Post by Tensei Kaori on Aug 2, 2009 11:39:49 GMT -5
A strange silence had fallen over Konoha.
It was only yesterday that the enemy ninja had pulled out, the Village Elders accepting their surrender and negotiating the release of prisoners in place of a Hokage. Leaf and Sand had won, but it sure didn't feel like it. The village was nearly destroyed, with most buildings sustaining at least some damage. And that was just counting the ones that still stood. Many shinobi had been killed in the desperate fight to protect their home, shinobi who were vital to the village. Like the Ninth Hokage himself, and many others besides. Now it was time to begin the long road to recovery, while ANBU and Jounin kept a sharp lookout for suspicious movement and Chuunin oversaw the construction of shelters and the distribution of aid. Genin were mainly used as runners, carrying messages and doing other errands. Everyone else was generally left to their own devices, but unless you were old, a small child, ill, injured, or taking your turn to rest, you were expected to be up doing something to help. Even some of those were up helping out where they could.
"Atotori, what should I do with this lumber? It looks like it can be salvaged, but I don't see anywhere to put it."
It took Kaori a minute to realize the voice was referring to her. She looked up with a start and had to give her head a shake to clear her thoughts. She must be getting tired if things like that made her jumpy. But then again....
Atotori. Heir. It was the formal title for the individual who was next in line to take over leadership of the Tensei Clan. With her father - who had been head of the family - and her brother, who had once been called Atotori, both killed in the war, that left Kaori as next in line. They all looked to her for guidance now, but since she hadn't yet been formally instated as Head of the Tensei, they still addressed her as the Heir.
"Hitoshi and Hiyoshi are in charge of sorting through anything that can be salvaged," she said in response to her kinsman's query. "Take it to them in the main square and let them see what they can do with it." The man nodded and began calling for some young hands to help him carry the lumber, and Kaori herself went back to her own task: as a medical specialist, she spent most of her own time treating the injured, but medicine was at a premium right now. It hadn't taken the clan long to come to a unanimous decision that all of their individual medicines, bandages, and other medical supplies should be pooled together and used for whoever needed them. And so Kaori, along with a few other trusted Tensei medics scattered around the clan grounds, was going from house to house looking for supplies, checking to see that they were still usable - some weren't, having been damaged or contaminated when a house took damage - and gathering them up to take to the main square, where the effort to rebuild the Tensei Clan grounds was centered.
Kaori, along with anyone else of her rank, was wearing full Jounin gear as she went about her tasks, for sheer practicality: every shinobi in the village was on call. While some performed official duties like supervision of supplies, guarding the perimeter of the village, or - like Kaori would be doing - working in the hospital or seeing to the injured who were still working on rebuilding, the rest would be seeing about helping the village in ways of their own choosing or taking their turn at trying to catch a few hours' sleep.
For most of the Tensei, that meant congregating in the clan grounds to rebuild their homes. They had their own version of official duty for those who were off: either you were assigned to a specific task - like gathering medicine as Kaori was, or overseeing the gathering of reusable materials like the twins Hitoshi and Hiyoshi - or you were sent out into the village to assist those who didn't have the sheer amount of manpower that the Tensei did. Even those who were physically unable to work had their jobs: they stayed in the main square or at other designated locations and worked on keeping the entire effort organized and coordinated, while the children - even Academy students and some even younger - ran errands and carried messages to make sure everyone was on the same page.
In a couple hours, after organizing the supplies that had been found thus far and seeing to some of the injured, Kaori would take her own turn offering aid to the rest of the village before returning to the hospital for her official shift. It was a hectic schedule, but that was life after war. Kaori sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of her face as she straightened from sorting through the ruins of a damaged house. Surprisingly, she had found a relatively decent amount of usable supplies here, despite the fact that the house was hardly even standing anymore. She was glad to shoulder her backpack and get out of there; she had entered several structures like this one already and they always seemed like they were about to collapse on her head. True, a ninja of her level could escape with no problem, but going into a precariously balanced ruin of a building was disquieting no matter how quickly you could get out.
A glance to her left showed her that Hirotaka had found enough volunteers; he was gone, and so was most of the lumber he had piled up. They must have decided to make multiple trips. Kaori was about to move on to the house across the street to continue her search when a child's voice stopped her.
"Auntie Kaori--- I mean, Atotori?" the voice asked. When Kaori turned in its direction, she recognized Jiro, her nephew. That was a surprise; he was supposed to be cleaning up debris with the rest of the clan's off-duty genin.
"Yes?" she asked him, feeling a twinge of impatience that someone had decided to use a fit, capable young man as an errand boy, but the feeling vanished when he handed her a red and white scroll. Scrolls like that only came from one place.
"There's a pair of ANBU out front," he told her, obviously confused by what was going on. "They told me to give that to you. Said it's urgent."
One look at the scroll told her why. This was an official summons from the Village Elders to their meeting chamber. Why on earth would they...?
"I have to drop these supplies off before I do anything else," she told Jiro as she rolled up the scroll and tucked it away safely in one of her flak jacket's scroll pouches. "Before you go back to work, run as fast as you can to the front gate and tell the ANBU I'm coming right away."
It was only yesterday that the enemy ninja had pulled out, the Village Elders accepting their surrender and negotiating the release of prisoners in place of a Hokage. Leaf and Sand had won, but it sure didn't feel like it. The village was nearly destroyed, with most buildings sustaining at least some damage. And that was just counting the ones that still stood. Many shinobi had been killed in the desperate fight to protect their home, shinobi who were vital to the village. Like the Ninth Hokage himself, and many others besides. Now it was time to begin the long road to recovery, while ANBU and Jounin kept a sharp lookout for suspicious movement and Chuunin oversaw the construction of shelters and the distribution of aid. Genin were mainly used as runners, carrying messages and doing other errands. Everyone else was generally left to their own devices, but unless you were old, a small child, ill, injured, or taking your turn to rest, you were expected to be up doing something to help. Even some of those were up helping out where they could.
"Atotori, what should I do with this lumber? It looks like it can be salvaged, but I don't see anywhere to put it."
It took Kaori a minute to realize the voice was referring to her. She looked up with a start and had to give her head a shake to clear her thoughts. She must be getting tired if things like that made her jumpy. But then again....
Atotori. Heir. It was the formal title for the individual who was next in line to take over leadership of the Tensei Clan. With her father - who had been head of the family - and her brother, who had once been called Atotori, both killed in the war, that left Kaori as next in line. They all looked to her for guidance now, but since she hadn't yet been formally instated as Head of the Tensei, they still addressed her as the Heir.
"Hitoshi and Hiyoshi are in charge of sorting through anything that can be salvaged," she said in response to her kinsman's query. "Take it to them in the main square and let them see what they can do with it." The man nodded and began calling for some young hands to help him carry the lumber, and Kaori herself went back to her own task: as a medical specialist, she spent most of her own time treating the injured, but medicine was at a premium right now. It hadn't taken the clan long to come to a unanimous decision that all of their individual medicines, bandages, and other medical supplies should be pooled together and used for whoever needed them. And so Kaori, along with a few other trusted Tensei medics scattered around the clan grounds, was going from house to house looking for supplies, checking to see that they were still usable - some weren't, having been damaged or contaminated when a house took damage - and gathering them up to take to the main square, where the effort to rebuild the Tensei Clan grounds was centered.
Kaori, along with anyone else of her rank, was wearing full Jounin gear as she went about her tasks, for sheer practicality: every shinobi in the village was on call. While some performed official duties like supervision of supplies, guarding the perimeter of the village, or - like Kaori would be doing - working in the hospital or seeing to the injured who were still working on rebuilding, the rest would be seeing about helping the village in ways of their own choosing or taking their turn at trying to catch a few hours' sleep.
For most of the Tensei, that meant congregating in the clan grounds to rebuild their homes. They had their own version of official duty for those who were off: either you were assigned to a specific task - like gathering medicine as Kaori was, or overseeing the gathering of reusable materials like the twins Hitoshi and Hiyoshi - or you were sent out into the village to assist those who didn't have the sheer amount of manpower that the Tensei did. Even those who were physically unable to work had their jobs: they stayed in the main square or at other designated locations and worked on keeping the entire effort organized and coordinated, while the children - even Academy students and some even younger - ran errands and carried messages to make sure everyone was on the same page.
In a couple hours, after organizing the supplies that had been found thus far and seeing to some of the injured, Kaori would take her own turn offering aid to the rest of the village before returning to the hospital for her official shift. It was a hectic schedule, but that was life after war. Kaori sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of her face as she straightened from sorting through the ruins of a damaged house. Surprisingly, she had found a relatively decent amount of usable supplies here, despite the fact that the house was hardly even standing anymore. She was glad to shoulder her backpack and get out of there; she had entered several structures like this one already and they always seemed like they were about to collapse on her head. True, a ninja of her level could escape with no problem, but going into a precariously balanced ruin of a building was disquieting no matter how quickly you could get out.
A glance to her left showed her that Hirotaka had found enough volunteers; he was gone, and so was most of the lumber he had piled up. They must have decided to make multiple trips. Kaori was about to move on to the house across the street to continue her search when a child's voice stopped her.
"Auntie Kaori--- I mean, Atotori?" the voice asked. When Kaori turned in its direction, she recognized Jiro, her nephew. That was a surprise; he was supposed to be cleaning up debris with the rest of the clan's off-duty genin.
"Yes?" she asked him, feeling a twinge of impatience that someone had decided to use a fit, capable young man as an errand boy, but the feeling vanished when he handed her a red and white scroll. Scrolls like that only came from one place.
"There's a pair of ANBU out front," he told her, obviously confused by what was going on. "They told me to give that to you. Said it's urgent."
One look at the scroll told her why. This was an official summons from the Village Elders to their meeting chamber. Why on earth would they...?
"I have to drop these supplies off before I do anything else," she told Jiro as she rolled up the scroll and tucked it away safely in one of her flak jacket's scroll pouches. "Before you go back to work, run as fast as you can to the front gate and tell the ANBU I'm coming right away."
