Can we break it? [Makoto]

Building Blowup:

YaYa's Teppanyaki famous for the heat of its grills...and also the frequent fires that had plagued it since its start. There was a running bet of how many it would take before he gives up and shuts the place down but the stubborn old man wouldn't have any of it. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly for the economically awarez he was forced to close down regardless due to the rising operational costs . Now moving on to raw seafood, the issue of demolition of YaYa's was still present.


The building had to be safely demolished, the space had to be clear, and everything set for new construction, and while that was simple on paper the sheer amount of labor required would be an ordeal. Not to mention a few of the boys were out with sickness or visiting family or some other things. Though like many problems the solution was apparent as always. If they didn't have any normal staff, they just needed a temporary and who were perfect to fill in as temporary construction crew members?


Shinobi of course.

So the mission was made and assigned, and now Yuri and a friend were meant to come out here and help in the demolition efforts. This time opting for a baggy jacket on the cloudy day, approaching the site to meet with the foreman and report in. All that was left for now was to lay around a bit as she waits for the other to show up. If they didn't show up though it meant more work but they had to start soon anyways. Yuri was kind of missing the dogs though, that mission was the best, if she wasn't a ninja she'd want to be a dog trainer.


Left with idle thoughts to entertain her as she waits for the other person to show up.




WC: 304

Dressed in a long white shirt and a long dark red skirt- for once not in even more formal wear- Makoto takes a bit longer to arrive. This building was not one she'd ever been to before, since it'd always been closed down due to fire damage whenever she wanted to try. Really, she supposed she needn't have tried in the first place- can a food place even be good if it serves more flames than actual food? Really... some people were just not meant to work in the service industry. Or at least own anything in it. Or at least take a fire safety course? Her mind is a bit more busy considering if she dressed too nicely for this. Or, worse, dressed in a way that might show her God moving under her skin- the shirt wasn't that tight, was it? She pats herself down, momentarily disturbed by the thought.

It would have to do. She waves at Yuri as she arrives, bringing up the bag she was carrying on her shoulder.

"Hey! Sorry for the delay. I brought some food for after..."

She'd actually made it herself. Not like she often got the chance to cook, so she'd wanted to enjoy it a little.

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"Oh Makoto." By the time she'd gotten here the foreman had already left. A pair of sledgehammers was resting by Yuri as she sat watching a the burly figures get ready for work. Scratching behind her ear she slides out of the chair inside the tent and grabs the pair of sledge's, walking over to Makoto.


"It shouldn't be too much but the guy wants us to handle smashing up the roof so they can start tearing up the walls. All the water and stuff has been dealt with so piping and whatever isn't an issue, once everything is time up we can get to the rest of it. You can put up your stuff and join me on the roof when you're ready."

With her classic lazy stroll Yuri heads of to the teppanyaki. Walking right towards one of the walls before turning up ninety degrees and going right up the wall. It was probably just a way to get a little cheaper with scaffolding by hiring ninja, she had to wonder if the savings were really worth it but work was work, even if she was getting a bit of dissonance doing this. At the top of the roof, standing on the red sloped tiles the view was marginally better, striking her with a faint impulse to start running across the rooftops.


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"Sure thing... Smashing things for a break might be fun." Makoto smiles wide, gently and slowly cracking her fingers. It'll be nice to get a proper workout!

"You're getting worked up too, huh? Going to show off, is that it?" Her god teases, causing her to snicker, trying to cover it up with a hand as she puts her stuff aside and grabs a hammer with one hand, slinging it over her shoulder. In a way, it makes her feel like an oni of some sort. She climbs up the walls with a leisure pace, gently tapping with the sledgehammer as she hums, hopping over the windows and taking a glance at all the fire damage, curious. Everything on the inside has been emptied out, so she can't even get a clear picture of what it used to look like.

"...Well, all the training has to pay off at some point, even if it's just for this."

Once they're both on top of the roof, Makoto begins stretching, takes a few deep breaths, and looks over to Yuri.

"You ready for this? You might want to stand a bit away. I hope I don't hit it too hard..."


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"...Alright." Yuri turns on her heel and heads back to the edge of the roof. She already had a feeling she knew what Makoto was gonna do, and she felt she didn't need the sledgehammers at this point, which made carrying both of them kind of a flip on her part. Nothing to do about it though. "So I have a question actually. You mentioned some mission you were on that was nothing like this stuff? Mind if I ask what it was?"

Maybe it was just a bit of optimism but her mind was imagining more action and amazement instead of tragedy, a real iconic fight between Shinobi. Though Makoto was the same rank as her so maybe she was getting her hopes up a bit too high. Still she was curious, waving off one of the crew wondering why Yuri was just standing and doing nothing. They yell at her to get in gear before she just waves them off.


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Makoto readies her hammer with a grin, drawing it back. There is an unspoken tension in the air as she, for the moment, dodges the question to do something that feels nice. Like she's unloading something pent up and thinking of unpleasant people as she grips the hammer and brings it down.

It thunders as it strikes the roof like if someone had fired a cannonball at it, sending dust everywhere in one comically large plume. There's the sound of coughing from inside as Makoto tries to shoo it away ineffectually, walking away from the rather large crack.

"That mission... Well, I'm not actually supposed to talk about it with anybody, but I guess there's no harm, since we're both ninja..." She tries to dust herself off, to no avail. "One of the missions me and another Genin did was... intimidation. You know, since civilian families put their children in the Academy and then, well. And then there's concerns."

She leans on the sledgehammer, lowering her voice as she looks back over her work. "It was just very unpleasant."

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"Oh." An awkwardness filled the air. Yuri was entirely unaware of it though, grabbing the sledge as she starts chipping away at the remnants of the roof. The gentle ring of breaking tiles was a pleasing destruction to the ears as she starts working on the edges. She still wasn't paying the construction workers much mind as they all look at the cloud of dust rising up from the roof, before the foreman forces them back to work.


Scaffolding was being set up now for the rest of the burly men to start tearing up the walls top to bottom. Ripping apart piping and wiring, like shredding apart someone's skeleton and nervous system to take apart their remains. Others were hauling out the pieces of debris and loading them up by cart to be taken off. "It makes sense, I don't agree with having to threaten people though, I don't think I could just do that." She wasn't judging Makoto, more just stating her feeling.

She couldn't help doubting her own statement though, there was still that feeling that something was missing. She knew what it was, she just didn't want to acknowledge it yet. "Is that something all of us have to do or did they pick you out for a reason." It took her a moment to realize she may have been acting rude.


"Oh you don't have to answer if you don't want to."




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"You'd be surprised, you know? The things people will do if they're given the order to, and if it's for a cause they can't deny." She quietly replies, hammering away on her side. "I think they didn't pick me for any particular reason... unless..."

She pauses, deep in thought, quietly whispering to herself and waiting, as if someone was replying. Makoto nods gravely, raising her voice a bit. "It could be because my clan has a reputation for disliking conflict. It could be some way of scaring me into compliance, perhaps. It's likely nothing so sinister, though, and I just had bad luck with a first mission." Hefting the hammer over her shoulder, she turns around. "I hope you don't have to do it! It's... hm. Well, I already said it was unpleasant... Have you actually put any thought to it? To what being a shinobi means, I suppose."

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"What it means to be a shinobi..." It was one of those hardball questions, like what the meaning of life was, or what is good really. There was the proper, formal answer. In a way that was true. "As a shinobi of Kirigakure it's our job to work to better the village under the service of the Kage." That was the proper answer, and it was obvious she didn't have that much heart in it. It wasn't that. "Though I guess while I kinda get it, while we have things we have to do as shinobi, we also have things we have to do as people, so I don't think I can give up the latter for the former. Isn't that the kind of history we're trying to move away from?'

She hefts the sledgehammer over her shoulder and drops down on to one of the empty scaffoldings, winding up for a swing before slamming it into the wooden wall. The crack of splintering wood giving a break to the slight silence as she orders the words in her head. "It's impossible to do only the right things of course, being shinobi can be rough I hear. Though ultimately it's people who become shinobi, so if you stop being a person are you really a shinobi anymore?"

Okay, maybe she was trying too hard to be deep, or reach the core of her own thoughts, it was getting abstract for her.  Shrugging as she looks at Makoto. The walls were slowly being torn down further and further. The debris colliding with the ground like dust rain, and the roofing turning to shambles. It felt odd putting a building to rest like this, but cathartic too.



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Makoto smiles. It was a honest enough answer, she thought. Maybe a bit too long winded, but she supposed it would be unfair to ask someone who just became a ninja such a complicated question. Smashing a good chumk of the roof to dust, she lets out a sigh, wiping some sweat from her brow. Not that much more to do, was there?

"Being a Shinobi... Means staining your hands with filth so other people can live clean lives. That's how my clan sees it. So you'll do all sorts of unpleasant things, because it'll protect the people you care about." Leaning on the hammer, she looks up at Yuri. "Living with it, and pushing forwards... I've been trying to come to terms with it. I know it'll all be fine, in the end. But I still fear I'm going to freeze up, you know? When it comes time to do something like that."

She hums, looking out over the village. "I didn't really know anybody here while I was at the Academy, so it was hard to think of protecting them. Now... I feel a little more capable."

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