Her fist would clench, the creek of the tight wrappings would reverberate within the air of the Okiya’s basement before dampening out. The basement itself almost completely sound proof from the outside yet from within, it seemed to echo with a vengeance. Her left hand would clutch at the tree trunk she had transported to the basement, alone, through the twists and turns of one of the many tunnels that twisted below the villages surface like a network veins, mostly forgotten about, as time moved ever forwards. Though few knew of the extent of the tunnels whilst many knew nothing of them. Her forehead would rest against the tree trunk as her body shook, a fresh sheen of a cold sweat mingling with the sweat of hard work soaked through her clothing as it coated her flesh thick though to drip from the tip of her nose and chin. Yet the longer she remained still the more the image of the seventeenth Tsuchikage, Karumo’s, torn form came into the forefront of her mind, a torturous vision picked out from the masses of memories stored within her mind, picked out to torture, not only her subconscious yet her waking state too.  

Baring her pearl white teeth she would push away from the trunk shifting her form into a readied stance; Her right foot forwards taking the brunt of her weight as her left remained behind a touch simply keeping her balance, just over her shoulder width apart. Her hands would raise, both fists clenched as her elbows tucked to her chest as though to protect it whilst her fists sat before her face, the left a touch lower than the right.  

Her left hand without the usual customized glove looked worse beneath the bandages than she remembered of it, yet the flesh of the wound had knitted back together and the pain had almost left the hand, the bruising had dulled to the colour ranges of greens and yellows where it had been black and purple for the most part during the dealings within Sunagakure no Sato, if it could actually be called that now. Yet the scent of the damaged flesh remained pungently sweet, sickly so. Her right hand would strike the trunk followed quickly by her left. She would continue, slowly adding more and more power to her hits, her intent not only to train to seek out some form of clarity within her mind. To find peace. And with each punch delt from her left hand, the sickly sweet pungent scent of her corpse-like flesh would seep further into the air, polluting it as it sat like a thick hazed smog, yet it would seem that she wouldn't notice such as she beat away her sorrows. Each strike from her left hand would begin to sound wet as blood smeared the wood before her as the bark itself cracked and split away, the intent of the wood becoming ever more prominent under the force of each hit as her release of anger, frustration, and guilt built further and further. A harsh hiss would leave her lip, quite animalistically as disgust twisted her visible features. So full of contempt that the hatred for herself could almost be seen to ooze from her pours as she punished herself further for her mistakes. She would continue to beat away at the trunk each strike drawing forth more off her thick scarlet essence not only from her damaged left hand but now also from her right as the skin of her knuckles split, until finally striking with her left hand hard enough for splinters of wood to crack and shatter about the basement as the trunk itself split before falling in two. Stepping back she would withdraw her hand, not noticing the mess her hand had become nor the blood that oozed from it. The adrenaline still pumping through her veins.  

Finally, she had decided her course of action. The momentum of her intent would carry her stride over the broken remnants of wood that now scattered along the ground of the basement, striding past and back out into the tunnel, closing the basement off once again, as always before maneuvering through the tunnels, her pace would gradually pick up into reaching a full sprint, stopping only when she reached the entrance of the tunnel. Pausing before exiting having paused to listen and spread her senses about making sure the coast was clear before exiting.  There was no light at the end of this tunnel as she emerged into the darkness of the night.  Her gaze for but a moment would shift to look up at the moon in the deep purple sky, the weight of anger and frustration twisting into sorrow before the moon. A cool breeze would shift past her as she made her way back towards the village, the breeze causing the loose strands of her snow-white hair to whip about her face and shoulders giving her an easy windswept appearance. The coolness of the breeze itself chilling her already permanently cold flesh as the damp clothing clung to her form, raising goosebumps beneath her clothing. The adrenaline still coursing through her veins would call forth a sort of vibration about her as though her form itself vibrated and with it the sickly sweet scent of her would muddle the air moments ahead of her as she strode through the village, her piercing gaze set upon the administration building. She wanted... no needed answers and that had been one place she had avoided and yet now her path led only to this place.  

With each step, the subtle bounce of the movement itself would only cause more blood to seep and ooze from her hands, mainly her left, the source of the scent she now bore. The deeper into the village she strode the louder it would become, the sounds once again both familiar and unfamiliar to her ears. The sounds of civilians and shinobi alike enjoying their night with food and drink. Taeru would ignore the sounds and the looks and stares that were occasionally threw her way as the groups parted to let her pass only to pause at the sound of argumentatively raised voices and jeers to fight could be heard, yet, it would be the sweet voice of one pleading for the madness to stop that would deter her from her goal for the time being. Her form almost un-natural in its movements would gravitate towards the sounds. Arriving just in time it would seem that her right hand could snap outwards to grasp the wrist of a male's hand as the hit he threw missed his intended target, coming mere millimeters away from connecting with the owner of the sweet voice. Her grip immediately tight enough to halt the male's movements, yet unfortunately for the male tight enough that as she forced his arm upwards and away from the female the male would whimper with the movement, he would be bruised in the morning. Her left hand, however, had just as quickly found its way around the female catching her in her stumble away from the hit, rising her back to her feet securely again, however, for the time being keeping her close. Her voice would drip with a dangerous and almost seductive tone as her only visible brow of the right side of her face rose. “tut tut, is that any way to treat a lady?”  

Just as she finished her words her torso would dip downwards her shoulder forcing the female tucked to her side to do the same thing, twisting and taking her with the movement as Taeru’s right hand, still gripping the males would shift, using the males of hand to connect with an incoming punch from the males intended fight, of whom his attack had first missed. Upon the connection, she would release the male's wrist as both then retracted their hands with a unified yelp. The result of their movements not being at  all what they had anticipated stopping them in their tracks yet she had released only so that she could use her right hand to catch another attack this time coming from an individual of the crowd, young and hot-headed/ quite obviously drunk and upset that she had interfered with a ‘good show’ the young mans foot intended on connecting with her head would come up short as she caught the bottom of his foot before standing to her full height of five foot ten before raising her arm higher until reaching her peak, in doing so dragging the males foot with her abruptly quickly, causing the males already unsteady balance to crumble sending him straight to the ground, the hard thud reverberating within the air as his back and then head connected with the earth, before twisting his foot making the male turn to his side with a whimper. She would release her hold before turning her gaze to the female in her left arm as she released her hold upon her, “My apologies.” She would dip into a bow before turning her attention to the men and youngster that had intended to brawl like ruffians, “do you wish to continue making fools of yourselves or are you quite done?” Her piercing gaze would pass over the three, her tone a though scolding children for their behaviors. Only when muttered apologies came forth would her tone become sharper. “It is not me you owe apologies too.” She would set to one side turning her gaze to the female she had guarded against their stupidity, her gaze for but a moment softening. “You will all apologize to the lady before taking yourselves home. Do you understand?” her gaze would return to the men as they shifted to stand beside one another, her gaze once more cold and harsh. All three would lower into a bow, all apologizing to the woman, the two older of the foolish men even speaking the woman’s name, showing that they knew her. The woman's name, Hatsumomo, its meaning first bloomed peach. Taeru would step amidst them, placing her hands against them to lower them further, guiding them to the ground, only having to once indicate to the other to follow suit, once down she would adjust their hands to the correct positions, each in turn, creating three perfect bows with brows to the ground, before lowering her own form into the same position, the poise and graze following her movements as they bowed before the women before speaking.“My deepest apologies.” yet as the stunned female shifted to protest against her apologies Taeru would raise and continue to speak. “I shall make sure they cause no more trouble on their ways back to their places of residency.” and with that she would stalk in the same direction as the men, hopping with a graceful ease onto a rooftop to keep watch as she followed.

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Word count: 1836.

Mission: 1500/1500
Extra ryo: 300/300 (75ryo)