The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

It was raining. It was always raining. Lying among a sea of velvet sheets, beside a young man with fiery red whose name she did not even know, Kuchisake listened. The rain thrashed against the roof of stable and the young man with fiery red hair let out a shudder and a yawn. She hiked the blankets up over him and lowered her head into a large pillow, letting the sounds of the night consume her. She could not sleep. She had removed her breathing apparatus and would need to reconnect it if she wanted to sleep, or she would surely suffocate in her slumber. She was lazy though, not interested in hooking herself back up only to remove it once again in the morning.

So Kuchisake lay still, her breaths timed just right so she did not over-exert herself. Winds rapped against the windows and slipped through the nooks and cracks - filling the room with a icy chill. She contemplated yanking the blankets away from the fiery haired boy, but Kuchisake did not care enough to bother him.

A flash of lightning and the beat of thunder, a shadow of Amegakure's skyscrapers was painted across the bedroom's walls for a second, and then they faded. It was like a shadow puppet show - with a glorious panorama of a sprawling metropolis. It looked wonderful as a brief shadow, but Kuchisake had seen it for what it was. Amegakure was cesspool of rotten people and dying morals. And of course, there was war.

Kuchisake was smart. She darted away before the war could affect her and her trade, hiding away like a cat during a storm. But this storm would not end soon. Would she have to brave the harsh climate of a war-ridden country? Shinobi on both ends, neither of which would she call 'allies'. Her death would only lead to a solution to many problems for many people, so she had to stay alive as long as possible to keep their lives a living Hell.

"Hey there beautiful," the young man with fiery hair woke and laid his hand on Kuchisake's arm, stroking her softly. She liked that. In the dead of night, Kuchisake stared at him with a lustful intensity. "Got any thoughts on your mind?"

She pressed a finger to his lips in the least sexual way possible, "Stop talking and get to work you red-haired bastard."

He giggled and they stayed up the rest of the night.

When morning came, the fiery haired youth was asleep once more. Kuchisake looked at him longingly, "I've gotten my money's worth..."

She slipped a gown over her body, trying to get out of the nipping cold that would soon coat her naked body in a layer of frost, and she slid to the window. The rain had come to a grinding halt around 3 in the morning, and now Amegakure was coated in a layer of water, the steely monstrosities all shimmering in the glow of the early morning sun. Amegakure looked beautiful at this time of day, which was a shame cause mornings like this only come every so often.

Hooking up her breathing apparatus, Kuchisake took in a deep breathe and exhaled. The respirator made so much noise that she was afraid that she had woken the fiery haired young man, but was quickly hit with the notion that she just didn't care. He had her money, it didn't matter now. "I'll see you later in the week."

And then she was off.