Healing for the Hopeless [IO, NK]

Today, Kozue had been giving ministry to the incarcerated. She had come in, expecting the place to be at least somewhat clean and well-administered, but her expectations.... well, they hadn't really been met. Now, she was sitting outside after a day of strenuous work, knowing that she'd have to come back again the day after. When the day had started, she hadn't expected that she'd needed to come back, but life had a way of frightening the chickens, as her Ma had always said. At the moment, Kozue was seated on a bench outside of the prison, with a slight frown on her face, devising a plan for the next day.

Well she knew that the kage's orders had been to cure the diseased in the fields around Kumogakure, but she hadn't come up with a way to do so, yet. Whoever the previous kage was must have been some kind of prick, but she had to admit that he knew what he was doing. The diseases that he had woven into these people were a bit beyond her, but she knew that was only temporary. There were patterns and trends, just like there were with any other medical problem that she'd encountered in her lifetime.

There was a lot of pressure on her shoulders, and while she was certainly aware of it, it wasn't really affecting her like she knew it should. This could be attributed to her endless optimism and belief that as long as she tried hard enough and worked with the people around her, things would end up alright in the end, one way or the other.

Kozue opened the bag next to her and pulled out one of the objects within. Homemade burgers, made with love by herself this morning. The woman had brought some along with her to share, but it seemed that for some of the prisoners within the building, solid food was no longer an option for the time being.

"It's a damn shame, is what it is", she commented before taking a bite.

[WC 342]

Today like many days the male would always spend it among the mountains tending to the many denizens that it had held. Animals far and near shared the massive land in coexistence under one new alpha, but today was not one of those days. The male stood in the grave site of the village looking over the graves of a select few with a note in his hands, bloody and crumpled in his hands. The news he had received was less than ideal, but in his eyes was only a burning crimson in which he was unaware of. In his absence from his sister she had been killed, leaving him utterly alone in this world from his own knowledge. What time it was to lose that in which you had left in this world, the last of your own family with no one to carry on your legacy was a depressing thought. None the less, he left the letter upon his father's tombstone and smiled somewhat morbidly,"I hope you are happy now father...I am truly the last of our bloodline, unless you've stashed some unknown brother away from me,"with that he turned on his heels and left the sight, but not before resting his eyes on a certain grave.

He had yet to properly bury the man, thinking that he would return to the vessel and resume his duties yet even he knew the dead never came back. With a short sight he went back to walking and left the dead to their silence. As he walked his mind started to think upon other things, mainly the progress of one of his students. Looking up into the sky he would shake his head for a moment before feeling for the chakra source of Jiro. Normally he wouldn't do this, but he perhaps wanted the company of others to soothe his ailing heart. Upon feeling it completely the male was off in a plume of fire and lightning. Reaching his destination, he stood silently behind Jiro as his arrival wasn't exactly marked with a sound or smell. Leaning against a small tree behind the male and the unknown woman he would blink if not for a moment before announcing himself," And here I thought you would be doing some work or training Jiro. I guess everyone needs a break right," his voice was quick to pierce the silence between the three and notify them of his presence.

Kiseragi on this day was wearing his usual attire he named Shinseigumi. A rather old styled Yukata setup with only one of his swords on his hip today. Belial, the sword of fire, had been left at his abode for some reason. Almost as if his own fire was slightly wavering but that was neither here nor there. At the current moment his eyes were on Jiro though since he had noticed the young woman there and she was in the area, he gave her a small wave and would respond should she say something to him.