Time for a change...(Open)

[Sunaku Harupia]

Ahh, another sunny day in the Land of the Sand...well, it is always sunny pretty much as they are in a desert...and yet at the same time it never is sunny, since the light shinning down upon them underground was mostly artificial...where was he going with this? He couldn’t really tell. He was just in a good mood so he let his thoughts wander a bit...

Of course that wasn’t really productive but it helped him pass the time as he walked through the Sunan Street’s, clad in a rather simple, brown robe, holding a few books and scrolls in his hands. Interesting reads from the library, but alas, all good things had to come to an end, and he was making his way to give them back, as well as try and find himself some new, interesting reading material.

He hoped he didn’t keep them overtime this time...he could get a bit carried away with other tasks and his artist endeavors, so things like time limits on books tended to slip through his mind sometimes...but ahh well, if anything he would just need to pay a small fine. And he always enjoyed helping such noble causes as spreading the love of books across the country!

Finally, in spite of all the musing in his head he did not end up getting sidetracked and passing the building, as he saw the entrance to the library. His smile getting wider at the sight, he picked up his pace heading towards the building. He also wonderd what he should burrow this time...some more historical chronical's, some novel's? Maybe he should bruch up on some of his Jutsu knowladge...

 

[Kokomo]

Being qualified for everything, and yet nothing was irritating. Someone who is able to not only operate, but deliver children and vaccinate dangerous diseases was being forced down to nothing but a minor medical professor because of handicaps no one trusted.

And ugliness.

Believe it or not, people don't want to be touched by something hideous, no matter how gentle, kind, or qualified they are. In fact, they often excuse themselves and don't come back. The reasoning behind just shameful treatment was nothing but sinful and disturbing human virtues. People never treated others the way they wanted to be treated back-- they just treated people the way they wanted to. Like dirt.

Scum.

Filth.

Itami, a 6'2", fully bandaged, completely blind, and monstrously appearing female made her way into the great library. The bandages that covered her from head to toe (Save for her eyes and the top of her head where silky black hair flowed past her shoulders) were dirty, old, and bloody from some unknown treatment. A medical belt hung loosely around her waste, and she was in search for a book for her student to use to study for his exam. As she made her way up the familiar marble stairs, she could feel the people staring, and the whispers. The Hashigaki had acute hearing, smell, and touch (on the left side of her body, that was) and could hear people meters upon meters away talk about her.

Scum.

Filth.

And they laughed...

Making her way inside, the sand in a small pouch on her belt moved and swirled in the air, creating a simple sentence for others to read, namely the librarian who knew her rather well. "I C E --- J U T S U" it spelled out, and the librarian called out to her what aisle it was in. People staring the entire way as she counted her steps so she knew which book shelves she was located at.

And they laughed...

A man stood there, appearing to be searching for something.

"W A I T." The sand spelled out as she moved forward, her fingers running across the books and her lips moving as she mumbled numbers and snatched a book from in front of him.

"C A N N O T--H A V E. I--N E E D."

 

[Matsumoto Mamoru]

Mamuro couldn't help it. He felt horrible about it, but he simply couldn't help sneaking peeks at the walking roll of bandages that had just entered the library, especially after he saw it... her, judging from the long hair, use sand to communicate with the librarian. Wonders never ceased in the village of sand, it seemed, and this person, female or otherwise, was surely no exception. It seemed to be looking for books on ice jutsu. Mamuro wondered why this person couldn't speak, why he or she was wrapped from head to toe in bandages, and he especially wondered what in the world it could want with a book on ice jutsu. Surely someone in such condition should be lying on a hospital bed looking wistfully out the window for weeks on end, not traipsing around the library looking for books on jutsu it probably wouldn't even be able to perform. That was Mamuro's entirely unprofessional opinion, anyway, and if there was any opinion he was qualified to have, it was of the unprofessional variety.

The 12-year old rocked back in his chair, glimpsing again over the top of his book as the bandage roll walked to the aisle named by the librarian and used its spelling sand to communicate to the man next to it that he would be relieved of his selection before he had an opportunity to read it. Mamuro's chair creaked as he neared the tipping point, that ever approaching but so rarely arriving point of no return. This time it arrived. With a yell and a thud, Mamuro found himself lying on his back on the floor of the library, book covering his mortified face. His face burned as hot as back. He decided it would be best to just lie there for a moment. Maybe if he waited long enough, he'd wake and find it was all just an embarrassing dream. That would surely explain the walking bandages.

Mamoru, hopeful, waited to wake up. He didn't.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

After entering the library space and handing over what he was due (and paying for it being overdue, of course) he found himself browsing through various books and scroll’s slowly gravitating towards the jutsu section...there was never enough techniques he could learn. Both for combat and for making more exquisite sculptures...Hmm, Ice Jutsu...he wasn’t that good with water to begin with...but he heard the sculpting in ice could be pleasant.

Musing a bit as he tried to take one of the books, before a...tightly bandaged hand took it right from under his nose. He turned around saying" Hey noaAA!". His voice pitching up a bit as he saw the book snatcher. It was a...unusual sight. A person tightly wrapped in some kind of bandage, with a small cloud of Sand in front of her. By the time he turned around, the sign would fade slightly leaving only "I need" in the air... Haru stared a bit in the picture in front of him...a being...well, a women (or at least very feminine) if he could guess by the curves of her body...all wrapped in bandages, like a mummy...Need....what was she expressing...

His stare would be different then most of the others. There was no contempt, no mocking in it, just pure curiosity. Also, as silly as it would look, a small smile formed in the corner of his lips...and they would be both standing there for quite a while if not for the loud yell and a thud came from a table not far from them. The librarians would surely disapprove.

Shaking his head a bit, Harupia would give a sheepish grin as he would say "Iiii...erm, ekhm, sorry about spacing out...I sometimes tend to do that when I think to hard on something...I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or anything...and of course, you can have the book if you wish...though maybe letting me know before you snatch it away might help us avoid confusion next time" he said concluding with a hearty chuckle. At first he was wierded out by her appearance, and he still found it unusual. But hey, everyone had a right to make their own fashion statements.

 

[Kokomo]

There was a slight twitch on the left side of Itami's mouth, that hinted she was going to frown, but her mouth did not move further. It was a common reaction to hear people hitting a moment of shock, and maybe even backing up. He didn't speak, and neither did she. They stood facing each other, as she felt his pulse slow a bit as she entered a state of deep thought--or maybe sleep?-- and his eyes were locked on her. The blind woman gripped the book, dragging it to her check and smothering the book into her bosom--as though protecting it from being snatched back by this fellow.

A loud crash rocked through the library, Itami's head turning as she slightly edged her body to face where it had come from, the man beside her speaking again. The sand formed, without her looking at him, above her head again: "I--C A N N O T--S E E--Y O U." It said, as though he had missed a point somewhere. Being blind, Itami couldn't tell if he was staring or not, or even if he was still there. "I--T O L D--Y O U--I--W A N T E D--I T." the sand said again as she moved towards the sound. "Y O U--C A N--S E E--B U T--Y O U--D O--N O T--U S E--Y O U R--E Y E S." She inquired, musing to herself as a slight smile appeared, only for a moment, before pressing back into a hard line as she began to take quick strides down the aisle.

The sound had come from one of the various tables, and it happened to be the one on the end of the aisle. Itami's large legs ran into the side of the table, dropping the book as she grabbed the side of the table and paused for a moment, listening to the quickened heartbeat that lay on the floor on the other side of the table. Slowly kneeling down, Itami's hand brushed across the floor before she grabbed the book and put it on the table, the sand finally following her after communicating with the other man, and the sand hovered over the boy on the ground:

"W H A T--A R E--Y O U--D O I N G?"

 

[Matsumoto Mamoru]

Mamuro heard the footsteps echoing through the cavernous library, his face turning a deeper shade of red with each step. He slowly slid the book from his face and tried to regain his composure, when he was startled by the sound of a leg banging into the table next to his. Could the bandage roll be blind? Mamoru got his answer when he saw a bandaged hand reach down and grope around on the floor until it found his discarded book. Mamoru lifted his gaze to find the bandages' sand had spelled out the words, "What are you doing?" to which he automatically replied, "I'm sudying." Realizing how ridiculous such a nonchalant answer sounded given the circumstances, he added, "Well, I was studying, but I fell out of my chair. Sorry for the noise." He realized how ridiculous it must sound, him flat on his back, feet in the air, apologizing for the noise as if he'd simply coughed too loudly. He could only hope the walking mummy wouldn't see through him... or hear through him... or whatever it was a blind mummy would do "through him". That last part drained his face of any and all color as he wondered just how friendly this blind mummy might be, or not be.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

During the time he was rather impolitely staring at her he did notice the twitch of her lip, and the way she snatched the book up in a defensive manner, as if she was expecting him to try and take it by force? Now who did she think he was? He was a proper Sunan Shinobi, not some brutish boar!

But now were taking steps backwards. After the earlier mentioned thump and Haru's apology, the women before him started to speak...well, that is write in response to what he said. After reading all she had to say to him, he let out a small chuckle before saying "Well, what you saying are partially true...that is, I can see you eyes are wrapped up tightly...and yet you are aware of the surrounding. You can move around freely, you noticed me. So if you can see that much, I can assume you could see my impolite stare. And even if you can’t, it doesn’t change the fact you deserve an apology for my rude behavior, so I stand by it!" He concluded with his tone rising a bit, after which he had a moment of silence to remind himself he was still in a library.

He would then speak on "And I know you want the book now, but I didn’t when you sna...awh" he would cut himself mid sentence as he saw the women walk away towards the source of the sound. He had to admit, he was a bit curious just to know what happened himself. Still, it was nice talking to someone new....even if they didn’t seem to be as interested in the conversation. Still, joining up wouldn’t have hurt. Until she of course gave him a clear sign she wanted to be left alone. He was a gentleman after all.

So he strode behind her to the table where a lone young man was laying, and how he explained all the racket, he gave him a warm small saying "I know the feeling, getting so focused on a lecture that your grip on the world around you gets a bit weak...though I had to say I had to get a bit older then you before I really got into books like that, haha"

 

[Kokomo]

He was studying? Itami took a step back, almost as though she didn't believe him. Taking in a deep breath as she moved towards him, the towering beast grabbed him by the shoulder--perhaps a little too violently--throttling him to his feet with one hand. Her body movements were rigid, hard, and unforgiving. The poor woman couldn't be blamed, she had a lack of senses that everyone else had. The awkward young lad that tried to steal her book followed, and gave the most peculiar insight. How did someone fall out off their chair while studying? Were these two men total buffoons?

And what kind of book had he been reading? A book that this man hadn't read until he was 'a bit older'? Itami's head turned towards the older gentleman, as though she had stared him down, before she turned and took that book rom the boy, her finger slipping between the pages as she held his place and showed it to the gentleman, "W H A T--K I N D--O F--B O O K?" The sand spelled out.

Itami couldn't read.

 

[Matsumoto Mamoru]

Mamoru's eyes went wide as the bandaged monster grabbed him by the shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. He was not a small 12 year old, but this walking roll of bandages was neither small nor 12.... so it had Mamoru thoroughly beaten. He was more than a little taken aback at the roughness and pure strength this person was exerting, surprised enough to reconsider his previous conception that it was a woman hiding under all that linen. His eyes darted to the man following behind her. He seemed wordy, a pretty smooth talker from the brief sample Mamoru had just heard. He hoped if things got too rough he might step in... he hoped so.

"I..I...I uh, it's about anatomy. Anatomy 101, I'm..uh... training to be a.... uh... a med-nin!"

He finally spat it out, it took felt like he'd taken an eon just to tell the mummy what he'd been studying, or rather what he'd been supposed to be studying. To be honest, he hadn't read more than a couple chapters before the mummy walked in, completely arresting his every ounce of attention. He took another fleeting glance at the fast talker. He seemed older, probably chuunin or jounin age, he hoped again this man would turn out to be an ally of some sort.

Strange that he would notice his burning back at a time like this, but Mamoru absently scratched his lower back as he assessed the man.

"I..I...I....I'm sorry for the noise." He apologized again, flashing a grin and hoping the mummy would have some way of sensing his sincerity, for he very very sincerely regretted doing anything at all to attract this person's attention.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Haru blinked as the women went up and yanked the poor boy up from his prone position in one swift movement. For a body that looked so fragile (with all the bandages and her generally slim figure) she seemed to have a bit of strength... wouldn’t be the first time looks were deceiving, one way or another. As he spoke he noticed the boy look up at him, which he answered with a small wink of his eye. Hopefully they cold work out a way for everyone to go on their merry way's...without getting them thrown out of the library. He still needed to take some books after all.

In all honesty he was a bit surprised to ser her be as...rough. As she turned her head to him, he would look back with a wide smile as usual, not really caring how much she could see or not, and after noticing the Sand notification he would turn towards the book and after a few moments say "Well, looks like he's telling the truth. Anatomy 101 here...helped me when I was learning how to make properly proportioned bodies for my work...you'd be surprise how hard it is to come by some kind of more artistic tutorials in a Shinobi village, haha"

After answering her question, he would turn his head back to Itami and then say "The boy is telling the truth and he apologized...I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t need any more trouble. If anything, I’m not sure if it was in place for us to bother him in the first place. Neither of us work in the library, and the act of falling down didn’t really hurt any of us personally, right miss...Bah, where are my manners...Sunaku Harupia, at you service mam" he concluded, wanting to shift the topic slightly from the boy...maybe it was just being over interpreting, but if the women had some kind of physical defect under those bandages, and judging by how tough and harsh are her moves, she didn’t seem to be that used to kindness. So offering some wouldnt hurt.

 

[Kokomo]

Of course he was speaking the truth--did he think she thought him daft? The woman could not read, and she needed someone to read the book's title to her in order to give the proper response. But the man handed the book back to the shivering, stuttering, shameful boy as Itami listened to the man say somewhat... assuming things. What was he talking about? He was speaking to her as though she meant to stir up dust into their eyes. Itami frowned deeply for a moment before her mouth turned back into the firm emotionless line. "W H A T--A R E--Y O U--T A L K I N G--A B O U T?" The sand asked as Itami turned away from him, slightly annoyed by her in ability to understand him as she looked at the boy. "I--M E A N--N O--H A R M." The sand responded as the man gave his name--finally understandable.

"K A N A S H I M I--I T A M I"

At her service? Aha! Then he was here to serve her, then! Itami didn't know that Father had sent servants out about the town to help her--how kind! Though she was certain this one was new, for the name and the voice was not familiar. Her smile grew for a moment.

"W A T E R--P L E A S E."

 

[Kokomo]

(Topic left, 5 DAY INACTIVITY)