The Long Departed

Link

Day barely breaking the dewy mist still lingered amongst the many graves. It was a uneasy site, a scene filled with sadness and regret to those looking to make up for their past doings. However, during this eerie hour, it might come across as an easier setting compared to the rest. During this hour, nobody was around, nobody to worry if one was too close to hear your own sins and confessions. He light barely hitting the graveyard gave enough glimpse to take note of one's surroundings, the mist hung low to the ground as it barely reached above mid shins. The names etched along the tombs were quite visible, with some being quite familiar to the Uchiha tending the markers.

Oksiho stops in front of one marker, he looks down towards the tombstone, reading the name slowly with no audible.

As for attire, Okisho is a minimalist, nothing too flashy and void of any logos. He is seen wearing a simple all light grey shirt, and a pair of dark navy-blue slacks which stop at the top of his ankles. A single ninja pouch concealed underneath his black shirt. The pouch his attached to his black leather belt, fastened on the back right side of his waist. His shoes are standard issued shinobi editions, revealing his toes and back ankles. His shinobi headband is tied tight against his forehead, but not so much to cause any discomfort.

He knew this person, in fact, many kids did. He was from a different time, with no war record, no infamous nickname, and not even single offspring to carry on his lineage. At least, no offspring tied to him by blood. This particular fellow, owned quite the establishment that catered to young adults looking to kick back and enjoy life a little. It wasn't a bar, nor club. It was simple cafe, kept out along the walls of the village. The kids came here to play billiards, drink all the coffee and soda they want. It was a home away from home, while it was open at least.

He picks up the few dead flowers, left upon the grave only to toss it into the black garbage bag. There were a few live ones, which he left alone. He did his best to respect the donors, but there was only so much he could do when he he himself was ordered by the higher ups to clean up the debris. Speaking on that, he scans the area, searching for his teammate who was suppose to help him on this mission. Okisho was a bit early, so as of now nobody was late.
---
TWC/444

Birdsong drew Jiro out of his slumber, his dark eyes cracking open and staring listlessly outside the open bedroom door. The grey sky slowly came into focus above the tree line. Dawn had broken. The teen groaned quietly, slowly pushing himself up off his futon and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, yawning widely. Normally, he would sleep in until the sun had risen in the sky, but as his luck would have it, he actually had an appointment this morning. Grabbing his day clothes, Jiro stood up and groggily dressed himself.

He tiptoed across the traditional wooden patio that surrounded his home, as he didn't want to wake the rest of his family. He wasn't very hungry yet. He would probably wait to grab food until after his job had been done. Sitting down on the patio steps, Jiro pulled his sandals onto his feet and set off for the shinobi burial grounds. 'Bit morbid,' he thinks as he walks, passing a few early risers who were likewise on their way to work. Besides those few, the streets might as well have been a graveyard. It was a bit eerie, walking around town this early in the day, before the residents were properly awake.

It didn't take long before Jiro arrived at his destination, walking through a gate onto a massive field filled with endless rows of headstones. He stood there a moment, taking it in. He didn't often come down here... in fact, he'd actively avoided it for the past 6 years. Starting to walk slowly, his eyes scanned over the names chiseled into stone. Names from every clan, and dozens more. He wasn't paying much attention to his feet as he wandered the rows, which seemed to have a mind of their own. He hadn't realized where he was going until he saw the name. 'Nara Shikadai'. He felt his jaw clench, and he took a deep breath in, releasing it and rubbing his sweaty palms on his trousers. His eyes flickered over, then, to a man who was stood nearby. He'd been told he was to have a partner for this job, so he could probably assume that was him.

"Yo... I'm Jiro. You're the one I'm cleaning up these stones with... right?" One hand rested on his hip as he appraised the guy. He was tall, a bit lanky, and understated. There wasn't much he could tell about him just yet. "If you could just point me in the direction of the cleaning supplies, then... I wanna get this over with."
_________________________________
WC: 426 / TWC: 426 / MWC: 870

As the curious Uchiha search the barely lit underworld like setting, he comes across a figure to his right. He catches the wandering individual lock eyes with him, he eases up his own stance as to not put the oncoming individual on alert. It was still dim lit, and the graveyard wasn't the place to promote happy and at easing thoughts. His shoulders drop, awhile turning his entire frame towards the oncoming guy. The closer he got, the faster Okisho's heart flutter, till finally silence broke. He was relived to here that he was here to aid him in fixing up the place. There was a reason why Okisho arrived early, to get the job done as soon as possible. The faster they were gone and away from this morbid place, the better.

"Welcome, Jiro...", he pauses for a moment, realizing his greeting didn't quite fit the scenery, There was nothing welcoming to the living about a graveyard. He also noticed, something that he couldn't have noticed a distance away due to the lighting, was Jiro's sadden face. He understood that the two were in a graveyard, doing grunt work, but perhaps there was more to it? Prying into someone else's personal life, a stranger at that, wasn't something he was into. However, that stranger happened to be a village shinobi, which meant they were practically brothers in arm. With the ball still in his court, Okisho proceeded on.

"Right, we shouldn't have much to do, I started early because I really don't like spending too much time in a graveyard. He extends his left arm towards the red wooden shed behind him, 10 meters or so. "The supplies are over there, a silver cross too if you want", he smirks a bit at his lame joke, trying to lighten the mood. He was a fish out of water at this point, Okisho never was the one to crack a joke like this. He could hear his teammate, Tenshi Uchiha, laughing at him in his sore attempt at levity.

He continues to pick up the trash and fix up the grave marker in front of him.

"Are you on a team, Jiro?", he asked bluntly. He knew that the higher ups were having problems with issuing new recruits teams, due to the lack sensei. Apparently there were a lot willing to learn, but only a few willing to teach. Konoha has been on quite the campaign for quite a while, it's recent recapture of land being that of the wind country. The amount of times that land has slipped between the clutches of the cloud and fire countries goes back to the fire nation era.
---
TWC/889

Jiro's eyes followed the man's gesture to the shed, and he turned to walk past him, opening the door and pulling out a scrub brush, a bottle of cleaning solution and a bucket. Finding a tap, he turns it on and slides the bucket underneath, letting it get about half full before bringing it out to the row of stones, eyeing his partner. "You never told me your name," he said, as he knelt down and got to work, spraying the chemical solution over the surface of the stone to start breaking down the algae growth. He kept his eyes on his work as he started to scrub. "And no, I don't got a team... I just do the work that needs doing, and do solo training in my off time. Like most of us." He dunked the brush in his bucket of water and kept scrubbing, the engravings on the stone becoming much more legible as the gunk got cleared away. Nobuo Yamanaka. Died eight years ago. He found himself idly wondering what had done him in. Did his family consider him a hero, too? Did he also leave behind a little brother whom his parents would try and groom into his image, condemning him to live his life in his elder brother's shadow?

Jiro tried to brush these thoughts away as he moved onto the next headstone in the row, spraying it down silently. It wouldn't do him any good to think about that, now. "What about you, then," he said, diverting his attention back to the man in front of him. "You mentioned teams, so you must have one. Unless you're recruiting." Jiro wasn't sure how well he would work on a team, if he was honest with himself. He did almost everything else alone, preferring not to be responsible for anyone, or rely on anyone. He knew that historically, Konoha valued teamwork amongst its members. But even so, with his current lifestyle, being part of a team would be a big adjustment. There was the small voice in the back of his mind that thought joining a team might actually be good for him, but... man, that kind of emotional labor sounded like a pain in the ass.
_________________________________________
WC: 372 / TWC: 798 / MWC: 1,687

Stopping abruptly, he immediately corrects the error on his part. "Forgive me, my name is, Okisho.", he usually was the one to keep good manners as part of his identity. He couldn't explain the reason for for his lack of manners, without coming off as a sad sap. Nevertheless, he proceeds onward.

Moving to the next headstone, Raito Yamato, he gathers any debris that was blown towards it. Or tossed at it, like discarded cigs and the like. while he did so, he looks back at Jiro slightly, after hearing his situation. It was disappointing that Jiro wasn't on a team. His current demeanor screamed that of a loner, with no one to talk to. Just simply listening to Jiro's choice of words, and the voice behind it, all told the real story. Or, Perhaps he was reaching, trying to form a story that wasn't there.

"Yeah, I am on a team, Team 212...along with Himari Hyuga and Tenshi Uchiha. They're pleasant people to be around, and every promising shinobi", he pursed his lips as he moved on to the next headstone. Nara Shikadai. the name etched on the grave marker. "I only ask because given the current state of affairs, it's becoming a real problem. and with talks of the nest Chuunin exams on the way, a team or sparring partner could go along way.", he knows that Jiro wasn't a part of his graduating class, otherwise he would have recognized him, but that still didn't mean that he couldn't offer to assist. "You plan on signing up for the chuunin exam?" he said while scanning the grave marker for trash.
---
TWC/ 1161

"Chuunin exam... sounds like a pain. Why would I wanna be responsible for other people... A bad decision on my part could cost somebody's life. No thanks. I'll happily live a mediocre life doing mediocre work til the day I die." Jiro frowned. As he heard himself say the words, even he knew that they lacked conviction. His eyes flickered over to Okisho, and he quickly stood up, bumping the Uchiha out of the way. "Don't... I'll do this one." He stood quietly a long time, looking down at the name etched in the stone. He felt his palms go clammy, and his hands curled slowly at his sides, his heart like a heavy stone in his chest. After some contemplation, he slowly released a sigh, muttering quietly under his breath as he crouched down and touched the surface of the stone. "... He's my brother."

In truth, Jiro was a mess. He claimed to be happy with mediocrity, yet he trained himself rigorously to advance his power. He denied wanting anything to do with responsibility, but he knew deep down that if he had a duty to a comrade, he would give 110% to make sure it was fulfilled. He resented his parents for pushing their expectations on him to fill his brother's shoes. He resented his brother for dying, and he resented the Chuunin that led him to his death. He also couldn't bear the thought that one day he might find himself in the same position, with someone else's blood on his hands. Picking up the rag, he wiped at the stone, even though it was practically spotless. He wondered if his parents had been coming here and tending to it while Jiro was away, as he often was. He didn't say anything more. He wouldn't know how to talk about his feelings if he tried.

Jiro finished his work in silence, moving on to the other headstones without making any further conversation. Soon enough, the row had been finished, and he stood up, returning his supplies to the shed and shoving his hands in his pockets, walking past Okisho on his way out. "... Later, then," he said, walking through the gates with no clear destination in mind. He just wanted to be out of that place.

[Exit]
____________________________________
WC: 379 / TWC: 1,177 / MWC: 2,338

Mission Claims: 4,000 Ryo, 20 AP
WC Claims: +10 Speed; 50 WC for Body Flicker (D) [Previous Claim], 500 WC for Feint (D), 500 WC for Throat Chop (D)
Milestone Claims: "Amateur Ninja" (1 C-Rank Jutsu Scroll)

"I see...", he said while taking in what Jiro said. Not everyone followed the status quo like, Okisho. He was a shinobi, he followed the orders handed down to him from above, and executed them. Whether he were to go at it alone, or with a group, the objective was the same. Get the job done, the best you can. But to here another shinobi, stated he rather do things on their own, he couldn't call it useless. Everyone, as shinobi, each held their place within the machine. Everyone had a job to do. If those preferred to carryout the low risk tasks, Okisho wasn't going to look down on them. In the end, somebody has to pick up the trash.

While he was cleaning, Okisho watch Jiro make his way over to him. Did he have something else to say, or perhaps he was done with the mission? It so, it would explain why the answer he gave was backed with such a empty voice. As if he simply gave a pat answer to a question he did not want to reply to. However, the Uchiha was met with a shove. The level of disrespect surely didn't go unnoticed. "Jiro..." He face tensed, however, Jiro's expression towards the grave marker was a bit to personal. His other body expression gave the story away before he stated that the person buried six feet directly below the, was Jiro's brother. The air around them grew tense as well, an awkward situation. He didn't excuse the shove, but saw no need to press the subject any further.

"Find another way to grieve, that doesn't involve you disrespecting others." Starting an altercation, with a subject like this would only put Okisho in the losing corner. They two remained silent as they continued their work. It all ended with the two parting ways, away and far away from the graveyard.
---
Exit TWC/ 1,477 claiming 4,000 ryo, 20 ap, 28ap, using 1,380 words towards this 4,000/4,000 words for two tomoe sharingan and the rest towards three tomoe 4,097/6,000.