The Chronicles of..

Da Mission Chronicles:

Harune stands now at the foot of a crooked slope, where a jagged, meandering pathway leads her to the end of her pilgrimage. The destination ahead is the bounty of a couple hours' pursuit. Her desperation pressed him into the depths, to unearth anything that might shed light upon the fabled master who had once presided over the residents of this area. For grounds so long untouched and dilapidated by time, it doesn't appear as though even the surrounding elements of the woods themselves dare to reclaim it. Harune’s treks up the winding, craggy terrain, passing beneath each of the vermillion gates that frame the way. It's as though the curse of this place has even corrupted the only symbols of anything remotely divine present here, the painted facades of these lintels and their posts well weathered and worn. Likely by generations of neglect, if what the local tales he's been talking about are true. Forsaken by man, nature, and the gods, it would seem.

However, her journey was not based on fables of the land but in reports from scouts from the village. Strange incidents of cannibalistic attacks in the northern forest, which left less than a handful dead. Suspicion rose rampant through the streets of the north pole, whispers of the cult being active again had many speculating those were the culprits behind the attacks. Now, this is where Harune was included. While she was asked to investigate the occurrence, she was more intrigued learning about the history of the forsaken place.

The entire structure's facade appears to tower before her once she finds herself standing at its final gate. She takes in the lengths of the perimeter walls and the height of the elegantly sloped roof—its angled corners still ornately lined by the indiscernible, votive guardian figures perched like sentries overlooking this barren passage. The marvel inspired by the majesty of these grounds makes it appear more like a temple that had once housed spirits than a domicile that quartered mere humans.

She spots remnants of scorching along these exterior walls—hardly burned down, as the words of one of her many guides had claimed. Though the evidence of deliberate abuse and vandalism inflicted here is clear. What manner of violence must have befallen such a place; she can only wonder at. As she idles upon her awe and enthrallment, the sudden, violent gust of the chilling winds tosses the ends of his hair, the hood of his woolen outer cloak, and her cloak worn beneath it. She feels the touch of winter upon her face. Its sharp breath now threatens to plunge even deeper beneath her skin, cutting through to her bones.

The snow had not fallen again for nearly a week until now, as she felt its gossamer kiss in brushes against every inch of her flesh exposed to the elements. Harune had hoped it wouldn't come for at least several more days. But she peers down at the trail of tiny tracks left in the powdered white behind her, leading back down the pathway. Then up and towards the blurred, gray horizon just above the tree line. The clouds that had lingered at what seemed to be a safe distance there have all now caught up with him. Even among the swiftest as he'd been of all earthbound beings, this small, frail creature wouldn't outrun the very breath of the heavens.

'Perhaps, though, this served to be an omen from the gods themselves. Fool. Tread no further. Turn back, child. This place is not meant for mortals like you.' Harune thought. They had only cast their gale winds down on her once she'd set foot upon these grounds. But as ever, even a warning from the gods proves difficult to interpret. What he needs now is shelter from it. 

Yes—she must press on. Pass the threshold. Step forward into the shadows. Harune passes over the few stone steps that lead beneath the crumbling wooden signboard fixed overhead at the center of the roof's edge. He can almost make out the eroded characters.

'Eternal...' is all she can recognize from its faded letters. This first set of doors are heavy and hinged. She pushes through them and shuts them behind her as she slips inside, pulling down their latch for good measure against the gaining winds. Immediately, she notes the depth of just how insanely warm this place is. Even though the tales reported no one has lived here for centuries, someone must have been keeping it warm. Especially, since it is located in such a frigid area. However, these wooden walls are so far cursed that they look like they have lost any capability of protection against the elements beyond them. The air hangs like a thick shroud. Like the unassuming passage of phantoms. Like death. She can't help the barest flutter of his heart as this stale air sinks to the very pit of his lungs and warms her body. This makes her grateful for the light of day still luminous through the glass of the stained windows, however subdued.

And it strikes her, then, how odd this is. How odd everything about this place is. A century of neglect, and its stained-glass windows remain intact. Yet the burn scars left behind by the fire of decades past are left unamended. There are no cobwebs about. No rot, no ruin. A bit of dust, though, perhaps. There aren't signs of any upkeep. But so, too, are there no signs of decay. In this first hall and the few initial alcoves, he silently breezes through, there are hardly any assets to be seen. No furniture, other than perhaps a table or two. Not a single decor in sight gives any indication of human habitation. And he doubts the lack of such things is due to plunderers. Rarely do their likes leave a place so pristine in their wake.

Harune notes the eccentricity of this space. It isn't that it simply feels otherworldly, but it looks just as unfamiliar. In ways that stepping through the world of one's dreams might feel. Or as one's mind envisions the fantasies projected through the words of any storybook or spoken tale. The devil lurking in the details. But there is nothing as fantastical as such here. Nothing so wondrous in its enchantment. Harune feels the tightening grip of the air amidst the cavernous emptiness. The sheer absence of life. 
               
The tall, rounded beams of this main hall reach so high above as his eyes follow them upward toward the ceiling. It is too dim to discern, but he glimpses the geometric silhouette of some decorative latticing carved into the woodwork overhead. Harune traces their crisscrosses in her sights as he paces along, forward and back down the walls to then scan the perimeter. Observing more extensive fire damage to the right, she drifts instead across the stone-tiled steps the opposite way, proceeding on through the corridor at the hall's end.

Only her footsteps faintly echo down this walkway does she note that the masonry beneath them seem to expand throughout these grounds. There is no wood flooring, no tatami panels. She rounds the corner at its end to a wider hall lined with smaller rooms. Pushing aside the apartment doors in her cursory inspection, she finds even this deep within the interior, there are only some sparsely laid carpets over more stone flooring. It isn't any wonder why this place is as warm as it is, she reasons. But she isn't sure if these are signs of just how antiquated her surroundings are, or if they are the out-of-place elements of odd, perhaps even foreign touches.

The stillness calls her eyes beyond just what lies ahead, inviting them to rove around and above as well. There is a worn grandeur to these halls. Though empty of furnishings, she sees traces of painted moldings along the decorated wooden framework all around. The doors, too, are rather strange. They are narrow and mostly wooden, folded on hinges along their tracks rather. The rows of doors and wall paneling to her left all bear intricate motifs of tessellated knotted medallions that continue, repeated along the lintel beams overhead, and mirrored again in the frames of the window screens that line the corridor to her right.

There is a beauty to this kaleidoscope of patterns woven into the architecture that might even project an illusion of tranquility. But the woodwork that separates him from the battering wind and snow of the open air beyond begins to rattle, and he is swiftly pulled back from this fleeting calm. Harune walks this route until it reaches its end. There are two exterior doorways that appear to lead out of the wing at this corner. It's difficult to see through the translucent window panels, but those along the shorter wall in front of her are darkened by the cover of tall, enshrouding shadows—likely those cast by the obstructing walls of this place. The windows to her right that border the length of the corridor are all evenly lit by the dimming light of the day, and she concludes that there has to be an open court on the other side.

Drawing a deep breath, she places her hand on the door and braces herself for the trumpeting blast of the natural air once she slides it open. Even prepared, its sudden burst doesn't fail to knock the lesser wind from her own lungs in its merciless rush. If she recalls her knowledge, the main entrance of this mansion faces north, and she has just emerged from the eastern wing. Directly across the expansive courtyard, past the covered, labyrinthine breezeway paths, is the western wing, nearly identical in its facade to the building he has just explored. In all four cardinal directions are structures much like the main hall at the entrance. They all uniformly bear the same ornate, sloping roofs and the extravagant knotted tessellated motifs that line the halls inside and out.

What beckons her curiosity, however, even amidst the chilling outdoor veil, is the detached building at the center of this courtyard. It is noticeably different from the rest of this complex. The only part of it that resembles something even remotely familiar in aesthetic. Quite bizarre and seemingly discordant with its surrounding confines. The covered breezeway she has stepped out into allows him only a glimpse of its exterior at eye level, so he ventures off the paved path and onto the open grounds toward its broader, north-facing entrance. As she circles this pavilion, its construction reveals itself to be rather domestic in appearance. Like a private sanctum around which this entire sanctuary has been designed and built.

Harune tugs her cloak even tighter as she ascends the paved steps to the raised porch of the pavilion. It may have appeared domestic, but it is by no means humble or plebeian. Its roof stands just as high as that of the hall at the entrance, possibly even boasting an entirely separate upper level. The stone walls before her appear simpler by design, and when she tries for the entrance, the wide doors here open. She wastes no time in crossing the threshold and shutting its doors again behind him. Scraping out any shred of warmth to be had, she breathes into her hands. What he sees next in this hall brings his attention to a standstill.

The constant aura of this entire mansion has only thickened with each passing second and step she has ventured, seeming to coalesce within this very heart of these grounds. It isn't the threat of danger or the sinking dread that has become familiar enough to her senses from her years of training. No, quite different rather. More like the inscrutable enigma of what is unknown. The immutable prospect of that which remains unseen. An almost prescient intuition. One that makes it impossible to go anywhere other than forward.

The natural light only wanes with the passing hour as the sun continues to drag across the sky above the cloud cover. She wants to make haste, but she must remain diligent and circumspect as she wanders on. This pavilion hall is mostly vacant, but hardly as empty as any of the spaces she has passed through until now. The floorboards beneath her feet are deathly silent. A peculiar sign for a place so old. She follows the outlined path between the rows of long banners hanging from the rafters, too faded and worn to read anymore, toward the center of the hall. Treading within such a vast space, his ears then catch the sudden, merest, crackling noise.

Below?

Down at the floorboards, she lifts her foot delicately away. It was not the sound of the wood, but something else beneath her boot, its feeling nearly imperceptible if not for his sensitivities.  She spots the papery shreds crumbling beneath his weight. It's hardly even recognizable anymore, so he lowers himself for a better glimpse. The thing practically dissolves to the touch as she picks up its remnants. Giving it a gentle brush between his fingers, what remains of it falls to pieces in his palm.

Her hands know this feeling innately. The sensation is practically memorized in them. She has handled such things countless times throughout her life. 

Dried flowers...

Harune blows the bits of pistil and petals away as she rises back to her feet. It is then that she sees the faint dappling of silhouettes scattered across the floor of the hall. A sparse trail of them strewn about, leading ahead, where his eyes trace over what looks to be some sort of altar. At its foot are droves of them in fallen, disheveled piles. The sight invokes such purity from her sentiments. But with it, she feels an inexplicable sense of terror as well. The dead vestiges of such things so beautiful and hallowed in essence, found at the heart of these unsanctified grounds. She might have even been moved to prayer at that moment. If there had been any gods, she truly believed in to offer them to.

The altar lies as the centerpiece of this hall, and it—the very focal point of this entire complex itself. Yet there are no votives, no vessels or relics of any kind to be seen, possibly lost or even stolen over the decades; this place must have been left abandoned. Harune paces over for a closer look. There is a single chair at its base. Its cushion bears the neglect of a century's time. She runs her hand delicately over its silken remains, and she can still feel the brocaded pattern woven in its fibers. But upon the sudden remembrance of what this place once was, she retracts her hand as though it'd glanced over an open flame. She cannot forget what unholy manner of being has surely graced this perch in its once sumptuous past. Quickly, she moves on.

Behind this seat and its altar stands a beautiful byōbu, crafted with six wide panels. She glimpses its still polished surface, bright and untarnished—true gold leaf. Doubtless in its rarity and preciousness, it is a testament to the antiquity of her surroundings. Upon closer inspection, she sees in even greater detail its true brilliance. Painted against the gilded faces of the panels is the mural of a pond. From its placid waters are stalks of lotuses climbing high in both buds and full blooms. A vignette of divine paradise itself in all its serene grace.

The pervading, consecrated symmetry embodied in this place is only further echoed within this hall, where two paths lie before him yet again. She thinks, then, to do as he had before and begin to leave. More rooms line this corridor, and they appear more substantial than the humble apartments of the surrounding complex. Harune paces toward the nearest set of doors and pushes them open. What discovery revealed behind them only renders her in near disbelief as she lingers just beyond the threshold. A mere entryway of timber, more than a century old, entirely unobstructed, separates him and the rows of books and texts lining the walls and free-standing shelves within this chamber.

This—this is what she has been in search of.  Here lie the artifacts of the cult's existence. If there are any traces of them left on this earth, they would be found here. She has resolved to uncover anything in reach, anything in sight, if it would bring her even a footfall closer to finding out the truth. Standing at the center of this room, she peers all around to see that there is hardly any trace of light trickling through. It's getting too late in the day. The roar of the wind tearing across the roofs high above remind him also of the thickening shroud of clouds casting out the sun's radiance. From the conditions he's gleaned, they will only worsen as nightfall approaches.

Perhaps...she could wait out the rest of the day until the height of the morning brings the light back. Spend the remaining time in search for fuel to ignite one of the hearths lying around throughout this complex. No, she can't wait. The sooner she delves into this reservoir, the sooner she can leave these miserable ruins. She doesn't want to spend a minute longer here than necessary. But then the matter of the light...the damned light.

She is so close. The knowledge is just within reach. She has entered it from the main hall, so her eyes steer toward the wall opposite of the entryway. The calmness of these walls indicate they must be interior walls, but just beyond them are likely those of the building's perimeter. If he can manage to open them up a bit, it might just allow more exterior light to filter through.

Brushing her hand along the wall there, he searches half-blindly for any manner of doorknob. Her fingers trace the outline of what feels like a knob, and she proceeds to open it. Beyond it is the narrow outer corridor, and the heavier exterior siding that lines it. There is a gentle hum of pale light seeping through these windows. Drawn to it, she steps forward into the hallway, hand outstretched, ignoring the chill as she places her palm over the wooden frames. She glances over her shoulder to see that the chamber behind her remains in its darkness. Still not enough to illuminate the room. The light is too diffuse. She then peers at the dark outline of her hand against the soft, cool glow. Plucking it away from the frigid surface, she opens her palm beneath it as though to catch the fading trickle of its glimmer. A thought then—perhaps if he could bring the texts here by the windows. She smiles. This could work.

So fixated on her findings, the delicate padding of faintly approaching steps fails to register with her senses until the very last of its footfalls. Her breath halts once she detects its wafting presence in the air. A groan obliterated the silence, the sudden voice jolted her body. She whips herself around with such violence, her vision nearly spins as he reels backward into the stone walls behind her.

A creature, one that seems to have gone through the stages of rigor mortis, has appeared before him like a shadow.

"H-hello?" Harune stuttered as this creature continued its footwork towards her. No response except a low groan came from it. Backing up, Harune felt her spine press up against the cool stone of the wall. This creature was humanoid, but its gray skin and white eyes looked like something out of a horror story. Pieces of its face were missing and the clothes that it wore were ruined.

"Stay back!" Harune shouted but the creature insisted on doing the opposite of what the blonde said. The Shokku felt sweat beads forming on her forehead as the creature got arm's length away at Harune. With a low jolt forward, the creature tried to latch onto her. Ducking down and rolling to the side, Harune effortlessly dodged the creature's grapple as she once stood behind her. Looking around to find something to defend herself, her perception paid off when she saw a silvery kunai laid on one of the tables near her. Quickly grabbing it, she shouted. "Stay back or else!"

The creature had no intention of listening as it slowly turned around and began its movements towards the young Shokku once again. She felt her teeth grit as her knuckles turned white from the pressure she exuded onto the handle of the kunai. Taking a stance as the creature near her, she drove the weapon straight into the creature's heart. This kill strike would've floored any human, but this thing was obviously not human as it began to chomp down at Harune's face. Using the knife as leverage, she placed her arm on the creature's shoulder and tried shoving it off her. It was a struggle as the creature's strength was significant enough to continue to force itself onto Harune.

"What the fuck!" Harune felt the creature's bite nearing her face. It was clear that the creature felt no pain, and a wound to the heart could not kill it. Giving a quick shove, Harune removed the knife from its chest and then immediately plunged its blade into the temple of the assailant. A mild groan, the creature's body went limp and fell to the floor. What was this thing? A crackle and a blitz, light came to Harune in the form of electricity. This place had working lights this entire time and he didn't notice? What was this place? What is really going on? Questions began to form into her mind, not knowing the nightmare she had walked himself into.


Silence was both a good and bad thing as far as Harune grew to learn. It meant that, as far as her hearing went at least, there weren't any of those things, those creatures anywhere near her. Their unorganized and undirected shuffling usually gave them away.

But the silence also meant that she could hear every little creak of the floorboards underneath him. It meant that she could hear the fluttering of moths as they bounced against the windows outside- desperate for the light on the inside. And how Harune wished she would've known that light didn't always mean safety. The subtle rolling of the roaring winds in the distance caused her skin to pull tight as the sound echoed down empty hallways, mimicking footsteps behind her, always making her look over her shoulder. 

Right now, it just felt like the storm was residing on her shoulders, always watching, always listening. Rolling beads of cold sweat down the back of her neck. Harune's heart was still going hard inside of her chest as she paced the tight corridor once more, the third time in the past half-hour. She stepped carefully over the bodies of the already disposed-of creatures from before, fighting the fear that one of them would spring to life again and snag her leg - fighting the fear that it would sink its teeth into her just as it had tried the first time.

For now, however, they were still and rotting. Filling the tight corridor with a putrid smell that she tried not to breathe in. It was still quiet. It would seem she had cleared at least one wing of this cursed mansion...for now anyway. Just for now. Swallowing hard, Harune took the next corner with calculated sharpness, leading with her kunai and following through with her eyes and body. Nothing but antique furniture and scratched out paintings on the wall caught her attention. As much as she wanted to lock herself into a room and hunker down for a few hours, praying maybe that some form of back-up would arrive, Harune knew she had to be better than that. She had to be stronger than that. She had to keep moving; he had to keep fighting for a way out of here.

Breathing out slowly, Harune finished yet another walk of the eastern stairwell and felt some bit of comfort in knowing that it was secured. In knowing that it was safe for the time being, that it was a place he could retreat to if needed be. As he had several times already. Shaking off his nerves, he reached for the formerly locked emblem door on her left and knocked twice before she pushed it open; she was already used to the heavy scent of sawdust and musk that lingered in the attic stairwell, she didn't so much as choke on it this time.

"Hello?" a quiet voice called out in question. Harune was alerted to this voice, it was refreshing and also disturbing to hear. Closing on the source, she was met with two individuals that were seated on the floor. Two scouts from the village that seemingly disappeared. Harune would go on to learn their names, the small female was Hikari and the male was Anji. Hikari was a young medic from the village sent out to help as backup for the other scouts that were sent; apparently, both of them also got trapped in here from the bustling storm.

Hikari had moved from a kneeling position to a sitting one, which was no doubt more comfortable on her knees and hips given how long she had been rooted here. Her back was against the wall, allowing her to keep her legs stretched out in front of her, which also allowed her to support her injured teammate. Anji, looking pale and feverish, had his head resting in Hikari's lap. There was no raspy breathing or painful heaving, so the minor elevation was maybe helping the man breathe a little easier; maybe it was pooling the liquid out of his chest and lungs. He was poisoned by something that both of them were unaware of.

The young medic looked relieved to see her and offered a tired smile at his return.

Harune had to give the girl props for holding her own for so long and for keeping herself together despite the terrible situation they were in. They both have been here for a few days before the arrival of Harune. From the moment Harune had walked in on her trying to tend to Anji, who had been freshly bit and was convulsing from the poison coursing through his blood, she had been and still was in control. Hikari had insisted on not leaving Anji alone and had been quick to instruct Harune on where to go and what to look for in the medical cabinet in the western corridor. And Harune had hauled ass through the desolate, infected mansion in order to grab the serum and get back to Anji in time.

Harune stepped around the two scouts before she moved to kneel down in front of them. From what she could see, Anji was looking much better than he was before. His skin was still flushed red and feverish though, and there were still visible beads of sweat rolling down his brow. His injured arm had been loosely wrapped up, although the bandage was already showing signs of blood spotting through it; Anji had the arm protectively pulled over his chest, his hand just barely curled into a loose fist.

The swelling was down though. He was breathing, he wasn't convulsing. He was still alive. The sight of the man like this was painful though. There was no smiling, no laughing. Only labored breathing and the occasional cough that sparked blood across his cracked lips.

"How's he doing?" Harune asked, keeping her voice low despite the would-be isolation they had for the moment. It was easier to keep the fear out of her voice when it was low though- easier to hide her nerves and her inability to do anything around here. It felt like the only thing she had done in this situation was run and get the serum, which was by no means just any other feat. But she wasn't the one who used it.

Hikari was just a fresh medic from the village and yet she had administered the antidote without hesitation; she had managed to keep Anji calm throughout the entire process without seeming panicked and scared herself. And even when Anji had passed out from the pain and exhaustion, she kept her head straight and went to work tending to his injuries.

Harune had used the excuse of stepping out to check on the adjacent area to avoid admitting that he might've gotten squeamish at the scene. The puncture wound on her arm was no joke either. The infected limb had been so swollen and bruised that it hardly looked much like a human arm to begin with. Every vein was enlarged and inflamed, pushing up against his skin, bulging and near popping out. The entire arm had been shaking involuntarily, convulsing so hard that the man's fingers had bloodied themselves on the wooden floorboards, cracking his fingernails up to his nail beds and snapping some of them off entirely.

Hikari ended up having to hold Anji's arm down to prevent further damage. Then...she just cut right into the snake bite, rupturing the pocket of poison that had gathered underneath the skin, which then allowed her to drain it. Of course, there was a lot of blood and pus that came out with it too. Blood and guts Harune could deal with, the gods know how many of those creatures she had killed after all.

But that she could not handle. She had nearly scrambled to get out of the room and found herself practically dry heaving in the corridor outside.

"Better," Hikari replied as she used a small medical rag to wipe the sweat from Anji's brow. "His heart rate is normal, and his breathing is stable for now. His fever hasn't broken yet but as long as it doesn't get any higher it should be fine." There was a pause in her words before she mustered up another tired smile. "He'll be okay."

It was amazing what the sound of good news could deliver. "That's good, thank Yami finally something good is happening around here," Harune breathed.

Hikari offered a quiet chuckle at her proclamation, no doubt just as equally relieved herself and exhausted enough to laugh about the situation for what it was. But it didn't take long before she turned serious again, a more sober expression dressing on her face. "Is everything still okay out there?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's quiet, which is either good or bad, depending," Harune answered as she reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. For a few seconds, she stalled out with the quiet in the room; she knew what she wanted to say but she also knew that she didn't want to say it. It was something that needed to be addressed; however, something that she was certain that Hikari already knew. "We can't stay here. It's not safe."

"No, it's not," Hikari agreed, quick to prove her point but just the same there seemed to be something holding her back. "Anji is still in a compromising condition. If we make a move and something happens, he won't be able to defend himself. And with those creatures all over this place is there...is there really anywhere safe in this compound at all?"

She had a good point. Anji was barely in any shape to move, let alone walk aimlessly somewhere, especially under the constant guise of danger. The man had just managed to start breathing on his own again. They would have to go someplace close by, some place safe, safer than here at least.

"We already almost lost him to one of these monsters, I won't run the risk of losing him again."

Harune closed her eyes and gave a sigh, running her hand across the back of her neck now. "No, I don't...I don't want to either," she whispered. "Do you remember that room you sent me to for the serum? The one by the western stairwell?" The young woman gave a nod in answer. "It's...it's not exactly the best location and I haven't explored that area much but... it's got a medical compartment and it's got a bed. Two things that we don't have here. Now I can't promise how clean the sheets are, but we can keep him resting there until he's strong enough to move again."

It was a questionable move. But the few times she had been over in that area, there wasn't much hanging around. There had been a few of those creatures before but she had already eliminated them hours ago, so it should relatively still be safe. Hikari seemed to contemplate on her answer and her semi-confidence on the move. This dusty old attic wasn't the best place to stay regardless of injury, but Anji was hurting badly, and he needed to recover somewhere that didn't consist of mildew and dust. Hikari was some-form of doctor though; it was her call. She looked down at Anji for a moment, no doubt noticing the slight twitch on the corner of his lips now.

WC: 5,549
TWC: 5,549


Completed Following Missions:
D-rank:
-An Apple a Day
-Day One at the Academy
-Guard Duty Intern
-Minor Vagrant
-Patrol Intern
5000/5000 WC Required
549 added to next post

A new mission had come up for Harune to complete and it was to go to the graveyard and clean some tombstones. So, on her way she went. As she entered the graveyard, feelings washed over her. The first time Harune came here with heartache was when her sister died six years ago. She remembered seeing the soft rays of sunshine fall over the gravestones and make the snow patterned in her footsteps glisten and sparkle. It was beautiful as if she were seeing it for the first time. It was. But as fate would have it, within seconds of the warm light hitting her body she froze. No, not in ice. But in her own emotions. Thus began her remembrance of this place. 

Her senses and consciousness are preserved where he stood as he on-looked to the grave where her sister was, she couldn’t feel emotions or the cold prickling at her skin, but she could certainly hear the wind blow through the trees or the mourning of those burying their dead in the cemetery. Harune shook her head to come out of her trance and looked at the stone statue beyond her mother’s grave as it was perched on a marble base near the back of the graveyard where the old tombs are, perfect for guarding them he guessed. It sounded right to her as she headed in that direction. She wondered if they had been made with that task. Statues don't come to life for no reason, do they? It must have been a protector. 

Harune begins to think to herself, ‘Who comes to a graveyard at night? Nobody I know of, that's for sure. Or maybe I’m wrong? You would think of a graveyard to be a constantly depressing place, but when there is nobody around it is peaceful it seems peaceful.’ Harune began to start polishing the headstones as she walked past the statue. When you have nothing to do but sit still and watch what is in front of you all day you begin to pick things up out of boredom, so as this mission she signed up for. 

The quiet of peace was interrupted when she saw a man in a light blue coat wearing a white beret that came and laid flowers down in front of a grave. When the man left, Harune investigated the grave and found it belonged to someone recently buried named 'Momo.' There was no last name, which Harune found odd, but she didn’t think too hard because she would never hear the reason why anyway.

As Harune went back to his cleaning duties for a couple of hours and then she saw people entering, it seemed to be a funeral service. She saw the man from earlier. He was a strong one that didn't cry that much, but he was in pain. Another man stood by him when the coffin was lowered to the ground. From her spot by the tombs, she heard his name was Mathias and by his distraught look she picked up on his and Momo’s relationship. They were husband and wife. How sad to have lost your lover…but Harune would never know. A woman and another shorter man tried to comfort Mathias but were shoved away. When the spiky-haired blonde stomped off with tears running down his face, the shorter men said their respects quietly. That was the last time Harune saw Mathias there the rest of the evening. 

It was almost a week from that day and Harune has almost finished the gravesites, she did every so often see the man with short blonde hair and a white beret would come back to visit the grave of his friend. Each time the visits became longer until he was staying almost until dark. That wasn't hard as the winter progressed and the days got shorter and shorter, but it was obvious, he was finding this place as peaceful as Harune did. Soon there was only an hour of daylight, and that was getting shorter as well.

Sometimes the man took walks around the site and admired the crumbling beauty of the other headstones as if it were just to waste time and saw the polishing work that Harune did. When he came by the tombs, Harune was always in her usual position, cleaning the tombs on her hands and knees. She wondered why the man in blue and white made her so curious, but he was. Harune wanted to strive to reach out and tap him on the shoulder, perhaps bend over and whisper his name to get his attention. Though she tried her hardest, she never could.

His little eyes opened wide when he saw the small changes nobody else seemed to notice and he started making sure to walk by the young Shokku in his visits, but he never would talk to Harune. Harune loved seeing him smile in awe when he discovered something new about the tombstones he cleaned. It was a nice change from the distant frown on his face by Momo's grave.

However, towards the last day, he spoke to Harune. The tiny bit of sunlight was only around for perhaps ten minutes at best. The sun barely came up over the hills before it moved across the sky a few miles and sunk back down along the horizon. A little twilight and the following darkness were upon the cemetery that allowed me to move around without too much difficulty. People still didn't come at night, it was superstition. When the days did come to an end, Harune was going to miss his visits from the man in blue and white.

The man, whose name is Cheza, walked around a little after visiting Momo’s grave and came around Harune like he always did. That perfect face lit up when he noticed the flowers from the last time, he saw the yellow eyed genin. She was smiling softly, but Harune was frowning so hard internally that she was sure her jaw was going to crack. The man had a black eye.

Cheza looked at Harune’s soft face watching the sun begin to set. Harune wanted to know how Cheza got hurt and who did this to him, but he wouldn't tell him. He wouldn't talk to Harune much more anyway. Talking to him was like talking to a brick wall, quite frankly, because Harune could be a little bit shy, even when she did work at the ramen shop and was kinda crazy there. She chuckled to Cheza, he asked. "Hm…Do you have a name, anyway?"

"You're a pretty looking girl, aren't you.” He said as Harune’s face blushed. 

"Uh-oh…it's getting late." Cheza looked to the darkening sky and blinked. Though being in a cemetery at night was bad luck, he seemed reluctant to go. Harune still wanted to know about the black eye and wanted him to stay as well. But hopeful wishing gets you nowhere, and soon the man in blue and white is gone. Harune finished up his work. 


On the last two days, there was no sign of Cheza, before the endless night came. Harune spent the last few days exploring and cleaning the tombstones and thanking each one for their service and sacrifice. It gave Harune something to do and she wanted it to be in pristine condition the next time Cheza came back…who knows when that will be, though. Normal people would freeze to death for being out here as long as Harune did, but it was no problem for him. Harune then heard a noise in the dead of a starless evening (or was its morning?) It was impossible to tell when he was working all night. Someone was coming by the graveyard. At night? That was certainly a first. Harune quickly took his place by the statue. The darkness would conceal the fact that he was there too, whoever was crazy enough to venture into the resting place of the dead on such a cold moonless night. Harune was too shy for her own good. 

A figure stumbled into the graveyard and made a beeline for the heart of the cemetery. Harune could hear their ragged breathing from where he stood as they found a grave somewhere around Momo's and sank to their knees. The person bellowed an angry cry that quickly turned to a shriek of anguish.

"Wh-why did you just go?" the person shouted at the grave. Harune knew that voice somehow, but it was too choked with sobbing for him to tell. "Why did you do this to Mathias? You're the only thing that h-held him together! My life is hell now thanks to you!"

Now she understood who this sobbing person was. It was Cheza.

"I h-hope you're happy, Momo! Why did you leave? Why did you leave!" The man's voice gradually became lower and lower until Harune couldn't hear him anymore. To see this man so broken and distraught left her feeling rather broken-hearted. He was all alone, and Harune knew how much being alone could hurt.

Before Harune could stop herself, her legs had carried her over the frozen ground and to the man. He didn’t notice Harune coming up from her light footsteps. However, Harune noticed that he held his arm over his chest in a sling. He got hurt again.

Cheza's sobs immediately stopped when Harune's hand went to his shoulder. He whirled around so fast that he fell over in surprise. He yelped when Harune stared down at him, not sure what she was doing but knowing she had to do something. Harune realized what he might see, a small shadow. She wasn't surprised when he covered his face with his good arm and began to pray that God forgives him for treading the path of the dead at night and spare him from this beast.

Harune chuckled as the man took off running out of the graveyard and the Shokku let out a breath. All she wanted to do was help him, now she might never see him again. The summer days would be as lonely as these winter nights.

Thump.

A sound brought his attention towards the fleeing man again to see he had fallen on the ice. Harune quickly trotted over to make sure he was alright. He wasn't moving when the mint-eyed genin turned him over. A small dark splotch on his forehead told Harune where he fell. Cheza must have hit his head and was groaning in discomfort in his arms when Harune picked him up off the cold ground. He didn't open his eyes and Harune checked his new wound. Squinting, she could see the blood, but it wasn't too bad. She concluded it would be fine, but he healed up with her healing hands. 

“Hello, I’m Harune,” the genin smiled as the man stood up, looking around, seemingly embarrassed that he tried running away at sixteen years old. 

“Uh-um, Harune?" he said meekly. "I need to be getting home soon, so…I really should get going."

"Okay,” Harune said as Cheza began walking towards the entrance without looking back. "Hey!" That got his attention. Harune usually never calls him. "G'dbye?"

A look of surprise in his eyes. "Oh, yeah! Goodbye!" Cheza waved and turned around the corner. Harune hoped he didn't do anything to make him not want to come back. Whatever it was bothering him, hopefully, he can get over it. 

Harune then went to the tombstones and paid her respects to rows of the deceased elder Shinobi. She stopped at his sister's gravesite and laid a lotus flower on her tombstone. Harune talked to her, telling her all about her medical training with their mother and how she took her under her wing and sun release training with her father was going well as if she was listening. Maybe she was. With that, she kissed her tombstone and asked her if she was proud of how far she is coming along. After a few moments of silence, she then departed the graveyard.

WC:2,009
TWC: 7,558

Completed Following Missions:
E-Rank:
-Dog Walker
-Knowledge v Wisdom
-Food Shopping
-Patrol Training
-Patrol Training
2009+549=2500/2500 WC Required
58 added to next post

It was a beautiful day outside. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and Harune didn't give a damn. She was too busy with a corpse. Some job, eh? Harune put her hands down onto the table; her gloves stuck to the cold surface as she tapped her fingers to the beat of the song playing from an office across the hall. The morgue was an uncommonly quiet place and so the usually annoying shoujo anime openings were rather pleasant from the unseen radio as he looked down into the chest cavity of the woman from room 103; an oddity to see and feel something so cold while her own was functioning.

Harune had been filling in for the pathologist as she had been away because her mother, Tsubaki, suggested she do the job to help in some of her medical training. She then rolled her eyes at herself as her thumb pinched a small hole in the woman's lung, "shit."

The part she disliked the most about working in the morgue was the moment before deciding if she needed to open the person up if their death was suspicious, or straightforward. Then of course if she did, she'd have to put them all back- the organs. Honestly, Harune didn't know why people didn't sign themselves up for being a donor, or why families even wanted to bury their loved ones with everything intact. Harune knew what happened to bodies that were buried: nothing. The bodies took up space in the earth that people didn't even have the decency to think about, purely because they wanted to stand above something, not just see a grave.

The music suddenly stopped; Harune’s hands froze as she placed the last organ into the body, enclosed in a bag to prevent leakage. The Shokku then removed her hands and gazed down, like an artist looking curiously at their canvas: would she find herself on a table like this? No, of course not- she wouldn't be there, but would she die of mysterious causes?

The doors behind him swung open as Tsubaki rushed in with three interns behind her, "This is Harune." He nodded at them.

"It smells in here," one of the interns muttered.

"I stopped noticing," Harune remarked, rolling her gloves into themselves as she peeled them off her hands. "It's not a bad smell, you know?"

She soon found herself wandering into the hallway swinging her hands around in the pockets of her lab coat. She felt at loss to be free of something she didn't particularly like or hate; she hadn't thought about what she would rather be doing, or what she would do when she left. Behind her, a gust of air came as the door opened once again by one of the interns. After breathing in the normal air, what escaped to her from the morgue came as a shock, she supposed it did smell.

"Harune, Tsubaki would like to see you." Harune looked discontentedly at the intern for a moment, "Take a look at the lining of her stomach." Like all interns that were brought to the morgue, making them vomit wasn't a difficult task. Was the lining of the woman's stomach nearly nonexistent? Yes. However, it was not the cause of her death and therefore only an irrelevant detail that could be taken advantage of. Doing so, Harune felt like a bully, but it was to the best of her knowledge that everyone got sick in the morgue one way or the other. For her, it was draining the body of its blood. If she could get them to throw up today, they wouldn't do it again, unless something worse rolled in.

Harune began towards the east stairway, hoping her mother hadn't given herself another heart attack or something. She probably would have received the message sooner if she hadn't left so suddenly, but of course, that would have been too convenient for everyone. She didn't like being around the intern's half as much as she liked to cut open bodies, and that wasn't saying a lot. They were so young they were Harune’s age, and she felt like they were watching her with their beady little eyes constantly when they were around. She could appreciate that they wanted to learn as she has, and she definitely knew that she was like them at some time, but they always stood too close, or spoke too often, or said things like, "it smells in here."

"Of course, it smells," she said beneath her breath, trotting up the stairs under the fluorescent lighting. "It's a damn hospital."

When she escaped from the stairs and arrived at the correct floor, it was almost as shocking as the difference between smells; the same fluorescent lighting from the lower floors looked less blue. However, something odd occurred to her: there were interns everywhere-like an infestation of rodents or insects. She stuck to the wall and made a straight path to where she knew Tsubaki would be, what's happening.

“Mother," she hummed, pushing open the almost-closed door with his foot. "I need to look at the details of my mission-"

"About that," Tsubaki said, ceasing whatever she was writing and slapping her pen against the table. Harune closed the door and took a seat in the chair opposite the intimidating the elder blonde. "New assignment."

Harune took a breath, "How so?"

"You're enthusiastic," Tsubaki remarked.

"N-No it's just that I just got back from the morgue and-"

"Forget that the mission I have for you is nothing like your original," Tsubaki said, smiling at the corner of her mouth. "After your shift here ends, I want you to come by my office at the main building so we can discuss it." Harune was skeptical about why her mother was smiling at her the way she was.

"This office is beginning to look ragged again," Harune noted.

"I'll just tell one of the interns to tidy up," Tsubaki scoffed.
"Sounds like they're here for free labor," Harune chuckled. "I shouldn't be hypocritical though because I made fun of a few interns after I gave an autopsy on that woman."

"Which woman?" Tsubaki asked.

Harune crossed her leg over the other, "room 103."

Tsubaki looked upset but it was the same upset face all the nurses or medical ninja had when someone died at the hospital; it was a look that said, I assumed they'd live longer. The employees at the hospital, Harune, and Tsubaki included, were not shy or curious about death- it happened every day.

"Sad to see a girl die like that," Tsubaki said lightly. Harune agreed silently. "You're off right about now, aren't you?" Tsubaki asked.

"Half an hour," Harune corrected. "I have to make sure 103 wasn't left out on the table, anyway."

"That's the last thing we need to get out to the parents."

"Hmm?"

Tsubaki began to write again, "Oh, just that we leave bodies out in the morgue for anyone to see." Harune tried not to laugh, not completely sure why she found humor.

"I'll let you get going then, thank you for filling in for our pathologist,” Tsubaki said, not looking up. Harune scooted from the chair, which screeched across the floor, "I'll see you later."

Harune departed from the room and, like exiting the morgue, she now stood in the hallway with no direction. She felt herself being pulled towards the stairs; back to the morgue to check what she needed to check, but she also had a sensation of being rooted where she was standing. Her mind was winding itself up, morgue, morgue, morgue-stay!

The blonde girl let out an exasperated breath and looked up; the gray wall of the hospital was looking back at her silently and like a fool, she thought it would give her a task. "Morgue." Her feet began to walk her across the floor; her knees started moving at a trot; her legs pushed her into a run.

The genin leaned into the bar to open the door and was back inside the atmosphere of blue light; it was like being underwater. The uncertain heaviness of being in an atmosphere so cold and empty as familiar to her senses and perhaps even calming. She wasn't sure why, but lately she hadn't enjoyed being above floors with the patients and their adoring families.

"Dr. Shokku!" Harune stopped mid-step and found herself face to face with an intern. She liked how Dr. Shokku sounds, but she was no doctor, well not yet.

"We-we don't know what to do with the body."

Harune blinked, "You were down here with a doctor, weren't you?" He nodded. "Well, where is he?" Harune asked, making short work of the space between her and the morgue entrance. "He can't just leave you people alone with patients."

The other intern was standing at the other side of the woman on the table, looking thoroughly disgusted with the sight. Harune wondered what circumstances would have ended up leaving two kids with a dead body, they're probably mortified.

"H-He got a sudden call and said he'd be back, but he..."

"I've had it with this shit," She muttered, rolling the woman across the floor, causing the interns to rush out of the way. She opened the hatch and gently pushed the tray, and the woman on it, into the cooler. Harune turned to look at them, "do you remember how to get back up?"

As soon as they left, she felt the weight of herself sink into her shoes. The consistent aching in her heels by the end of her shift-the pain in her shoulders was all becoming daily. Since when?

---

“Are you done here?"

The lingering male voice moved through her conscience until she pieced the words together; she was leaning against a wall and her face was resting against her knees.

"Harune?"

"D-Down here," she said, catching her breath. She took hold of the countertop behind her and pulled herself to her feet.

"I didn't know anyone could fall asleep in here," the male nurse said, surprised.

Harune blinked and adjusted her eyes to the lighting, "What time is it?"

"Well, my shift ends at 1 and I'm doing my last rounds-"

"Could you get someone to clean up down here?" She asked. "I-I think I have everything put away but if because-I's got to be somewhere and I'm not there."

"No problem," the nurse chimed. "It's my job, right?"

Harune smiled weakly, "Thank you."

She had been asleep for a few hours; a few hours ago Tsubaki had been expecting her for a meeting. Harune was almost disappointed that the nurse had found her during his shift, because now she had to walk to the center of town, regardless of whether Tsubaki was still there or not. If she had slept until morning, she could have apologized and yet not put herself through the task of early morning exercise in the cold winter air.

This tiresome day.

After successfully clocking out and pulling on her coat, insulated with fur, she was at the top of the outdoor staircase. It was colder than before and to her dismay, she found herself nearly crawling down the steps leading down to the street due to black ice that had somehow settled-how embarrassing would it be to slip and harm herself right outside of a hospital? Well, perhaps not so much, but she had long since concluded that every human being had a fear of slippery steps.

The next day, Harune could have fooled herself into thinking that, as a medical professional, she would be attending major surgery on a patient who, of course, was a hero-but such a tale, no-such a false belief did not happen in a life like hers. She knew for a fact that she would be in the morgue working with patients who had either lost a battle or were attacked by it since she was covering for the pathologist - she wondered when she would get back-; whether they had the wish to live was irrelevant. This was the life of working days on end in a room of dead bodies.

Needless to say, not very much conversation to be had.

She flicked the light off and adjusted her button-up shirt as she walked down the short hallway to her kitchen. She would need to be back at the hospital by 4:30, half an hour, and so she knew that sleeping would be a wasted effort. Though she made the correct choice to put a fresh pair of clothes on as she waited for her alarm to go off only; of course, she would be awake for it.

Harune poured the liquid into her cup and set the kettle back onto the stove, turning the burner off. From a tin sitting close to the wall on her counter, she removed the rectangular lid and took out two small cookies shaped like lions. Her father has been to too many places and in different areas he found new types of teas and brought them back to Harune, so now she is drinking many those tea and now eating cookies or crackers with it; her father told her that it was unhealthy to eat so many cookies but Harune was at the age of a fast metabolism, and she was going to take advantage of it while she still could.

She collapsed into a chair in her kitchen and crunched the second cookie while washing it down with a gulp of tea; she had a thing for vanilla cookies. She looked aimlessly around, not sure what to do now that she was fully awake, she couldn't watch television. Her tea had diminished while she felt her mind circling the drain in search of an activity that would take about thirty minutes to complete.

After that, she had her meeting and apologized to Tsubaki; only for her to find out that she has a new client she needs to find the cause of death on this one too. The corpse she was looking at now looked like she was soaked in blood. Sheesh, can't these blood n' gore cases come up with anything less cliché?

Harune ruffled the pages of the victim's file report. "Hemorrhaging…shock…la dee dah. Name: Rukia Ishida…once a nurse at Otogakure Hospital…special care. Looks like this girl was pretty qualified." Harune handed the clipboard to the intern. He looked rather green. Harune grinned. It was fun to scare the newbies. "Do you want me to open her up, or do you want the honors?" Harune did the hand signs and created the chakra scalpel.

"No thanks, Doctor…you go right ahead."

Harune shrugged. "Suit yourself." Adjusting her surgical mask and gloves, she moved to the side of the slab. Making a face, the Shokku fanned at her nose; Rukia was beginning to stink. Harune did a quick incision right above the collarbone and cringed. The flesh was as tough as leather, not like someone lying saturated with blood. Gritting her teeth, she continued the incision and continued down the torso, making a midsagittal cut directly down to the navel. By this time, she was getting irritated. Dead or not, there's usually a bit of blood when the skin is cut. Still, with the amount of blood on her clothes, Harune was beginning to think that she'd bled out completely. Who cares that it's impossible? It can still happen. Not.

She resisted the urge to wipe her face. You learn that after you get smeared with dead blood for the first time.

"Zato, be a sweetie and get me a blood sample before I open her up, would you please?" She flashed the intern her most charming smile. Zato didn't seem fazed. That was a first. Most people get all starry-eyed when Harune flashes that grin. Oh well, she was getting a syringe.

Positioning himself across from Harune, he grasped Rukia’s wrist and held it for a moment. Harune fought back a snicker. "Er, Zato, I don't think she'll have a pulse."

Zato glared at Harune, blushed, and inserted the needle in the bend of her arm. He pulled the plunger slowly, and Harune’s jaw nearly dropped. The syringe was full of air. Okay, maybe he DID bleed out completely.

"Okay. I've never seen THAT before…" Zato seemed afraid. No, scratch that. He looked somewhere between bed-wetting and a near-death experience.

"Neither have I. Let's open her up and see if we can get anything directly from the heart." Harune grasped the skin on the edge of the cut with a pair of rat-toothed forceps. Zato did the same, with some effort. "On three. One, two, three." They pulled. And gasped. The inside was shriveled and diseased looking. Every last piece of tissue was mottled and purplish, even brown. The smell was even worse. It came over them in a wave, and Harune’s eyes began to water.

"Holy shit…" Zato coughed. "What in the hell happened?"

"We opened up a corpse. Get your blood sample."

"From where?"

He had a point. The heart, or the thing that once was the heart, was a black, almost crispy hunk of meat. It looked like a short bratwurst that had stayed in a doll several months too long. "Well…try."

Zato glared at Harune, then stuck a newly opened syringe in the right ventricle. Good, it was filling up with some red, cloudy substance. It looked pus-filled. Not the best blood around, but it was a blood sample, nonetheless.

"Good. Go take it to the lab. Do what you can; I'll finish up here."

Zato looked relieved as he stomped out of the room. Harune pulled a white sheet from a stainless-steel cabinet and draped it over Rukia’s still body as she looked at her frozen brown eyes. "Girl, you had problems."

Twelve hours and three visits to Rukia later, Harune was sitting in his temporary office trying to finish the autopsy report for Tsubaki. She still hadn't come up with the cause of death; there seemed to be no stabs, blasts, anything that would have made her lose that much blood. Her only guess was spontaneous fatal hemorrhaging. Harune, a big heap forensic pathologist, knew what any bum off the street knew at first sight.

“Harune, I finished the blood reports,” Zato said as he entered the room.

“Good, what did you find,” Harune asked.

"I found leukocytes, disabled platelets, destroyed red blood cells, and some random drugs."

"Come again?"

"The girl was on drugs. Saigenzai, if the lab reports are correct. I found only traces, but it was probably enough to wipe out her immune system. While saigenzai can create "malfunctions" in a person's vision, hearing, and semicircular canal with this drug, but I'll tell you one thing. It will give you a hell of a blood problem."

"So the drugs were what caused the hemorrhaging?"

"It seems she OD’d on it so that’s what I think."

"Good. Thanks, Zato. Get me the copy of the report, if you please."

"No problem."

"Ta." Harune rested her head on her hand, while the other hand was writing while Zato went to fetch the report.  'Cause of death: Drug overdose leading to hemorrhaging. Harune Shokku.'

Harune then left her tiny office and headed into the hallway.

"Where might I find Tsubaki?" Harune said, tapping the arm of a fellow employee; a woman perhaps in her late 40's that went by the name "Pepper".

"Tsubaki was last seen on the third floor," Pepper said, a thick smoker's voice.

"Thank you." Harune had never tried cigarettes. She wondered if being seen with a cigarette would make her more attractive.

She soon entered and exited the elevator, suddenly on the third floor- her day was flying overhead. Her regular daily tasks were so forgetful and happening around her.

"Harune?"

"O-Oh, mother."

"What do you need, Harune?"

“I’m here to talk about the body, I finished the report on it,” Harune told her.

“Ah good, what did you find out?”

“It seemed the girl OD’d on Saiganzai, that’s why her body was like destroyed from the inside out,” Harune said to her mother.

“Hm, interesting, give me the report and get back to preparing the body for burial, and then you can have the rest of the day off,” Tsubaki said as Harune thanked her and went to prepare the body.

After the embalming was finally over. The open-casket viewing was supposed to take place tomorrow and Harune didn't have much time in her hands to prepare the body. As switched from a pathologist to a mortician, her duty with bodies was simple: wash and dress. She removed the mask she wore and prepared the necessary things for washing with earned practice before putting her gloves on. She started gently dabbing the dead girl's face with a soft, wet sponge. The death certificate stood right next to the bucket of clean water she'd brought along, and as she dipped the sponge in it once more. She must have suffered terribly while dying. Tragic. She wondered if her mother was lying on the table like this, or since we knew what she died from, she didn’t have to cut up like how she had to do to this woman. Harune shook her head at the thought of that.

As Harune finished putting the clothes on her, she went and found Tsubaki again to let her know that Rukia was ready for burial. Harune thanked her and told her that she will get the men to put her body into the casket.  “Thank you so much for filling in, you’ve done great work Harune,” Tsubaki said to her. Harune turned away with a thank you and smiled as she then gathered her belongings and headed home.

WC:3,630
TWC: 11,188
Completed Following Mission:
B-Rank:
Pathologist: A New Client
3600/3600 WC Required
53(from previous post)+30(left over WC)=83 to last post

It starts when Harune is asked to clean out the attic.

Her father has a whole host of scrolls tucked away up there, which she never seemed to touch, but when Harune runs a finger along the paper, there’s no dust at all. Nevertheless, she starts scrubbing the floor, cheerfully humming a tune that’s been stuck in her head all morning. She heard a woman singing it in the street and now it’s been playing on a loop in her mind.

The attic isn’t just some overstuffed, cramped space that’s been abandoned and forgotten about, like the attics in her friends’ houses. Her father has made it nice, like the rest of the house. She’s had to push a thick, fancy rug back in order to clean the dark wooden floor, making it shine underfoot. The walls are decorated with paintings and wall-hangings, including her mother’s favorite poem, which she wrote out by hand personally after hearing it read aloud.

In her mother’s neat, flowing writing: 'I knew a girl with copper veins, who broke away and took great pains, but lifted up her silt-soaked heart, and bought herself a fresh start, hung from the wall on scroll-paper, curling up at the ends.'

Harune keeps humming, absently pushing the rug further up, eyes on the poem before her. Her mother always says she wrote it just before Kasane was born. She still calls her daughter her ‘fresh start.’ She never talks about what came before.

The melody cuts off when her hand touches a warm spot on the floor. She frowns, pushing the rug all the way back to examine the space. One of the wooden planks is pulsing gently with warmth. Harune is familiar with the sensation. It’s what happens when you imbue a surface with chakra. It lives off that energy, ebbing and flowing like a tide. If it’s particularly strong chakra, it can last decades. This feels… old.

Harune scrapes her nails gently against the wood, frowning to herself. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say something was invisibly sealed under the floorboards, and then covered by a rug. She could pry up the floorboard and take a look, but whatever it is might be rigged to explode when uncovered, unless you keyed in the right chakra signal. She likes her face the way it is. Unexploded.

However, Harune didn't have the time as she had a couple of missions to attend too. Exiting from the attic, she looked outside the window and into the distance. The sunrise from behind the mountains as light rays consume the darkness. The clear blue sky spread widely with no clouds to cover the magnificent view that the morning brought upon Otogakure. With the change of scenery, the night guards changed with the morning guards as everyone began their morning routines. A peaceful morning was like no other, calming and tranquil, Harune couldn't ask for a better way to get her start. She walked towards the kitchen as she was wearing her normal attire. Upon arrival in the kitchen, she turned off the stove that she let set on low while working in the attic, letting the teapot calm down from its boiling point. Harune looked around the cabinets until she found the teacup and a bag of apple tea. She poured the water into the cup, ripping the plastic around the tea as she grabbed it by its string and began to dip it on her mug.

Harune was going into the village to meet at the newly opened tea shop. She first passed the new training grounds as the radiant sky formed overhead, with the sounds of clashing steel and fists in the background, as the training grounds were especially lively on that particular day for a reason Harune was unaware of. The Shokku took in the smell of an entire grassy field, like a muted version of freshly cut grass. It was a small piece of nature that people in the Sound Village had grown accustomed to. Hardly could one walk a step in the village without seeing some lush, green plant growth. 

She was given a string of assignments, and she had a mission partner as well. The recurring gentle breeze kissed her face, which was usual for any space in the Land of Sky. As she entered the business district, the current was carried with the scent of cooked food and smelled of different dishes as the day had begun for most restaurants. The streets started to fill as people started proceeding about their days. Taking a sip of the tea she brought with her, she approached the tea Shop. She was taking a seat outside of the shop on a wooden bench. Harune then proceeded to wait for her companion to appear. She wondered what mission the other wanted to start with. Harune had no problem with whatever they decided to do.

"Hey, are you the one I'm supposed to meet up with?" A strange, unfamiliar voice called out to her. Looking in the direction of the source, she came face to face with a man that was just a little bit taller than her. Dark hair and eyes to match.

"I assume so, I'm Harune. You must be Zakari," she said as she raised up from her sitting position.

"Oi, I am." He said with a bright smile and offered a small handshake which she intercepted with her own.

"Pleasure to meet you," Harune said warmly as she released his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine. How about we get going," He said as he looked her over, as if he was trying to study Harune.

"Alright, how about we do the research part first. We can study the monument in the town square but the park." Harune said, leading the way. His response was a short, "okay."

Their walk towards the park was mostly quiet but every so often one of them would chime up about something to initiate small talk. It wasn't long before they got their destination. Zakari study the architecture but then moved on to another one while Harune stood there, absentmindedly looking at it. The refreshing spring breeze shaking the blooming leaves of the trees surrounding her. The voices of the children playing nearby. Harune relished in these pleasant sounds of peace, a welcomed change from the usual voices torturing her.

As if nothing ever happened, she bathed in this little moment of quiet. Maybe things are alright after all. Maybe she can keep this up. Of course, she can. Even at this moment, it seemed believable enough. 

"An appreciator of the fine arts, aren't you?"

Harune shakes out of her slight stupor. Absorbed in her thoughts, she was staring at the statue placed in the middle of the quaint little park. A robust man that looked like he was in his fifties was standing next to her. His full, white beard was not too far removed from that of Santa Claus, which gave him a slightly silly, yet at the same time reassuring appearance.

"Hikinari. An immeasurably talented young sculptor born in this very town, he was destined for greatness. Caught a bad case of the TP, back when there still was no medical ninja in what was known before Otogakure. In remembrance we put his finest work right at the center of our park. This is his legacy!"

"...mm." Harune was still a bit taken aback by the sudden interruption of her thought process and needed a few more moments to switch into socialization mode.

"You have an eye for art, miss?"

"Not really, but it is a nice piece of work."

"Right?! Look at the realistic tenderness of the flesh, and how majestically the cloth drapes over it! Hikinari truly had an eye for details, and his hand was delightfully skillful."

"Yes, anyway, I've got to going. Got to head to patrol training. Thank you for your time." She said with a bow, and instantly left the area but not before she gathered Zakari, who found himself cloud gazing in the center of the park.

For the next few hours, the duo found themselves in patrol training. It was easy enough but the amount of paperwork they had to do would bore anybody in a sleep even most genjutsu couldn't do that. Then they had to spar with each other to find out if they were physically capable of capturing, let alone, subduing targets and criminals. Let's just say that the passed with flying colors. After that, they had to head to the rice fields and help them through gathering rice and planting new ones. Which Harune absolutely hated. She would rather be in the heat of battle, not in the heat of digging up rice and plating them. Not only that, they had to package them and set them on a wagon so they could be sent off.

After finishing all three of these missions, Harune has had enough of the day. Turning in her report to her superiors officers, she said her goodbyes to Zakari and went home. Not before the man asked her out on a date, which she reluctantly agreed. All in days' work.

WC:1,533
TWC: 12,721
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Harune entered the highly acclaimed ramen stand, looking for the shop owner as he requested someone to help him in assisting his shop during the busy hours. A relieved smile made its way onto her rather guarded young face as he saw the shop owner, and Harune pulled herself on one of the highchairs before the counter. She tapped the counter lightly.

"So...do I only need to come at lunchtime?" The blonde-haired girl asked.

She watched as the shop owner nodded. "That is mostly when I will need your hand the most. Can you wash dishes, do some deliveries on foot, and quite possibly...cook?" He asked Harune as he served her some tea.  "Don't worry; deliveries and helping with the cooking won't come unless we get our hands very full. That's rare." He gave Harune one calculating look before taking a sip of tea.

"I can cook." The young Shokku said. "And I can deliver ramen thirty minutes faster than someone on a bike."

"That's good." The owner said. "Your name?" He inquired.

"Harune." She noticed that he gave a startle expression and looked at her again. She was busy sipping the tea the owner supplied her, all the while Harune’s yellow-like eyes rested upon him.

"Aren't you...from the Shokku Clan?"

Harune nodded, "yes,” she said.

The shop owner then smiled again. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but don't your missions as a ninja provide you with more money than working for me?"

Harune shrugged. "Contrary to popular belief, sir, missions rarely head a ninja's way. Most of the time we have no choice but to lounge around hoping for that opportunity to come. It's hard to budget things if you rely on one job only."

"I see." The shop owner wrote down his name. "So, 2000 Ryo is alright with you?"

“Of course, as that was alrighty stated in the mission detail,” Harune laughed.

"All right, deal; However, I could probably use you all day when you come because my store has been very busy and it’s hard to find help since the introduction of the tax rate has been so high,” the owner said.

Harune replied, “of course, and I understand.” Harune took the owner’s extended hand and shook it awkwardly, as she was not used to the whole ritual of it. "I could start tomorrow?"

"Aren't you in a hurry? Of course. Six in the morning sharp. I don't like latecomers." Harune gave a smile as she hopped off the highchair.

Harune tried to be an enthusiastic employee as much as possible. During the first two days of her employment, Harune would often get there before the shop opened, waiting for the owner to be let in. It didn't help that it was starting to get colder outside. Harune thought, maybe she shouldn’t arrive so early; she might get a bad bout of flu due to the cold. The young Shokku ignored herself and continued with her routine anyway. The owner then let Harune open the store since she was arriving so early, giving her the duplicate keys.

Harune would try to have every pre-opening chore already done by the time the owner comes down. The young genin mopped the floors until they shone, wiped the tables free of dust, and even changed the curtains, maintaining that it was already dirty.

The owner came up and asked Harune if she had breakfast before coming to him, and she said he did. But there were times Harune came to him with a rumbling stomach. She knew that the owner heard her rumbling stomach because, during one of those days, he took Harune aside before officially opening and supplied her with the first ramen for that day. Harune didn't exactly say thank you, but the glimmer in his yellow eyes and smile were seemingly enough for him.

“So, where are your parents, young one?” The owner asked Harune.

"My mother works at the hospital and father is always out on missions." She said bluntly.

“Well, anyway, I have something for you.” As the owner took Harune aside and gave her an apron – her yellow-like eyes grew wide in horror as she saw that the apron was pink, in which, the owner apologized for not having anything else – and told her that if they both wanted this business to flourish, she should be more cordial to the customers. The owner told her that there was nothing wrong if she could smile and that her hair would very likely get in her way.

Harune didn’t realize she wasn’t even smiling towards the customers, so that was when she did start to smile and tie her hair into a ponytail every time she was in the shop.

"Irashai!"

This was the phrase Harune uttered with all the cheerfulness she could muster every time customers went through our wooden door. Shinobi customers were often gaping openly when they found her there, clutching a small piece of paper and pen in hand, ready to take their orders. They did not expect an esteemed Shokku such as Harune to work in a ramen stand. Harune tried to ignore their stupefied looks and gaping jaws as if they never existed and waited for their order patiently, quietly.

"Hai, dozo...miso ramen and black tea for you!" Harune exclaimed at the customer, taking his order and giving it to the owner.

Later on, that night, "Popular, aren't you, Harune?" The owner joked as the Shokku entered the inner kitchen to help him with the dishes. She only glowered at the sponge she held as a response. The owner laughed. It seemed that he grew to understand her silence because most of the time, it was the only way Harune spoke to the owner. Harune’s little glances, smiles, and glares contained a myriad of information that wasn't so hard to understand once you got the hang of it.

Having the girl at the ramen stand soon apparently had its advantages. More people eventually came, and the owner was very happy. However, Harune was too ruthless sometimes. In business, you could never evade circumstances like customers ditching their bills...playful genins trying to get away with a free bowl while your back's turned...those sorts of things. Harune was sharp as she chased a Jounin who dared to skip his bill…

"Hey, you! Hey! Pay up!"

"Bug off, kid! I'm not paying for rubbish!"

Harune’s yellow eyes flashed into the Tengen and threw the round tray she was holding. The tray spun around in midair before slamming with a satisfactory crunch at the back of the insolent Jounin's head, knocking him out instantly. Harune knew that was probably not the way to go about it, but she was not letting this man cheapskate the owner, so she then bent over the fallen Shinobi and took the payment from his wallet before going back to the stand.

“So, he ended up paying?” The owner asked and all Harune could muster was a smile.

“It seemed to be a misunderstanding, he paid,” Harune said and then went back to work. Harune was trying very hard to be cheerful. But there were times when her perpetual rudeness got the better of her.

"What? Is there a bug on my face?"

"If you're not going to buy anything, take your stupid fat ass off that chair for other customers."

"We're a ramen stand. Not a takoyaki stand. You dumb or what?"

"Get lost, jerk. If you don't have any money to pay for your meal, I suggest leaving.” Those are all things Harune has ended up saying to the rude customers. However, Harune knew very well how to keep her temper under wraps.

"Irashai!" The other server is the one saying this phrase now. Harune smiled slightly as her phrase was being picked up.



“Irashai!" Harune said as a customer entered the building.  The customer gave a start and turned wide eyes toward Harune. "So, it's true you're working here?" she said.

"What will you be wanting, Hana? Please, sit down."

Hana, Harune’s cousin, sat down near one of the windows, steepling her fine fingers together and looking up at Harune curiously as if she had grown an extra head. Harune stood over her, paper and pen in hand. "Well?"

"Hmm...let's see...barbecue and... the usual."

"In a moment." Harune then headed to the owner and gave him her cousin’s order. A few minutes later. "Order up!" The owner said.

Harune heard him and jumped up and went to fetch Hana’s food and serve it to her. Afterward, she left her alone as she tackled the pots and pans in the kitchen with the owner.  And then they heard her call. "Harune! Hey, Harune!"

"Oh, not again..." Harune hissed as she hastily wiped her hands on her apron and went out to see to her needs. Their following conversation soon happened.

"Hey, come on...I need money."

"What?"

"Yeah, well...my mother won't give me my allowance next week in advance, so..."

"Do you have any idea how much you owe me, Hana?"

"...remind me?"

"You owe me 6,678 Ryo!" Harune’s voice sounded pained. "And you haven't given me a single ryo back! I will not lend you another coin unless you pay up!"

"I promise I'll pay you back once I win -!"

"You are always making promises, Hana. Why not try paying up instead?"

"But -!"

"Hana, I won't be able to survive on your promises.”

"You're so mean -!"

"No, Hana. You're the mean one. You cause far too much trouble. For once in your life try being like a Shokku that you are and keep your promises – not pile them up on one another!" There was a cry and crunch – as she slammed the door open. Then Harune joined the owner by the sink a minute later, a steely frown on her face. Harune refused to talk when the owner questioned him.

"Troublesome girl," Harune glowered at the bubbles on his arms as torturously washed the dishes.


That’s when the owner of Ichiraku Ramen extended delivery services to customers, as suggested by Harune that night when she had been finishing inventory before closing time. Harune also suggested that they serve other side dishes like takoyaki and some sushi. By now the owner should have increased his capital to cover some additional perks for our customers.

Harune now has her hands full. She did delivery errands apart from her original waitress duties, and she also made sushi whenever someone wanted them because apparently, the owner could not make sushi worth a damn. Harune’s nimble fingers rolled up the rice and wrapped them in seaweed – the way the hands of an expert moved. The owner asked Harune how she learned to make sushi that is fast and that good, and she said proudly that she learned on his own plus he was a Shokku, so she was good with her hands. Harune taught the old man how to make sushi because he knew he was going to be continuing there for much longer.

Aside from the ramen, the sushi was picking up popularity. However, the past few days were fun for Harune, her job was finished. As she helped the owner the past week and improved his business. That’s when Harune surprised him by handing the owner her resignation letter. Even though it was a mission, it felt like she worked there. Harune then ordered a bowl of ramen and thanked the old owner for everything that they had shared. Now that the tax rate has been lowered, he should be good at finding the help he needs. She then gave back the keys she had to the owner.

“However, I’m going to keep the apron just in case,” Harune smiled at the old man.

“Of course, thank you for everything, Harune, you were truly a joy to work with.” The elder replied.

“Thank you, sir, and if you need anything or any help in the future, just let me know,” Harune said as the owner thanked him, in which Harune left with a mission completed.

WC:2,019
TWC: 14,740
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This morning, the young ninja wanted to focus on working on her perception skills. She took an initial look around to observe his surroundings. Given that it was soon before dawn, there was still some light being given to the scenery, but due to the cluster of trees, it was difficult nonetheless. The tree branches were moving due to the breeze blowing east, very few leaves were dropping.

Harune began to think about what she should do next, well, the art of medical ninjutsu was something the Shokku clan had not been excelling at for as long as Harune could remember, only really relying on taijutsu infused with ninjutsu being specifically well versed in the use of the purple lightning style. Their use of purple lightning style was so well known for its prowess. While Harune often relied more on the use of her sun release and cunning and trickery, she wanted to learn more about medical ninjutsu.

However, the girl had realized just how little she had put into training recently, and she was worried that she might've become weaker as a result; now, she was not training simply to pass the time, but due to a desire to make sure her skills had not declined. A fire was now burning inside her. Anger and frustration at her laziness, as well as determination to improve. It had been too long since she'd devoted any time to her development. Harune had to start putting more effort into what she did, start taking responsibility for her improvement; her abilities weren't greatly lacking, and she did indeed have more experience out in the field. But that was irrelevant; a variety of jutsu was required, as well as knowledge, to become stronger and progress as a Shinobi. If she continued to ignore her training, she'd fall behind her comrades, friends and even brother. With a sigh, the youth looked out, as it started to rain. It seemed to be falling with minor ferocity, but it was still there. Not allowing herself to take much of a break, the genin got back to work and headed inside from the rain to work on another medical ninjutsu.

Heading inside, she saw her father standing in their kitchen, so Harune walked over and poured herself some hot tea. Looking at the steaming cup silently, she’d watch the steam roll up in light wisps of vapor and curl about while she thought about her life. There had been much that had changed. Once the happy child that would find any time to get out of the compound and read in the forest or even play with her friends, now she had barely spent time outside of training and had almost become reclusive. Harune didn’t believe that she had to be a hermit because she was hardly in the house. However, the social interaction of people was something that had almost become foreign to her with the constant work.

Slowly, she brought the cup to her lips as she heard her father silently speak to her and her alone. “How’s your training coming along? Do you need help with anything?” Her father said.

“I don’t know what I want to do next, I do know I want to learn a new medical ninjutsu, but I don't know which one.”

“When you decide, let me know,” he said to his daughter, taking one final sip from her cup before he turned and rinsed out the cup and placed it in the strainer for it to dry.

“Well, I do want to work on advancing but I don’t know where to start,” Harune said as her father smiled.

“Give me a minute daughter, I think your mother could help.” He said as he left the room.

It seemed like hours before his father returned and with her mother that was dressed in her Medical Nin coat and had her arms crossed over her chest. “As soon as you are ready, we’ll begin.” The young Shokku looked to her father and gave a silent nod.

“I’m ready to begin.” She said as she followed Tsubaki to a different area in the Shokku compound. Tsubaki closed the door behind them silently and went to gather the materials that were being used in Harune’s training for the day. The youngest Shokku moved around the room and saw the metal table that had what looked to be the body of a dead cat that had been placed in embalming fluid.

“So, your father asked me to aid in your medical training, in which you wanted to learn the Chakra Scalpel. Well, this medical technique forms your chakra into a small, sharp blade and can create cuts inside the body without piercing the skin.” The elder medic said as she walked about the room. Took paper towels from the cabinet and placed them on the table next to the dead animal.

“This technique is to be used for highly accurate incisions necessary for surgeries and anatomical dissections. Unlike regular scalpels that we may use, the chakra scalpel can make cuts inside the body without actually creating an open wound, limiting the risks of an infection.” The elder medic stated as Yuuma then turned and looked at his daughter with a nod towards the dead animal, she held a stern look on her face.

“That is what you will be practicing on, Harune. So, I would advise you to get used to the idea that you will be touching the dead body. If you become squeamish, the trash can is next to the desk. You are more than allowed to bring the trash can over to you and use it from there.”

“I’ll be fine,” she stated.

Harune walked over to the table and opened the bag that held the dead cat. Embalming fluid fell from the bag and splashed over the tray that was under the cat. The stench that came from the bag was horrible but it was nothing she couldn’t handle.

“You ready?” Harune nodded softly. Taking a piece of paper, Tsubaki looked at Harune and held it up for the young girl to see. “It is a thin blade made of chakra. You control what it cuts with your focus and concentration.” Handing Harune the paper, she’d then perform the hand seals Tiger → Horse → Rabbit → Rat → Dog when chakra began to form around the female’s hands. It was blue like most shinobi’s chakra was. Silently, she held the paper up for the elder medic and watched. The chakra around the woman’s hands even looked sharp. There were no round edges like she was used to when she had done other techniques. There was no flowing motion to it. It looked sharp and hard. Without a second thought, Harune looked at the paper and made a few movements with her hands across the paper. She didn’t even have to touch it for the cuts to take place within the fibers. Harune looked at it with amazement and then looked up to the elder medic.

Placing her hands to the side, Harune dispersed the chakra from her hands and once more looked to Tsubaki. “You will start with cutting soft tissue. It is much easier than the harder surfaces of paper and other things. Hence why you have the embalmed cat on the table.” Harune nodded and walked closer to the cat. She placed her hands together and the metal glistened. She made the seals Tiger → Horse → Rabbit → Rat → Dog while she pooled chakra into her hands. She could feel the chakra around her hands starting to harden but it didn’t look like what Tsubaki’s had.

“It is too thick, Harune. Like with chakra flow, smooth it out and imagine a thin blade that is sharp enough to cut through anything.” Harune concentrated on the thought of her using her chakra flow techniques from basic chakra control training. As if using a rolling pin mentally, she’d begin to flatten out the chakra. Thinking that she had flattened it enough, she’d focus on the cat that was on the table. Holding her hands before her, she’d quickly move her fingers down over the outside of the animal without touching it. Harune watched the fur move but that was just about it. There was no cut. Not even the fur had been sliced. Pressing her lips together, she’d disperse the chakra from her hands and look over the cat more. Hoping to see at least a little cut in the dead body. But alas, there was nothing.

Tsubaki looked at her daughter and shook her head softly with a smile. “It’s going to take time to get this technique, Harune. Just because you are strong in chakra control and flow, does not mean that you are going to get this in just the first time you use it. Keep trying. You have until the end of today to practice.” Her father, Yuuma, came into the room after a knock on the door and smiled at the two. “Excuse me, Tsubaki, can I see you for a minute?” Tsubaki gave a nod and looked at Harune. “Keep practicing. Cut the skin first. Then we will work on inner cuts without making external incisions.” Getting up, she hurried out of the room and left Harune there with just the dead cat.

Harune watched the elder medic leave with her father and heard the door close behind her with a click. Harune looked back to the dead animal that was on the table before her. “Chakra Flow… should it be any different than learning healing hands; which should be harder than Sun Release. An instrument of destruction as well as a tool of healing.” She said to herself as she thought about how the senior medic’s chakra had been so perfectly formed around her hands. Harune takes another breath and concentrates on the feel of her chakra as she causes it to move along her skin. Thinking for a moment more, she dispersed the chakra and looked at the cat. All she had to do was cut through the skin and she had all day to do it.

This time she activated Tengan, because she wanted to see what she was cutting in the cat. Bringing her hands up before her, she quickly made the seals Tiger → Horse → Rabbit → Rat → Dog while concentrating on her chakra. Harune felt it begin to move along the surface of her skin and coat over her fingers. A flowing and alive entity that so many take for granted. She pushed it and molded it around her hands and her fingertips. How much chakra to use was something that made it a bit difficult to control. It had to be enough to create the scalpel as well as not too much so that the ‘blade’ was thin and could be molded to be the very thinnest that it could be.

With the flame-like aura flowing around her hands in jagged points, she’d look at the cat and focus upon the skin. With a slow movement of her hand against the skin, it still did nothing. Not even the wet fur on the beast moved. A soft sigh left Harune’s lips as she bowed her head. Once more she let the chakra disperse from her hands and she placed her head down on the side of the table. “This is only the second time you tried this… it will come…” The young girl said to herself.

Harune deactivated her Tengan and stood up walking over to the counter, picking up the scroll, she opened it up and began to look over it. Studying the script on the parchment with careful scrutinization. There had to be something that she had been missing. Some details that the elder medic had overlooked. Pressing her lips together and to the side slightly, she studied the writing with careful eyes. It was all straightforward. Form the seals, focus on the chakra, and cut. It should have been so easy to do with everything that she had been able to do. But this one had escaped her.


Placing the scroll back down on the counter, she had once more walked over to the cat. With careful precision, she reactivated her Tengen and then went through the five hand seals Tiger → Horse → Rabbit → Rat → Dog. This time, she had felt something that she hadn’t the other few times. There was a different feel to the chakra this time. It was more solid. Like she could touch it against the table and she would hear a clanking sound. However, when she had, the chakra around her fingertips vanished and she in turn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. What was it about this one technique that had her baffled?

She started pushing that chakra back around the end of her fingers and concentrating on it a moment before she started bringing his hand down to the cat whose fur was beginning to dry from sitting out in the room with her for so long. By this time, her nose had gotten used to the smell of it and it didn’t bother her any longer. It should have moved with the chakra that had been pooling around her fingers, but once more, it didn’t. Sitting down in the chair, she placed her head against the table. What was she getting wrong? Once more, the chakra dispersed and she looked down to the floor. Come to the end of this day, she would make that cut. She was determined to.

“Not as easy as it looks, is it?” Harune heard someone say as the door opened as the elder medic came back into the room and held a cup of green tea with lemon and honey out to her. Gratefully, Harune took the tea and sipped it with closed eyes before she opened them once more.

After a minute of drinking her tea, sat the cup down away from the cat. “I think I’m ready to try again,” Harune said.

“Now remember, let the chakra come naturally, don’t force it,” Tsubaki stated and the young Shokku nodded. Making the hand seals Tiger → Horse → Rabbit → Rat → Dog and honed the chakra that began to flow about her hands. Her focus was on the chakra and the animal.

As she neared the animal, he didn't focus on the outer skin, but he looked to the lung that was closest to the surface with her tengen. With the chakra flowing around her hand, she'd move to cut without cutting the skin. It was a focus that she hadn't had to worry about before because she could see the cut she was making. To her amazement, she was indeed slicing the lung without cutting the skin or the ribs that had covered the organ. She hadn't even cut the muscle that was covering the rib cage.

Her mother, Tsubaki, walked over and opened the cat. “Impressive, you did that without harming the other organs or skin. Good job!” She exclaimed.

WC: 2,542
TWC: 17,264
Completed following missions from WC from the lost 3 posts:(2524+2019+1533=6,076)
B-rank:
-Bomb in the Bath House
-Gung Ho Grave Robbers
6,000/6,000 Required WC
76+83=159 Left over words

Claiming:
+17,000 Ryo
+70 AP
+75 to Vigor Stat
+50 to Chakra Stat
+20 to Speed Stat
2000/2000 to Tengan (Stage 1)
2000/2000 to Sun Release
2750/2750 to Sun Release: Blast Sphere
2000/2000 to Chakra Infusion
2500/2500 to Bodily Restoration
1500/1500 to Ninjutsu Amplifier
1750/1750 to Sun Shard Shuriken Technique
2500/2500 to Soul Expulsion
264/4000 to Tengan (Stage 2)