On the Clock

Mission:

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The expanse ran wide with a brown hue that made it seem like it was cracking and could erode at any moment. The makeshift training grounds were ripe with the broken pieces of metal from skirmishes, destroyed land, and augmented texture from multiple elements. The releases and fire and lightning had raced across this land so many times that one could say that the Shinobi of the Sun Village were their own living natural disaster. Due to this very fact, the lands were filled with stories that were engraved into the stone and ground that told of triumphant battles that led to promotions of today’s great shinobi.

However, it was time to ready it for tomorrow’s!

It was not often that the Usagi Clan had visited the Sun Village! With them in town and advertising their services to work the bars and shops to attract attention with their...assets, they were wide open for work! However, some of the local shinobi would spread stories about not only the clan’s ability for sensory and persuasion, but their ability to comb the Earth with their primary speciality of Doton that was unlike any other clan. As a result, the girls would be asked, along with a certain shinobi among them, to use their abilities to change this training field of sand and dirt back to what it formally was.

“Okay, sisters!” Hikari would call out triumphantly, “Next row!”

Reconstruction of the field had already begun! It only took for them to summon their rabbits that would dig beneath the terrain, shifting tectonic plates, and molding the land using the Earth Shift Core technique. The women were supervised by some of the finest of Sun Village’s shinobi! Some of them either were hired to make sure to explain the dimensions of the training grounds and others would fumble their words as they were pressed against physically and mentally with flirtatious charm and gentle fingers to their chest as the girls would try to dissuade them from being so uptight and strict! It was the property of the Sun Village unlike the Moon Village that gradually allowed them to work.

“Oh! Could you stand behind me and watch to see if I’m...doing it right?”

“Could you...come a little closer and...show me how you want that?”

“Please! Whisper it softer! These ears are so...sensitive!”

Each line delivered at Hikari’s irritation as he knew his family well. Within moments, his lips were pressed wrinkled with a frown. His forehead’s vein was bulging to the point that he thought he would pop a vein. Usually, the sisters and their work ethic was unquestioned, but with the exoticness of the Sun Village, a place where the clan did not come to often, they would indulge in their little habit! Their nature to charm the hearts and minds as they were eternally looking for mates just like their animal’s nature suggested.

“Sisters?” Hikari would call out nicely at first. “S-Sisters!” He would screech as he puffed out his chest. Just like the rest of them, he stamped his iron heel into the bedrock while he looked at them with piercing eyes. They huddle together holding onto one another as they become alarmed at Hikari’s sudden outburst. “Please save this for later! We must finish!”

Hikari was visibly upset as the rabbits had halted the reconstruction of the training area for nonsense! It was not tolerated by the lilac haired rabbit who would cross his arms. After all, he had lots of friends in the Sun Village and he definitely did not want to let them down.

OOC Notes: ---
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Word Count: 601

When Cure had been called on a mission early in the morning before he had even had time to wake up properly he was surely not happy. After learning it was just refurbishing the old training grounds and he would need to leave his weapons behind he was even less pleased. So it was almost understandable when he had finally gathered enough energy to drag himself to the training ground he was a little less then happy. Therefore it was even more reasonable when after arriving and having the first thing he experienced was an overly enchanting and beautiful bunny girl bouncing toward him with outstretched arms, that Cure seriously considered turning around and faking calling in sick somehow. Instead his body flickered so that the bunny girl's outstretched arms missed and he appeared behind her and kept walking. He then begun to survey the area along with the progress of what had already been done before he got there. He helped direct the foreign clan a bit while simultaneously dodging any attempts at close contact. Forget that Cure was only attracted to men, he also had a disguise to maintain! How was his gender and identity supposed to remain hidden if he allowed himself to be felt up by any random bunny on the street. Although the young bunny man seething toward the side watching his clansmen was definitely more tempting. This opinion only solidified in his mind as he heard the authoritative and slightly sexy way he reprimanded his sisters. Cure was lucky he wore a gender neutral disguise so any happy accidents would not easily be revealed. After dreamily watching.....err...that is....observing Hikari taking control of the situation, Cure would nod to himself and begin searching for more things he could do preferably from the sexy bunny clan leader Hikari. Walking up he inquire in a professional tone, "Hello, thank you for your generous assistance! My name is Cure. Is there something more I might be able to personally assist you with Mr......" Towards the end of his introduction Cure would leave an opening for the bunny man to introduce himself. After introductions finish he would then wait to see if the bunny man would have something in mind he might need help with as well as think a bit himself on extra tasks he could complete.

WC: 389

Some time had passed once more since the intriguing encounters that Faustein had recently with one of the Sun Village's medics known as Sojiro, and that two on two separate occasions, one during a spar wherein he had teamed up with a recent Moon Village acquaintance he had made, one Ami Hyuuga, a kunoichi and the other being when apparently one of Sojiro's students had visited the Sun Village only to be stopped as the gates. Whilst a part of the second encounter, he had also met yet another of the Sun Village's medical nin, this one called "Cure". Since these encounters, Faustein had once again immersed himself in both his professional life as a practicing physician-scientist/medical ninja as well as his ongoing research as a mad physician-scientist which was part of his ever-burgeoning quest of more and more knowledge about everything and everyone around him. Needless to say, because of this, he had been terribly exhausted as of late and it showed quite prominently in his hypoxic lips, the noticeable dark circles under his eyes which were indicative of chronic sleep deprivation, and of course his bloodshot eyes that spoke of long hours of sleepless nights.

It was during such a time that he received orders from on high about another mission, and despite not wanting to go and just lay in his king sized four poster bed, he could not do that as it would be insubordination and possibly a hassle involving his superiors paying him a visit. So, he somehow forced himself to muster up the bare minimum level of energy which then allowed him to somehow drag himself out of his bed, get ready in his usual physician-scientist/medical nin outfit, strap on all of his usual gear, minus his weapons and then head out to the coordinates mentioned in the mission directive scroll that was dropped off by one of the village's messenger hawks.

Great Scott...just what do they need actual ninja for on a mission to rebuild an outpost of all things? The powers on high are truly incomprehensible sometimes.

He groaned as he started ambling slowly through the Sun Village's streets toward the old training grounds which were the site of the current mission. It took a while due to his snail's pace, but eventually Faustein did arrive there in one piece and somehow had managed to avoid bumping into anyone or anything on the way.

Perhaps my sharingan really is more useful than it first appeared to be when it was unlocked all those years ago...

He mused silently as he let his obsidian-like eyes roam about the area to survey it before actually stepping into it as was his usual routine. As he did, his brain faintly registered the presence of what seemed to be bunnies along with a small group of female summoners who were being directed by a young boy in a bunny costume. There was also another person there with a recognizable outfit, since he had seen him before at the village gates in a previous encounter. The work was progressing steadily enough, although the female summoners of the bunnies which were currently tilling the earth and fixing up the various structures in the training field were constantly being chastised for what seemed to be raunchy behavior towards their Sun Village compatriots or field managers. Once he had taken all all of these sights and sounds and registered them, while stretching and yawning visibly, Faustein headed into the training field at last. As he walked towards the two ninja in the center, he was accosted by some of the female summoners who seemed to be flirting with him by getting up close and personal with him just as they had been doing with the other Sun Village males in their vicinity. Sadly, Faustein had never truly understood this phenomenon that was commonly referred to as flirting or even its more formal variant of courtship, so he simply gave them a polite smile and after letting them do as they pleased, gave them all brief hedpets and scratched behind the ears before increasing the pace of his stride.

Well, that was fairly entertaining, though the purpose of the whole procedure is still a mystery to me.

He mused silently as he finally reached the center of the field wherein the two ninja were standing and conversing and upon arrival nodded in acknowledgement to each in turn

"Greetings, Faustein reporting for duty. It looks like work is progressing steadily and smoothly thus far. That is quite the impressive mastery of Doton jutsu your compatriots possess, and from their behavior towards you, presumably you are their leader?"

He remarked to the young boy in the bunny suit as he looked about curiously, noting that the bunny summons as well as their summoners seemed to be rather proficient with Doton ninjutsu, which was perhaps why they had been hired to undertake this mission. Then, he looked to the other medical ninja present with them, aka Cure and remarked

"Ah, we meet again, I perceive. if memory serves, your name was...Cure?"

He asked and then fell silent, wondering what the two would think of his rather haggard and exhausted looking but seemingly unique appearance.

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OOC:

WC: 883

Text Legend:

• Italics: Faustein’s silent thoughts
  
  
• Bold w/ Quotes: Faustein’s speech out loud
  
  
• Non-Italics, Non-Bold: Faustein’s action text
  

Appearance:

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He did not so much as “control” the situation as much as he would quell it. The only shinobi present would be a mix of confused and perhaps entertained by the attempts of Hikari/ Try as he might, the Usagi clan could have been their own species of animal in every right. They had a nature for not only being assertive and charming like their past generation that would pass on the habits to the next generation, but would also be just as cunning and ambitious. Control was something that was limited to only a mother of the clan who was usually someone proceeding before the last.

This was not Hikari.

No sooner had he tried to rally them, his sisters, to the cause; they had begun to digress. Snickering, laughing, and conversation took between them as they did not properly watch their rabbits. After all, the little things only had a limited range to what they could hear. Hikari, taking control of the situation, would begin to make hand signs that were not familiar to most! At least, he began to-

“...Is there something more I might be able to personally assist you with Mr......”

“H-huh?!” He caught the end of the conversation. The rest making his face turn bright red. “W-well, H-Hikari! Usagi Hikari!” he would introduce. The boy was so entangled with his task that he had not noticed someone was approaching him. He would only be left to finally face this person as Hikari revealed his blue orbs that were catching the faint glimmer of whatever light was present. It would be useless to the eyes that would look upon the medic to which Hikari could not make out. After all, a blind bunny could not see anything.

“N-no! No thank you!” he would insist. Imagining that moment of him showing some bit of hostility probably warranted attention. “I-I apologize for my sisters if that is what you are referring to. They are really efficient! T-they really are! It is just that being in another place they are not familiar with easily excites him. It is like the Usagi to spend time mingling with others in establishments this time of day.”

It was hard teaching Usagi etiquette and behavior to others. After all, the clan was not famous. Infamous by all means since even before the village was established or so he had heard from his family. Though those old folklore stories barely held value. It was with time that Hikari would hear the presence of another approaching. The rabbit-esque contraption strewn with white rabbit belt and fur would give the authentic appearance on his head as actually organs of a rabbit. He would turn his attention to the man that was approaching, causing Hikari to wonder curiously.

"...That is quite the impressive mastery of Doton jutsu your compatriots possess, and from their behavior towards you, presumably you are their leader?"

“Leader?!” Hikari could only squeak as he would step back ever so slightly. His eyes bulk widely with shock. “Oh! N-no! Nothing like that! I-I am just skilled at this. The one that sees less sees the best in our clan.” He would let out a half-hearted laugh. Anything that was uttered by his grandmother’s mouth was disgusting, no matter how simplistic and melodic it would sound. “Also, I-I should warn, please do not think of it as Doton. We only call them ‘arts.’ It is to separate ourselves from-” Shinobi? They probably should not hear that phrase. Hikari going silent as he was about to utter the word but decided against it.

“O-oh! Well, never mind.” Hikari would insist as he started fanning his hand before his face. Sweeping the last bit of conversation away and beginning with something new. “Anyway, such interesting names. Is it native to Sun Village?” He asked curiously, “Faustein and...Cure?” Hikari would turn to the other boy. His eyes show curiosity but seeing nothing of the man’s features to suggest it. His ears would twitch showing a body like any other.

“If you both have some to assure that work is progressing with the reforming of the field,” Hikari would turn his cottontail hind to the two. The pelt just beneath his thighs pinned to the black tight material would sway with a movement of his hands as he would lift them, “Then everything is just fine. I can do the rest myself.”

Hikari would use signs, but none familiar to the shinobi. Triangle, rhombus, and square; and a gesture of his hands from one point to the next. It would only take a second for the land to respond as the pieces of the area would shift and become mismatched. The elevation of the pieces of land risen together would make two wide columns begin to ascend on each side of the area as if making a makeshift gate to walk through made from the land itself. It seemed that the creatures within the Earth could control the land by staying within the ground and he would designate a certain creature, sign a command to them, and then designate an area easily.

It was perhaps like watching musicians being conducted by a lead.

OOC Notes: ---
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Word Count: 904

"HI....ka.....ri. Hmmm.....Hikari....Hikari...Hi...kari....." Curiously Cure tested the name on his tongue at first before repeating it again and again in a lower almost breathless voice. Something about the name tickled him until he noticed the enchanting blue pearls that had been gazing into his glasses. With the angle they stood his eyes were hidden by the glare of the Sun on his lens but with a slight head tilt they would be seen as a blooming blood red (the color of his current contacts), sharp and as analytical as always but with a slight new softness hidden in them when taking in the bunny man. When Hikari turned to talk to another ninja who had just approached and spoke he turned to see....who was this? Cure felt a little embarrassed he could not recall this man but until yesterday he had been so sleep deprived and filled with worry and paranoia but...wait....yesterday! Hadn't he had a rather strange encounter near the gate yesterday? He vaguely recalled he met this man then. It seemed he had yet to recover his senses entirely from his sleep drought. It was all because he'd forgotten to bring caffeine pills with him yesterday. Cure shook his head to clear it, he didn't remember when he was starting to feel drowsy again as he had forgotten his drowsiness upon meeting Hikari and it seemed to return around his first glance at Faustien. Cure held his head in hands as he replied to both people who'd probably started looking at him strangely from his prolonged silence. "You're doing an excellent job I didn't mean to imply otherwise and I am very impressed with the earth jutsu. Cure is my name yes and you must be...Fabian? Nice to see you again. Well dear no that is not my REAL name....but if I told you that I wouldn't be quite as mysterious and charming right? Besides I threw my old one away long ago I don't even remember it." The last reply was one of Cure's usual responses on inquiries to his name. It was a lie of course but it genuinely kept people from bothering him on it or digging. His name is something he would never forget or throw away because Plague helped him receive it. But at the moment it was not appropriate to use it. Cure took out a caffeine pill and consumed it helping it work with his chakra before standing up straight again and remembering he was a midget to these people already so he shouldn't slouch. He stood up as straight as his five feet could get him and proceed to go over to some of the finished grounds and began testing some of the equipment to make sure the materials the village provided for the training dummies and obstacle courses were sufficiently sturdy and that there was enough to go around. Most ninja that used the training grounds were around his rank or one rank above so he was more then sufficient for this task.

WC: 502

Faustein found himself greatly amused by the mannerisms of these members of the Usagi clan, both the female summoners who had flirted with him earlier when he had first entered the training field and also the boy in front of him who called himself "Hikari". This probably showed on his thin, firm lips in the form of a ghost of a half bemused/ half smug smirk as he continued to listen and observe Hikari's reactions to both him and the ninja next to him.

"The one that sees less is the one who sees best, eh? My, that is quite the intriguing philosophy you as well as your kith and kin follow, to be sure. Hmm, separate yourselves from others such as...shinobi, perhaps? Well, to each their own perhaps, so let us simply leave it at that."

Faustein remarked with a thoughtful look on his face while stroking his strongly set chin and well defined jawline, and was about to say more, but then he had heard Hikari correct his reference to the Usagi clan's jutsu as jutsu, and his request to call them arts instead, so he nodded with a shrug



"Fair enough, so then, would the term geomancy suffice for a descriptor label of your clan's modus operandi then, Hikari?"

He asked Hikari and then while waiting for his response, had turned to the ninja next to him who had given the name "Cure" as an intro. As Faustein watched, something truly intriguing happened right before his eyes. The ninja named "Cure" had taken a few caffeine pills which somehow seemed to increase their body's stature to some degree.

"Cure it is then. You are close, the name is actually Faustein, not Fabian. Likewise, it is always heartening to see a Sun Village comrade. Caffeine pills, eh? They are a rather useful tool, aren't they? Especially for those particularly challenging graveyard shifts as well as for giving the body a charge to stave off impending somnolence."

Faustein had remarked thus and then fell silent, resuming his observation of both Hikari and Cure. At this point, Hikari had reassured them that no further assistance was necessary in the reconstitution of the field and had then proceeded to perform some rather unique and unknown handsigns.

"Those are some intriguing signals you are weaving, perhaps a signature of the Usagi clan?'

He asked Hikari with an intensely curious look of childlike wonderment on his face and with his obsidian-like eyes practically gleaming that truly did make him look like a stereotypical mad scientist



Then, he fell silent once more and observed the situation closely to discern whether there was anything he could do to contribute to the mission's completion. Meanwhile, the ninja named Cure had gone off to test out the various equipment set up around the field, so Faustein surmised it was just a matter of time before they were finished here. While waiting, he forgot to suppress his own urges of somnolence so a brief, light yawn escaped from his lips and drifted into the air and he stretched a little in an effort to keep himself awake and alert for any sort of new occurrence.

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OOC:

WC:

• Post: 546
  
  
• Total (Thus Far, For Faustein): 883 + 546 = 1429
  

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He was quite the odd one. That is what the child wearing a feminine attire from a Matriarch based clan would think as his rabbit-esque ears would twitch hearing every one of his breathless utterances. The young violet haired rabbit would fall into silence, finally, after opening his gaping mouth giving nothing but breaths in wonder. He had heard this before. He was guilty of the crime of trying to remember names and would do this when he first started working in the Usagi trade. Eventually, he found a similar way to deal with this deficiency as he would say things in song. Eventually he would become a melodic singer at tables that he worked.

No sooner had he turned from one to the next, Hikri was caught between explaining to the two what the Usagi Clan called their particular skill. After all, the Usagi Clan were not akin to Shinobi. Even Hikari himself was reminded how much of a disgrace he was when it came to walking out with that headband away from his settlements. Drinks would quiet away the attention as they favored the perks of Moon Village Sake. The rabbits enjoyed the perks but would spit on the name style as they did not trust the militia of this forsaken world full of violence.

“G-Geo...Geomen?” The blind, hazy orbs would show in full as Hikari questioned the shinobi with a lift of a brow. “W-well, I-I do not know what that is.” Head shaking so softly as he would give a glimpse over his shoulder to the two, “The Usagi Clan just simply call these ‘arts,’ and nothing more.” He would explain. Redundancy was not repeated to why this was. Obviously the Usagi Clan still disagreed with the Ninja world with a multitude of things and held no reservations on showing it. Hikari, continuously moving his hands would give attention to his work. Each of the pieces of Earth shifted as if the land was being folded elegantly like cloth leaving even and smooth layers.

He conducted with each hand making a certain movement. Eventually, he would motion his hips slightly to turn his face to show his lips. A response with his features would be appropriate to ignore the blocks of land that shuffled like cards and would brush the pieces of broken steel and cloth to the edges for easy collection. “These?” Hikari would move his fingers as his middles, his thumbs, and indexes would create a star-like design. “I guess you can call them that.” With his hands opening, revealing his palms, all movement would cease at that moment on the field as he turned revealing his hands to the men.

“It is nothing really. It is as I said, the Usagi Clan use arts,” he would exclaim as he would move his hands. Although the movements seemed simplistic, it was with a fluid close of his palms into fists, he would beckon the creatures on the field to him. “The summons are the ones that move the Earth. We move our bodies. The Usagi Clan work together with the creatures of the path that we contracted with long ago in order to defend our families and carry the name “Usagi.” So, we learned to use our ears to coordinate. I can hear them and see them as they can hear and see me based on our connection to the land. So, the simplest sign addresses who I desire to move the land for me.”

Hikari would lift his fingers once more. “It is...a lot, I know.” He would exclaim, “The rabbit has been told several times that our way of living side-by-side, away from the village a majority of our lives and with our summons, is a...as they say...benign thing. However, it has taught us to survive and communicate that is still in touch with our past...to an extent.” Hikari would say this laying is right hand upon his chest as if he truly felt that spiritual connection. His last bit, ominous, as he believed even now there was a piece of that very puzzle missing.

“M-my apologies if this seems as if I am...demonizing shinobi culture,” His cheeks flaring red as he gentle voice broke. A hint of fear there as he believed he perhaps said too much. “It is just my clan prefers to retain their traditions heavily and believe they are more...appropriate for our lifestyle. After all, everyone has their own beliefs, y-yes?”

OOC Notes: ---
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Word Count: 783

Cure listened as he tested the course and he felt that everything was up to par while at the same time being amazed at Hikari's amazing abilities and his modest attitude was pretty cute too. When Cure heard the man try to explain his seeming insult to shinobi Cure shook his head with a bitter smile. He was aware that shinobi were not loved everywhere and were to some were hated with a passion to match the people that adored them. But at the end of the day when it came down to receive the order a ninja could become a cold blooded killer or be arrested or go rogue for defying orders. It all came down to the people in power. But this was not specific to shinobi and know sentient being was immune to this weakness. Even when a revolution forms to save people it can easily begin to abuse them while claiming the same idealism. Luckily the Sun Village has never pushed Cure that far and compared to his family of actual mob criminals and rulers of the underground....well...This was definitely the better deal. After all if you had ideas you wanted to fight for or dreams you wanted to achieve....well....you'd be very hard pressed to do it on your own. Cure shook his head a bit before replying to the shy bunny who seemed so nervous before him. "No one blames your words, your opinion is safe here no matter what it may be. Facts or facts and logic being a superior pursuit has no emotional preference to facts or opinion and instead welcomes both for a healthy study or the world and it's surroundings. What I mean is I'm a medic and a shinobi of science! I may be dedicated to my job but I won't run people away at the stake for saying something that seems negative to myself or the village. Instead I more then welcome their opinions and thoughts on the matter. Perhaps a healthy debate? Or if they'd like to just vent I practice mental and emotional healthcare as well as physical. So if you ever need to just talk or vent I'm here for that too." This was likely the most Cure had spoken to anyone in his life outside of Plague and Sojiro. Even if you asked him what possessed him he would not be able to tell you. Slightly embarrassed he quieted immediately but he still radiated trust and support with his eyes. His eyes seemed to say 'Count on me! I'm someone you can rely on!'

---

“...So if you ever need to just talk or vent I'm here for that too."

That is what he said. It was something almost familiar as his presence in both voice and form shrouded in mystery. Hikari’s eyes, ever so obscured, would land upon the man although his hands moved ever so slightly. His fingers would become limb before finally falling to his side. “Forgive me for say, but you remind this bunny of an old friend,” he would admit. His eyes would drop as there was a hint of sadness. “It is comforting...but yet...also alarming. As most friendships are.”

The young lilac haired rabbit focused his life around the course of growing a family. It was the way of the Usagi Clan. He had not known that he was playing into the instinct as if it was some sort of animalistic need. He did however become quite aware of how much havoc it would reek as he would think of another Uzumaki that he was not as close to. His thoughts were scattered, but yet he would move his hands with precision as he made yet another set of seals.

The land would fold once more. Mounds of dirt and dust that would pile itself in a corner along with broken steel and torn pauper. The trash was immediately collected by the shinobi who would flock to the edge of the field and start bagging it into plastic pouches. Hikari could hear the sound of the bags rattling before he would separate his hands. Like a conductor, he would sweep his palm to his chest. His eyes would be ever so clear as the dirt once again moved, but this time shown an unsightly bump before quickly breaching to reveal, beneath it all, five colored hares that would emerge.

“A wonderful job today, yes?” he said to the creatures. “You are dismissed!”

With the sound of his voice, puffs of smoke would emerge from the holes leaving fresh pockets and a clouded air between himself and the man known as Cure. Hikari’s smile everso calm as he would give the unfocused stare from his blind eyes. Completely missing the passionate gaze the man gave, Hikari would take his heartbeat and sound of his voice instead.

“I believe we are done today, yes?” he would quiz. “Let us perhaps depart? Your presence is pleasing, but yet, this bunny must go to his ‘other’ job.” Hikari would leave on a cryptic note as he would sweep past Cure with a smile on his face and a sauntering stride.

Ever to meet him again, he would have to ask the question when Hikari was not busy in his fancy.

OOC Notes: ---
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Word Count: 783