Waterlogged

[notveryspecial]

Where: Amegakure
When: January 20th - March 3rd
Notes: catch all post for Sakura's trip to Ame, so theoretically open to anyone in Ame during her time there.

[Top level comments hold openers]

Comments

[notveryspecial]

Well, Sakura was usually content to sit in silence...but it was such a rarity to encounter anyone outside of an Aburame who also enjoyed silent company that, as an envoy of Konoha, she felt compelled to avoid it.

She didn't have to worry about being village famous, but she did have a little empathy for getting attention she was unused to. The peculiar focus of Nagato and her own hokage recently was unsettling, unusual, and unwarranted.

Though she'd really meant to say that as an indication that in skipping her own introduction, he'd skipped his as well.

"Well, as long as it isn't negative, it isn't so bad to be known, is it?"

[notbalanced]

It was a testament of how unused to introducing himself he was that Juugo didn't even think of the fact that he hadn't told her his name, or that she hadn't told him hers. Her chakra signature was enough that from now on he'd know her just by feel, and names were less important.

"No, it's not, but sometimes, the negative... more people end up knowing that."

Juugo frowned at that. The memories of the people it had killed, and how he'd become known for that. How Orochimaru had found him and-- Well, Nagato had saved him, and now he was known for better things, at least in Ame. Did they still know him only for it and killing outside of it?

But that wasn't a good question to ask someone he'd only just met.

[notveryspecial]

Without being a sensory type herself, names were more important to remembering people for her than feel. But then, she wasn't particularly a fan of names, either. Names hadn't done her very well in life.

"...The negative has a habit of traveling with more speed than the positive." That much she'd had experience with, as well. But, not enough to answer his question if he were to have asked. She had heard nothing at all of Juugo's past, or the things he'd done. Such news didn't travel so far as Konoha, and on missions it had simply never come up.

[notbalanced]

Juugo considered that for a while, and nodded sadly. “A lot of people found out the bad things, before. But it’s better now, and I’m much safer here.”

The way he said it might confuse the issue, but Juugo was definitely referring to himself being safe for others to be around, not personally being safe from outside threats. Juugo didn’t think to clarify, and had yet to be corrected on the nuance.

“Ame is the best place to be.” There’s no hint of boasting or exaggeration in his tone. To Juugo that’s a simple fact, as true as the rain that gentle comes down on them.

[notveryspecial]

The way that he said it, Sakura of course made the presumption that the bad things made it unsafe for him to be places, not that he was unsafe for others. Thus, she would not be one to correct him on the nuance either.

Instead, she simply offered him a faint smile. It was natural for the people who lived in a country to feel that theirs was the best. If they didn't, it would show signs of weakness in the country, and an indication that it wouldn't last much longer.

"It's good to be happy to be where you are."

[notbalanced]

"It is. Are you happy in your home?"

Though the question could be considered prying, Juugo only asked with simple curiosity. Some people were happier in Ame than others, but they all had different reasons for the way they were. Where people in other villages the same way? He thought they might be, but he hadn't had a chance to talk to people from other places very much.