Walking through the streets of Konoha was like a breath of fresh air for Kiro. The bright night lights contrasted the black cloudy sky he was used too. The weather was nice, the mood was calm and overall everyone he saw seemed to be relaxed. No one seemed to have a worry in sight even after the invasion. The festival or whatever was going on probably helped with that but still, it was just peaceful. Unlike the Leaf, no matter the time, the Mist just had this gloomy, depressing feel which had also rubbed off on him since he was a child. Back in the Mist, it was common knowledge to get little children indoors before it got late. Here, he had already seen plenty of children running around or just hanging out without any guidance. He could see Leaf ninja chilling in the bars, laughing as they told their stories to their peers. One thing he noticed however, is that when he made eye contact with someone, their expression changed to a more serious one before looking away. Though Kiro wondered what the problem was, he could honestly care less at the moment.
This whole time, he had been walking around unsure of what to do, where to go. What Kai had said earlier really irked him. In fact, Kai seemed so unlike himself in general. The young Yuki-Nin went as far as to say forget everything. Why? Kiro just couldn’t understand what Kai saw in him that made the Ice user say such a thing. All it served to do was place another roadblock on his path.
The thing was, Kiro couldn’t just forget. Everything that he did had led up to this point. His choices. His actions. His memories. They had all been leading him on this path he was on, the one he had chosen. If he were to forget everything, Kiro might as well have thrown his progress all away. He wouldn’t let the doubt consume himself, convolute his path for power. Just because he couldn’t see what was directly in front of him didn’t mean he should give up and fall into regret. As long as Kiro stayed true to this path, no matter where it took him, he would eventually be rewarded.
Then there was music being played in the background. ‘Oh no...’ A look of despair was shown on Kiro’s face as he realized what he was being subjected too. ‘That voice. It’s hers, isn’t it?’ Kiro hadn’t really been paying attention to where he was walking or even to the music that was currently playing until just now. It had tried to invade his thoughts when his mind was quite vulnerable. Taking a moment to listen, Kiro thought the voice sounded disgustingly familiar, but figured it was just an unfortunate coincidence. ‘Just great. I can’t even think to myself without hearing that demon’s voice.’
Kiro was forced to listen as the questionable lyrics tried seeping their way into his mind. Whoever this singer was had chosen an interesting piece of music for this occasion, one which Kiro wasn’t feeling at the moment. It felt like part of it was meant for him to hear. However, Kiro didn’t want too hear any of it. But rather than try to block it all out, Kiro chose too endure it instead. He just took it all in and sighed in relief after he heard the last line.
“I won’t regret making this sinful wish of mine.”
Unbeknownst to him, Kiro had stopped near the back of the large crowd, right next to a certain person. Kiro’s tense form turned into a rather calm expression as he simply shrugged, resting his hands in pockets.
“Hmph... what a stupid song.”
- - - - -
‘An interesting choice of music from such a youngster.’ Unlike many others who had taken the words at face value, believing they were just simple lyrics too another song, Fugaku believed that there was more to it. It wasn’t as simple as placing love or greed as the core value behind the song. No, there was more meaning that that. Perhaps the beauty of the music was that it left these words to be interpreted by the listener. A fair trade off to say the least. Maybe the Uchiha could learn a thing or two from the Hyūga.
“Hmph... what a stupid song.”
The low, almost insulting voice was heard by Fugaku through the loud cheers as the crowd reacted to the brilliant performance. At the corner of his eyes, Fugaku saw what looked like a boy in his teens standing beside him. Fugaku found the boy’s remark to be quite ignorant. The brat kept his hands in his pockets with a rather cool composure. Though his expression seemed calm, Fugaku could tell that there was more too him than met the eye. His eyes... His red eyes... ‘Interesting. So this is who Raiku was talking about.’