Coco Can't Sleep (p)

It was late at night and Coco still couldn't sleep. She'd had long hard day of ninja - ing and she still couldn't convince her eyes to close shut, and her mind to drift away. Instead she stayed up looking at the ceiling. You see out side a wonderfully light storm was blowing on through Kumo. Coco honestly wasn't the type of person to be kept up by a little rain, she'd lived in a country of constant Rain for almost two decades. A little Kumo storm wasn't enough to keep her from sleeping, well not in the traditional sense. It was more the fact that she hadn't gotten to see a proper storm in ages! Each time she tried to go to sleep she just kept on thinking about all the good, and bad times he'd had back home. With her friends and family. She sorely missed that soggy patch of earth she called home.

At last she figured that she'd go ahead and stop trying to fight her nature. She got her butt out of that be, and got dressed. She loaded on three layers of clothing, Shirt, sweater, and jacket. She grabbed ahold of her umbrella, and set forth. The front door of her apartment sqeaked open, and immediately the cool air of a stormy night greeted, her like an old friend. She'd never imagined that she'd miss the rain as much as she did at that very moment. It was a soft and gentle rain, and it begged Coco to let her porcelain be touched by it. Coco smiled. "As if." She announced opening her Umbrella with a loud "Whoosh." She held her umbrella proudly over her head, and stepped out from the veranda. The soft sound of Rain bouncing off of her umbrella brought a smile to her face, now that was a sound she hadn't heard in a long time. She missed the constant companionship of Her umbrella. Up in the mountains it seemed to act more as more of a source of shade than anything else. But now it was in it's element! Umbrellas lived to bounce rain drops away from their owner!

Coco leaned up aginst a moist bricked wall. Above her head her big yellow umbrella happily stood open. It's yellow surface was being pelted by rain drops. It'd been so long since she'd just stood in the rain, watching and listening to the beat of  it upon her umbrella. She'd never really found the rain to be all that relaxing, but it did remind her of home, and she'd always found her home very relaxing.

Without a thought in her ind, or a care in her heart, but a gleam in her eye Coco found herself walking down the now et paths of Kumo. The hour was late and she found herself to be one of the few people up this late, and in the rain. It was oddly desolate, and just like back home. She loved it. There were way to many people in this city, so gross. Just everywhere. you couldn't find a bit of privacy anywhere. Maybe that was just her experience from living in an abandoned city speaking

She wasn't entirely sure where she was going, thought that wasn't any less true on any other day she walked these streets. They were so foreign, and filled with strange people that she never knew where she was going at any given time. The out side of the village she had down just fine. Hills, mountains, Akira's temple, forests and beaches. Easy stuff. The village it's self though? Go F itself, that's what she'd say! It was a got sticky dump! There was no air up here, clouds were always passing through covering the place in fog, and the people were just a lil' too exotic for her taste.

As she complained to herself  Coco found herself at the foot steps of a large house. Bright red lanterns hung from the porches veranda, and an eerily cool wind suddenly swept past Coco. Cold wind during a storm couldn't have been too weird, but here was something about this wind in particular that ran up Coco's back and sent a chill all the way back down it. "Yikes." She announced folding her arms across her body, trying to hold in some heat. Stranger still the storm was blowing in from the opposite direction. She was getting a dark, as well as a forboding sense about this place. She didn't like it, not one bit. Not that people liked to get dark and foreboding feelings, but you get the point. Her yellow rain boot made a squishing sound as she took a step back. As soon as the squish ended the front door to the house just flew right on open! Like it was inviting her in! In fact Coco was pretty sure it was, because despite everything, and I do mean everything she had this incredible urge to step inside.

"Cool." She whispered, feeling a good bit of morbid curiosity boiling up within her. She stepped up onto the house's pourch, and was greeted with a loud, and long swack from one of the old warped boards. "Creepy." She took another step forward, and this time the board was silent. Coco let out a grateful sigh. That could have been pretty horrible if she just walked through the whole house like that! She'd go insane before she reached the living room.

She stepped through the front door of the house, and immediately she was greeted with the acrid stench of dust and wood varnish. This place was about as fresh as a gallon of Dinosaur milk. The front part of the house was just a hall way that lead further into the house. On the right a rickety looked staircase lead to a second story, and to the left were thee doorways leading to more rooms. "Hello?" her husky voice echoed long and hard through the musty halls of the house.

She took a creaking step inside, and it felt like she was walking through a think cloud of candy gloss. It was incredibly humid in here. The water from the rain must have been soaking up everything. Something like that. She brushed had hand against the wall to her left, and felt her fingers plow through a heavy layer of dust, and webs. How did this place stay standing, it looked like it'd been abandoned for decades.

She peaked her head through the door way which led to the living room. She could see a comfy looking room, couch, chair, and coffee table. all speckled with a good about of dust and grime. Coco stepped into the room. It reminded her of her living room back home, only more decrepit. It'd be an awfully comfy looking room, were it not equally terrifying looking. Upon the rooms walls, which were covered in peeling wall paper where several large picture frames. Coco crept over to inspect them, and upon whipping a good layer of grime away from the cool glass frame she was able to see the picture behind. Which wasn't much of a picture at all. at least eighty percent of the picture had been torn away by someone and all the remained where the outermost edges of the picture, which weren't enough for her to gather any information about what the original portrait looked like at all. All she was able to tell is that they sure weren't landscapes! She inspect the other two paintings within the room and found that they took were torn out. Strange to say the least. Stranger still was the fact that these pictures where still in their glass frames, it's like someone had torn the pictures up and then placed them within the frame!

Coco turned around from the final picture which hung over a burnt out fireplace. To her right she head a creaking sound, and quickly jerked her head over to a rocking chair that was sitting in the corner next to her. She turned her head just in time to spot the Rocking chair very slowly and deliberately, creek forwards as if someone was leaning forward from within the chair. It creaked with an unnecessarily long and shrill squawk. Coco felt her blood run cold, well that was weird. The just as quickly as it had begun, the chair slammed backwards as if the invisible person sitting in it had gotten up suddenly. The chair now rocked back and forth wildly from the force.

Coco let out a quick shriek and jumped against the opposite wall. Causing a cloud of dust to explode out from her. "Nope, nope, nope." Coco coughed waving around the cloud of dust. That was enough of 'This old house.' for one day. She began to speed walk to the front door. It was getting late anyway. She didn't want to be too sleepy for anything tomorrow. Besides what if the owners came back? They'd sure be sore if they found her disrupting all their nice dust!

Up ahead she could see the creaky old door closed shut. Funny, couldn't remember closing that darn thing! Must have been the wind! Before she was able to get the door, the grandfather clock which sat next to the door suddenly tipped over. Wedging itself between the wall and the floor, and blocking the front door off completely. Coco froze in her spot. She rose her hand cautiously to the grandfather clock. As soon as her fingers touched it's wooden frame from upstairs came the sounds of a piano, or pipe organ. A beautifully haunting melody that sounded out all across the house, and shook Coco to her bones. And that dear folk was just about all that Poor Coco could take. With a mighty shove she threw that clock away from the door, then tried for the handle. That too was lick firmly. She jiggled, and wretched at it but it wouldn't budge. Even the bolts seemed rusted entirely shut. The piano music only grew louder as she jiggled and jostled the locked door. "Come, on come on!" She threw herself at the door, shaking it's rusted hinges, but not budging it any.

With a final powerful kick near the door knob coco was able to smash the door down. The sweet smell of rain water greeted her nostril immediately, and she threw herself outside. Each heave of her chest, sent the Poarch's floor boards, a squeaking' and a sqwakin'. Not bothering to turn her head, or look back at the house Coco ran herself on back to her apartment. Though she feared that sleep would not come easily to her on this night.

xxxxxx

Down the streets of Kumo three Genin traveled together. They'd been a squad for pretty much forever,  and they were traveling over to the old abandoned house off of market streets. They'd taken a C-Rank mission which involved fixing up the house or something like that. Honestly it didn't sound like all that important of a mission, but they were willing to give it a shot. It was a nice fresh day after that rain storm last night. It seemed like a good day to just waste some time, and maybe make a little money off of it.

Hiru Hyuuga was walking at the front of the Trio. He was a 5'10 with short cropped black hair, and wore his Headband upon his forehead. It was a forehead protectors after all. His eyes were the distinctive Hyuuga white. He had thin eye brows and a fairly angular face. His semi-muscular frame was covered in a black vest, and hyper white Khaki shorts. Every speck of dust was like a big brown beacon upon his pants. He was a weaker member of the Hyuuga clan in Kumo. Not that the branch in Kumo was particularly strong to begin with, but even among them he was a runt. Still he had gusto!

Behind him came trailing a young woman of the Kura clan. She had short boyish spikey pink hair, and eyes as read as a tomato. Yiping Kura was her name. Very skilled at her Clan's famous Order release if the rumors were to be believed. She came from a family of judges, the little known Kura clan so she'd had a strong sense of justice pounded into her head since a young age. She usually got right in the middle of fights just so she could break them up.

Walking along with her was another boy. The two of them chattered Cheerily, as Hiru navigated them through the City. He was Yue Jin. He a shaggy sand blond hair due going on. And his green eyes shined out through his bangs which covered his eyes. He was six feet tall, and very lean. He didn't belong to any family of ninja's but he was a genius at Sealiing Jutsu from what everyone said. Some said that his skills in the art could rival even a Jouning.

The way the three of them had met was that both Hiru and Yue had gotten over a fight over something, during their academy years. They started throwing punches, and before either of them knew what happened Yiping had appeared between the two. Of course the problem with appearing before people even knew what happened was that, they didn't know what happened. So at the same time the two of them threw a fist into each side of her jaw and sent her crumbling to the ground. Ever since that day the three of them had been thick as thieves. It'd been a pretty ackward hospital visit though.

The three of them slowly wandered through the city, not really in a hurry to get anywhere in particular. Eventually they reach the old abandoned house. "Here we are." Hiru announced gesturing with a grand sweep of his hand."

"Abbandoned is right." Yipping announced. "Where is the Chuunin that was suppose to supervise us?" Coco was no where to be seen.

Yue Jin took a few steps towards the house. The old thing sure needed their help, it was falling apart like you wouldn't believe. "What's this stuff." He crouched down suddenly notice this ring of white that went around the perimeter of the house. He took a good look at it. "It's not a seal." He announced to himself. There was no chakra involved with it. "I think it's salt." He reached his hand downwards to grab a handful of the stuff to get a slightly closer look. But before his hand could touch the salt a Kunai stuck into the ground just inches ahead of him. It made a 'thunk' noise like a tuning fork.

"Don't touch that!" Coco announced, popping her head over a shrub, which she promply jumped over. "You can't break that circle or else the spirits will be let loose. And thrust me you don't want that, I've already made them plenty angry."

All three Genin stared at Coco entrance with combined, curiosity, and complete confusion. Only Yiping was able to over come her shock and speak. "What Spirits?" She almost shouted. It was more like a nervous release of energy more than anything else.

Coco glared at her, and flipped open her big yellow umbrella. "the spirits in that house, pretty nasty ones too. Tried to trap me in there last night, but I managed to escaped. I place that salt circle around the house this morning so they couldn't get out, and harass the city."

Well that didn't answer anything. Hiru cleared his throat. "Is this about the mission we're on?"

"Yes of course!" Coco announced sounding more and more frazzled by the second. "What sort of Ninja's are you who don't read the full details of your mission? I up everything in my report."

Hiru scratched his chin in a guilty manner as his two team mates glared at him. "Listen I saw that it involved cleansing a house, so I just assumed. I assumed you meant, like rats or something! You know Vermin, not a ghooooost."

Coco gesticulated wildly. "Yes of course I meant ghosts! I put ghosts in the report! You just didn't read the whole thing, and shame on you. I'll be adding that in my report to your Jounin. Besides Spirits are the most vile type of vermin there are. An angry spirit can kill you!" A strong breeze blew through the front yard, one that chilled everyone to their spine. "Yeah I'm talking about you buddy!" Coco shouted at the house.

The three Genin were giving each other the stares of a life time. What was going on. "Well you know an angry rat can kill you too, if he's persistent enough." Yue Jin announced with a nervous giggle.

Like a flash Coco was upon the clan less ninja and placed her finger in front of his lips. "Mock ye not, the spirits of the other side." Coco then paused and blinked the Craziness out of her eyes. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" The three of them looked to each other not quite knowing what to say. "Well?" She announced in a demanding tone.

Yiping spoke in a shaky voice. "Are you alright? You're sounding a little sick, going on about spirits. Respectfully ma'am. There's no such thing as ghost."

Coco let out a heartily laugh. Not a crazy one, just a friendly one. "What are you guys talking about? Of course there is! There's the swamp spirits, the spirits of your ancestors, heck I know for a fact that half the buildings in Ame are haunted. Nothing like this house tough, these are angry spirits, not like your common house spirit." She paused as she realized the looks where fresh and renewed upon the Genins' faces. "What you guys don't have mountains spirits?" They all shook their heads. "Well you have house spirits here right?" Again another round of head shakings. "She sighed again. Well you guys have a relationship with your Ancestor's right?" That reaction was a little warmer, mainly just a few shrugs, and a moan. "Dang." Coco announced a little surprised. "You guys are pretty sheltered in Kumo aren't ya?" She sighed. "I can't believe you guys don't have spirits here." She gave a shrug. "Oh well I suppose this would be a good time to learn eh? Just keep in mind that not all spirits are like the one in there."

"Uuuuuuh." The three Genin announced all at once. Then Yipping took over for the boys. "With All respect ma'am we're not entirely sure we should be going in there with you. You seem disturbed."

Coco nodded. "Well now that you mention it I am pretty bother that three Genin of the Cloud refuse to go on a mission they agreed to take up." She shot them all a glance, and each one of them shrunk away. "Unless of course you're questioning the Mission is that it?"

"Yes!" They announced as one.

"You're questioning the mission approved by the Raikage? Approved within  a few hours of it's submission might I add."

"Well..." They grumbled.

"Are you questioning your Raikage's wisdom for approving a mission involving ghosts? Do you think that the Raikage is mad for thinking that Ghosts Exist?"

They all shrunk a little bit more under her intense gaze. "No.""Of course not!""Never!"

"Oh!" Coco announce Joyfully bonking herself on the forehead. "Then it's me!"

"Yes!" Hiru announced, before immediately covering his on mouth. He'd expected the other two to say it with him. His cheeks burned red as he heard Yiping giggle at him.

"Oh gotcha. So you're questioning the Raikage's decision to put me in charge of this mission. Oh I see. You think the Raikage is crazy for putting the only ninja in this city who apparently knows anything about spirits in charge? Is this true?"

"No.""Of course not!""Never!"

"Oh!" Coco slapped herself on the forehead once again. "I see then, you three just want to go aginst the orders of The Raikage for no good reason then? My oh my, that sounds mighty dangerous to me!"

Yue Jin stepped in front of his friends and stamped his foot down. "Now I've had enough of this!" He announced in a stern, and steady voice. "What Yinping meant to Say is that she wasn't sure that we should go in with you. I mean we can handle a few spirits. We just didn't want to waste your time with such a trivial matter."

"Ah." Coco announced patting Yue Jin upon the head. "That what I thought she meant. Now if you would be so kind, follow me into the house." She stepped over the line of salt and waved for them to follow. "Mind your step, don't want the darn thing escaping before we even get in!"

Reluctantly, oh so reluctantly the three Genin followed Coco across the neglected yard and onto the porch. Which naturally squeaked loudly at having four people standing on it. Okay they'd admit it met all of the troupes for a spooky house.

"Now I warn you." Coco Warmly, and wearily warned. "This spirit is pretty active, so stay calm. I know last night I came running out of here like a Salamander with a hawk in the sky." They looked at her with blank faces, and she sighed.  "It's an Ame thing." She gripped the door knob, and sighed. "I knocked this door down last night and when I came back in the morning, it was fit as a fiddle. I wonder if the grandfather clock is still on the ground." She turned the knob, and found that the door easily glided open. Which could only mean that the grandfather clock was still up and running. Or rather upright and running.

Coco beckoned her squad inside, and the four of them stood ackwardly in the small hallway. "Alrgiht Coco announced shutting the door. Right before she kicked it down, and sent it flying into the yard. "One more thing." She gave the Grandfather clock a shove, and sent it crashing before the rickety stairs that led to the second story. "Alright, now they can't trap us in here, and drop that on use." She turned to her young charges. "A good less for all of you." She announced in a teacher's voice. "Always make sure that the battle field is to your advantage as much as possible."

"What's even going on?" Yiping questioned.

"Follow me kids, I explain everything." Coco led her team towards the living room.

"You know you're pretty young for a Chuunin." Yiping announced as they were lead into the living room.

Coco crashed down on the Couch in the living room, and threw her arms over the back of it taking a very cool and relaxed stance. Only she was enveloped in a think cloud of dust, and she was doing all she could to not choke upon it. "Yeah I just got promoted recently. Back when I was in Ame. Take a seat let me explain the situation to you." The genin looked around to the dusty furniture, and shook their heads. Coco just shrugged, and kept a cool look upon her face. Though she would have done the same thing in their situation. She could feel the dust settling in her lungs. "With all the lightning last knight I belive that the lightning awoke the spirit within this house. Now with a spirit this angry there must be an object of it's hatred somewhere in the house." She pointed a finger towards Hiru."That's where you come in young man! You're in charge finding anything strange in the house."

Hiru nodded. "Well that part should be easy enough." He announced with a shrug. He peeled his vest off of a grime covered hall and stood in the center of the room. The sooner they got this over with the better. "Byakugan." He announced sending a pulse of chakra into his eyes. "So what are we looking for exactly.... oooh found it." He announced with a gasp.

"What is it?" Both Yue Jin and Yiping shouted in synchronicity.

"She's right." Hiru breathed in shock. "There's a body buried in the wall of the basement." His voice was horse.

Coco nodded, and rose to her feet. "That's it. Good Work. Wasn't expecting a murder victim to be the Spirit." She pointed to Yue Jin. "You're with me, we'll seal the Sprit. Hiru and Yipping check out the rest of this floor for any clues to a murder or the spirits identity. Avoid going up stairs though, last night the Spirit was trying to draw me up there. We'll go up there as a group." With that she made for the hall way Yue Jin quickly following behind her. "Basement is down there." She nodded her head over to the staircase that led below.

Yue Jin nodded and took the lead as they ventured down the two tier steps. Yue Jin was taking the steps two at a time, before a step let out a large squawk and sent the young boy flying away from the staircase, and head first into the wall that stood only a yard from the base of the stairs.

Quick as a whip Coco grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and kept him from tumbling to the ground. Though he did choke a little bit on his own collar.

"Gotta look out sport, a spirit wouldn't make this easy for you. You could have broken you neck." She released his shirt, and skirted down the rest of the stairs, and looked around the absolutely abandoned basement. "Maybe we should have brought Hiru down here too." She laughed, as the two of the began inspecting the halls for signs of anything strange.

xxxxx

"You Find anything?" Hiru asked ducking out of the kitchen and meeting up with Yiping in the hallway.

"Nadda." She announced coming out from a little study. "Just dust and books. No spirits anywhere." She laughed. "Not that I expect any to begin with.

Hiru raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner. "You don't think there are spirits in here, but the body..."

"A Body doesn't mean anything. Well except that a person is buried in a wall. " She rubbed her temples. "It doesn't mean this place is haunted. We just have to play along with this nut, then collect our money. Still I'm pretty interested in this body. I'm concerned that the murder was able to avoid justice for so long."

Hiru nodded his head. "No doubt." He looked towards the staircase when hear some sort of chanting coming from it. It sounded like Coco and Yue Jin down there. "Hey I'm gonna let them know we didn't find anything."

"Shhh." Yiping hushed. "You hear that?"

"The chanting? Yeah." Guess they found the body.

"No not the chanting." She whispered. "I can hear a Piano. I'm going up stairs to check it out."

"Cool." Hiru shrugged already half way down the stairs. When suddenly he tripped over a loose board, and went tumbling down the steps. A little bruised, but still alive and unbroken.

Coco and Yue Jin gave one another a look. Yue Jin was leaning up against the brick wall and drawing a careful seal over a section of it. The two had identified it as being the most recently laid, as such the place where the body would be hidden. The two looked at each other, and Coco spoke. "Gotta fix that step." She announced, before stepping to Hiru. "You okay?"

Hiru rubbed his head tenderly. "Yeah just a little bruised. Sorry about that." He looked over to Yue Jin who was working on his seal. "You guys found it eh? Good on yeah."

"Where's Yiping?" Coco asked worriedly.

"She said she was going upstairs."

Coco froze. "Why?"

"She said she heard Piano Music."

"Piano?" Coco coughed before suddenly disappearing before Hiru's eyes.
Yiping trotted up the decrepit steps of the old house. Each and everyone moaning as she put weight upon them. The upstairs wasn't anything to write home about. Just a short hallway leading to a single room at the top. "Hello?" she announced preparing to form a hand sign in necessary. "I'm a ninja is any one here?" There was no reply so he stepped into the room. It was just as dusty as the rest of the house, only a little more barren. Nothing inside of it except a Piano aginst the door's wall, and an open window across from it. There was a splattering of leafs that'd been sprayed into the room by the wind. "Hello?" She announced once more, not that there was anywhere that a person could hide in this room.

It was so strange. She knew she heard the clunking of piano keys just a minute ago. She approached  the piano. It's ivory keys were covered in dirt as well as some of the leaves that had blown on in. Surely those weren't heavy enough to create a sound. The noise she'd heard almost sounded like a section of a section of a  song rather than just a few keys getting pressed down my weight.

As she looked down on the yellow keys of the Piano she just got the urge to play a tune on the dumb thing. She traced her fingers long the shapes and left a trail of cleanliness as she did so. She sat down at the stool, and held her hands in a ready positon. It'd been a while since she'd sat down at a piano. Now the moment her butt made contact with that seat she was propelled backwards. The piano suddenly lunged forward like a train towards the open window. Leaving Yiping barreling backwards as well. The two rocketed towards the window, it was all going too fast for yipping to even fear for her life!

The Piano stopped just short of hitting the wall but was going plenty fast enough to send Yipping flying  through the opened window She banged her head against the frame as she went flying through, knocking her out cold.

"Rupture!" Can the strong and sudden voice of Coco as she drew her sword and sent to wave of chakra crashing through the rooms wall which led to the outside. Leaping through the newly created hole, coco caught Yipping just as she was dropping soundly to the ground. Managing to save her from a neck breaking plunge. "That was close." she whispered. Setting The young girl down on the ground?
"Is Yipping Okay?" Hiru asked sprinting through the front door onto the lawn.

"Just a bumped head." She stood and looked to Hiru. "Is Yue Jin Alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Yue announced stepping out of the house as well. "Finished the seal and everything." He held a scroll up above his head. "It worked just like you said, I finished the chant and the moment I Did all the ink from the wall flew away and onto this scroll, all the ink even turned blood red." He furrowed the scroll and reveled a ring of characters centered around what looked like the image of a scroll.
"Yikes." Hiru announced jumping away from it. "How'd you know how to do something like that?"

Coco shrugged with a laugh. "Everyone in my village knows that ritual. Like I said the whole place is just covered in spirits. It is a ghost town after all. In more ways than one. Tragically Coco didn't quite know the complete irony of that sentence just yet.

[TWC 5281]
+26 stats
5000 Multi Shadow Clone
281 towards a Jutsu :3

Approved