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. . . fragments of encounter from before.
At his arrival in this riverside, and some time after she saw him, the stranger had his stares bent on her. By the masked man's side, an evident companion clad in an odd, uncultivated appearance.
It made Akane's scowl got enhanced. Clearly, the girl was in the smaller stature with furrowed visage, because she knew that there was a remarkable intelligence and confidence through his voice. It was something extremely dangerous, as far as she was concerned.
The more human-looking man attempted to approach her by stepping forward, in which with Akane's reflexes, she took a step backward. Even though Akane couldn't see his face, his presence alone was twisted and powerful like a snake swiftly gliding over her shoulder.
While on the other hand, the masked man, reading the girl's nonverbal reply. Eyes that were keen and penetrative . . . It was so fixed, knowing on that moment, all the objects in the visible world would seem to vanish in front of him. He somehow didn't want to pry any further—to subside the wary inside hef.
He, without a doubt, knew the kid. She must have changed her appearance and the way she dressed, but nothing could ever be hidden to the Sharingan. And the chakra she possessed was remarkably unique that it couldn't be mistaken to others.
"Why are you alone in this kind of place?"
Akane's eyes flung open, surprised as he encouraged a conversation.
She pursed her lips first, uncertain whether she would answer or not. After an inward debate with her subconscious self, she sighed defeatedly and answered, "I'm not alone, I'm just waiting."
And as for a young lady, she should hold a conversation and make it light. She was in unknown land, crossing paths with unknown people, thus she shouldn't act unnecessarily.
"Waiting for who?"
There was a deafening silence first, because was tired already to socialize.
"My teacher."
It sounded so plausible: waiting for her teacher while training.
"Your teacher is leaving you alone?"
"No," answered Akane, "she just went to the market to buy us a lunch. She'll be back here in any minute now."
The man had nothing to say at this point. Akane noticed that, but the weight of this silence was quite hard to bear—being watched by some strangers while she was vulnerable.
Out of mannerism, she clenched her wounded hand, making it bleed more. She sucked her breath through her teeth, wincing, as the blood slipped through her fingers and dripped sluggishly.
