With it's stone pillars and strong walls, the library was one of Kumogakure's buildings that remained untouched by time and progress. Spirits thrived in in the enduring and familiar.Those gifted with the sight could often see a ghost trailing after the living, their ethereal visages excited to share in the devouring of knowledge. The dead cared little for the repetitive tasks the living undertook but those that had been drawn to literature in life were happy to hover at the shoulder of their living counterparts. There were favourite readers in the library too; those who read whole continuous series or visited often enough to gain a following of the earnest dead.
The well travelled woman was not one of the favourites, though the dead regarded her pensively as one of the strange humans that could still see them. They knew Yuii did not plan to join the steady steam of scholars in study, as she never had. Books bored her to tears and the people who read them got unreasonably annoyed when disturbed by her chatter. As a youth she had often claimed to be allergic to books in an attempt to avoid her studies. She just could not sit still; an issue that she yet yet to grow out of. Besides, there would always be someone willing to read to her if she cared to know something. The aforementioned spirits could always be counted on in those rare circumstances.
No, she would not read but she could enjoy the place. It was cool and quiet in the stone edifice. The sanctuary from the summer heat was exactly the type of place Yuii could take a well deserved, undisturbed nap.
The jounin stretched the length of the library bench and sighed. Fatigue had tightened her muscles uncomfortably and reminded her that she was not so young any more. Taijutsu training still drained the strength from her muscles at a quick pace and it would be a long time before she could comfortably call herself adept.
She had found a quiet reading nook for herself and she felt she might get an hour or two of rest before a librarian chased her out. If she was lucky, Yuii could have three hours of sleep and wake just as the sun went down. There would be open bars then with plenty of conversation then. Maybe she would meet someone interesting or find something delicious to eat.
Hopeful, Yuii drifted into the sweet arms of slumber. She had just begun to dream of trees and clouds when a little voice whispered in her ear.
"Read for me?"
The jounin cracked open one eye to the tiny face of a transparent boy of maybe five or six. The little ghost had large, sad eyes and the perfect features of a little doll. The bed clothes it was dressed in alluded to the poor thing's death, though what the spirits felt comfortable in was not always what they had died in.
"Please?" the little one pleaded, it's dead gaze piercing through her, "Please read for me?"
"Sorry, I'm just here for a nap," she tried to explain, uncomfortable under those sad eyes. The children always got to her better than the rest. The tiny boy's face scrunched in displeasure and Yuii found herself softening to the idea. A children's book or two would do no harm if she found a quiet corner for it. No doubt the kid actually hoped she would read aloud.
"Fine, show me which one and I'll read it. Then I need a sleep," she caved, swinging back to her feet. It would probably take as long to read for him as it would to find a new place to sleep.
Conceding would be damning. It was not children's books the ghost lead her to but the heftier fiction novels that were at smallest the width of her hand. Yuii stopped and paled visibly. There was no way!
"Oh.. oh no... I couldn't possibly. I know I said one but that is a big book. Wouldn't you rather one with pictures?"
The well travelled woman was not one of the favourites, though the dead regarded her pensively as one of the strange humans that could still see them. They knew Yuii did not plan to join the steady steam of scholars in study, as she never had. Books bored her to tears and the people who read them got unreasonably annoyed when disturbed by her chatter. As a youth she had often claimed to be allergic to books in an attempt to avoid her studies. She just could not sit still; an issue that she yet yet to grow out of. Besides, there would always be someone willing to read to her if she cared to know something. The aforementioned spirits could always be counted on in those rare circumstances.
No, she would not read but she could enjoy the place. It was cool and quiet in the stone edifice. The sanctuary from the summer heat was exactly the type of place Yuii could take a well deserved, undisturbed nap.
The jounin stretched the length of the library bench and sighed. Fatigue had tightened her muscles uncomfortably and reminded her that she was not so young any more. Taijutsu training still drained the strength from her muscles at a quick pace and it would be a long time before she could comfortably call herself adept.
She had found a quiet reading nook for herself and she felt she might get an hour or two of rest before a librarian chased her out. If she was lucky, Yuii could have three hours of sleep and wake just as the sun went down. There would be open bars then with plenty of conversation then. Maybe she would meet someone interesting or find something delicious to eat.
Hopeful, Yuii drifted into the sweet arms of slumber. She had just begun to dream of trees and clouds when a little voice whispered in her ear.
"Read for me?"
The jounin cracked open one eye to the tiny face of a transparent boy of maybe five or six. The little ghost had large, sad eyes and the perfect features of a little doll. The bed clothes it was dressed in alluded to the poor thing's death, though what the spirits felt comfortable in was not always what they had died in.
"Please?" the little one pleaded, it's dead gaze piercing through her, "Please read for me?"
"Sorry, I'm just here for a nap," she tried to explain, uncomfortable under those sad eyes. The children always got to her better than the rest. The tiny boy's face scrunched in displeasure and Yuii found herself softening to the idea. A children's book or two would do no harm if she found a quiet corner for it. No doubt the kid actually hoped she would read aloud.
"Fine, show me which one and I'll read it. Then I need a sleep," she caved, swinging back to her feet. It would probably take as long to read for him as it would to find a new place to sleep.
Conceding would be damning. It was not children's books the ghost lead her to but the heftier fiction novels that were at smallest the width of her hand. Yuii stopped and paled visibly. There was no way!
"Oh.. oh no... I couldn't possibly. I know I said one but that is a big book. Wouldn't you rather one with pictures?"