Sayuri was a bit excited to head to the University, but mostly she was nervous. She didn’t know much of what to expect from the place. And more importantly she didn’t know what to expect from the people. She had heard from Tsuyo that her new teacher, Harichimo, was someone she could trust, but it didn’t shake the trepidation that she felt as she walked slowly towards the large stone building that would be her new home for the next while. She marveled at the grandeur of the building as it came into view, perched high atop a mountain, interestingly in the middle of a lake. It had been quite the trek to reach it and while the walk didn’t bother her, she was happy that at least it was not in the middle of the Village surrounded by the racket of the busy population. She stopped at the bridge to the island and placed her hand on the worn and weathered railing, thinking to herself out loud. “Well I guess this is it then silly duck. A new adventure and hopefully some new friends, it’s going to be fine.” She was trying desperately to quell the rising panic as she got closer to her objective. A myriad of doubt filled thoughts were flooding her mind; What if there are too many people there? What do I do for food? And the most pressing of all, What if I fail?

She reached down deep and took what courage she had left, remembering what Tsuyo had told her.

“. . . Have an adventure Sayuri. Learn what you wish to, explore the world and make new friends. Only you can stand in your way. Believe in yourself and the world becomes your unwritten story.”

Comforted by the memory of her time with Tsuyo, she straightened her bright blue and red jacket and marched forward across the bridge towards the University. It was a moderately long walk, since it was a bridge that crossed a lake after all, but the sun was shining and the sound of the water lapping against the wood of the bridge was somewhat soothing. She was not too sure how she was supposed to find Harichimo, after all she didn’t even know what he looked like. As Tsuyo had been quite clear to not mention his name to anyone but Harichimo, she was busy trying to construct a reason as to why she would come all the way here if she had learned about it from Tsuyo. As it turned out she was not especially good at crafting falsehoods, so she figured the best thing to do was just tell the truth. That she was looking for Harichimo, as she had heard he was a good teacher. It wouldn’t matter, most likely, who she had heard that from.

As she climbed her way up to the main doors, she sang quietly to herself, in order to distract from the small space she was about to enter. Pushing the door open she wandered around in the comparably dim light of the University, blinking a few times as the sun spots faded from her vision. She stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, then started looking around for someone to ask as to Harichimo’s whereabouts.

551

Harichimo had spent his morning in his apartment making the last of the preparations for his appointment at the Diamond University. He stood in the small bathroom facing the mirror as he wrapped his forearms in their bandages. The tight feeling of comfort they gave him was a very missed one. It brought back the memories of his past fights and ventures but now he would need that motivation for a more important task. He had been asked to come and be a motivational figure to witness the new batch of possible Monolith recruits who showed above average promise. Since the disappearance of the current leader the task of finding possible new recruits fell to Harichimo. When he last strip of bandage left the roll and hugged his arm he was sure to give it a tug to make sure it was secure. He looked into the mirror and noticed the holes in his ears were starting to fully close as he had not been wearing his gold piercings as of late. The look was starting to grow on him as more professional and the piercings may have just proven to be a distraction of the future.

Happy with his last tasks he would exit the bathroom and walk to a small closet. When he opened the door the contents would flap forward and shine bright as it was his Monolith coat. The deep black coat contrasted greatly with the bright gold trim catching the beams of light flooding from the main windows. It made been a while since he first dawned the coat and he took it from his hook to admire the embroidery on the back. Coeus shined back at him to remind him of the meaning of the Monoliths and how great of an honor he had been given. With a smile he would slip on the jacket and make sure to turn off all the lights in his apartment before heading out.

It would normally be a long trek through the main streets of the village to reach the Diamond University from where his apartment was. But this morning with renewed spirits Harichimo decided to take the fun and most direct way to the university. With a bound and a leap he jumped from the edge of the trail his apartment sat on to the top of a building and make a straight shot over a number of other roofs not missing a beat. Soon arriving at the front gates of the stony university. It held up as strong as any other building made from the same Iwagakure stone and then some. It had to be to contain all the knowledge and ambition of future shinobi.

Harichimo would land off his last jump with a soft impact in the central square. It made for a nice scene to see the statue of the Tsuchikage of old that comissioned the University standing in front and welcoming in all who wished to learn the knowledge inside. Harichimo would brush off the bottom of his coat and arrive at the doors pushing one side open and pushing it more open for a few students leaving. It was a drastic change as the bright sun was now dimmed by the stony interior. He would make his way towards the main desk and talk with one of the secretaries.

"Hello, Harichimo Kazako here to see about that batch of students your instructor Kao was gathering." One secretary would open a small book that seemed to hole the appointments for the day and found what he had mentioned but shook their head. "We are sorry Mr. Kazako but that appointment had been cancelled due to a few students injuring themselves on the course yesterday we were sure to send out a message to the clinic." This in turn would make Harichimo shake his head and reply. "Well that is a shame and I am sorry to have make this an awkward meeting but I am no longer residing at the Kazako clinic for the time being. I will make sure to tell administration where they can reach me to reschedule and arrange further meetings. Thank you for your time. For now I may just peruse around the campus and see what has been added in the last couple months." Harichimo would give a bow and turn from the desk and stand in the middle of the room deciding which way he wanted to go first.

743/743

Sayuri was more than a little impressed by the sheer size of the building she was now in. Considering how expansive the floor she was on currently was, she could only imagine how long it must have taken to build such a beautiful structure. There were so many floors, at least from what she had seen on the outside, and truth be told she was more interested in exploring than actually completing her task. She imagined that there were many interesting hiding spots and places to climb in the stone construct, and the idea was driving her to distraction. Were it not for the entrance of a young man wearing a stunning garment, she probably would have bailed on her responsibilities right then and there.

She stood for a moment, staring at the light shining off the tall mans coat. It was a gorgeous liquid shade of black, with gold trim and embroidery that fairly sparkled in the brightness of the morning. Sayuri was entranced by it’s brilliance and found herself drawn towards it, unconsciously taking one hypnotic step after the other until she was a mere handbreadth away from the stranger. She had been, as of the past year, more accustomed to finery, and this was certainly among the things she would describe as ‘fine’. As her hand reached out to touch the sparkling fabric, it crossed her mind that perhaps she should introduce herself before grabbing onto the man’s coat. However, as her hand seemed very much to have a mind of its own, her words came out as her fingertips brushed the textured gold material.

“Hello there. . . I uh, I’m Sayuri. And I hope you don’t mind, but this is the prettiest coat I’ve probably ever seen before. I saw you from over there,” she paused in her stammering to gesture further into the room with her other hand before continuing, “. . . and I just had to come over and see this for myself. Where did you get it? Did you make it? How did you make it?” Her eyes sparkled in tandem with the gold she was currently caressing as tears of excitement and wonder threatened to spill down her pale cheeks, her words a veritable torrent of hurried awe. It being noticeable that she hadn’t taken a breath as at the end of her interrogation she breathed deeply, cutting off her chattering as she would look expectantly up at the man, biting at her lip with anxiety.

After waiting for a reply she would reluctantly pull her hand away from the fabric of his jacket, her once vaguely happy tears turning somewhat sorrowful as she realized that she had likely crossed over a social boundary, yet again. She remembered then why she was here at all, in the University in Iwagakure no sato, and wondered if this was the sort of first impression that would make Tsuyo proud, or disappointed. “Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. I’m. . . um, just here, looking for someone.”

511/1062

Harichimo looked and peered down the two corridors on either side of the main lobby and each seemed equally as dull and and uninteresting to his eyes. He really had his eyes set on finding possible recruits for the Monoliths. As he stood there he felt a small tug on the back of his coat. He would turn around and see this shorter girl with snow white hair and different colored eyes running the golden lining of his coat through her hands. It had become a usual sight for smaller kids to come and tug at his coat but someone who seemed completely entranced with it was something of an oddity. Harichimo would smile and clear his throat to get their girl's attention.

It seemed to work as the girl came to and began to speak introducing herself and talking about her interest in his coat. Her name was Sayuri, a name he had not heard around the village, she must have just arrived in the village within the last week or so. Regardless it was good to see a new face and one that was ecstatic with fine clothing was a rare one. Harichimo would let her catch her breath after she listed out all the questions she wanted answers to before he would speak in a friendly tone. "Well it is nice to meet you Sayuri. And no it is not a problem. People are always drawn to a coat like this especially when it is sunny and the gold flashes in everyone's eyes. And no I didn't make it, I am not that talented. I was given this after reaching a very special rank in the village. Not many people will have anything like this."



The girl then seemed to act as if she had broken some sort of law with how she jumped back and dropped the coat from her hands and started to apologize saying she was just looking for someone and got distracted. Harichimo would wave it off as no big deal before he spoke again. "Oh you are completely fine Sayuri. Being at the rank I am, attention comes with it. And maybe I can help you out with your problem. The name is Harichimo Kazako and I have a bit of pull around here so if you can tell me who you are looking for then maybe I can talk to the secretaries and we can narrow down the search."



411/1154

It was undeniable that Sayuri had been drawn to the coat. So she felt that the man’s assessment was pretty accurate. The way it flashed and glinted in the sunlight was mesmerizing. While she had been staring down at the gold thread she had been too entranced to notice much about the man in front of her, looking up at him she studied his appearance for a moment. He was tall, because of course he was, everyone always seemed to be a good deal taller than her. And fairly well built so she assumed that, like his teacher Tsuyo, he was also specialize in hand to hand combat. Not that she was an expert on the concept, but it seemed a solid guess. She was pleased to see a smile on his face, as so many people she ended up meeting for the first time were so outwardly serious which caused her a good deal of anxiety. She could never be sure what people’s intentions were, and so his friendly demeanor was comforting, she hoped that it proved to be a constant and not a facade.

She had nearly forgotten what it was she was supposed to be doing here when the handsome blue eyed man introduced himself as Harichimo Kazako. Sayuri’s eyes shot open wide as she took a deep breath that very nearly escaped in an excited shriek. She would grasp at his arm in an attempt to steady herself as she was on the verge of jumping for joy and spoke in an all too loud and delighted whisper.

“You’re Harichimo! The Monolith?! That’s fantastic news! I was. . .” she would draw in closer to him and lower her voice conspiratorially as she continued. “. . . sent here to find you! I’m supposed to train under you because. . . uh. . . hmmm. Is there somewhere private that we can go talk? I don’t think the middle of this room is the best place.”

She would begin turning her head, trying to spy a ‘private’ place to speak with Harichimo. It was a futile attempt of course, seeing as she had no knowledge of the area, and she couldn’t read so if there was a sign anywhere that indicated privacy, she certainly wasn’t aware of it. Realizing the strangeness of her request, she would turn her attention back to the man who, if she were more socially aware, was undoubtedly held hostage by her enthusiastic questions. She thought then on what Tsuyo had taught her, and breathed deeply trying to envision the lovely storms and petals of her chakra in an effort to calm herself down. She hadn’t counted on having her task being completed so easily, and was thrilled that she got to meet her, hopefully, new teacher so soon.

“I’m sorry, for uh. . . being so, you know. I just am excited is all, I’m not trying to be suspicious or trick you or anything. It just have some things to tell you that are, well, private is all. Oh! I’m Sayuri by the way. . .” She would begin extending her hand in greeting before realizing that she had already introduced herself to the man, and would then withdraw it, sweeping her white hair behind her left ear in embarrassment. Clearing her throat and blushing a scarlet hue she would look up at him sheepishly. “But I already said that didn’t I. I’m not usually so forgetful, I just. . . sorry.”

582/1644

Harichimo was taken by surprise with the sudden change in the girl's demeanor as she suddenly sprang to life at the sound of his name. Sayuri would bury him with tasks she had in mind. Harichimo seemed to just be lost until she got to the point of finding somewhere to explain herself. She seemed to calm down and look around, trying to seek somewhere secluded from the main corridor. And suddenly become the same as before, calm yet still a tinge of excitement as she really needed to talk with him somewhere out of ear shot. Harichimo would look around and think to himself before the idea came to him. "Just follow me and we can discuss this more when we get to the right floor."



Harichimo would gesture her to follow as he wend back towards the secretary desk. He would knock on the table before speaking. "Excuse me I was going to leave but now it seems I will be needing to check out some things on the Akira Kazako floor if you could please hand me the key." The secretary would close their books and open a small case containing three keys each seeming to correspond to a special floor designated to great teachers of the university. She would take the right most key and hand it to Harichimo. "Here you go Mr.Kazako. Just make sure to have it back here when you do leave the grounds." Harichimo would nod and motion for Sayuri to follow him down the corridor on the left.


The pair would reach a door with his sensei's name inscribed in gold. Harichimo would contemplate for a moment as it would be his first time also going down onto the floor dedicated to the man he knew as Akira Kazako. Harichimo would unlock the door and hold it open for Sayuri to follow him down a flight of stairs. They would soon reach a long hallway covered floor to ceiling in pearly white material. Statues adorned both sides of the hall and would welcome them into the awe inspiring sight. Harichimo had some idea of the layout and would make his way towards the end of the grand hallway. He would continue to walk and just glance over the statues as they passed. They would reach the end and Harichimo would open the door to reveal the empty cafe that once served select students but now lay empty after Akira's departure.



Harichimo would tap the nearest table as he would make his way to the kitchen. "If you would please Sayuri. You can take a seat here and I will grab us some water and maybe some tea if you would like as well." Harichimo would take his coat and fold it onto the corner of the table. Once he got back into the kitchen it was quick to find two small cups and a water jug. Then some tea bags hidden away in a can in the pantry would make for some nice chilled tea. He would return with the jug full and would take the seat opposite Sayuri. "Now no one should bug us down here. This floor is utterly unused these days. So speak freely and you can explain exactly what it is you need of me." Harichimo would lay the two cups down and fill them up before taking his own and sliding the tea bag into the cup to soak.


577/1731

Sayuri was glad that Harichimo didn’t immediately assume she was out of her mind, or trying to cause trouble. As he asked her to follow him, she would dutifully walk along behind and was fascinated by the keys that were pulled out by the woman at the desk. She assumed that they were very important, the keys, for them to be kept hidden away in a special box. Everything about this place so far was impressive, the size and grandeur for one and now there were secret keys. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be seeing them, but she figured that if she wasn’t then probably he wouldn’t have asked her to follow him. It was little more than a passing thought as just as quick as they had been to the front desk, Harichimo hurried along down a corridor and to a door with a beautiful piece of metal on it. There was writing on it, because of course there was, and she made a mental ‘note’ to ask about the writing later. She was curious as always, but also very excited to talk with Harichimo about Tsuyo. Well, Akira.

Trying not to look too nervous, Sayuri would walk through the door that Harichimo held open for her. While the floor they had just been on was large and expansive, going down a flight of stairs into god knows what didn’t seem enjoyable. The familiar panic started to rush to her head, causing her breath to quicken and pricks of sweat to form on her brow and down her spine. She wished now that she had been more specific about her suggestion. A private place outdoors probably wasn’t that hard to find, and she would have much preferred it to the confines of this building. Next time, be more clear. You only get exactly what you ask for after all, silly duck. Her nervousness faded a bit as the stairwell opened up to a large corridor with statues and tall ceilings. She would stop for a minute and just stare up at the beautiful stonework, trying to imagine how much work must have been put into such an intricately decorated place.

Her footsteps echoed on the white shining stone as she stepped nimbly after Harichimo, trying to keep pace with the much taller man. It was fairly difficult but she’d had some practice while spending time with Tsuyo and Mitsuo, both of them being much taller than she was. Turning off into a room that looked perhaps like a sitting area, she would go to the table that Harichimo tapped on, taking a seat in one of the chairs that allowed her a view of the exit. She murmured after the man, “Yes please.” at the mention of a drink of water. She had been quite thirsty since arriving in Iwa, it was much drier than Konoha and on the whole also warmer, as there weren’t many trees to shelter her from the sun. She would fidget as she waited for Harichimo to return, her eyes wandering to the coat he had taken off and left on the chair at the table. She desperately wanted to pick it up and continue examining it, but felt that would be a line crossed that was far worse than what she had done earlier. So she contented herself with eyeing the coat and moving her head this way and that so that the gold trim and thread caught the light in an interesting manner.

While he was not gone very long, she grew bored of just sitting and would stand, pacing about and always keeping one eye on the door. Just in case. As Harichimo reentered the room, she would hurriedly go back to her seat, trying to look nonchalant while in actual fact looking for all the world as though she had just stolen a cookie and been caught doing so. She would hastily accept a cup and fill it with water, but didn’t touch the tea bag as she was at a loss as to what to do with it. "Now no one should bug us down here. This floor is utterly unused these days. So speak freely and you can explain exactly what it is you need of me."

Leaning in towards Harichimo, clutching her small cup of water and lowering her voice into a near whisper she would tell him of her intentions at the University. “I’m here because Akira sent me, he said that you were his best student and that if he asked it of you, you would teach me. You see, I’m apparently lacking in a few of the more basic things that shinobi are supposed to know. I uh. . . can’t, um.” She would turn a scarlet red and pause, looking down into her water as though it held all the secrets of the universe before regaining her composure and continuing. “I can’t read. Or write, or tell time, or count money, and probably a million other things that I’m supposed to know but don’t. Akira was training me some, he taught me about meditation and a little bit about chakra control. But he thought I should come here, to learn from you. He called you a monolith, although I don’t know what that is, but the way he said it, it sounded important. Anyway, that’s why I’m here. I’m wondering if you would teach me.”

922/2566

Harichimo would bring the cup to his lips to sip some of the cold tea as his new acquaintance would begin to speak of what brought her here to the village of stone. It was when she dropped the name of his former sensei that he seemed to choke up a little bit. He calmly put the cup down as she finished her first bit and he would cough to clear his throat of the sudden blockage. Sayuri then seemed to turn red as she continued with her conundrum. She seemed to just lack some basic knowledge and told of how Akira had been working with her. Seems as though Akira had become softer to those he deemed needed his help now a days. Harichimo didn't know what to think, he had a squad of his own but they all seemed to be away from their duties as of late. And what did Akira see in this girl that he saw it fit to send her to Harichimo?

Harichimo would take another sip of his tea as Sayuri would finish her explanation and ask him to help teach her. As he put down the cup he would make a sigh. "The man you speak of, Akira, was indeed my sensei. He taught me almost everything I know about taijutsu and I owe him a debt for helping me make it this far. Out of respect for him and the fact that you probably traveled far from whatever hole he is hiding in now, I would be happy to help you to the best of my abilities." Harichimo would sip the last of his tea and get up from his seat to pace along the length of the bench. He would pick up his coat from the back of the chair and turn it to the back faced him. He looked over the name embroidered into it. Coeus shined in the same bright gold as the trim and reminded him of the titan he named himself after. He was the titan of knowledge. He had excelled in every test Akira had laid before him. Harichimo had shown him what someone from the little clan he pretended to be apart of could do. Now was he really up for this next challenge his sensei was putting before him? Harichimo would put on the coat and stand facing Sayuri. "Now let me explain to you what a Monolith is. A Monolith was a title Akira came up with the honor the best taijutsu users of the village, one being myself. Akira taught me techniques that required more then basic chakra control especially for a taijutsu user. But it was easy for me because my clan are experts at learning and taking apart medical and taijutsu in order to better learn and understand them. Now I don't know what you specialize in or what your shinobi style is. Why don't you explain to me what it is you do or want to do and we can focus on your skills before we move on to teachings?"



515/2246

Sayuri was excited that Harichimo had agreed to teach her. Although Tsuyo had said that he would, there had been a small part of her that was unsure. Her face would light up and she would pull her legs up onto the chair so she was now cross legged and leaning forward, her arms holding onto the seat of the chair almost as if she had to hold herself down. Although she was initially nervous about coming to the University, now she was beside herself with glee at the thought of finally being able to go to a school.

"Now let me explain to you what a Monolith is. A Monolith was a title Akira came up with the honor the best taijutsu users of the village, one being myself. Akira taught me techniques that required more then basic chakra control especially for a taijutsu user. But it was easy for me because my clan are experts at learning and taking apart medical and taijutsu in order to better learn and understand them. Now I don't know what you specialize in or what your shinobi style is. Why don't you explain to me what it is you do or want to do and we can focus on your skills before we move on to teachings?"

The idea of a Monolith was very impressive, she imagined that Harichimo must be very skilled with taijutsu to attain the approval of Tsuyo. When he asked about what skills she had she would get nervous again, tugging on her hair and slumping back into her chair. After a minute she would look up timidly at Harichimo and speak quietly, afraid that her answer now might cause him to retract his first offer.

“Well I uh. . . never went to the Academy, so I’m not a shinobi. I know some things, mostly things I picked up on my own, some things people taught me. Like Akira. I know bukijutsu and some ninjutsu, but I’ve never really done much, um, fighting. I mean. . . I was in a couple fights, but they didn’t. . . uh, go so well.” She would pause and motion to the spiraled scar around her left leg. “What I want to learn? I want to learn how to read and write first. I need to send Akira a letter. And then after that I guess I want to learn how to fight and not kill.”

She realized that her list of wants and explanations were not very thorough, or clear, but it was the best she could do. Given that at best she could communicate clearly to twelve year olds, it was a struggle to put her thoughts into the proper words. She sat and waited for Harichimo’s reply, trying desperately to not cry at the thought of being rejected. He had already said he would help her, but many people had let her down in the past and she imagined it would take time for her to become comfortable around Harichimo.

503/3069

{Exit Thread}

Jutsu Training:
Four Pillar Bind (B-Rank) 1500wc + 200 ryo
Shadow Doppelganger Technique (B-Rank) 1500wc + 200 ryo

Total: 3000wc + 400 ryo

69 words discarded

It took a bit for Sayuri to compile the words she wanted to express to him. But she did lay everything out for him and extend a bridge for Harichimo to work with. It all made Harichimo wonder how he was going to accomplish these tasks and what did Akira see in this girl to work with her? She has never been to the Academy and has gotten this far by just picking up things as she went. She was practicing with bukijutsu and ninjutsu both of which he had little to no experience. He was more focused on his taijutsu and medical ninujutsu to worry about furthering his own ninjutsu. She didn't seem like the type for getting into fights and she seem to confirm it with her words and pointing out a quite nasty looking scar on her leg. She wanted to learn to become more literate and learn to fight without the need to kill. Harichimo did feel comfortable enough teaching her to further her own, after all he had student of his own wherever they may have ran off to.

Harichimo would see her trying to not show how shaken she was feeling and Harichimo could understand. He would bend down a little and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well I am sure we can work towards those goals. Akira and I are practically one in the same and if he was willing to start your training then I am more the willing to help you complete it. First lets get you set up here on this floor with a place to sleep and food to eat." Harichimo would stand back up and give her a smile. "Now wait here while I make some arrangements, I will be right back."



Harichimo would leave the kitchen and walk back out to the hallway lined with statues. With some pep in his step he would briskly walk down the hall and back up the stairs and into the reception area which seemed to have cleared up. He would come back up to the reception desk and place the key on the desk. "Here is the key and now I need you to make some arrangements to bring the kitchen staff back to the Akira Kazako floor. Also some bedding for two of the rooms for the new arrival to stay in while I teach her for the duration of her stay." The receptionist would nod and begin writing down what he had asked for before turning back to him. "Well well Harichimo. You seem to be coming off like a chip of the block, it is like I am seeing former lord Akira standing before me again. It will take a couple hours but we will have the floor all set up for you two." Harichimo would nod and walk away as he made his way back to the door to the floor and start on this new adventure and practice. To him it seemed as though Akira was giving him one final test and Harichimo was ready to impress him like he had every other time.


521/2797

Training: