Whispers could be heard when Sanosuke walked into the bar of Kirigakure. They were in hush voices as he crossed the bar to get to the table. Echoes resonated with each footstep that went through the whole bar as his boots hit the floor rather loudly. Step, step, step. Everyone in the bar could hear him approach the bar when he walked. Every now and then Sanosuke could hear the faint snipets of conversation of each person that spoke. This was a bar that many shinobi went to, and all the shinobi here weren't just from Kiri. They were from all the hidden villages that would fight alongside Kiri. If they fought alongside the other shinobi then rumors of what Sanosuke did in the war should be the talk of many of the groups. Words like 'Mizuru' zombies, and scorpions could be heard as he went through each group's conversation. A mixture of looks were sent his way. Envy, respect, and some hints of anger. That was right. Rumors of the death of Mizukage Ayakashi had dealt a serious blow to Kiri's morale. Honestly that was the reason why Sanosuke wanted nothing more than to get to the bar where he could drink away his troubles. He was there when Mizuru and Io came to attack the Mizukage. Even though he was fighting alongside 3 of Kiri's Sannin, they still failed in protecting the Mizukage. If she wasn't injured, then it would have been possible for the leader of the shinobi village hidden in the mist. It was perfectly understandable that the Kiri shinobi hated him very much for his shortcomings.

Yes a drink that's what he needed the most. Ignoring the looks he was getting, Sanosuke walked towards the bartender's table to order a drink. As soon as he sat down, a young boy that looked to be a shinobi of low rank; most likely a genin came to meet him. The boy asked for a signature to sign his kunai pouch. Sanosuke sighed and did just that. To think he would be a celebrity. The boy was a shinobi from the village hidden in the leaves. Out of all the shinobi in the alliance, Sanosuke had to say that Konoha shinobi were the most friendly. Despite the fact that war hung over their heads, they could still show civilty towards others. Admirable indeed. Some other men came over and questioned him on how it was like to sleep with Mizuru, Sanosuke ignored them all and proceeded with ordering his drink. There was no surprise on what he would order, it was his favorite alcohollic beverage: sake. Whenever he drank it, he felt so much at ease. Time would stop just so that he would have the time to rest, free of all stress and worry. It was times like these that he wondered where his old drinking buddy Gin has been off to. Over the 5 years on his travel, Sanosuke met with the former Kazekage. She was a simple wanderer now and so they would take the time to talk to someone like him. They would meet at bars by pure chance or by appointment and have a drink to discuss life. Throughout the time, they've gotten rather close. But every time they would happen to meet, Sanosuke would order a bottle of sake for him and the former kage to drink; just for starters that is.

"Give me a bottle of sake please. Your best bottle of apple honey dew sake if you don't mind. I want to relax, get me?" Sanosuke asked the bartender. Navi was flying over his head and didn't say anything much to him. She wanted to drink as well to rest after a long day of work. After all Navi was Sanosuke's eyes and ears for things he couldn't keep an eye on. There were multiple times when Sanosuke would have been killed by a shinobi if Navi didn't alert him in time. So I guess a drink was in order. The bartender looked at Sanosuke with a raised eyebrow as though he was questioning his man hood. After all the drink did sound girly in a way. "It's for my partner. Trust me she needs it."

Gin supposed life could have been worse than it was right now. Hell, it had been multiple times over the course of her brief twenty eight years of existence. However brief it may have been to her, she was a rarity within the world of shinobi, dominated by the young. But that made her a survivor, someone to be feared, she guessed. The former Kazekage assumed that was the reason behind the fact that people looked at her with a mixture of fear and awe. As soon as she managed to make eye contact, though, they would hastily turn around in fear of angering the woman. Her prosthetic left arm creaked softly at the moment, though only when she moved it a certain way. She made a mental note to oil it later, thinking it might become an inconvenience in battle.

Battle… she was ashamed to say that she had avoided the battlefield itself lately, abstaining from getting involved in the whole Seven Bells ordeal that haunted Kirigakure with the smell of death and rotting flesh. She had only fought the missing nin woman that she encountered in the outskirts thus far – Ukiyo, a Senju that dominated the art of Wood Release. But now… she knew that she needed to be involved somehow. Morale and strength of will were decaying rapidly as the days went by. More and more people were being added to the number of dead and injured. An in only five days, this once peaceful village had been stricken by fear. The former Kazekage tried to convince herself that it wasn’t her problem.

The young woman was no longer involved with any village directly. She was only in it for the coin, she reminded herself. She was only there to make a profit. She should no longer give a damn about a group of people that she had never met, that she had no reason to defend. But the key word in that sentence was “should.” Gin knew that she couldn’t abstain from getting involved in some way, though it may very well cost her her life in the coming days. She needed a drink, desperately. She knew that she might very well head face first into her death in a few hours. She needed a few things sorted out just in case that happened. Not only that, but the alcohol was bound to relax her at least a bit.

It was fortunate, really, that she knew Sanosuke was in the village, aiding the cause from the very beginning. They had made an appointment to meet up in a few minutes. With her usual attire – face covered in bandages and a one piece suit clinging tightly to her skin – she entered the bar where they had been set to meet. People’s faces momentarily turned to her. Men’s eyes followed the curves of her body until they looked at her face. A single cold eye stared from the bandages, warding off attention from the unwanted perverts that would hit on her without hesitation otherwise. The men turned their heads hastily while women gossiped and murmured under their breaths. Gin ignored them, standing tall as always and sitting on the stool next to Sanosuke. “You better have gotten me something good,” she mused and sighed loudly, grabbing the drink and taking one quick sip out of it. It was sweet and tangy and tasted nice. However it was nowhere near as strong as she wanted it to be. Never mind, it would have to do for now. “So, rumor has it you got laid last night, with the enemy, no less,” she said directly and without beating around the bush. Being rash and direct was in her nature.

In life there was rather few that Sanosuke believed to be forbidden to him. One of those things was people drinking his sake that he had for himself and the people that he would share the bottle for. So for someone to drink his sake that he worked to damn hard for to get, was unforgivable. After all who would just drink out of a bottle of alcohol that didn't belong to them in the first place. It was a relaxing and unwinding day at the pub Sanosuke was in when he finally for the bottle of apple honey dew sake that his partner craved. Sanosuke had to get her partner something to encourage her good behavior of watching his back; it was just his way of saying thank you to the wasp. Not many people did hear Sanosuke show appreciation but when he does, its to someone whom he is rather close to; never a stranger. When the bottle came, Sanosuke could see that Navi was eye the bottle with thirst. If the wasp had a tongue, there wouldn't be a doubt in Sanosuke's mind that she would be licking her lips in thirst to be craving just a drop of the alcohol. Getting out a saucer, Sanosuke filled it up half way for his partner to drink from. When it was poured, Sanosuke put the saucer down for Navi to enjoy. In just seconds the ball of light engulfed the entire saucer's contents in several tiny gulps. Her thirst was quenched and was resting on the table as a way to cope with the world spinning around her. She was drunk once more after such a small amount of alcohol.

Since Sanosuke had bought the bottle of sake, it was only fair that the jounin partake in the contents of it. Even though it would be civil for him to use a saucer, Sanosuke didn't want to. He bought it, so how Sanosuke drank from it was up to him and him alone. Reaching out for the bottle of sake to drink it straight from the head, Sanosuke watched in horror as someone grabbed the bottle and began to drink from it. This dumbass was drinking from his bottle of sake that he worked hard to get for his cranky ass partner, and now this fucker was drinking from it. Anger bubbled in his stomach as Sanosuke clenched his fist tightly. The stranger was disguised and had the body of a very curvy woman with a huge bust. It didn't matter if she was a woman or not. Whoever it was, they drank from Sanosuke's bottle of sake so he was justified in punching their lights out.

“You better have gotten me something good.” the stranger said. The voice was very familiar to the jounin so he knew just whom this bandaged woman with the crazy body was. Gin Kuroka, former kage of the village hidden in the sands. But right now she was his old drinking buddy that he invited to come here. Letting out a sigh, Sanosuke knew that he couldn't be pissed at Gin since he did invite here. It's just that he thought that he would have more time to relax before getting some heavy drinking done.

After she had her fill, Sanosuke watched her put down the bottle of sake on the counter before sitting down in the seat next to him. Beads of water came down the bottle as the condensation of the sake bottle just made the alcoholic beverage look more tantalizing to him, Taking the bottle in his hands, Sanosuke finished the rest of the contents in the bottle so it was empty. "You sure you'll be okay with drinking this much, old hag? You might get a heart attack." Sanosuke teased before he turned his attention back towards the bartender. "Get me a bottle of your finest scotch will you?" Sanosuked asked. The man looked at Sanosuke with more satisfaction and respect at his choice in alcohol this time around. "We have a 35 year old bottle that hasn't been opened." the bartender noted to the jounin. Nodding to the man, Sanosuke gave the order so he would come back with a fine bottle of scotch with 2 glasses both for him and Gin to drink out of.

“So, rumor has it you got laid last night, with the enemy, no less,” she said directly and without beating around the bush.

"Yeah I had the terribly boring job of having to keep a certain sadistic bitch occupied for a night." Sanosuke said sarcastically as he drank from his glass of scotch while rubbing the spot where the woman stabbed him in after their night of fun. Ironically enough, the hand that he was using to rub the scar was the same hand that held the golden ring that she gave him the same time Mizuru gave Sanosuke the battle scar on his side.

Gin let out an odd mix between a chuckle and a scoff. "Bitch, I was drinking since before your mother brought you into this world," she said, taking another sip of the whiskey that the bartender had just brought onto the table. It burned her throat as it went down. She was used to this feeling already, so much so that she found it pleasant now. She would begin feeling the buzz soon enough, seeing as she had already ingested half of the bottle of whiskey without even noticing. Woops. She motioned for the bartender to bring another one for Sanosuke. "Oh boo hoo, you got to get laid with a crazy woman that probably wound up stabbing you after the deed was done," she said. The former Kazekage was feeling a little... spiteful. She had yet to do anything about the impending threat that was Seven Bells. Why? She wasn't sure yet, but it still pissed her off. She was meant to be a part of the legendary Seven Swordsmen for crying out loud.

The former Kazekage let out a loud sigh, followed by some grumbling. Maybe that was why she was here in the bar, getting drunk, or at least working on that at the moment. Again, without even noticing, she had already finished the other half of the whiskey bottle. A little be more and she would be able to call her self drunk. It was only a matter of time now. She wasn't sure at what point Sanosuke was, seeing as she had arrived a little later than he had, but he looked pretty sober at the moment. People were still staring at the two, particularly at Gin, or rather, Shinobu, if they knew her by that name and that was if they knew her at all. She had to lift her bandages slightly so that the bottle could actually get to her lips. She was careful though, enough so that not an inch of the skin on her face would actually show. Her secret was safe with Sanosuke and Ayakashi. Needless to say, she liked it that way. It kept her four kids safe. Them and the devil that she called her mother... Hana. It was a name that was the complete opposite of the older woman's nature. She wasn't a delicate flower, she was a goddamn devil, a demon that could pray on the souls of the weak.

Why the woman had remained as a slave so long was beyond her. Gin remembered having asked Hana that once. She said something about having to protect the other slaves, seeing as she was adept at medical ninjutsu. It made sense that, despite the fact that the Nara could travel stealthily through the shadows, she stayed to keep other people alive. Now if only she were able to extend such a kindness to her own daughter, that would be great. "You know what, asshole?" She asked, calling Sanosuke by one of the many lovely nicknames that she usually applied to the younger man. "I should go back to Suna sometime and just kick my mother's ass... You know what, she never even told me who the fuck my dad is. And she kept the fact that I'm a Kuroka hidden for ten years so that I wouldn't become a shinobi - that obviously didn't blow up in her face." Well, she was whining now. Two bottles of whiskey down - when had she consumed the second one? - and she was now officially mildly drunk.

Her whining sounded particularly... whiny. Hardly a single word of what she said could be taken seriously. But so what? She deserved some time off from her job as a glorified security guard for the Blue Rose.