#because immunity to running water only temporarily graced him

[tiafrye]

Skinny dipping morphed from Shart 💦

[dokuhebi]

Tobirama / cont.  @kxshikoi​

Most children wouldn’t have listened to half of the words he had said and if they actually had, then they wouldn’t have understood them, wouldn’t let them run through their mind long enough to attempt to, but Orochimaru, the youth before him, was different. It didn’t take a genius to see that. It was written all over their youthful features, their process of thinking, how they took every word in and let them go through a deep network of thoughts and memories. Tobirama felt like he needed to be worried, to some degree, because such silence and thinking process usually meant a lack of childhood, but the alabaster skinned male wasn’t surprised there, not after getting to know where Orochimaru lived. They were an orphan and even though Tobirama wasn’t, he knew how that felt like, what it could do. What loneliness it had to mean, and the feelings that came with it. Hadn’t it been for Izuna, then he might have carried similar feelings, even now due to how different he was from all the other Senju.

Hearing the polite words, Tobirama is once again hit by the strange sort of maturity that rolls off the little one before him as many children that age wouldn’t have been so polite, so sure in their own statements and would have without a doubt, shown a moment of hesitation or childishness in some form or manner. Some would have been worried, but not the Senju, it just made him curious.

A light hint of a smile graced the elder’s fair lips upon hearing the words, happy that the youth followed a set of rules. For someone so young, Tobirama was glad that Orochimaru didn’t wander around after dark, even though the Senju knew that there were eyes all around Konoha. Eyes that would look out and make sure no harm came to the people living within their home. However, not every crime was seen, not every harmful act, even if they tried their best to make Konoha as good and safe as possible.

A soft chuckle leaves Tobirama as he reaches over to gently ruffle the little one’s hair, to cheer Orochimaru up due to feeling their disappoint at the thought of having to leave.

“  I promise, we will see each other again soon, Orochimaru-kun. And before you go, I got something for you.  “ To kick this plan of his into action, Tobirama had to do something that the youth might not appreciate, but it was also why that Orochimaru wouldn’t know a thing.

Pulling out one of his specially made kunai, slender digits handed it over to the youth, with no hesitation, not fearing that any harm would befall the child. After all, it was normal for a youth this age, to have weapons such as this. And the elder trusted Orochimaru to be mature enough to not go swinging it around.

“  For you, as a symbol of my promise.  “

Golden eyes blink closed when his hand is placed to their head, pale fingers contrasting their midnight coloured hair when he ruffles it. They look back in curiosity at the pleasant sounding laughter that falls from his lips, intrigued when he mentions having gotten them something. The fact that they are leaving with a parting gift is certainly succeeding at shedding some of the bitterness. That he has made a promise to see them again, and offered something that was certainly mysterious in its worth. At least, in the eyes of the child it was. For how could a weapon handed down by the Second Hokage not be considered legendary in its own fashion? Small hands are more than happy to take it from the mans possession, pale fingers gliding over the metal before clutching the item close to their chest, and offering the Senju a clearly excitable smile and gaze. They nod at his words, confirming acknowledgement of his promise. And their tone has shifted to something with a slight bounce, with a clear hint of exuberance, “thank you, Tobirama-sama.”                                                   ____________ It will be that night that the child proudly puts their weapon beside their bed. Deciding to keep it close, for having one blade nearby at all times was good practice for a young shinobi. They have no idea that the item gives the sensor insight, that he will be aware of each and every movement they make. If they had known however, they would have merely felt far more protected. The lonely apartment was simply too daunting to be fussy about a breach of trust. Knowing he was somewhat ‘with them’ in the room would bring more comfort than disdain for not being informed. Regardless, it would be three nights to pass where they unknowingly give the Senju a glimpse in to their daily life. Night one is accompanied by a storm, thunder claps together in welcome of the lightning soon to follow. The child, burdened with a young and wild imagination, is unable to quite comprehend that the chaos of flashing lights and loud noises does not equate danger. They have paced in their room a few times, before surrendering to the shield that is their bed. But that however, only lasts the next half an hour, before the rain has managed to upset the apartments wiring. Feeble walls, poorly structured architecture. It does little to combat the elements, allowing for noises to be amplified and water damage to be abundant. Moments after a loud crack is heard, the bedroom light has flickered in anger before dying out entirely.

Snuffed out light is simply more of a warning than the child needs, they have grabbed the precious blade the Hokage gave them from the bedside table, and abandoned the dark room for the living area. Since the light is still working there, they hurriedly switch it to life. Looking around the room as if every shadow may possess someone with ill intent. They will spend the night on the couch, with only the thin sofa drape acting as a blanket in the drafty room. Where, to no ones surprise, they wake up a few degrees colder, a soft sneeze befalling them. Brushing it off, and deciding it was good enough they had survived the night, that a little bit of a chill wasn’t the greatest sacrifice, they prepare for early morning training. Night two would reveal the results of night one. Where the child has come down with a cold. For having dropped their immunity during the storm, and left them wide open to falling victim to any underlying illness they came in to contact with. Feeling too low to care about anything other than sleep, the child has skipped dinner. Which if the man was keeping track, he would notice is a trend. Along with skipping lunch. They would however, on a regrettably empty stomach, help themself to painkiller. Evidently plagued by a headache and fever. It takes them a good few moments to inspect the dose, which they at the very least follow. An early night is in order when their little form is gripped by a rather common cold. But even the simplest of ailments proves a difficult task for a young child to fend off on their own. There is no one around to offer them a second or warmer blanket, to offer them medication, food or water. There is no one to run a cloth over their head, to keep them company when they lie unable to sleep. And while the independent nature of the child reveals they can manage each task on their own with greater difficulty, there is a sense of incompetence that would have any adult holding their breath. The child is still learning - and the council of a guardian would have spared them many harder taught lessons.

Despite their attempt to get to bed early (still safely positioned on the couch given they felt they had no business in the haunted bedroom), they are awoken around midnight. The banging at their door is accompanied by a mans voice, angry, hostile, threatening. It certainly jolts the child awake, and banishes their illness temporarily. They grab their blade, listening to the loud efforts of a man trying to breach their front doors defenses - a wooden frame that they somehow doubt offered much protection. But the sound of banging is soon replaced by laughter, and it doesn’t take the young serpent long to figure out the prank. That the new genin in the building had just figured out a new trick, that the use of henge was swiftly becoming a misuse. One of the boys can be heard mockingly apologizing to the child, though he calls them by the title ‘yuki-onna’, a cruel nickname said in jest. With their unusually pale skin, set in vivid contrast to their jetblack hair and topped off by ‘demonically’ sharpened eyes, it was only natural the other genin make the connection to the yokai. That the little serpents ability to master the art of killing from so young made them that much more foreign and inhuman to peers. It is needless to say they spend the night mostly awake from there. By day three, they have proven to be desensitized to the odd interactions of their rowdy neighbourhood. They have survived their cold, they have survived the water damage and broken light, the drafty living room couch, the skipped meals and the poorly taken medication. They have survived the pranks, the name calling, the loneliness of their apartment. They have proven, that despite how problematic it was to have someone so young alone, they could adapt. That they were desperate to show they could adapt.  It’s the late afternoon when they find their way down pebbled paths and through scattering crowds. The number of people growing smaller and smaller the nearer to the outskirts they get, until finally they have found the cemetery. It is clear the layout of the graveyard is familiar by the ease in which they navigate it. A few handpicked flowers resting neatly in their palm, their prized gifted weapon in their hand as they arrive at their parents graves. For this is where the child often returns to - they have always found themself most comfortable speaking to ghosts. The flowers are placed down, equally divided between their mother and father. They then sit politely on their knees before the tombstones, toying with the blade, careful not to cut themself with it. Hiruzen had told them their parents may come back one day, that the white snake herself had promised it with the symbol of her shed skin. They hold on to that hope, it has them returning to this spot to keep their deceased family in the loop of the living, clinging to the belief that the two would join them there. They tell their parents all about Tobirama, oblivious he would know what it was they said. How excitable they were for their weapon, for their next visit, to have sat across a table from him. How they had see him use his powers effortlessly, seen him navigate the world as if he had been born to be a few tiers above most others. The way he spoke, acted, thought... it had all gained some praise from the child. A hero in their eyes, nothing less. And it is perhaps the story they tell their parents about their meeting with the man that has them wondering when they would see him again. That has them taking a long route home just to curiously indulge themself. To see where it was the man lived so they could see for themself whether the Senju truly were deserving of the ridicule their wealth sometimes earned them. It will be a short visit, before they head home. Before their long way back has them passing through markets they don’t usually have any business being near. Orphans were not always appreciated near the small businesses. The little one would prove why. For despite their claims that they didn’t mind others had more than them, they hadn’t made any claims to not want those things to. To not be willing to play a bit dirtier for them. It will be on their way back home that they shoplift a trinket they find desirable. For someone like them could never afford it, and it was effortless with their talents to apprehend the item. A petty crime, a small hairpin that would cost the business woman some of her profit. But it is perhaps the start of what problems lay to wait. That while the child had adapted, survived and learnt... they had also become less sympathetic of others. That they started to piece the world together the same way a fox might when stumbling across a farmers land and scenting livestock - the lonely and brutal wild was so cruel, how could it resist the taste of easy prey? Stealing... it just seemed a reasonable price to pay when greeted by the howl of hunger.

[robertmcangusgroup]

The Daily Tulip

The Daily Tulip

Tuesday 10th January 2017

Good Morning Gentle Reader.. Once more I am graced with a star laden sky, the moon has slipped below the horizon earlier leaving the heavenly bodies to fight it out alone.. amazing sight.. as it’s cold, it keeps all the humidity close to the ground, so no interference with the view.. and what a view it is this morning, the thick core of the Milky Way can be seen stretching endlessly across the night sky, of course it also does it during the day time but you just can’t see it because of the sunlight….

SIXTEEN PEOPLE have been declared dead following an horrific collision on the N1 South, between Murryhill and Hammanskraal, North of Pretoria. Emer-G-Med's response vehicle and two ambulances as well as Netcare911 and Tshwane Fire were dispatched to the accident scene. It's alleged that a bakkie (a light truck or pickup truck) which had been travelling northbound, lost control and veered over the centre median into oncoming traffic. The bakkie then collided with a fully loaded minibus taxi. Paramedics arrived on the scene and found that 13 of the taxi's passengers, as well as both drivers, had already succumbed to their injuries and were heavily entrapped in the mangled remains of the vehicles. Two passengers from the taxi sustained critical injuries, including multiple fractures. They were treated at the scene before being transported to nearby hospitals for further care. The City of Tshwane's fire department used the "Jaws of Life" to cut the bodies from the vehicles. Ten adults and six children were declared dead at the scene. The South African Police Service's specialist Accident Investigation Unit were at the scene to investigate further.

US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has posted a series of tweets condemning those who oppose good relations with Russia as "'stupid' people, or fools". Mr Trump vowed to work with Russia "to solve some of the many... pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!" His comments came after an intelligence report said Russia's president had tried to aid a Trump election victory. Mr Trump said Democrats were to blame for "gross negligence" in allowing their servers to be hacked. In a series of tweets on Saturday, Mr Trump said that having a good relationship with Russia was "no bad thing" and that "only 'stupid' people, or fools, would think that it is bad!" He added that Russia would respect the US more when he was president.

STAYING WITH TRUMP AND THIS IS IMPORTANT as President-Elect Donald Trump has named his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as one of his senior White House advisers. The 35-year-old played a key role in the presidential campaign and his new White House job will cover both domestic and foreign policy. Mr Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, is a property developer with a wide range of business interests. Democrats immediately called for a review of the appointment, citing nepotism laws and potential conflicts. Members of the House Judiciary Committee urged the Department of Justice and the Office of Government Ethics to step in. Earlier, Mr Trump hailed his son-in-law as a "tremendous asset" and he was proud to give him a "key leadership role" in the administration. The New York businessman will be inaugurated as the 45th president on 20 January. Members of Mr Trump's team have argued that a law barring officials from giving government jobs to relatives does not apply to White House positions. There are also federal ethics laws that mean government employees cannot profit from any businesses… This is the first time that I can recall that someone so young gets to influence how to run the USA….

THE LEADERS of Cyprus are meeting in Geneva for UN-led talks, with optimism that they can reach a settlement to end decades of division. The UN envoy in Geneva said Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci "really want to make this work". Previous attempts at reunifying the island have failed. The aim is to create some kind of united but federal Cyprus where power is shared between the two communities. Cyprus has been split since Turkish troops invaded in 1974, following an Athens-inspired coup by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece. The northern third of the island is inhabited by Turkish Cypriots and the southern two-thirds by Greek Cypriots.

FRANCE SAYS it was the subject of 24,000 cyber-attacks against defence targets last year. Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said such attacks were doubling every year and this year's presidential elections could be targeted. He said it would be "naive" to think France was immune to the type of cyber-campaign that targeted the US election, which has been blamed on Russia. Mr Le Drian is overseeing an overhaul of France's cyber-security operations. Cyber-attacks in France have increased substantially in the last three years and have become a serious threat to the country's infrastructure, Mr Le Drian said.

AUSTRALIA's health minister has temporarily stood aside after using a taxpayer-funded trip to purchase an apartment worth A$795,000 (£473,300; $585,200) on Queensland's Gold Coast. Sussan Ley said she made an "error of judgement" in billing taxpayers for three Gold Coast visits since 2014. PM Malcolm Turnbull said Ms Ley agreed to step aside without ministerial pay pending an investigation. Entitlements scandals have engulfed Australian politics in recent years. Ms Ley's ministerial travel to the Gold Coast will be investigated by both the Department of Finance and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Ms Ley said she did not expect to be stood down permanently. "I'm very confident that the investigations will demonstrate that no rules were broken whatsoever," she told reporters. "I have nothing to hide - I have not broken any of the rules."

IF YOU PLAY a word association game and say “museum”‚ chances are someone else will respond with “old stuff”. But the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa‚ due to open in Cape Town in September‚ will break the mould. None of its exhibits will have been created before the turn of the millennium. The museum‚ in the historic Grain Silo at the V&A Waterfront‚ is attracting worldwide attention‚ and features in The Guardian’s “Top 10 new museum openings in 2017” on Monday. “It will be the biggest museum to open on the continent for over a century‚” says the British newspaper. “It will be an influential place too: the $38-million institution will be filled entirely with work created since the year 2000‚ and house the impressive collection of Jochen Zeitz (German philanthropist and former CEO of Puma)‚ while it continues to acquire work of its own.” The Guardian calls the 57-metre-high Grain Silo‚ which will also contain a boutique hotel‚ “a towering reminder of Cape Town’s industrial heritage – and soon to be a symbol of its creative future”. “Few gallery openings have generated as much art-world buzz in years.” Zeitz MOCAA‚ is it is called‚ will have 9500 square metres of exhibition space over nine floors.

Well Gentle Reader I hope you enjoyed our look at the news from around the world this Tuesday morning…

Our Tulips today are for a loved one and who said "Real Men Don't Give Flowers?" .....

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Tuesday 10th January 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in ….. Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus