Chapter 3: The Engineer and the Architect
In which Hana and Yamato have a meet cute.
Hana woke for work bright and early on Monday morning. She showered, put on a clean, white blouse and a pencil skirt, and looked at her appearance in the mirror. She contemplated trying something with her hair, but decided against it. She could never accomplish the styles sported by other, more fashionable women in the village, and trying now would only frustrate her. Instead she shook out her short, wavy locks, figuring that it would have to do for today.
She tiptoed out of her room, trying not to wake Yuna and Ayame. Both had shown up at her doorstep the night before with three pints of ice cream, and they spent a spontaneous evening talking about whether Yuna still had a thing for Genma. They stayed up so late that the girls crashed on Hana's pull out couch, and in the end they only determined that Yuna was in denial.
Hana skipped breakfast; she didn't want to make any extra noise, and she left a note on her kitchen table with the spare key for her friends before she picked up her work bag and quietly left the apartment without making so much as a peep.
Assessing the rolls of draft paper under her arm with her architectural designs, she took a deep breath and stood up straight. It wouldn't do to be meek today. She had a huge presentation about the design for a new building in the city center. Hana was prone to presentation anxiety, and already she could feel her heart racing at the thought of sharing her designs with the committee. She wished she could speak with her grandmother, who always knew the right thing to say, but after the war her grandmother retired to one of the onsen resort towns outside of Konoha, where she now managed an small inn.
Hana missed her grandmother dearly. They couldn't be more opposite in personality, but their love was deep. The independent old woman raised her in the wake of her parents' deaths and encouraged her independence, which was hard won…Hana was naturally inclined to be shy, which was why days like today were so anxiety-inducing.
She looked at her watch. She had plenty of time to kill. Her presentation wasn't until late morning, and she wondered how she would possibly distract herself from her growing nervousness. Hmm…
There was a new development going up on the north side of the city, a series of residential homes that promised to be affordable and luxurious. Ground broke last week, but she had yet to see how the space was being laid out yet. Yes. Stopping by to see progress there would be a good distraction. First though, breakfast. She walked to a nearby cafe and purchased a small coffee and a slice of walnut bread. Then, she made her way north.
As she neared the neighborhood, she felt the ground beneath her begin to tremble, and she heard distant cheers. She walked a little more slowly and rounded the corner, finding, to her surprise, rows of houses already built. She expected the general layout to be finished, but to have complete houses built already? That was unheard of given it had only been a week.
"At this rate, the neighborhood will be finished in no time!"
A group of men stood around, apparently doing nothing. Some were civilians in work clothes, but others were shinobi in the standard uniform. Hana felt another rumble beneath her feet, and behind the crowd, a large two-story home took shape. It was composed of sturdy looking wood, and the architecture was traditional in style with an almost pagoda-like feel. Interesting choice, Hana thought, for a brand new complex.
The group of men dispersed to inspect the new house. Only then did Hana see a man on the ground, on all fours, breathing heavily. She nearly dropped her coffee. Was no one going to help him? Everyone was milling about, seemingly unfazed by the fact that someone was hurt in their midst. This was not the Konoha she knew. She ran up to the man and knelt down.
"Excuse me! Are you alright?"
"Water," he rasped. He looked absolutely ragged, with sweat running down his temples, and his large, deep set eyes had a faraway look to them. Hana recognized he was a shinobi by his forehead protector. His was particularly unique…it framed his face like a pair of brackets. Hana pulled a bottle of water from her bag and uncapped it, handing it to him. He put it to his lips, drinking deeply, and seemed to come back to his senses just a little bit.
"Do you need food, too?" she asked. She offered him the brown parchment bag of her uneaten walnut bread. He looked at it, and then slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.
"Yamato! We're ready for the next one."
The man's head snapped away, finding the source of the voice. "Yes, Kakashi-senpai." He still sounded beat. He started to stand, stumbling just a bit, before turning, forming a handful of seals, and slamming his palm against the ground.
In yet another tremble of the earth, little sprouts of plant-like matter burst through the ground and continued to grow at a surprising rate. Dirt flew in every direction as the new stems gained mass and twisted together, stretching into support beams, awnings, and door frames. The roof linked together panel by panel and a balcony grew from the front of the home. Hana lifted her arms to cover her head from the debris flying everywhere. It took about a minute before the house stopped wriggling and settled, complete. Only then did the man, Yamato, collapse again to his knees while the crowd cheered and ignored him. He looked like he was going to be sick.
Hana immediately knelt next to him again, both concerned and awed by his abilities. She knew who he was…the famous wood-style user. Ayame and Yuna had told her stories of his prowess, but she had never seen it in person. It was more awe-inspiring than she imagined. To control a substance like wood at will…Hana thought of the time it typically took her to piece things together in the wood shop, and she was envious. However, it obviously took a high amount of chakra to be able to create on such a large scale.
"Yamato! Next one!"
She frowned, glaring at the silver-haired man ordering Yamato around. Kakashi looked almost bored, totally indifferent to this man's clear exhaustion. It appeared that Kakashi was overseeing the whole project, and his neglect for Yamato's condition lit a fire in Hana. This was a personal pet peeve of hers, when people willing to sacrifice their time and effort got taken advantage of. Part of this stemmed from her own experience…one of her own flaws was that she too readily said 'yes' to everyone, but while Hana had a hard time advocating for herself, she did not find it hard to advocate for others.
Yamato tried to stand up again, but Hana pushed the walnut bread into his hand and stalked angrily towards Kakashi.
"He needs rest!"
"Hm?" Kakashi's eyes glanced lazily her way, and then down as he realized where the voice was coming from. Hana was not particularly tall, but she mustered up as much height as she could manage, trying to create a presence.
She repeated herself. "He needs rest!"
"Yamato? He'll be fine. I've put him through worse." Kakashi turned his head back towards the construction and called loudly, "The houses won't build themselves!"
Hana, tiny, normally soft-spoken Hana, was absolutely floored by this response. She frowned at the shinobi in front of her, deciding at that moment that Kakashi wasn't that attractive after all. She felt a strong desire to hit him over the head, but she was too short to reach him. Instead, she walked back to her pile of architectural drafts, taking the largest and longest paper roll in her hand. She then trudged back towards Kakashi and swung it like a bat. It hit him on the back of the head with a loud, hollow 'bop'.
"He needs rest!" she repeated again. The paper roll certainly wasn't substantial enough to hurt him, but the sound was loud enough to draw the attention of the rest of the construction crew. All of them stopped and stared.
Only then, in the silence that followed, did Hana realize what she had done. The man in front of her was Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi. The new Hokage. She had hit the Hokage over the head with a roll of draft paper. The Hokage. A surge of anxiety twisted in her stomach and she felt a wave of nausea swirl. She suppressed her desire to vomit.
Kakashi looked down at her, eyebrows lifted high in consideration of her audacity. Hana felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and she turned to find Yamato, looking much more refreshed. He was chewing the bread she'd given him and took another large bite out of the slice.
"Thank you for your concern," he told her, "but senpai is right. I've experienced much worse than this."
Hana stared at him, seeing a bit of herself in his response. He was a people pleaser. Still, she was upset on his behalf. "Is building this neighborhood an emergency?" she asked, turning towards the Hokage.
"Not necessarily."
"Then why are you asking this man to push himself to the brink of exhaustion?"
Yamato spoke again, this time with a reassuring smile on his face. "Really, it's okay. Kakashi-senpai is one of my closest comrades. He would never ask anything of me that is unrealistic. Plus, I recover quickly."
"If he's your friend, then he should be working with you, not standing back and watching while you do all the hard work." She didn't know what kind of relationship these two men had, but she was certain that her own friends would be deep in the trenches with her. "And if he's the Hokage, he should share the concerns of his citizens a little more."
Both men appraised her. "It sounds like I'm not meeting your expectations," Kakashi said lightly.
A flashback from her Infinite Tsukuyomi came to her then. Kakashi had not been Hokage in her dream, but he had been kind. She thought the Hokage in front of her could stand to have a little more kindness. "No, you most certainly are not." At that, Hana turned on her heel, collected her bag and the rest of her drawings, and left the neighborhood behind.
She got a few blocks away and then turned into an alleyway to puke. Nothing was in her stomach, so nothing came up, but her nervousness was making her queasy. She couldn't believe that she had just hit Kakashi over the head. Thank goodness she never had interactions with him, and she likely would never have to see him again. How embarrassing would that be? Maybe Yuna was right on this one. The moon might fall out of orbit before she ever dated Kakashi.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and smiled a little sardonically. At least one thing was certain. If she could stand up to the Hokage like that and be okay, she could definitely get through her presentation later that morning.
A couple hours later, Hana sat outside the board room, rubbing her hands together to distract from the twisting sensation in her stomach. The committee that decided what the new Konoha would look like was a mixture of shinobi and civilians from all backgrounds. She closed her eyes and mentally walked through her presentation, how she would describe the buildings and what the committee would need to know. She had to make sure her descriptions were accessible to a wide audience…not too much detail, but described in a way that anyone could understand. She practiced a number of times in front of her friends, and even that had been nerve-wracking, but she only hoped that her practice would pay off.
"Nervous?" asked a gentleman across from her. Her eyes flew open. He looked dapper, dressed in a business suit, and he also had a roll of draft paper next to his briefcase. Hana assumed he was her competitor.
"A little," she told him. "Have you done this before?"
"Oh yes," he said, waving a hand. "My buildings are peppered in a number of towns and hidden villages around the world. I travel around to different villages getting contracts. The business is particularly lucrative right now, what with everyone needing to reconstruct their towns. Property values are at an all time high." He paused, looking at her with small, glittering eyes. "What about you?"
"Oh, um, this is my first pitch, at least for these particular designs," Hana said timidly. "I've spent almost my entire life in Konoha, apart from my studies."
"You're a local! How quaint. Tell me, have you spent much time traveling?"
"No…just locally around Konoha, and the Land of Waves." Hana thought this line of questioning rather odd, but didn't have a chance to ask why he wanted to know about her travels before the door opened and they were invited inside.
"Kaede-san, Hana-san, the board is ready to see you now."
Hana followed the man into the room and set down her things. She looked around, wondering if she knew any of the committee members, and then her eyes landed on one silver-haired shinobi sitting at the head of the table. Her eyes went wide and she let out an audible squeak, before promptly covering her mouth with both hands.
"Hana-san, are you alright?"
She nodded, although she was most certainly not alright. Kakashi's eyes landed on her, and she thought she could read a smug look underneath that damned mask of his. Her heart rate climbed as she considered that she would have to pitch her ideas to the most influential man in the village. The man she'd disparaged just hours earlier.
"Who would like to present first?" the committee member asked. Hana was still frozen, staring at the Hokage.
"Ah, perhaps I should," Kaede told the room, eyeing Hana with concern as she broke out into a cold sweat. She took a seat while he brought his drafts to the front of the room and jumped right into his pitch. He sounded every bit the confident salesman, but Hana couldn't pay attention. She was trying every tactic in her arsenal to reduce the nausea that was building up inside of her.
It's just a presentation. Nothing more, nothing less. Pretend you're presenting to Ayame and Yuna.
She closed her eyes, breathing in and out. It felt like a rock was sitting at the pit of her stomach, and anxiety cut through her chest, settling just below her throat. Oh no…I'm going to get heartburn.
Before she knew it, Kaede's presentation was over, but her nervousness had not quelled in the slightest.
"Hana-san?"
"Yes?" she squeaked, her voice still high-pitched.
"It's your turn."
Thump. Thump. Thump. Her heartbeat was so loud that she was sure the rest of the room could hear it. She stood and carefully gathered her drawings together, walking to the front of the room. She unrolled one of her sketches and looked up, standing on her tiptoes to fasten the parchment with the clips at the top of the chalkboard, but she couldn't reach it. She gulped, trying again. Her hand waved side to side as her fingertips just grazed the bottom of the clip.
"Ummm…" she turned awkwardly towards the room. Everyone was staring at her, and Kaede was trying to hide his laughter. "Could I…?" She could hardly finish her sentence, choking back tears. She could not cry during this presentation.
"Let me." The man from that morning, Yamato, stood from his seat next to the Hokage. Hana hadn't even noticed him there. She was too caught up in the fact that Kakashi was present. Yamato walked to the front of the room. He took the large piece of paper from her and clipped it to the board with ease, and then he gave her an encouraging nod before returning to his seat.
Hana took one last furtive look at the Hokage. I can do this. I can definitely do this. She took another deep breath, and then she dove right in.
Yamato and Kakashi exchanged a sideways glance. This presentation was not going well. Yamato felt bad for the girl. Her heart rate was erratic, and he felt envious of the civilians in the room…they couldn't physically feel how nervous she was, although her anxiety was so palpable that it probably didn't matter anyway. At the moment, she was describing something about load-bearing steel and the difference between wooden versus steel structures. Her initial description had been fine, but then she'd delved into the math and physics behind it all, and she'd completely lost the room. He wondered if Kakashi was following. The man was brilliant and could make accurate calculations like this in the heat of battle, but right now he just looked bored.
Yamato himself was good with general math, but he didn't need to know numbers to realize that steel was stronger than wood. Instead, he found his mind wandering, too. He was preoccupied by the drawings Hana had unfurled. The sketches were impressive, with precise engineering, and the designs of the buildings were elegant. He'd never seen anything like it before, and he had a large collection of architectural references at home. Cloud scratchers, she had called them.
He wanted to hear more about the design aspects. Why did one look like it consisted of multiple triangles, while another appeared like a series of tubes? They were odd shapes, but somehow compelling. He tried to imagine what a full sized building would look like, but that was beyond him. Perhaps he could help her by asking a leading question or two. He raised his hand, and she stopped mid-sentence, jumping slightly and trailing off at the disturbance.
"Apologies, Hana-san. I don't doubt that the structure requires steel considering the height, but I was curious if you could tell us more about the design. Why does that one look like a series of tubes?" He glanced back over to Kakashi, who gave him an imperceptible nod. They were thinking the same thing. Despite her poor presentation skills, they'd much rather see a beautiful building at the center of Konoha, especially if their only other choice was the bland wooden box the man before her had pitched.
Hana perked up at this question, and her heart rate calmed. "The design of the structure is the key to its height. For example, a single pillar can only go so tall before the height overcomes the base. That's why in all of my designs, the base must be the widest point, and these structures," she pointed out the smaller tubes surrounding the tallest one, "support the height of the center. They play a key role in stabilization, but all of it is designed to be usable space. This one," she pointed to a more rectangular shape, "has the same concept, but with cuboids instead of cylinders."
"And the triangular one?" Yamato was very interested now. The architecture was ingenious.
"It's also wider at the base, but because this one doesn't have secondary support structures, the interlocking triangles help meter both compression and tension forces as the building climbs."
"Hmm…" Yamato nodded. He'd experimented with that concept a little bit with his own jutsu…but the problem was that he always formed blocks for stability. Triangles were a natural solution, and he was miffed he hadn't thought of it first. With her design elements in mind, he wondered what he could create. "Given the space in the city center, how high do you think a building could rise?"
Hana flashed him a grateful smile. Her heart rate had returned to normal, and she looked like she could handle the rest of the presentation with ease. All she needed was a little support, just like her high rise designs. "For the city block in question, given traditional designs, probably only about ten stories. With any one of the designs I'm presenting, we could reach twenty to twenty-five. That's why I call them cloud scratchers, because they're tall enough to make you feel like you could touch the clouds. I have other experimental designs that could achieve more height."
"Aren't all of these designs experimental? " asked Kaede, her competitor. The tone of his voice was patronizing. "These designs are interesting, but no one has ever built anything like this before. How can you guarantee that it will be safe?"
"The same way you can guarantee your buildings are safe, through mathematical–"
"Ah," the man said, cutting her off rather rudely and abruptly. "That's where you're wrong. My buildings have a proven track record because they've been built before. They've withstood various climates and have held up to time. Yours are just models and dreams."
Ouch. Yamato could see that Hana was clearly taken aback by this, and it took her a moment to compose herself.
"You're right," she said carefully. "My designs haven't been built before. But you have to be willing to dream before you can build something spectacular. Konoha is already a spectacular village, and I believe it should look the part."
Yamato smiled. Despite her poor start, this woman had the fire of Konoha within her, and he was confident the committee would go with one of her designs.
Hana stepped out of the building and onto the street, nearly in tears. After all of that, they had gone with the stupid square box her competitor had pitched. She wondered if she'd sabotaged herself with her conduct that morning. Why, why had she hit Kakashi over the head with her designs? She told him to his face that he wasn't meeting her expectations as the Hokage of the village. And then he had been in the meeting! It threw her off…she'd sputtered on and on about her calculations…there was nothing worse than giving a poor presentation and knowing that it was poor. It was like mathematical word vomit. Hana had vomited in multiple ways that day. She groaned, frustrated with herself for everything that happened.
"That went well, don't you think?"
Hana turned to find her competitor, Kaede-san, stepping out of the building. Any kindness and curiosity in his voice was gone now, and she realized he was just a crafty jerk. "Congratulations on the bid," she told him, hoisting the rolls of draft paper under her arm.
"Yes, I'm very pleased. It's nice to be handsomely paid for good work. The committee even let me barter for a higher rate, given that my buildings are so soundly built. They hemmed and hawed but eventually agreed." He said it so nonchalantly, like taking advantage of people in the aftermath of wartime was an acceptable thing to do. This man was not just a jerk, he was an asshole. "Actually, Hana," he went on, "I thought your designs were…interesting…even if they wouldn't work in real life," he went on.
"Who says–" Hana started, but he cut her off.
"I'm willing to buy them from you though, if you'd like to make a little bit of profit."
"M-my designs are not for sale," she said timidly.
"They won't amount to much else," Kaede replied dismissively.
"She said they aren't for sale." Hana and Kaede turned around to see Yamato and Kakashi behind them. It was Yamato who had spoken. He was frowning. Kakashi looked impassive as always.
Kaede glanced between Hana and Yamato. "What, is she your girlfriend?"
What a bold question, Hana thought to herself, turning bright red with embarrassment.
"No," Yamato said carefully, "but the brilliance of her engineering deserves respect, whether you support her or not. I doubt you could propose a financial offer compelling enough to buy her ideas."
"Hmph," the man grunted. He turned toward Hana and said, "I hope you don't regret your decision. It's your loss." Then he briefly acknowledged the Hokage and walked away.
"Are you alright, Hana-san?" This question came from Kakashi.
She glanced at him, abashed by his kind question. "He was kind of nice before the meeting, and then his personality just flipped. Why would he want to buy out my designs if he thought they were so bad?"
"Because they aren't bad," Yamato told her. "People like him tend to tear down your confidence and then take advantage of you. He was fishing for your designs."
"Perhaps he's right though…maybe they'll never be realized."
"One day they'll be realized," Kakashi said, staring after Kaede. "They'll look much better than a box in the middle of Konoha."
"A box that could have been designed by a six-year old Academy student," Yamato added. This statement made Hana snort, and Yamato couldn't help but smile with her. "I'm sorry about what happened in the meeting," he said. "We were as surprised as you. The committee was worried about the price and availability of supplies. Wood is abundant, but steel, not so much."
"Ah, it's alright," she told them, laughing nervously. "I didn't do a great job selling it, did I?"
"It…came around…eventually." Yamato was clearly trying to be encouraging. "Your sketches spoke volumes though. They are impressive."
"Most people don't understand them…"
"The designs are elegant. It's the village's loss…I would have much preferred a cloud scratcher. Both Kakashi-senpai and I voted for them."
Hana's eyes darkened. If that was true, she felt extra guilty about her actions that morning. "I should apologize," she said, bowing towards Kakashi. "My frustration got the best of me earlier today, and I should never have acted the way I did."
Kakashi addressed her, clearing his throat. "You'll make it up to me," he said.
"What?" she asked, taken aback by this statement.
"I'd like you to oversee construction in the northern neighborhood. Work with Yamato on designing homes."
Yamato and Hana spoke at the same time, both protesting. "Kakashi-senpai, I'm not sure–" Yamato started, as Hana said, "Isn't that your responsibility…the Hokage's responsibility?"
Kakashi looked at her as if the idea was one of the best he'd ever had. "Having someone with your talent at the job site would better serve the village. I know very little about architecture. And Yamato would have a partner to work with, rather than a slave-driver."
Both stared at him, not quite knowing what to say.
"Now," he said, looking at his wrist. "Look at the time! I'm going to be late to my next engagement. Yamato, you can handle the paperwork, right? Make sure she gets compensated well. Hana, you start tomorrow." And with a poof, he disappeared.
Hana and Yamato both stared at the spot where he'd been. "But…he wasn't wearing a watch…" Hana said.
Yamato let out a deep sigh. "He can be difficult to understand, sometimes." He looked down at Hana and crossed his arms. "Do you have time?"
Hana nodded.
Come on," he said.
"Where are we going?" she asked, falling into step behind him.
"Lunch, first, and then to the construction site. How do you feel about ramen?"
Ayame was in the back of the shop making noodles with her father when she heard Hana's voice calling her. She stepped out, ready to ask how the presentation went, but then she saw that Hana wasn't alone.
"Hana! …And Yamato-san! What a surprise. I didn't know you two knew each other."
The two exchanged a sheepish glance. "We met this morning," Hana explained, "and he was also in the committee meeting."
"I see," Ayame said, raising her eyebrows high. "I presume that means that I'll be able to see Konoha from the skies in another year or so?" Hana's face fell, making Ayame regret her question. "Oh no, Hana, they didn't choose your design, did they?"
"No," Yamato answered for her, "and it is their mistake."
"I completely messed up the presentation," Hana said, taking a seat at the bar and dropping her head into her arms. "And I hit Kakashi-sama this morning."
Ayame barely heard this admission, given Hana's voice was muffled. She did a double take. "What? You hit him? Meaning, like, you ran into him, or you tripped and fell into him?" She couldn't imagine Hana hitting anyone, least of all the Hokage.
"No…I hit him, Ayame."
"Over the head," Yamato added. "It was rather chivalrous."
Hana lifted her head and gave Yamato an appreciative look. "You think?"
"Oh yes," he responded, explaining to Ayame, "she came to my aid."
"But then," Hana continued, "he was in the meeting, and I got completely flustered and didn't stick to the plan, and went off about the density, structure, and load-bearing strength differences between steel, wood, and treated wood varieties!"
Ayame was still caught on the Kakashi part. "Wait, wait, wait…you hit the Hokage over the head?" But Hana wasn't listening. She was continuing to unload all the ways in which she had failed during the meeting, and right now that included a detailed description of the chemical properties of different materials. It wasn't good, and Ayame considered that Hana must be starving. Her personality started to devolve towards the logical side of her brain when she was hungry, and logic for Hana meant math and science. "Okay, stop!" she said, putting her hand out in front of Hana's face. "No more talking until you eat. One extra large bowl of shio ramen with bamboo shoots, two ajitsuke eggs, and three slices of chashu coming right up. Yamato, do you want your usual?"
"Please," he said.
Ayame called the orders to her father, and within minutes two meals were laid for the patrons before her. She watched Yamato's already large eyes grow twice their normal size as she set a monstrous bowl of ramen in front of Hana.
"She'll eat the whole thing," Ayame whispered to him. "Just wait."
"Where does it all go?" he whispered back. It was hard to believe a girl her size could eat so much.
"My guess is that her stomach is actually a portal to another dimension." Hana's metabolism was something Ayame envied. If Ayame ate like that, she'd just begin to expand.
Yamato took careful bites of his meal, eyeing Hana as she consumed a bowl of ramen half her size in minutes. She sat back, satisfied, and thanked Ayame profusely.
"I feel much better," she said.
"I'm sure you do," Ayame told her. "Did you eat anything this morning?"
"No…I gave my breakfast to Yamato-san. He needed it more than I did."
Yamato stopped chewing and stared at her. Hana grew self-conscious under the scrutiny of his large, almond shaped eyes, but he didn't say anything and soon went back to his meal.
When he was finished, Yamato pulled out his wallet to pay. He paused, glancing at Hana. "I'll cover her meal, too," he told Ayame. Hana immediately protested, but Yamato insisted.
What a gentleman, Ayame thought. She had planned to comp Hana's meal, but she wouldn't say no if Yamato was offering to pay. It wasn't that she was miserly…it was just that, if Yamato paid for Hana's meal, it was technically a date. She smiled to herself as the two left the restaurant, secretly wondering if these two would eventually be a pair.
Hana and Yamato walked without speaking towards the construction site.
"So…" Hana started, trying to break the silence. "This job. How many houses can you build in a day?" Despite hesitations about what she had gotten herself into, she was deeply curious about this ninja's abilities.
"It depends on the size, but with units like today, probably about twenty, before my chakra depletes."
Wow. "Do you know who decided on the aesthetic of the homes? The architecture is lovely, but I was curious if anything more modern would be built."
Yamato blushed and bashfully scratched his cheek. "It's my own style. I tend to gravitate towards architecture that some might call 'old-fashioned.'"
"There's nothing wrong with tried and true. There is a certain beauty in the craft of traditional architecture that gets lost when everything modernizes."
"But sometimes remaining steeped in tradition keeps us from innovation." He paused, before asking a question of his own. "Where did you come up with the idea of a cloud scratcher?"
"Earlier in my twenties, I took an apprenticeship with Tazuna in the Land of Waves. He's known for being a bridge builder, but he and his grandson had grand ideas for airships. That's where I originally got the idea…I don't like the thought of being in an airship, completely untethered, but looking out from a view so high that you feel your fingertips could scratch the clouds, that felt doable."
"How high do you think a building made of wood could grow?"
"It depends," she said. "There are a lot of different factors to consider."
"Like what?" he asked, genuinely surprising Hana with his interest.
"Well, the type of wood. Strength of the starting material will play the biggest factor. Apart from that, everything else would be a design aspect…the structure, the foundation…all of it would have an impact." She paused. "How high have you been able to grow something with your jutsu?"
"Have you ever seen a giant sequoia tree?"
Hana shook her head. Even the name was unfamiliar. "Where do they grow?"
"Far to the west, past the Land of Wind. I saw them once. They are old growth trees that rise incredibly high…I can get my jutsu to take shape nearly as tall, but the roots have to be deep."
"That would be incredible to see…" she said quietly. She meant both the trees and his jutsu.
They arrived at the construction site, which was now devoid of other people. "How long are you working in this neighborhood?" she asked.
"All month. It's exhausting, but worthwhile, to see the village taking shape. Let me show you one of the units."
Yamato opened the front door and let her inside. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a delicious and comfortable warmth across the inside of the home. The units weren't wired for electricity yet, but Hana thought the layouts were rather clever. A large entryway with rooms on the periphery of the first floor allowed inhabitants some amount of freedom…because there were not yet hookups for appliances, the kitchen could be located anywhere. Two sets of stairs flanked the entryway, leading up to the second story. An inner balcony was set around, overlooking the first floor, and the outer periphery contained a number of spacious bedrooms.
"Are all of them the same layout?" she asked.
"Yes," he told her. "But the homes do allow for certain types of customization."
"They're beautiful," she told him. The homes might all be the same, but the level of detail in them astounded her. The support beams running across the ceiling were decorative, looking like they'd been expertly carved by an artisan. Trim, molding, all of it was placed perfectly, giving the home a finished feel, despite the fact that it was empty. The windows were large and let in lots of natural light, a good design feature especially for such an open concept space. She wasn't sure why Kakashi told her to oversee what was happening here…it seemed like Yamato had it under control. There wasn't much she could add, and she said as much to Yamato.
"I should never have gotten involved this morning," she told him miserably. "I'm sorry that I've wrapped myself into this…I'm not sure I'll be much help."
"Actually, I'd like your input on some of the residential units I'm thinking of building in the coming weeks. These are the smaller units, but we need larger homes for larger, extended families. I'd like to know your thoughts on whether I can achieve taller buildings with my jutsu."
Hana gave that some thought. "Do you know what type of wood this is?" she asked, running her hands across the smooth door frame.
"Not totally, only that it's different…stronger and sturdier than most types."
"We can do some tests," she said. "If I get a sense for how strong it is, I can run some numbers and put a design together. Something with your aesthetic, of course."
Yamato's eyes followed her as she inspected the home. She noticed small details that the construction crew hadn't even caught, running her hands over the curling design in the bannister, her eyes lingering on the carvings in the ceiling beams. It made him happy that she was as detail-oriented as he. Initially, he hadn't been keen on working with another architect, because he liked having his own design freedoms, but maybe Kakashi saw something in her that he hadn't. She was certainly an interesting one, this Ruike Hana, designer of cloud scratchers.
"Can I see one of your drafts?" he asked suddenly.
Hana frowned at this request, but when Yamato insisted, she pulled out the cloud scratcher that was rectangular in shape. She unfurled the paper, showing him the design once more. Yamato studied it carefully, and then pressed his hands together. He held out his palm, and before her eyes a few small sticks of wood protruded from his hand, growing up and twisting until they formed a miniature model of her building, about a foot high.
Yamato carefully handed her the model, taken in by the awe on Hana's face. "Your designs will be realized, one day," he said. "And Konoha will look spectacular, with your aesthetic."
As much as she tried to fight it, this man's kindness brought tears to Hana's eyes. She was impressed by the amount of detail that Yamato had rendered given he'd only taken a brief glance at her design. "Thank you," she said softly.
They stepped out of the unit together.
"I think you'll be a better partner to work with than Kakashi-senpai," Yamato told her. "He would never have given me his breakfast."
She laughed. "I take it, you liked the bread?"
"Walnuts are good for the heart, chakra-recovery, and they are tasty." He reached out his hand. "I must leave, but I'll have paperwork ready for you tomorrow morning. I look forward to working with you, Hana."
"Likewise," she said, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. She was glad that this was the truth.
They parted ways, and Hana went straight home, intending to start a couple of ideas for larger homes with Yamato's wood release in mind. She set the model Yamato made for her in a prominent spot on her bookshelf, staring at it and dreaming about building a city. He said my buildings would be spectacular. Her heart felt giddy at the prospect of seeing him every day for the next month. Romance didn't even cross her mind at that moment – she was purely excited that someone shared her passion for design – although she did have the distinct feeling that her budget for walnut bread was about to increase, at least in the short term.
