As the once sturdy wall that held back the females tears broke down, Taeru would remain in place as to comfort the female, as she had done many times with so many of the orphans back ‘home’. Her whole demeanor, from the way she sat to the expression upon the visible section of her facial features, would hold a reassurance, an encouragement just as a mother would. Encouraging the release of emotions so that with it, information could flow forth far more freely. Only when it seemed appropriate to do so would she shift slightly to one side, allowing her rump to touch the ground beside a pillow, moving from her knees in the process.  

Taeru would watch closely as the emotions shifted and change as the female drew them back once more as though reigning in the emotions, fearful that her display may show her to be weak or something along those lines. Teru in part understood this need to be stubbornly strong, such being common among those of the upper class, both a blessing and a curse in many ways. Pride could be such a terrible sin. And yet as the female apologized, her gaze dropping to her tea as though in thought, Taeru too would pause to give her a moment of peaceful solitude before speaking up.

“It is not theatrics when the emotion is true. It simply is not possible to be apathetic all the time, emotions need to be released at some point.“ With a short pause, her gaze would flicker to the stage, watching the Geisha and the child in their repetition with different actions and moves, the geisha she fabricated ever patient with the boy. “How are you to look out for others if you do not first look out for yourself?” though she posed the question she would continue, drawing her gaze back to the female to allow her next words to linger in the air between them, “If you have failed in such way, why not work to put that failure right. I see the pain painted along your essence at such thoughts of your home in such turmoil, so you still care. If you care enough, you will not give up on them.”  

Slowly removing her hand she would allow it to rest within her own lap, as she soaked in the females words, humane? Not a word that had been before used to describe her but a light smile would hover faintly along her lips for but a moment. “I would not go as far as to say humane but we are stubborn and prideful with a strong heart. In this land, we know that it is only by coming together that we are strong, truly so.”  At the last part, Taeru’s head would incline, an actual soft smile curling the right corner of her lips at the woman’s words, “I quite agree.”  

Her gaze would follow the woman's hand as she reached to pluck a senbon from her hair, listening closely to the women's words, ensuring that they would imprint within her mine to store them away for later use, who knew the wealth of information what would come from this meeting? A chance encounter and a brief moment of laughter led to a treasure trove indeed. As the senbon came to life with a crackle of raiton, naturally Taeru’s would ever so carefully remove her left hands glove, a thin veil of bandaged, in part shielding the stump of her missing pinky finger yet other scars immediately visible, some healed to an, if possible, whiter pallet whilst other still help a variety of colours whilst the flesh itself remained in parts deeply bruised, thick blackish purple vein like strips resembling lightly littering the flesh, yet what could seem most disturbing that just below the first few layers of skin an eerie discoloration lay at her fingertips, reminiscent of decay. And with the removal of the glove, her sickly sweet scent would further spill forth. Reaching out she would graze, first her ring finger followed in short by her middle and index fingers, to stroke along the senbon as though learning its sensation through touch. Yet her left hand given like a sacrifice in case the chance of something going wrong presented itself, the hand already damaged could be sacrificed if needed, at lease in her mind it made sense. “Katorai, Lin, was a remarkable woman.” yet her words in her own mind seemed distant as she took in the sensation of the two jutsu and with such an odd thought came to the forefront of her mind...

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Word count: 775.
Total word count: 9118.

Comforting words. They held truth. Mizuki didn't want to give up but she saw few ways in how to tackle the situation. Climbing a mountain was easier than dealing with a tyrant that could strike you down with the force of one. What made him more dangerous was the large amount of people whom had flocked towards him. People she had gathered under his banner. Forces to add to his troops, the shinobi count was bigger than it used to be and he had the cult of Jashin hidden in the streets. Blind zealots were not easily convinced. Cultist granted the freedom to terrorise the people won't follow someone who preserves the peace of the populace. Looking into the cup of tea, pieces of herbs softly swirling, Mizuki knew what she had to do. It was a matter of mustering the courage to get started with the counter offensive.

Having shown part of her past, a figment of Lin's power, and hearing the words that followed up, Mizuki nodded. Lin was remarkable. A medic at heart. Always ready to watch over others and heal the wounded. As the raiton chakra dispersed from the senbon, she put the needle back into her hair as if it was an ornament made to keep it together and spoke once more.

"She was. I wished she could have remained as Raikage."

Such had not been the case, but the young woman was right. It was high time something changed. Kumogakure had to be freed from the black spiral of madness and be brought back to a period of benevolence. His heralds of the dark faith had to be replaced by true diplomats seeking an understanding with the other Villages. The zealots had to snap out of the disillusion and become masters of martial prowess willing to challenge others and teach the eager. Power-hungry wars needed to tone done to friendly competition and protection of the people. But to achieve all of that... Mizuki's eyes darted to the child playing in the illusion of mentoring dancers.

"He seems to enjoy your dances far more than the frogs in the grass. If I may be so bold, I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to watch over Kazuki while I leave to ease the wound in Kumogakure. Under your tutelage he might become a fine dancer himself while remaining safe from the dangers that I'll bring with me.", she asked the host with a deep bow to reveal her sincerity and deep desire to have her request fulfilled. "My true name is Raiu Mizuki. As a prominent member of one of the founding clans of Kumogakure, I will see you properly compensated should you be willing to accept."

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461
Total: 9617

Her focused gaze would return to the female, withdrawing her own hand as the female replaced the senbon into the near perfect strands of raven hair. Her gaze would shift to her own hand as she tugged on the glove once again, the discomfort of such an action would only crease her brow for a brief moment as she straightened off the finger section, a pitiful attempt to allow the hand to find some resemblance of comfort.  With the flicker of her piercing gaze returning to the female at her side, she would not miss the array of emotions that fluctuated across the female's features that had clearly been in thought.

Taeru would simply nod, ever so lightly. Thing’s within the lands would have been better if Haster had not risen to power. With the loss of Katorai, Lin and the deeply painful loss of their very own Lord seventeenth Tsuchikage Sekuro, Karumo and then the short reign of the Lord eighteenth Tsuchikage Kazako, Harichimo, leaving a terrible wound in the land, a vulnerability among the powers of the nations. It would be a lie to say that such thoughts did not weigh heavily upon her mind. Laying the foundations towards the end of Hastes tirrany would be but a small step in many to come, a step towards balance throughout the lands. The time she had been away the world seemed to descend into chaos, and all the while she had flickering beliefs that the room in which she had been held was chaos, but she saw the bigger picture now. The world around them had broken down, a great shinobi village had been destroyed, a great kage had been attached openly, another gone without a trace whilst another threatened the world followed by the blasphemous, hiding under the arch of her own God, tarnishing the name further than Hedan ever could. What a harrowing place the world had become.  

Her gaze, however, would follow the quick flicker of the females eyes to the boy atop the stage, yet the words that came next were far more of a surprise than any other news that had come to her the past few weeks. Such a request from, practically strangers. Two waves of emotion passed through her carrying two conflicting thoughts, how could the female trust her so earnestly, with the life of the child? Though Taeru felt honored she also felt taken back, if the female could trust so easily she would need to be watched over, ensuring the females safety for she, after all, being the key to Haster’s rise and fall.  

Looking down enough to allow her hair to cover the flickers of thoughts that crossed her features before looking back to the female as she spoke, slowly turning her gaze to the child. “Raiu, Mizuki.” the roll of the females name upon her tongue would sit unusually with her accent. Now that was a clan name she recognized. Who would have thought such a chanced meeting would yield such a trove of information? “I can ensure that the child is well cared for within this land, even in your absence. No payment on my behalf is required, but there are orphanages in abundance here that require far more help than I.” Pausing for a moment she would remove the bunch of keys from her obi before selecting a total of three keys to remove them from the main ring as she continued, “And now, I offered you both safety, as safe as any place can be now, refuge, warmth, comfort and if required, my assistance.” She would hold out the small loop of three keys for the women. “This building is not at its best but it is safer and … more secure should you need to meet with friends where secrets may be spoken aloud, if you understand my meaning, than the mountains. Here you would be able to raise the child with support if you accept this offer only yourself and the child with being within. You will be well provided for, clothes and fresh food, though you will have to cook, there are living quarters in the upper rooms and the kitchen down the hallway. I only request that the basement remains locked and untouched.”

Her piercing gaze would lock onto the females as she continued, “If the time should arise that you require my presence send a massive to the hospital, request the name Mameha and I shall come.” Placing her own keys back into her obi before rising and stepping to the table that held the music box, removing parchment, ink and a quill, as she began to write her voice would continue, “when the time arises that you are ready to leave this land, take Kazuki to the house that stands alone in the center of its own land towards the edges of the village. There he will be safe and amongst many his own age, though I would say not to use your last name for yourself nor the child, for when the war comes such a heritage may be hunted if we are unlucky. This way he and those he would reside with will remain safe in that respect. Better to be invisible in these time.”  

Stepping back over, the limp of her left leg making an odd scrape noise with every other step. She would slowly lower into a tilted crouch before holding out the small section of parchment, the ink now dry, holding the address for the place she longed to return to, a place she still, even now, considered home. Yet she would be forsaken if she would return now with the possibility of putting them in danger.

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Word count: 955.
Total word count: 10073.

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Training:

- Warfare style: Chemical - Chlorine. (B rank) 1500/1500
- Pestilence style: Kiss of decay. (B rank) 1500/1500
- Warfare style: Chemical - Mustard. (A rank) 2000/2000
- Warfare style: Chemical - Phosgene (C rank) 1000/1000
- Glabrous creation (C rank) 1000/1000
- Basic Recovery Method (基本回収法 ~ Kihon Kaishū-Hō) (C rank) 1000/1000

- Adrenaline Senbon (C rank)1000/1000
- Shielding Senbon (C rank) 1000/1000

Training two jutsu (Senbon, Adrenaline and Senbon, Sheilding) as found within the spoiler below. Learning the two from Mizuki free of ryo cost.

2 jutsu learning from Mizulki:

Total training word count: 10,000/10,000
Discarded word count: 73.

The request had been accepted but the offer not. Rather than to have her compensated for the time she'd spent in teaching and sheltering Kazuki, she preferred to have other orphanages helped out. A suggestions Mizuki could understand even though she had not clue how many orphanages Iwagakure exactly counted. Helping out the less fortunate and protecting the weak was an undertaking she had done regularly in the past. Always on guard duty as one of the few who saw the nobility behind the boredom of such actions. Ready to help out a peasant family on her spare days with bringing in the harvest to make sure it didn't go to waste. A matter of reducing starvation, even if it were only a couple of people at a time.

It was Mizuki's forte to think further than the length of her nose and look beyond the single individual or the single sleight that blurred an otherwise pristine reputation. One bump in the road didn't make a horrible journey. She 'saw' things in people and events few others seemed to perceive. Things that had her often branded as gullible, naive or careless while, in fact, the opposite was true. Mizuki simply believed in the greater good that resided within all but a few, even if this was considered foolishness in the eyes of many others who preferred to believe in their own. Naturally, not a single way of handling the journey of life was without flaws. Neither was Mizuki's for that matter.

voluntarily living as a hermit was not a choice many made. The hardships of learning to fend for one's own resources, remain hidden and protect themselves against the elements of nature and bandits alike dissuaded many people from taking that wobbly road in life. All that would suddenly come to an end when 'Mameha' offered three keys that would grant her passage and safety within the tea house. If she had been surprised by the request, it was now Mizuki's turn to be surprised by the young woman's generosity. And for a moment, the thought of refusing such kindness popped up as a flicker in her mind still believed it was better to live in the mountains. But as if Kazuki had picked up on the quiet exchange between the two, tired of dancing as he was and his footsteps coming closer, Mizuki reminded herself that accepting the offer was the better option if she wanted a brighter future for Kazuki. Life in a mountain was not a road for a kid.

"Your generosity will not be forgotten.", she stated with a bow, accepting the keys and watching how Mameha then moved to scribble an address on a piece of parchment. At the same time, her thoughts would wander to think how she could repay the kindness while she was being here. Most likely, to start with, a good cleaning would occur, the Raiu always having had to do so back home as well while her mother was at the hospital and her sister, brat as she was, weaselled from under her chores. Diligent and dutiful as always, cleaning duty was just as normal a job as standing guard.

"Whare are we going?", Kazuki asked as he overheard a small piece of the last conversation, rubbing his eyes as the extensive dancing lessons had exhausted him.
"Remember when I told you I'd have to leave you for a while?", she said, waiting for his nod. "This lady has friends where you can stay when that time comes."

He'd smile faintly at that thought, having come to like the building and the dancers.

"And you'll also be glad to hear that you won't have to walk all the way back to the camp. We're allowed to stay here in this tea house."
"Forever?!", he'd ask, eyes wide in amazement.
"Forever might be a bit long but we'll be here for a while."

The former smile would break in a wide grin, his fatigue briefly forgotten as he chirped a happy, 'yay'. Watching him revel in such joy, perhaps the future would end up looking bright after all.

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[EXIT]

702
Total: 10'319
- 9800 All stats A-1 ~> A-3 [12'250 - 20% genius]
500 remaining