Repair the bridge!

Repair the Bridge!

The night air  was cool and refreshing in kirigakure yet even the slight offshore breeze barely stirred the heavy and pervasive mist from which the village earned its name. Low lit lanterns cast weak murky balls of light above the streets, that seemed to do little but make the shadows darker and the mostly sleeping village a little more enigmatic and creating a creepy atmosphere. haru walked with his hands slightly outstretched in front of his face and watched as the the mist separated in minute and cracks just in front of Haru's fingertips. A gentle blue light emanated form his hands as he focused on picturing the mist being cut by his chakra as he walked steadily towards the the southern bridge that had recently been damaged during an unexpected and particularly strong hurricane. Though the bridges frame and supports were largely intact it was still deemed unfit for civilian use and one of the small islands had been virtually cut off from the main village hub.

The villagers on the separated island had the supplies and tools required to repair the bridge but were unwilling to risk working on the supports by rope so close to the strong currents, especially considering how small the population was. haru had taken the mission notice on the way back form the training session where he had met Hinoki at the Academy. the mission details were simple and clear. He was to cross to the smaller island and use the supplies provided to begin and repairs or reinforcement of the main supports. once the supports were secure he was to begin testing the planks for damage and replacing or repairing them as required. once about ten meters each side of the bridge was secure the villagers could finish the rest them selves.

Haru realized that this job would certainly be time consuming and so decided to forsake his usual time allocated for isolated training and make a start on the mission. After learning chakra infusion his mother had somehow obtained small piece of the paper that was used to test his chakra nature. It seemed that haru had a natural affinity with the wind element like his father which was beneficial to Haru considering his preference to weapon based techniques but it also meant that he would have to teach himself to utilize the wind nature himself. His mother had told him that he should try cutting things with his chakra by picturing it forming as sharp blades. haru had decided to train it on the mist as he walked and though the result was far from impressive it was good to know he was on the right track. As he neared the bridge the storm wall became louder and the wind grew in strength a little a she heard the faint sound of waves lapping against the cliff face. Every now and again the mist around his hands would disperse in little cloudbursts of clear air before tendrils of mist slowly moved to fill the gap. haru tried narrowing the area of the chakra infusion in his fingertips and the cuts became a little cleaner with the mist taking slightly longer to return to the voided space.

Haru stopped at the edge of the bridge and began sending chakra to his feet as he started walking down the cliff face carefully checking the supports secured to the cliff. The supports on the main island side appeared to be structurally sound though some of the planking was damaged or missing. He pulled out a small plank of wood and began adding a tally of each plank that needed replacement as he walked along the underside of the bridge. The the water was far below but occasionally he felt the spray lick at his hair and face. Dawn began to break on the horizon as he reached the other side of the bridge. Most of the damage seemed superficial on the supports but a lot of the planks would require replacing in the midsection.

Haru found replacement planks, nails, hammers and other various equipment bound under a waterproof sheet inside and old decrepit shack.  haru grasped one of the thin binding cords between his palms and concentrated the chakra in his hands into a thin stream and pictured it as a blade of wind. He felt the cord vibrate beneath his hands and a slight pop before he slowly opened his hands to reveal that the had a clean cut on the outside but appeared to have blown apart at the core. haru repeated this on several of the other small cords, this time trying to focus on creating a small blade of chakra within only one hand. the cord only cut halfway through and he sighed as he quickly finished the job with a kunai. haru began by moving the sheet closer to the bridge and began ferrying planks from the shack to the small area he had cleared near the bridge. As the sunlight heated the mist the visibility increased and soon Haru was being watched by some of the visitors,one or two at first but by the time he had moved the equipment a small crowd had gathered.

Haru removed his headband and wiped the sweat of his forehead before putting back on his headband. When he arrived at the shack he took off his jacket and hung it off a hook next too the door. As he walked out the door he was approached by an elderly villager that was presumably their spokesperson. "Are you all they sent? i thought they would at least send a team or something." Haru tried to hide his annoyance beneath a pleasant smile as he replied in a formal and polite tone. "Well there has been a lot of requests for this kind of work recently and most of the jobs are done by Genin like me. i had a look around the bridge and it doesn't look too bad, i should be able to get most of the planking done on this side by noon and then you can send workers across without risk of falling through." the old man seemed to accept his answer and gave a curt nod before walking over to the group and waving them off. "Just because the bridge is out doesn't mean you don't have work to do! Sato, Riki, stay by the bridge and help the kid out a little then come find me when its safe enough to finish the work ourselves."

haru waited for the two workers to approach him. "okay i have made a quick check of the bridges condition and overall it doesnt look too bad, some  of the planks on this side are in fairly good condition so it should be safe for you to start replacing them from this side. i am going to take a few at a time and start working on the midsection where it is most damaged, as you work your way along make sure you bring a supply of planks that i can use as i cant carry them all and work on the bridge. Okay lets get started then." Haru tried to sound authoritative and in charge but it was obvious that the two workers were simply humoring him and had mixed feelings about working with the Genin. On one hand he was a kid who was't even old enough to shave but at the same time he was a genin of the hidden mist and every villager knew that the examinations were joke and that you should be careful about offending a ninja, even a young one. the lattice work of small scars on his arms, shoulders and back likely made them cautious, though the workers also had many scars it was a little unnerving to seem so many on a child.

The sunlight filtered through the mist and warmed the air and Haru could feel it sticking to his bare arms and condensing on his already wet hair. He used the chakra in his hands to cut some equal lengths of cord and used them to bundle several planks together and strapped them to his back before moving placing nails in his empty secondary weapon pouch. he set off along the bridge at a jog, running along the heavy rope supports at the sides to avoid further damaging the planks. As he arrived at the midsection he began the process of stripping the most damaged planks and replacing them though he decided to implement his training as well. Many of the nails were rusted and weak and Haru began trying to cut them with his chakra as he had done with the cords. Faint scratch marks were visible but the cuts were shallow and ineffective so haru tried a different approach. He concentrated the chakra in his hand int his index finger and compressed it into a thin blade like shape as he once again used the image training his mother had advised. A small blade like protrusion of chakra hung of his finger tip and the mist around it distorted a little as he moved it slowly through the air. He pressed the ginger onto the rusted nail and heard a short screeching noise before the metal crumbled into a fine red dust. haru repeated the process on several of the damaged planks, gaining a little more precision and control each time. haru performed the mission with efficiency and patience. He found he was unable to cut the planks even with his finger though could leave deep scores of gouged out wood.

The sun had crested and past noon by the time haru had finished with his section of the bridge and he could hear the workers approximately 10 meters away through the mist, the first few times he returned he had given them a scare unintentionally as he suddenly appeared next to them on the rope without having made a sound, after Riki nearly fell over the bridge Haru had forced himself to be loud as he approached them. "the midsection is repaired so it should be safe to travel across as long as you take it steady. Do you mind if i keep some of the damaged planks?" Sato simply grunted and shrugged his shoulders at the request and Haru returned to the old shack to retrieve his jacket before checking everything was in its proper place. He returned the spare nails and sound down on the cliff with his legs dangling over the edge. he had a small pile of thick planks for training and he begun the process of trying to cut them with his chakra. he tried making two blades on each hand but evens till it was not sharp enough to completely cut through the wood cleanly though it could rip large wholes and gouges straight through.

Haru tried combing the chakra infusion with the chakra cutting, at first he thought he had failed as there appeared to be no blue shine however he could see a faint white glow that completely cleared the mist within a few centimeters of the blade and his sensitive ears picked up a high pitched whine as he made some experimental slashes and cut large lines in the mist. He pressed the kunai onto the plank and jumped back a little in surprise as the planks middle exploded into fine sawdust cutting the plank in two pieces. he picked up another damaged plank and threw it in the air before slashing with the kunai as it drew level with his head. the plank was split neatly in two, leaving smooth edges where it had been cut, the white sheen had extended a little further out form the blade and was becoming a little more focused as he could clearly picture the kunai as a blade of wind. haru laughed a little as he slashed at the mist and listened to the high pitched humming, he threw the kunai at the rocky ground and was surprised when it buried itself entirely in a cloud of dust. he spent the next couple of minutes with another kunai carefully carving the rock around it until he could make contact with the ring and use the chakra infusion to cuts its way out. haru was amazed to find that the kunai had barely dulled and he wondered what he could do.

Haru drew out the mist singer and let the chakra flow through the weapon before focusing the the cutting edge on the kama and span the kama form the chain creating a loud screaming noise and cutting a little dirt with each rotation. A strong wind began to form and Haru could feel how potent and dangerous the Mist Singer had become as he moved over to a tree and cast the kama towards its thick trunk. The tree showed no outward sign of damage and Haru became confused until a large creaking sound emanated from the tree and a faint line began to appear before the tree collapsed into the sea and was carried away by the swift tide. haru was stunned for  a moment, partly from joy and partly from fear. Mum will kill me if she finds out about this. After testing the ability on the weighted end it became clear that this new technique was suited more for blade weapons though it still could cut and interesting made even the chain section potentially damaging. haru continued to experiment with shuriken and realized that the actually blade didn't require to make contact for the chakra to cut and he believed that this could solve the problem he had with not being able to land the shadow shuriken technique simultaneously, if he could use this chakra on the second shuriken they would both strike at the same tame though with different levels of potency.

Haru packed up his things and carried a few 30 cm by 10 cm planks back with him where he would find some kind of use in training perhaps. After collecting his reward he quickly ran home to tell his mother about what had happened that day.

[Exit]
[2379]
[Claiming 1000 Ryo]
[Claiming Wind Release: Chakra Blade 2000/2000]
[Claiming three planks of wood (2cm D, 15cm H 30 cm L)