Back on the feet (P, NK)

...Back then she was but a kid and did not even know what to think seeing her father fall down dead like that. She was no much familiar with the concept of death, although somewhere there, her mind already realized what had happened. However, at that moment she was not even allowed to develop much of an emotion as the three brutes before her would now attack the girl and her mother. Two of them, wielding swords, attacked her mother. In the woman's hands kunais swiftly appeared and she blocked the strikes. The third pirate however, wielding a club or something of sorts, decided to go for the kid, launching an attack at her. The girl's mother was occupied with holding the other two at bay, so she could not help her daughter. Not ready for this fight Youta took the hit to her shoulder and was launched to the side, sliding on the deck for a few meters until she hit a body of someone already dead. The men would chuckle at the sight of their defenseless prey, while the two with blades pressed their attack, pressuring the woman. Before the girl could stand up, she would feel a brutal grip on her hair. The one who attacked her picked her up, raising the kid in the air. They were saying something, but she would not hear it or understand it. The whole scene was a shock. Youta would feel herself being pulled as she was thrown sideways, back towards her mother, landing face down again. As that happened, her mother would say something and the brutes would be blown back. This would not stop them, only anger them and as the kid stood up they would come at them again. She did not see what the other two did, as the one attacking her did not swing the club this time. No, he kicked her. The kick sent her flying overboard, although she did not realize this yet. In the air, she would see moving away from the scene, the one with the club would strike her mother's back and as her parry was broken the two blades would slash down. What happened next was a sudden cold feeling...

Youta's eyes would open. She had that dream multiple times before, but it was never this clear. She never knew what happened to her parents in details, although she probably did know it somewhere deep down. Looking around her hospital room, the girl would slowly exhale. She was starting to get annoyed of this place, good thing she was leaving today. The girl had spent a lot of time here, recovering from what had happened to her. Another thing bothering her, was that she had a ton of questions which the medics could not answer. And those questions over the time were starting to almost boil inside her. Hopefully somebody who knew the answers would come along, or she would simply find such a person when she got out. Jumping out of the bed, the Rentei would land on her now perfectly functioning legs. "Guess it's time to start preparing..." She would say to herself and go change to her usual clothes. Sadly she had lost the ones she had on the day it happened, so she had some other ones moved from her house.

After a long night of drinking, Haru awoke the next day with very little memory of it all, and feeling a sensation similar to if one had been socked in the jaw by a bear, stuffed into a sack, and thrown off the edge of Tengakure’s tallest skyscraper. That feeling wasn’t too far off from what he had forgotten, to say the least. He still remembered the incident with Takeo regarding Yozora’s body, and… oh god, he’d forgotten about the kid! It had slipped his mind to check on her, in his rage at Takeo and then his determination to get piss drunk and forget the night. He would exit the building in his usual way, usual meaning leaping across the sides of buildings, pushing off again and again, running along the side of them, and altogether causing a racket. It was, after all, the fastest way to cross the streets. He made it to the hospital rather quickly, brushing dust off of his robes as he entered the building. He didn’t bother asking the receptionist for Youta’s room, he simply activated his byakugan, starting to head up the stairs. As he noticed her getting out of the bed, he would hastily turn it off to avoid another incident of confusion like the one with Haruna… Ack, now there’s a fresh wound reopened. He stopped walking for a second, sighing. It was strange that a memory of the dead girl had stopped him in his tracks, he had thought himself stone cold when it came to death, having taken blood from his own sensei’s corpse without so much as blinking… It had all just numbed him until now, and since that moment when he thought yet another person he knew had died, it had all really, been hitting him hard.
 
Realizing he had stopped walking for a bit longer then needed, he continued to Youta’s room, risking a peek with the byakugan to make sure the coast was clear. She had just finished changing into her normal clothes, and her legs were working… remarkably well. He would knock twice on the door, before turning the knob.
”How’d you sleep, kid? You really pissed Takeo off, breaking down the door like that.” He told her, stepping into the room. ”Your legs working okay? Den didn’t attach a leg in the wrong place or anything, did he?”

Finishing with her clothing, Youta would hear two knocks on her door. Turning around the face it she would see Haru enter. Her feelings were mixed about him, after all it was he that she followed and got into all that mess, then again she was following him in order to find Yozora... a lot of it the girl was uncertain about and hopefully the guy had at least some of the answers. At the very least he did not seem hostile. As she would remain silent, he would ignite the conversation, starting off by inquiring about her sleep, although not really waiting for a response. What did peek her interest was the next sentence. Ignoring the stupid attempt at joking afterwards, Youta would asking with a serious face. "Was Takeo the one who attacked me?"

Haru rolled his eyes. Well, she was no fun. Not even in good enough a mood to joke with him. Well, she did just get eviscerated in a rather violent way…. It’s to be expected, he supposed.
”Yeah, that’s the one. He’s really not quite so bad once you get to know him, he just seems to like irritating strangers. In your case… a little more then irritating.” He said. ”Seriously though, are the arms and legs working okay? I am really sorry about bringing you there, I didn’t know he had siblings or that he would decide to come home as soon as the letter arrived.” He told her.

Youta did not know what to think, the same guy responsible for keeping the girl's master or her corpse in his basement was also responsible for attacking and nearly killing Youta as well. On top of it all, for some reason, Haru was defending him. One thing certain, whoever Yozora was involved with, Takeo, Haru here, others, they were all very strong, certainly out of Youta's league. So, maybe she was going about this the wrong way, maybe a more soft approach was in order, because it would seem that trying to force her way in this situation would most likely just get her into more trouble.

Closing her eyes for a moment and deeply sighing, the girl turned and walked up to her bed and the nightstand next to it. "They're working fine, thanks. Apparently the Tenkage himself performed a miracle procedure me, because I healed much quicker and more efficiently than I was supposed to." Sitting down she would get a bag with some stuff from the stand and start packing other clothes and everything into it. She did not have much here in this room, while at it the girl would let another important question fly. "What about Yozora? Was she recovered?"

Youta seemed to have dropped the serious, in favor of one that seemed more indifferent to him. Haru had the strangest feeling that he was being manipulated, due to the sudden change in attitude, though he was very doubtful of the fact.
 
”Yeah, I saw Den working on you… Apparently he’s a miracle worker, I honestly didn’t think you’d make it.” He said, leaning against the wall as she walked away. Then came her question.
Haru shook his head.
”I dunno what to tell you. I wasn’t there during the mission, but Den told me she was dead, and so did Takeo… When it first happened, he told me she fell asleep...” He told the girl. He shrugged. He supposed he could have looked into it more last night, but he’d had… more important things on his mind. "So what will you do now that your master is... You know..." He said, choosing his words carefully

Youta was a bit disappointed in the reply, although she tried not to show it. Soundlessly sighing, the girl would stand up from the bed, picking up the packed bag and tossing it over her shoulder. Looking back at Haru she would respond "Well, they are discharging me, as you probably could have guessed. I still think Yozora's body needs to be recovered, instead of being left rotting in that basement... After that, who knows, I will try to carry on her legacy as best I can." With those last words, her mind sought out the book written by her master, the book that now rested in the bag... yes, she had a lot of training and catching up to do. Speaking of which... "Actually, I believe you could help me with that. The incident showed me quite clearly that I must become stronger." Saying that, she walked through the door, hopefully with Haru following him. Closing the door, she would think to herself goodbye, mister hospital-room, hopefully I won't see you again.

Haru nodded. He hadn’t known Yozora that well, but he could sympathize with the loss of a loved one. So when her request to help her get stronger was given, he didn’t hesitate. It would be nice to be the alpha for once, the teacher, not the student. He followed her, pulling from his shoulder his Ninjato.
”You were Yozora’s apprentice. Rather odd you weren’t carrying a blade on you.” He would say. ”Keep the sword, I don’t want it.” He said simply, continuing to follow her if she allowed.
”I am right in assuming you wield a blade, correct?” He would say.

Youta was a bit surprised to see Haru agree so easily, but she was fairly glad about it and did not question it. As they left the hospital, Haru would start speaking. Rather interested in his words, the girl turned around to face him, finding the Hyuuga offering a blade to her. With a slightly distrustful face, she looked at him, then took the weapon. Unsheathing to inspect it, the girl did not notice Haru consuming the pill. She was fairly quick to determine it was a ninjato, although not a standard design. A few spins made it clear it was lighter and faster than one might expect. As he inquired about her wielding a blade, the girl smiled. "Obviously... Thanks."

Now walking away from the hospital, Youta realized she had no plans on where they might go to train, as she did not anticipate him coming here today. The training towers were an obvious choice, but there were people and she was not too fond of distractions. There was another place she trained and that was Yozora's backyard. It was closer and doubtful they would be disturbed there With her master dead the place would probably be deserted. Maybe she could even fill the papers to claim it... Leading the way she would wonder if Haru had been there.

[Obtaining Heaven's Sorrow Ninjato from Haru]

(Short post, sorry, I'm low on inspiration)

Haru raised an eyebrow when they didn’t head for the training towers, the obvious choice for… training. Maybe she had a special place in mind?
”Where exactly are we going?” He would ask Youta as they walked, turning on his byakugan. He didn’t really see anywhere familiar to him, at least, that they were heading towards. Or maybe she was just lost? That was possible, but he wasn’t going to go pointing that out, he didn’t want to offend her by suggesting it. So he just followed, waiting for an answer.