of their village in check. With her mouth slightly going up now, Kanara felt excited. It wad been quite some time since she played this last time, and the game was notorious for ending friendships and lasting hours. This was going to be fun. Looking yuichi in the face now she simply stated:

"Do you have any questions?"

OOC:

[44]

After Kanara told him that they should move to the other room, Yuichi noticed something that caught his eye. Tucked away in a cabinet that she had left slightly open, she had chocolate chips. So he looked around, and she had everything they needed to make cookies. As they had seen, Yuichi was not a great cook, so he would ask Kanara for help making them after she set up the game.

She set up a game which consisted of many parts and fake money. He didn't know this particular game, but he was sure he would get the hand of it soon enough. He had several colors to choose from, but pink wasn't an option. He chose red because he also liked that color. It would seem that the objective of the game was that they were in charge of a village and its finances. He remembered that he referred to it as a war game, so he was sure that would come into play in a bit. From the looks of it, you rolled a die, and you could move however many squares it landed on, if you landed on a square with something you could by and you had the money, you could purchase it. The board was such that you could move freely in any direction, likely to increase the chances of encountering a battle. There were also walls around your territory that the enemy had a large disadvantage inside, by there was not much stuff to buy there.

Yuichi quickly formed a plan to hoard all the money-making objects and then move on to purchasing all the expensive, nice stuff while Kanara was too poor to compete.

"No I think I understand the basics," he said in response to her question. "I was wondering, though, did - did you know you had chocolate chips?"

Sitting down now at the table she gave both players their colours, as she brought her pieces into position. Lookin gat Yuichi in order to respond to him she simply stated:

"Well yes, sometimes i just eat them like they are... would you like some?"

They were cheap, tasty and plenty. Three points she really liked about them. Another bonus was the fact that they were small, so if she only ate one at a time, she would have something to eat for literal hours without running out of snacks. Another purpose was of course for baking and glazing things. They were melting nicely and easily as kanara found out one day when she left a package of them laying in the sun, which in return formed the hundrets of choclate chips into a thick bar that was over 10 centimeters thick. This didnt stop her from eating it of course. Thinking shortly she added:

"We can also bake soemthing if you want... I have sugar, eggs and wheat at home..."

Cookies sounded like a good idea too. And they time they took to bake, they could use to play the game. Though her last attempt of making cookies werent successful at all. Hopefully it would be better this time.

OOC:

[45]

Yuichi and Kanara ate the cookies and played a full found of the game before Yuichi needed to leave to fill out some paperwork and prepare for the days ahead. He would be meeting up with Nori Sakai, and the Hokage announced that he was giving away a large sum of money recently, and Yuichi was intending to spend a lot.

That, and considering what he had managed to find before leaving the HE, he had a lot of research to do. Yuichi said his goodbyes before leaving, glad that he had made a new friend and excited for the possibilities she brought for the future.

[exit]

Having a relatively good time with Yuichi for the rest of the day, despite her nightmares, the two of them spent the day baking the cookies and playing the game until Yuichi excused himself, suddenly in some kind of a hurry. Hearing his explaination about some paperwork that needed finishing, Kanara led him to the door, where she let him go with a hug. While it certainly was weird for Kanara, judging by her normal behaviour, she wanted to do it now.

Watching Yuichi walk away from her house, Kanara went and changed the bed sheets. It wasnt that Yuichi was bad smelling or anything, yet she wanted to have her bed smelling a certain kind of way. One that made her feel like she was safe and not sleeping at all. As soon as the deed was done, she put herself to rest and slept, experiencing her nightmares again, however this time more gruesome then they were before.

[EXIT]