The Empty Road (Open-No Killing)

Watari Dorunezu scouted the open path from Sunagakure's business center to the Administration Building. There were barren market stalls on the sides surrounding him. A fountain with no water behind him. A shop held by wooden poles, a blanket of fur, some hay, and rock to his right. Some candy was being sold. Though in the Sand Village, candy is scarce and tasteless. The man looked to his left. A shop composed entirely of rock and solid sand forms. Watari saw a man in an apron packing everything up, and saw a sign on a wooden plank with the words, "Out of Business", on it. Watari's expression and thoughts remained flat and neutral. It was not an uncommon thing, to see the grief and depression of civilians of their shops and businesses coming to an end due to a dropping economy. This is the natural way of life in Sunagakure. The residents will die, rot, and perish from the earth like sand, dispearsing and rendered into one of the useless, lowest forms on the planet. Nothing more than a forgotten memory of the past.

Watari walked forward on the stone-paved road. It was connected to hard, solid rock. The kind similiar to that found in Iwagakure. How come their life is so much more prosperous than this? They have an excellent military that rivaled any shinobi village and an incredibly high economy that would support their village's might and existence for decades to come. They have rock.... and we... have sand. Rock is rigid and stays in place, a common and natural use for life to exist. Sand is tiny and flows everywhere, never staying in one place. It's an unnecessity. Sunagakure can never hold on to its place in the world and can not grasp its real power. Watari looked away from the depressed, sorrow, and tired faces. He had no sympathy. No grief. No anger. No sorrow. No pity. Not even dissapointment. In fact, he felt nothing towards them. If anything, even at the slighest bit within his merciless, stone-hearted, solid heart, it'll be resentment. He resented their blame, anger, frustration, and disappointment to him. He did not like that they will dump all of their sadness and sorrow on them shinobi. That's the case when someone stays as a mere civilian. After all, the best advantage that Sunagakure has is not its coverted hiding places good for ambush and alarming or its ideal areas for rigged underground traps. It's the fact that the overwhelming majority of Sunagakure residents are shinobi. Dosen't matter how well or badly trained or equipped they are, the ratio of civilian to ninja in Sunagakure is far greater than any other ninja village. They have an entirely militarilized village. They were born for fear and to spread fear. Watari, the God of Death, continued to walk until he was just 50 meters away from the Administration Building.

Watari stopped along the way and just sat on a chair between two empty stalls. Walking on that beaten road was quite boring. It felt lonely. It was lonely of coruse. No emotion and just... nothingness. How much longer are we to last? he wondered. He sat back and just watched the dark blue sky. "We're growing..... aren't we?" he confirmed to himself. "In just a few months.... i will economy will stop falling and start rising... won't it? And then we will enter a "Golden Age" beyond anything Suna has ever experienced before." The Jounin sat back up. "When will that day come.... when this empty road is filled with joy once more?"

Onto the path exiting the Administration building walked the Anbu Captain Raina. She was removing her mask and heading towards the barren street. There, just a few feet away from the first sset of empty stalls she slowed her pace until she stopped. Resting her armored hands on her hips she sighed.

"Such hard times eh? I remember when we first came here Yonbi.. it was thriving from the medicines they started to grow and export.." She remembered, running her fingers through her red hair, "..It'll get back on its feet in no time right?" Yonbi ofcourse didn't really care either way if the normal humans survived or not. Raina frowned and shook her head. She looked to the side for a second and saw a man sitting there. After staring for awhile she recognized the other ANBU captain Watari Dorunezu and waved to her elder anbu captain. Hey Watari-san! What's up? Why do you look so down?" She asked, walking to stand infront of him.

Watari looked up and saw a woman say his name while waving at him. He recognized her almost immediately. Raina Kanakosa..... "The Demoness of Flame".. identified Watari, acknolwedging her fame. Watari straightened his back a little as his fellow Jounin walked towards him. Of course, Watari also knew her well within the Sand's ANBU force. "Raina! What are you doing here?!" replied Watari. Instantly, he realized the error in his question. Due to the small size of the village, it was common for shinobi comrades to see each other randomly out in the streets. Plus, she probably just returned from finishing a mission. Not that it mattered really to Watari, as he is not in the mood to be bothered by these things that require reason. He decided to not get distracted and forwarded himself to answering his peer's question.

"Down? I don't think I am upset about anything...." said Watari, recalling that he did have sorrowful, disappointment thoughts and his head was pointing towards the ground. "Oh wait well, it was probably nothing," he added as he stood up. He then looked at one of the barren stalls and wheelbarrows with the same expression he has been holding up for the past few days. It wasn't out of business, but it soon will be. The Dorunezu was guaranteed it. "Raina," he started after a few seconds of silence. "How much longer do you think our people will last?" he asked. It was a plain question. One that has been in the mind of many Sand residents for the last years. And it was asked in a non-sorrowful tone.

Raina laughed as Watari mumbled about, she looked around and answered his questions, "I had to report in with the elders of the village on the status of the members of my squad and then I just felt like going for a walk." She smiled until her fellow ANBU asked about the condition of the village. Her shoulders slumped under the cloak and she rubbed her head frowning a bit.

"Well uh.. After leaving my village and coming here I would like to say forever..." Then she started uneasily poking her fingers together, her tone changed to worried. "But ya know.. We Sand shinobi must always adapt.. the people will always adapt.. its just a matter of time right? Before the economy picks back up.." Raina had confidence in her people, though she was as worried as Watari.

Watari responded, "Yeah. I guess you're right. The best thing we can do and most top priority for us shinobi of the sand is to adapt." The Jounin then sat back down, with one leg over his left lap, and one of his arms draped behind a chair. Although his face did not changed, his tone gave off a happy and joyful impression. "And of course, we are the elites who work from below and oversee the prosperty of the village from above," he said. "We are the ones who do all sorts of things just to protect the Sand from rotting away, like taking out all enemy threats, prevent war from happening, contain any disease or plague that might come at our way and study upon it to create a cure, and even retreive anything that does or should belong to us while gaining information on the burglar." He knew he was getting a little bit ahead of himself but that didn't bother him. "In short, I as a Jounin am responsible for securing the Sand's interests. If I fail, then the village suffers a major blow. We shinobi can't take the time to sit down and sulk around at how poor the village is. No, every moment we're in grave danger the minute we set off from the village. That's just how rough it is for us, isn't it? If we, you and I, were to die, then the village will have a serious problem on their hands..." he finished. He leaned back and placed his head towards the sky. To his surprise, the sun was rising. And the dark blue skies are beginning to glow as bright as morning.

Raina chuckled at Watari. From being so negative to giving himself a pep talk. The red haired bijuu host rested her hands on her hips and listened.

"In short, I as a Jounin am responsible for securing the Sand's interests. If I fail, then the village suffers a major blow. We shinobi can't take the time to sit down and sulk around at how poor the village is. No, every moment we're in grave danger the minute we set off from the village. That's just how rough it is for us, isn't it? If we, you and I, were to die, then the village will have a serious problem on their hands..."

The Kanakosa shinobi's shoulders drooped. It was true.. If they were to die, the village would be taken by another one. The villagers might suffer.. She held her arms and stared down at the ground. She'd never been one for negativity, though with the way the world was going nowadays.

Yonbi had heard enough of this self pity. His chakra rumbled in her and irratated her stomach. Raina mumbled and held her stomach in pain. "What Yonbi?"

Stop being a sad little brat. If you do not wish to die then train harder and don't die!

She muttered only loud enough for her to hear. "Easy plan right?" Then she stood up straight and looked back at Watari. "We just can't die right? That'll solve everything?" She smiled.

Watari wished he had a cigarette. The dawn is coming. But he had none, so he tried his best to imitate it by slightly shifting his lips up and down to replicate his usual movement while taking a smoke. "Think of it like this...." said Watari. "If we die, then the chance of the villagers ever attaining happiness is zero. If we live and serve to fight another day, then there is a chance; no matter how small or how big." He looked at Raina, straight in the eye. "But we're not alone," he spoke with a solid tone. "Everyone, both civilians and shinobi, even the most rotten brats to the strongest of the strongest, are all helping out to recover the village." A voice inside Watari's mind said, Duh! You just realized that?! And you're supposed to be some sort of genius.... "So I guess that the most crucial part in protecting the Sand Village would be defending the Kazekage. No matter what we do, he'll be the one who'll pull the trigger that will kill off all problems. The Kazekage will always be the one to save the village." Watari changed subject. "We're just people who support that cause. Anyway, we're not dead yet so we still have some fight left. Where are you going next, Raina?" asked Watari.