Respect the Dead [C rank Mission]

mission details:

Mid-morning or for some it had been high noon, either way the red-haired male sat atop the house his father had once lived in. As the wind picked his hair into the hair gently he stared into the distance of the village and took in a deep breath. The subtle memories of his father flashed through his mind of his time as a child within this place, an illusion of cacophony that only reminded him of the fact that his father’s memory was eternally living inside of him. As he was a concept of his father made flesh that came as no surprise to him, but just as a moth drawn to fire, Nuraihyon was drawn to the knowledge it provided. His Yuumei stirred within him gently, but every so often in the corner of his eye he could see the visage of his father standing there looking both at him and village as a whole. He did not understand why his father chose the path he did and when he attempted to ask the visage it would only smile and slowly disappear. Was this a burden he only knew as the only one burdened and gifted with the Yuumei? Or was this something he was gifted to know the mistakes of the past and thus tasked with forging a new path? Not one of redemption but one of obtaining the power to never fail again? So many questions bogged the males mind but for now he would focus on one thing today. The task of gaining money. While he and his sibling has been tasked with taking care of their Aunt, they needed money to reconstruct the house for it had fallen into a state of disrepair. Even if the village had been helping take care of her, the house needed tending to and they needed things for training.

With that being said he would stand tall, his hair falling all the way down to his bottom as he stretched looked down to his hand. Within it a small blue flame would emit before he clenched his hand into a fist and grinned,” No need on dwelling on those mistakes my path is clear. Lets get it over with,” straightening out his jacket he would tap his chest with his fist twice before jumping off of the roof and landing with finesse, taking off into the village to the gravesite. He did not know who would join him in the mission, but what he did know was that he was going to assist in cleaning some of the older graves, and eventually go to pay his respects to the grave of his father, the late Hokage. His stride was vast and he wasted no time in getting to the gravesite, walking through the opening and looking around. There had been a few people here already paying their respects which was something…he wasn’t quite familiar with. He came here with his Aunt to see the grave that they had put up for his father, but he didn’t or rather would not tell her the grave would be empty. He could not exactly prove it, but he had a feeling of it. It was his last wish after all, even if not spoken he knew this. Shaking the memory from his head he would meander to the deeper part of the graves where his mission would take place and lean against a pillar as he waited for the others.

578 WC

Tatsuo had never actually been to the burial grounds before. He knew his clan had been part of Konoha since the beginning though, so there must have been a lot of distant relatives that were buried there. He was curious about his own extended family of recent generations, though. Did he have grandparents here? He had never met any of his grandparents, and his parents rarely spoke of them. All they ever said was that the people who died in service of the Hokage, were heroes. "But what if you die by accident?" a younger Tatsuo had asked them once. "A shinobi should never die by accident. A shinobi should always die with honor, defending that which holds value to them." That was what his father had told him. Tatsuo had often wondered what that meant. What had value, enough to give your life for it? He used to think it meant his family and friends. But the way his father talked about it, it seemed like that 'thing' might be bigger than one person, bigger than a bunch of people even. That it might not be something tangible at all.

These thoughts occupied him as he stepped onto the burial grounds, and he looked up to see the rows and rows and tombstones that greeted him. He stood for a moment in awe of the sheer number of them. That's when he spotted a figure in the background, a man who appeared to be waiting for someone. Tatsuo had been told that today's job would be a team effort, so the small boy jogged over to the taller man, stopping a couple of meters away and appraising him for a moment before lifting a hand in greeting. "Hey... I'm Tatsuo. I'm here to help clean the headstones... is that why you're here too?" The young Uchiha stood at all of four feet and two inches tall, his jet black hair secured out of his face by his shinobi headband. He was on the young side, even for a Genin, and he was used to his comrades being quite a bit bigger than him by now.
__________________________
WC: 356 / MWC: 934

---

As Nokino did every once and a while, she was standing over her parents grave in the large graveyard of Konoha, with the hot wind of the noon sun blowing into her long pale blonde hair, carrying the leaves of the trees surrounding the tombstones littering the graveyard, all honnoring deceased ninja and citizens of Konoha. With the sound of the wind and the chimes, Nokino was silent, in her own mind, with her arms crossed and her hands into her flak vest pockets like usually, a lit cigarette hanging from her lips, with the tip almost extinguished from the gale of the wind, taking all of her smoke away from her.

''Hey Mom. Hey 'Pa. Its me again, your daughter Nokino. Yeah, pretty annoying that im the last of remaining right? I'm still training kids, got a promissing batch too. Two Uchiha boys. Yeah... A-g-a-i-n! Those are different tho. And this young hyuuga girl too. Also, I've had a breaktrough. The hokage will receive me shortly to present my teaching reform for the academy. I hope you're proud 'Pa. You too mom... Im still fighting strong for you all, and for the village. You wont be-'' Said Nokino to herself, before being interupted in her speech by a large thread of red hair flowing in the wind and hitting her across the cheek.

''OYY! WHAT THE ?!'' said Nokino in suprise, the hair lock flowing toward her mouth with her spiting out her now tangled cig to prevent getting hair into her mouth. As she looked from the dirrection where it belonged, Nokino saw a young man with red hair fixing and cleaning the old grave a bit farther from her own place. Now resolute to meet him she payed her usual homage to her parents grave, albeit quickly, and went towards the young man. As she moved toward him, she saw a familliar little face and silouette. It was Tatsuo! With a faint smile, Nokino lit another cigarette and moved toward the duo, introducing herself to the red haired man she never met before. 

''Heya Kiddo, how's it goin'?'' said quickly Nokino toward tatsuo, still her hands in her pockets with her casual poker face, almost bitchy but the one that Tatsuo knew and recognized as just her normal face.

''And you. I don't think we had the chance to meet, right? Im Nokino. Pretty hair you got there bro!'' would say Nokino, removing again another hair of the young man that flew into her face from affar, before extending the same hand for a propper handshake, with a faint corner smile showing itself onto her face with her plump lips.

In silence he waited by himself for moments at a time, his right index finger tapping idly against the bicep on his left arm as he stood there alone. He didn't know who the others would be and maybe that would be for the best as he was not into making friends at this moment, but he could very well hear the familiar voice of his father telling him friends went a long way. Moment passed and for a moment he thought he could hear a voice talking in the same vicinity as himself, but after looking around he saw nothing. Only after looking down however he could see someone talking to him. Dark hair, coal colored eyes. Short. All of the six foot five male chuckled for a moment as he saw nothing but a child in front of him, but he would humored at least someone decided to show up," Yeah you could say that. At least you weren't late Tatsuo," he would wait of course to introduce himself, but as fate would have it or if it was a crude joke another voice would ring out to him as well. Judging by the interaction these two knew each other, which meant this would go either smoothly for him or be a bother. Both appeared young, at least by his standards. He may have been "young" himself but his eyes and experience were much wiser. His crimson eyes peered at the both of them for a moment, his eyes settling on Nokino for a moment before shrugging," It is what it is. Just hair for me I guess. Since you are both here it saves me time having to repeat myself twice. Nuraihyon, but for the indoctrinated just Nura. Let's go ahead and get this done then," at the end he would look at the hand poised in front of him and then back to the owner.

There were three distinct blinks that came from him before he moved his hand outward. Instead of a full contact handshake, his thumb and left finger would be placed on the inside of Nokino's palm and on the outside of her hand. Even with two fingers his strength would be apparent as he shook the hand and then let go, only to walk off and begin to work. He did not bother to exchange in small talk only getting to the task at hand. After what felt like a few hours for him he would finish his task and just as soon as he arrived he would disappear from the site. Though he didn't leave he stood in the area where the proud headstones of the prior Kage would be standing in front of one in particular. Looking down at the name, he would lean forward and rest his right hand against it as he smirked and shook his head.

"What was your goal in the end..."

The words were silent, barely audible as he sat down and stared into the distance with only himself and the graves to keep company.

510 WC
[Exit]
TWC: 1,078
Claiming
4,000 Ryo
20 AP
Putting 1,078 words into master Inhaling Maw for Handseals (1,078/2,500)

Before he could catch the man's reply, a familiar voice greeted him. Tatsuo looked behind him to see Nokino standing there. "Hi, Nokino-san," he said respectfully, though his expression had a bit of humor in it when she complimented the man's hair. It was then that Tatsuo finally heard the name of the third member of their party. "Nurai... hyon," he said carefully, nodding and smiling. "Nura-san, it's nice to meet you." It seemed that the older male would waste no time in getting to work, and so Tatsuo followed suit, finding the cleaning supplies and carefully scrubbing some of the old tombstones. It may be grunt work, but he could understand at least that it was performed out of respect for the fallen shinobi that rested here. When he finished cleaning his row, he stopped and pressed his palms together, taking a moment of silence to honor the lives of those that were lost. Picking up his supplies, he returned them to where they belong, waving to Nokino as he took off toward home.

[Exit]
________________________________
WC: 175 / TWC: 531 / MWC: 2,061

Mission Claims: 4,000 Ryo, 20 AP
Milestone Claims: "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work" (500 WC)
WC Claims: +5 Vigor; 250 WC for Genjutsu Release Mastery (No Handseals); 625 WC to Rank Up Phoenix Sage Fire (C to B); discarding remaining 156 WC

As Nokino shook the red haired man's hand, or should we say fingers, she felt his strength all in her arm. This man was weird, but so strong she didnt bother to discuss, and he didnt either. As Tatsuo introduced himself as usual, she gave him a small smile, a bit awkward and reticent to speak after the hand thing. Both of them stayed in silence as they cleaned the burial monuments and stones of the graves. Nokino took the same suplies the boys had brought, and started to clean too, working in unisson and in silence with the others, with only the wind and the noise of the scrubbing with the ruffling of the leaves to keep them company. 

As Nokino approached the tomb of her parents again, she couldnt help herself but to clean it extra good, and at the end, talk to them again.

''I know im annoying you even more but, I wanted to say that its hard living without you, without the training of dad, without the good katsu of mom... I love you guys. I'm gonna make you proud!''  tought Nokino, talking to them in her head.

As the others were done, Nokino wave them goodbye, and taking her time to finish and to take the day to rest and meditate, she hung out at the cemetary for all day, taking care of the other tombstones as well as lighting some incent and candles for the dead, honoring the memory of her parents one more time, and thinking of her future as a trainer, as well as the future of her students.

[EXIT]

missions claim: 
4000 ryo, 20 AP

TWC: 710

stats: 7


203 wc going toward Rasengan to complete it from this claim, 500 remaining WC going toward Genjutsu release and its mastery

7wc remaining going toward Immitation blackhole (433/2062) (count here)

Nokino wrote:
[EXIT]

missions claim: 
4000 ryo, 20 AP

TWC: 710

stats: 7

7 stats points going to chakra from vigor (new vigor=56(+25) New chakra=69)

203 wc going toward Rasengan to complete it from this claim, 500 remaining WC going toward Genjutsu release and its mastery

7wc remaining going toward Immitation blackhole (433/2062) (count here)

Approved