Kirigakure Genin, Team 14
Time: After Haruhi/Hayashi sensei Training 2
Characters: Haruhi
Plot: Haruhi returns home after a long, sucessful day of training with her sensei and tells her Mother about what she's been learning. Upon hearing about it, Haruhi's mother gives her daughter a gift her Father had made when she was a little girl. Haruhi is then compelled to go back out the same night to continue her training.
~Later that Night: The Suzumori household~
The walk back to her house on the other side of The Hidden Mist Viliage was surprisingly hard this time around. Everything in Haruhi's body ached and was screaming to curl up in a ball and rest. She had accomplished alot today in her mind, though her sensei had said it was "average" progress, she felt like she had just passed a very hard obstacle in her life. As her house came into view her body seemed to ache more and more with each step until finally she reached the door.
"Haruhi dear, is that you? Why are you back so late? You missed dinner." her mothers tone was bright and concerned as she walked out of the kitchen and came to embrace her Haru in a big hug.
"Hey mom, sorry, I was out training with Haya-OW mom too tight!" Haru shouted as her mom squeezed her a bit too tight. With a smile her mom led her by hand to the table where her food was waiting for her. As she sat to dig in, she noticed it was still warm and that her mothers dinner was right next to her's. "Mom, you didn't have to wait up for me." she said as her mother sat down. "Oh I know, I just didnt want to eat all alone thats all. You've been so busy recently with your training we hardly get to sit and eat together like this anymore." she paused. "I guess i just miss the old times." she stopped speaking and took a bite of her food. Haru looked at her plate as she took in her mothers words.
"You know i'm doing this for you right mom? I mean, its for me too but mostly for you. How do you think I would feel if you and I were both unprotected, and something bad happened to you? Father would curse me from the heavens and I wouldnt be able to live with myself anymore." Haruhi reminded her mother.
"Yes, yes I know. But, you cant keep living in his shadow. Your Father was a great man, but you dont have to be like him. I'm a grown woman you know. I can handle myself."
"Your right. Haru added before her mother could speak more. "My Father, your husband...he was the greatest shinobi....but he died before he got a chance to make a name for the Suzumori's. His brothers have practically shunned us for no reason and now that means im the only one left to carry on our name... she trailed off and continued to eat her food. Her mother said nothing for a long time, and after those silent minutes passed, Haruhi started to tell her mother about the new skill she was learning.
She talked for nearly an hour about her progress and how her sensei seemed to be as "impressed" with Haruhi's growth as she ever could be. "And i even managed to figure out how to get my chakra to cloak my whip. Though...i wish i had something better. My whip is so small..." she finished, frowning and placing her head on her palm that rested on the table.
Mai looked thoughtful for a moment and she stood up. "You know Haru-honey, I just might have the perfect thing for you. Follow me this way dear." she said as she walked off deeper into the Suzumori household. Haruhi hopped up on her feet and followed, the food in her system made her aches subside a bit. As they walked, Haru realized they were going to the room where they had made a shrine for her Father. As her mother opened the door, the first thing Haruhi's eyes fell to was the smiling picture of her dad Shougo. Haruhi didnt resemble him much, most of her looks she got from her mother. But his smile, it always warmed her heart. She could see it in her own smile sometimes. His face in the nice frame was surrounded by nice flowers and candles and sat on a perch in the center of the room. She paused at the door and gave her respectful bow, placing her right fist in her left hand as she spoke. "Hello Father. Nice to see you again." she spoke as if he was sitting right there himself. the only difference was that he didnt respond this time.
As she walked in, she saw her mother open the closet that was at the back of the room and she did some shuffling and grunting, heavy lifting, which Haru then went over to help her with until finally she smiled and said excitedly. "Here it is. Your going to love this Haru-honey." she said handing it to her daughter. Haru took the long thin box and assumed that it was a sword of some kind. "Oh, Mother, i'm not trained in sword fighting." she said looking at her mother with a smile. "Oh, dear its not a sword silly. Open it and see." Her mother had returned the smile and let out a laugh that matched Haruhi's perfectly, just a bit more mature and lower pitched. With a nod, Haru lifted the lid and was surprised at what she found.
She knew what it was instantly, it was another whip. This was was different from her current one. This one was a single tailed whip made of steel about two and a half feet long and had razored edges that looked like they could slice through a human like butter. Inside it came with another box that had more of the little parts that were attachable so that it could extend it.
Haruhi stared at it in awe for a few minutes before looking up at her mother. Mai smiled at her, already knowing what her question was. "Your Father had it made for you, against my wishes, when you were about six. He saw how you loved to dance and twirl around with those ribbons we bought you for your birthday and had this crazy idea that you could learn to use a weapon like this once you were older." she let out a small sigh and ran a hand through Haruhi's hair. "My daughter...I see now that this is what you want to do. And...i know that there is nothing I can do to stop you. You've already set your mind to it so i will help support you in any way i can." she paused to make sure Haruhi was listening to her before starting again. "Your Father had such high hopes for you. He knew until the day he...died that you were going to be an amazing shinobi. And i see it now too. Before when you were telling me about what you were learning from your sensei, i could see the excitement in your eyes.
"I know that you will encounter many things during your journey as a shinobi...you will learn things that will upset you and things that can change your outlook on life. But listen to me my daughter. My sweet Haru, no matter what secrets you find in your travels, never forget that your Father and I loved you very much, and you can always come home and be loved."
"Thanks mom." she replied as Mai gave Haruhi a big hug then and stood up. Haruhi followed suit and carried her new whip with her. She couldnt wait to test it out. Not even one night. As she turned to exit the room, she gave a bow or respect to her Father and proceeded to run down the hall.
"I'm going out again mom! Dont stay up for me alright?" she called as she ran out.
"Arent you going to stay for dessert? I made Taiyaki!" her mother called, poking her head out of the room.
"No thanks! Bye!" she said just before the slam of the front door was heard.
Mai shook her head and walked back in to her Husband's shrine. Haruhi NEVER turned down fresh made Taiyaki. ...maybe her daughter WAS really finally growing up afterall.
"I hope i've been making the right decision all this time Shougo." Mai brought her fingers to her lips and held them there for a moment before gently pressing them to the picture of Haruhi's father.
"Please...just watch over our baby." she said before leaving and closing the door.
Haruhi did not yet know the weight of her Mother's words. No, not yet.
The trek back across The Hidden Mist Villiage was not nearly as hard this time around. Even in the darkness, Haruhi made her way to the other side and to the training fields with ease. The misty glow of the moon guided her, illuminating her way as she walked. As soon as she reached the fields, she found a place that had the most moonlight and got to work.
Sitting down and crossing her legs, she placed the box that held her new whip down on the soft grass. She layed it out and admired its beauty in the moonlight before opening the box that had the remaining attachable extending pieces. There was a small tool in there as well and she started to attach each piece one by one.
She sat there for a while, he thoughts unwavering in her determination to figure out how to get all the pieces on there. After about a half hour she was done. Raising into a crouch she stretched the whip out agan, this time it had extended more than double in length. It was longer than she was tall, if she had to guess, she would say it was now about six and a half feet long. She tested the metal with her fingers to see if it was too sharp to keep in her back pouch. She folded it in on itself and realized that it did get surprisingly small. She gave it a shot and slipped it into her pouch. After that she did a few hops and heard the metal clanging with the book and her other whip in there. That meant, surprisingly, there was still room in there.
Alright Haruhi, time to get to work. You need to figure out how to cloak this thing with your chakra and make it stronger. If this was going to be her new wepon, she had to figure out how she was going to cloak all six feet of this in her chakra. Taking her whip out she looked at it. She had to come up with a name for it. Hm...i could name it someting clever like...Hagane no Kokoro, Heart of Steel...no that one is too long. Hmmm. Maybe something shorter like...Jinkō Hai. Iron Lung?...that actually has a nice ring to it. Jinkō Hai. she repeated in her head. She liked it and decided to stick with it.
"Alright. First things first. Lets find out if i can even use you Jinkō Hai." She had never attempted to use any wepon this long before and pondered on how to go about using it. Then she remembered. Her mother had said her Father had it made like the ribbons she use to play with as a girl. She would try that first.
Haruhi shrugged to loosen her shoulders up and stretched out her legs before loosening up the chain of the whip. It clanked softly with a nice high pitched ring she found herself liking the sound of. Holding her left arm all the way out, she began to spin like she was dancing. The light chain instantly flew up and made sharp sounds as it cut the air. She raised her arm up sharply then virtically from its horizontal position it was in origonally and the chain rose with her. She looked up at it and saw it looked like the shape of a tornado, wide at the top and gradually getting skinnier as it came down to the handle in her hand. She stopped her spinning then and simply continued to roll her wrist in circular motions and sure enough, just like she had expected, the chain inverted and spun around her, the wide head of the tornado shape now at her feet.
Haruhi felt excited that she could remember how to move the chain like that. It was EXACTLY like the ribbons she used to dance with. She did a few more moves, each a bit harder than the last, each one making the chain come closer to rippng her flesh with its sharp parts. It didn't though. The only contact it made was with the air as she moved it every way she wanted. As she slowly stopped spinning the whip it came to rest firmly on the ground with a soft clang. She was surprised at how lightweight it was and thought about testing its sharpness.
Moving to the nearest tree, she assessed the thickness of the trunk and shrugged, not sure if it would even make a dent. Stepping about five or so feet away, she started to spin her wrist to build up speed for her strike. As she lashed out, the air hissed and a sharp slice was heard ad the razors connected with the hard bark of the large tree. As her whip neared her, she spun her body in the direction it was going so it didnt slice her in two, letting it slow down before it fell to the ground with a thud. Still holding the handle, Haruhi walked over to look at the damage to the tree. It was hard to see in the dark but she could tell that it had done a good amount of damage. Now she would try to pair it with the new skill her and Hayashi sensei had worked on earlier in the day.
Haruhi took a deep breath and told herself she could do this. She closed her eyes and started remembering what she had read in the scroll, going over it step by step. And then she executed it.
~Four hours later~
Haruhi slumped to the ground, completely exausted from the last few hours of training. She was too tired to be pleased with herself, too tierd to notice her hand was blistered and red from gripping the rough handle of her whip so tightly, too tierd to wonder how she hadent passed out from using an abundance of chakra, or do anything but curl up and go to sleep. So thats what she did. Crawling over to a tree, she sat and leaned back against it. Her whip lay about a foot away from her, the grass it lay on burnt and dead. With a sigh she fell asleep in moments. It wouldnt be but a few hours more that the sun would rise and illuminate the field.
When she would wake, she would see that there were twelve trees that had scortched trunks that were half broken, held up only by their unwavering sturdiness, cut into by the force of her whip and chakra combined. She would not notice until she woke up that the tree she leaned against was, granted way smaller than the others, but no longer an entire tree, but simply a stump seperated from its top half that lie next to it.
She fell asleep thinking about her Father, and wondering if he would really be proud of what she has done.