Time is limited. Tell me what to do. -

Hinata's day began when a streak of lightning erupted across the stormy skies, followed by the loud roar of thunder that would even the deaf could hear. Dazed and still feeling a little sleepy, she yawned and wanted to go back to sleep, until Tamamo's voice interrupted her.

'Wake up, dear. There is much to do today.' Her soft, rather motherly voice coaxed her, while she rubbed her furry body at her leg.

'Ermm..' Hinata shook her head slightly, stretched her arms outwards and then pushed herself up with her hands from the floor covered with a small mat she brought along. It was not a comfortable sleep, and she thought of the soft cozy bed back at the temple.

Tamamo sensed her slight discomfort with the bed, and chuckled slightly. 'Slight headache, child?'

Hinata smiled, and although she has never seen how she looked when she smiled, she was always told to smile. It was a practice that soon became a habit, to smile at almost anything. 'Just a little... Not used to sleeping on the floor.' Hinata picked up her stick, placed just next to her, and soon asked when she heard the thunder and raindrops outside the abandoned temple, 'It's still raining outside, isn't it?'

'Yes.' Tamamo walked towards the scholar's statue and gave it a small bump with her nose.

'Can't you see I'm sleeping!' The scholar appeared, and asked, 'and what do you want from me on the day I'm going to die?'

'Enough rest. She'll be doing the unbinding ritual soon and I will have to guide her.' Tamamo glanced at Hinata, who was at the time, eating a piece of bread she bought from a nearby store the day before. 'She is untrained, and her chakra limited but her affinity to the spirits is strong.'

'Unbinding? You do know that you risk destroying me, right?' The scholar paused for a moment, 'but if you don't, I'm dead anyway.' Tamamo chuckled, and both of them approached Hinata.

Hinata could feel their presence as they approached, and glanced upwards, although she could not seem them. Tamamo was now closely linked to her, and the small pebble she asked her to attach to her necklace on the day they met was her housed Tamamo's spiritual 'home'. She knew, what Tamamo was going to ask of her, and in her mind she tried to recall all the things Tamamo told her on the unbinding ritual.

She was aware her powers are limited, and she has very little of the usual items she has for rituals and processions back home. The unbinding ritual would only be a very basic one, enough to ensure the spirit's knowledge and presence remains, but stripped of almost all the other powers he had prior.

It was a simple arrangement, a circle of various flowers she picked from the neaby park around the statue, and a little jade necklace next to the statue that will be the new spiritual home of the scholar. She spoke a rather short chant while touching the statue with her left hand and her other hand holding the necklace.

And then came the part Tamamo went to great lengths to warn and guide her. The ritual required her to use her body as a medium to transport the spirit from the original home to it's new home, during which, she'll experience great pain, see images that are warped, words that are twisted as a result of the spirit's experiences passing through her mind.

The fox knew it may be a very daunting challenge, as the evocative images of war, death and sorrow for one who has never seen such sadness. She will have to endure, and remain conscious, or else the ritual fails and the scholar will be destroyed inside her.

Hinata felt heavy. Her entire body felt like it weight a ton, and she was swamped by a surge of emotions, a sense of longing for belonging and worry of those in the past who has come forth to the spirit for guidance. She felt as if her fingers were in great pain, and she felt like the world was spinning around her.

She almost lift her hand, but Tamamo called out to her. 'Hinata.'

But it was not yet over for Hinata. She saw the images of a dead person, and a crying mother cursing all on why her son had to die. Hinata felt helpless, and it evokes memories of her own sense of helplessness. Her own experiences were soon pulled into the spiritual mess in her head, and it hurts.

She wanted to cry but she couldn't. She wanted to scream but she couldn't find the voice. She was filled with pain, her body wanted to collapse.

'Hinata.' 'Hinata'
'Hinata.'

Her knees felt weak and she fell, but her hands kept holding on to both the statue and the necklace.

And suddenly... it stopped.
The pain, the images, the voices.

'Hinata.'

Her mind was weak, and she had no energy to answer. She was going to fall unconscious soon. She knew it but had no willpower left to resist.

'It's over. The ritual is complete.' Tamamo's voice was warm and cheerful. It was the last thing she heard before she collapsed out of mental exhaustion.

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