Don't Look a Gift Corpse in the Mouth [Dana]

Sharingan. Dana nodded with a faint smile and committed the word to memory. She had recently developed a bit of an interest in bloodlines and transplants, especially eyes after seeing Mitsu's special ones in action. A bloodline that the Lord Second deemed suitable as a gift seemed especially potent, so Dana had made sure to keep on the lookout for more of this 'Sharingan'. Wait, the Second was leaving? Who was the Third Mizukage then? Dana felt like she may have accidentally slept through a very important announcement.

She really needed to go out more.

Nonetheless, Dana's face broke out into a wider grin when she finally learned the woman's name. It was nice to receive confirmation that the first round in the Hunter tournament hadn't just been another of Dana's fever dreams. She hadn't been in many fights but an opponent simply not moving out of the way of one of her attacks wasn't something that she expected happened often. Wait, did that nurse just call Murata the Mizukage?

Dana bit down on her tongue as she swallowed the guffaw back down her throat. Dana had put the Mizukage's kidney in the wrong way as a prank, just because she was a little bit bored with how well the surgery had been going. Why did she feel like that may come back to bite her in the arse sometime in the future? Oh well, at least it was funny at the moment. She'd totally tell all her friends the Mizukage had a backwards kidney whilst she still had a tongue, or whatever kage's did to people who did them wrong. Did Dana have an archaic view of the world? Maybe.

Dana's mind blanked at the Mizukage's question about who Dana was. The question was a hard one to answer since Dana didn't really know who exactly she was. "Ummm, I like to draw and mess with people. Oh! I like to hang out with my friends as well." She nodded. That was definitely a good summary of her entire life.

WC: 346
TWC: 1609

Murata sits up as soon as the nurse leaves the room. She feels perfectly fine! Those of the medical profession tend to underestimate the power of ninjutsu.

Dana's answer is fun. It's perhaps a little bit childish, but it strikes Murata as more interesting than concerning. The information she wants she can acquire with more specific questions once they've built a decent rapport. Anyways, Dana has built up a solid mission record and has not murdered her at the operating table, so she's doing quite well for her career thus far. Much like Saya, all she needs is a quick once-over to ensure that a promotion won't get somebody killed and Murata will be ready to give her the cool vest.

"What do you draw?" she asks, expression curious under the bandages.

132
TWC 912

Dana didn't even blink when the Mizukage sat up despite instructions from the nurse to do otherwise, having the utmost faith in Mystical Palm to have sorted out any potential dangers from the transplant. In Dana's opinion, the bandages were also complete overkill but, in a rather uncharacteristic bout of silence, Dana had said nothing when the hospital staff had applied them.

She perked up at the Mizukage's question, no one ever asked her about her art! Granted, she never actually told anyone that art was one of her favorite pastimes so there may be a bit of a correlation there. Dana didn't dwell on it though. "Oh! All kinds of things. I like to draw interesting-looking things and people I sometimes see from my window. The ocean as well!" She'd found herself leaning forward slightly in her chair whilst she spoke, far enough forward that she was in slight danger of falling off. She leaned back and continued, "Umm, I've been working on painting a gift for my friend Saya as well." She said with a slightly abashed tone. Something about getting excited about your passions in front of people was a little embarrassing, though Dana didn't have the faintest clue why.

This was quickly becoming a one-sided conversation which simply would not do! Dana was no expert conversationalist but she was pretty sure that having one person ask all the questions wasn't the best way to build a rapport with someone. Hmm, how did one talk to the Mizukage? Dana didn't want to get punished for making a social faux pas before she had the chance to tell her friends about her prank on the kage after all. Oh well, she'd just have to wing it.

"What do ye do? Fer fun." She asked with a small smile, leaning forward to rest her chin on her palm. Talking to Murata was quite different to talking to Saya - a lot less chaos, for one - but Dana was enjoying it nonetheless.

WC: 330
TWC: 1949

Murata brings her hands together, delighted. "I'd love to see your work sometime!" she says, gesturing to her bandaged eyes. "When I... you know." 

She pulls her legs up to sit cross-legged, investigating the chakra around her while the distraction of her vision is absent. Will the world look different when she takes these bandages off? It'd be alright if it did. It still feels the same. Her own chakra is still the same despite the two foreign presences now mingling with it. There's still a little bit of her two donors with her, but not enough that she can read anything from it, which had been one of her major concerns - particularly with Carrow's. Would pecking at the organs of the deceased invite ghosts?

"You're friends with Saya? I met her the other day. She's very exuberant."

At Dana's question, Murata hums in thought. "I like to people-watch as well. I read a lot. I like to know things. About people, and the world, you know?" she says. "That's what got me into this mess."

176
TWC 1088

"Oh, ye can probably see now if ye wanted," Dana said flippantly, addressing the woman's recently transplanted eyes. "The doctors are just super paranoid but Mystical Palm probably sorted ye out just fine."

Dana was like 99% sure that she was correct about Mystical Palm sorting out any potential complications, so maybe it wasn't a good idea to be telling the Mizukage everything was fine. If she ended up ruining the village leader's eyes she definitely would be in heaps of trouble. Truth be told, Dana was just a little bit excited to get to show her art to someone who seemed genuinely interested. This sure was turning out to be an interesting day! She did her first ever surgery on the Mizukage of all people, and now she was making a new friend! This was great.

"That she is," Dana agreed with a light giggle. 'Exuberant' was definitely putting it lightly when it came to Dana's fellow Senju friend. She still recalled their first meeting - where they nearly demolished the entire training facility - with a fond smile on her face.

"People watching is grand! So is reading!" Dana piped up excitedly, standing up in her chair for a brief second amidst her excitement. She felt like she'd really met a kindred spirit here today. As much as Dana wanted to talk to the woman for hours about their favorite books, Dana held back the urge because now didn't feel like the time. Once again, Dana's smile took on a slightly cheeky edge as she contemplated her next question, though she quickly suppressed it.

"How are ye feeling? Organs all feel in the right place, I hope?" Dana asked, somehow managing to keep herself from chuckling at the irony - was it irony? Dana wasn't sure - of her question.

WC: 300
TWC: 2249

Murata quirks her head at Dana's assurances, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Alright, but if the nurses shout at me, I'm telling them it was your idea," she says. Murata reaches up to tug down the bandages, and squints into the light. Herself and Zack both have (or... had) dark eyes, so it's very difficult to tell the difference.

"Everything feels normal," she says, quickly adjusting. "Are my eyes red?"

At Dana's question as to whether her organs are in the right place, she hums to herself, patting over her torso... and gives Dana a pleasant shrug.

"What do you think your future looks like, Dana? Your career as a shinobi?"

115
TWC 1203

Dana leaned forward to get a better look at the woman's now uncovered eyes. They looked... Normal, Dana supposed. Were it not for performing the transplant herself, Dana would likely never have been able to tell the difference. "Nope! They look fine!" Dana said with a grin and a thumbs-up. She sat back down properly in the chair and crossed her legs underneath her, feeling quite proud of herself. Eye transplants couldn't be easy and she had managed to pull it off without a hitch, after all.

At Murata's question, Dana tilted her head and began to fiddle with her ponytail in thought. Her motivations and plans for becoming a shinobi had recently changed somewhat with her meeting and befriending new people, "Originally I just did it because I was curious," Dana admitted honestly, "I wanted to figure out answers to some of my questions about the world."

Dana paused for a moment as the grin on her face briefly became much more sincere and sentimental, "Now... I just want to keep the people I care about out of trouble. That's it really." Dana scratched her cheek sheepishly and shrugged, unsure of what more to say.

WC: 200
TWC: 2449

Murata studies Dana, her fae features, sharp jaw and pale hair. Long legs crossing, that funny accent that makes Murata feel a little less alone in her manner of speaking. Ah... no, she can't go around thinking that her subordinates are pretty, that would be strange, wouldn't it? Ban is her subordinate now, too, but that's... different?

Murata chews on her tongue anxiously, thrown for the moment out of her fancied role as leader and back to the reality of being a lonely young woman in way over her head. She runs her hand through her hair. Dana's story sounds a lot like hers.

"Your questions about the world?" she asks, curious to hear from another perspective what curiosities becoming a shinobi could sate.

124
TWC 1327

Dana caught the slight hesitation from the Mizukage, and for a brief moment, the face of the usually aloof Senju seemed to take on the ghost of a knowing smirk. And then it was gone. A mere flicker; so fast that one could be excused to believe it a figment of their imagination. After all, what could the clueless Dana possibly know about such things? She shifted in her seat at Murata's question with the same slightly playful grin that had been present on her face for most of their conversation

"The limits and hidden depths of chakra, the cause of the Fae's betrayal," Dana listed, smile mysterious.

WC: 108
TWC: 2557

Murata's new eyes widen in curiosity. "You can't just say 'the fae's betrayal' and not elaborate," she says, amused at Dana's mystery. The context provides... something of a clue. There are as many explanations as to the nature of Chakra out there as there are users of it, though so far, most of the shinobi Murata have met have either been on roughly the same page or simply have not cared all that much.

Though slightly less of immediate interest than the mention of fairies, the hidden depths of chakra is also a field of immense interest to Murata. Of course, her faith provides her a firm explanation of her own, though of course it cannot encompass all truths. It would be a betrayal of Ninshu's core principles to assume a universal truth. "You're going to have to fill me in."

141
TWC 1468