Dameon felt weak an unusual feeling for him as he entered the city of Kumo for the first time in a long time. His clothes tattered and torn and barely holding together. While in captivity both of his legs had been broken completely to prevent his escape and he had to wait for them to heal before he could do anything. Now he had to gather himself again. The drugs were still in his system having only escaped a few hours ago and he was pretty sure he still had multiple fractures. Some cuts had yet to heal as well. Dameon sluggishly made his way to a shopping center and upon inspection realized that he looked almost completely different from before his capture. The mirror he looked at showed a man well into his twenties when he himself wasn’t even twenty yet. He realized this could be both a good and a bad thing as he needed to find new clothes and get himself to look not as rugged as his face was covered in facial hair he usually had kept under control and his hair was much longer than it normally was. When he escaped he had managed to get some of his items back. Most of his cash had been spent but he still had his sword and a few kunai. He kept them all hidden for now as he snuck his way into an alleyway and found himself a chunk of broken glass and took out his kunai to properly trim his facial hair and hair. Once he was as smooth as he could get and a few inches shorter in his hair length he his kunai again.

He would proceed slowly to the markets and used what cash he had left to purchase all new clothes that fit both his style and needs to try and blend in. He felt comfortable in all black as night was approaching and it would help conceal him. He coughed into his hand as he finished changing in the store and noticed blood on his hand. This wasn’t a good sign as he had been running on nothing but pure adrenaline and will power since his escape. His body felt like he would collapse at any moment. He needed to get in contact with someone that he knew but even as he tried to think his vision began to get blurry. His body had been deprived of so much all the exertion was tearing him apart after a year of starvation and torture. He continued to sluggishly walk as he headed in the direction of where he hoped he could find someone he knew like Gin or Sanosuke. His body though seemed not as up to the task as he coughed yet again feeling short of breath and passing out on the side of the road. Where he was hopefully less likely to be noticed so as to not draw attention to himself. He opened his eyes slowly and cursed himself for being so weak as he tried to will himself to move but found himself unable to do so.

[520]

Lin was walking back from the sky-bar, after drinking a bit and looked around. It was a habit of hers, and with her unusual perception for her rank, and for her training, she usually had a hard time missing things in a crowd. Her eyes scanned the evening hustle of people, as was her want to do. She was wearing her tell-tale scarf that hid most of her scar, along with a skirt and her ninja top. It was the thing that she wore most often, even in public because it was the most comfortable thing to wear for her.

She picked out a man that was dressed in all black, which was not a sort of thing that really stood out, so much as his clinging to the wall. Perhaps he was a drunk, or perhaps he was just tired from the day, but something pulled Lin towards the man.

It could have been that he was semi-attractive, or it could have been a knee-jerk response to help someone in need that pulled her to him. She pushed through the crowd, no one really paying him much mind, since he was outside of the bar. Perhaps they thought the same thing that she did, that he was just a bit too inebriated and would eventually stumble his way home.

He seemed to be unable to hold himself up, or move. It was strange, because she usually didn't pay attention to drunks. Though, the way that the conducted himself, as she approached, was far from drunk. Perhaps he was just over-exhausted and she could help him home to rest. She couldn't smell any alcohol on his person, nor could she see any sign that he was hurt, as there was no blood on his clothes nor in plain sight.

"Excuse me, sir." She bowed her head respectfully and smiled at him, "My name is Katonrai, Lin. I was wondering if you needed any assistance, as it seems that the only thing that is keeping you from collapsing is this wall." She gave him another once over to see why he was in such poor shape. Perhaps she should take him to Gin? Gin was being held by the Raikage though, and she was not sure how to sneak a man in to see him. Perhaps the hospital?

WC: 400

Dameon propped himself up against the wall the best he could with what little strength he could muster as he noticed someone approaching he kept his head down as he tried to return his breathing to normal but found it hard to get a sufficient amount of air. He coughed again and more drops of blood spilled onto his hand, if he had to guess it was likely a collapsed lung or something similar, but he wasn’t a doctor. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been in this rough of a condition. Most likely it was when he almost died during his fight with Seven Bells in the war but this was different. It almost felt like his life was draining out of him. None the less he expected to be more wounded and healing slowly than dying slowly something was clearly wrong with his chest that hadn’t been in the last twenty four hours. He tried to think back and recalled his escape and Siyho’s hand being on his chest. He wondered if she could have used a medical jutsu as he was escaping. He knew for a fact he didn’t knock her unconscious when he had set her on fire it was possible she could have had time to puncture a hole or mess with something just before she had been lit on fire and knocked to the ground. He looked up at the girl and instantly realized she was a ninja of the village. He had dried blood around the corners of his lips as he tried to speak.

“Need…medic…lung,” Dameon tried to say as he pointed to his chest where the problematic lung was as he scanned around him and noticed more people looking his way.

“Take me…to Gin…,” Dameon also said pretty much relying on his stranger for help. When she had no reason to do so but he hoped that with her being a ninja she would be more likely to assist than some random civilian on the street. His eyes felt heavy as he struggled to keep them open, he knew he wasn’t far from where he had hoped Gin would be but he also had no idea if Gin was even in the country but while he had been out shopping he had overheard some rumors. It was also entirely plausible that she was out drinking. He tried to stand up but couldn’t do so as he just slid back down the while. He sighed softly as he sat there and coughed yet again into his hand not knowing what else to do as he lowered his head to avoid eye contact with any of the onlookers.


[447]
[967 total]

Lin sighed and looked around at the onlookers, of which there were two and beginning to be a growing number. She didn't want to cause more of a commotion here, especially since he was asking for Gin.

"I'll try to take you to Gin. But... can we get you some help first?" she swung an arm under his armpit and tried to shoulder his weight. It was easier than she thought to pick him up, she still didn't get a name from him. She hadn't a clue who he was or where he came from, but it seemed as though he had a punctured lung. It was far beyond her ability to heal him.

"I am a medical ninja, but I don't have the expertise to heal you, and Gin is half-way across the city at the Raikage's estate." Lin said, wondering if he would allow her to take him to the hospital. Not many people would ask a member of the seven swordsmen for help. And even fewer would ask them for help when they were captured.

Thoughts swam through her head before she finally said, "I can make up an alias for you, we could do it really quickly, and check you in under it. I'll vouch for you if you need, but you really need someone who knows what they're doing or you will probably die." she didn't mean to sound dramatic, but the blood that was on his palm meant that there was severe internal bleeding. Perhaps there was more damage that she couldn't see as well, and medical ninjas would be able to find it and fix it. A luxury that she didn't have in the streets.

WC: 703

“You will do just fine just take me to Gin,” Dameon said catching his breath a bit as he helped her so that she wasn’t carrying all of his weight. He was starting to get back some of his strength although still felt weak. His willpower alone would make sure that they got to where they needed to go. It was out of the corner of his eye that he noticed a liquor store and with her help he managed to walk inside and buy a large bottle of vodka before leaving. He knew the girl that was helping him might not understand. “It’s simple,” Dameon said as he coughed again into his hand. “Gin is more likely to finish the job if I don’t bring some sort of alcohol and if she really is under house arrest like the rumors I hear than she is likely out of alcohol by now,” Dameon said trying not to chuckle. Although now that he thought about it the last time he had seen Gin he had been thrown into a slot machine and before that Gin had managed to swap their genders. He could only imagine what the hell would happen this time. Dameon continued to help her as they carried on across the town sure Dameon wasn’t actually feeling any better but he could at least try and suck it up more in front of a cute shinobi.

“We are almost there. I have an idea on how to get past the guards. I am just going to simply tell them that the Raikage sent me to gift his beloved with a bottle of alcohol,” Dameon said knowing that he didn’t have a lot of chakra and under normal circumstances could easily sneak in just by running past them, but this was far from normal. He sighed as they approached and Dameon separated himself from Lin as to not look suspicious and injured and simply walked past the guards explaining that he was there on behalf of Sanosuke and when questioned he simply challenged them about Sanosuke’s authority and they could explain why the gift wasn’t delivered. They stood down not seeing Dameon as any threat and was under “supervision” from a shinobi. Dameon made his way with Lin to the door and knocked still barely able to stand.

[388]
[1355]

A flip of yet another page and Gin would be almost done with her third book in two days. Really, she was running out of things to do and books to read. She would have to start either scheduling more training sessions with Lin or sneaking out more often. Maybe she could finally start to write that saga of erotic novels she had always been meaning to pen. There likely wouldn't be a better time than right now to get on that. Sighing and tucking the book away, she left the room to go find the dusty old typewriter she could've sworn she saw somewhere in the house. She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. For the umpteenth time, she hoped that this crisis would blow over soon. She was about to head up a flight of stairs when she was stopped by one of the guards assigned to patrol the house.

"Ma'am, someone's at the door. We believe it's your... student," he said, his body poised in a salute. Gin could tell that he was still wary of her. All of the people currently in the Raikage's Estate treated her like she was a powder keg that could blow up any second now.

"So? Let her in," Gin said simply. She didn't see what the problem was. The last few times Lin had come, they hadn't bothered to tell her. They had made it clear that they didn't trust Gin around the girl and were almost sure that the silver haired woman was training her to be some sort of sleeper agent within their ranks. Honestly, the idea was laughable. Lin could barely throw a needle straight, much less serve as a secret assassin.

The guard hesitated for a moment. "She's with... someone else. A man. We don't know who he is. We would ask Lord Raikage but he already has enough to deal with," he explained.

Now his tension made more sense. He was told to defer to her in cases such as this. Sanosuke trusted her, but he saw that as a mistake. Gin sighed again and headed towards the front door. "I'll take care of it," she said, dismissing the guard.

Gin found a small green cat at the door, standing on two legs as he usually did. "Kero can't reach the doorknob," he said, pointing at the door while there was incessant knocking on the other side. Gin scooped him up in one arm and opened the door.

True enough, Lin was standing there with a man that seemed like he was barely able to stand. His dark hair and sharp features seemed familiar. His clear eyes held something in them that she had seen before, many times. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, though. "What is this?" She asked, confused as her brain slowly pieced the clues together. No, it couldn't possibly be... could it? She saw the bottle of vodka that the man carried with him - no doubt a gift for her. That sealed it. "Dameon... What the hell happened to you?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Lin, get him inside. Help him to the second floor, there's a med-bay there you can work with for now," she instructed, immediately regaining her composure. If she wanted Dameon to tell her where he had been and who did this to him, she needed him alive and conscious. Of course, she would take the bottle of vodka from him and take one clean swing from it before guiding them up to the room.

[WC: 648]

Lin carried the man up the stairs and grumbled all the way about the guard didn't help her, even though he could have. She sighed and lugged him up the last stair and practically threw him on the bed.

"It looks like his lung is punctured, he can't stand well, and I think he's bruised all over. I can take care of the bruises, but I don't know if I will be able to take care of anything else. The lung I know I can't help." She said to Gin, looking at her with worry in her eyes.

"To be honest, I can't tell how he survived this long." She said incredulously. The wounds that he sustained would have killed her, probably twice over, especially with the lung. He seemed to want to tough it out until he met up with Gin, however, and she was not about to steal his bravado.

Lin bit her bottom lip as her hands fidgeted with worry. "What can I do to help?" She asked Gin, seemingly unable to keep her mouth shut for more than a couple of milliseconds.

WC: 904

Dameon smiled at seeing a friendly face for the first time in a long time. He was surprised that she had even recognized him after his appearance had changed so much causing him to age ahead of time in appearance. Even though their last few encounters had been interesting to say the least he was still glad to see someone he could trust. Although it was only a matter of time before the Shikyo Four would once again come to try and claim him and it would likely be sooner than later to try and get him while he was weak. Dameon also realized just how much out of the loop Gin was with what had been going on. Even Sanosuke knew more than she did and she was a fellow swordsman. ”Gin make sure you save some of that for me. I have a lot to catch you up on. You may want to send word to Sanosuke as well, Kumo might be attacked by the people who held me captive just like they did in Kiri,” Dameon said weakly as he tried to help Lin using as much strength as he could to go up the stairs and relying on her for what energy he lacked.

”Didn’t want to go to the hospital as I didn’t know the situation between Kiri and Kumo. You know the rules as much as me when it comes to covert ops,” Dameon added as he coughed yet again and winced in pain as he removed his jacket and shirt. His chest littered with fresh wounds and scars as well as bruises and obvious puncture wounds from the machine that had been draining his chakra and life force. He laid himself down on the bed. Torture he could handle as he had been trained to deal with it for the better part of his career as a shinobi and captain of the ANBU for his village. What he couldn’t handle was thinking about all the lives he had failed to save in the process. His entire village killed because he escaped to protect his students and refusing arrest to the Daimyo for political reasons. Everything was so pointless and convoluted Kumo seemed more of a safe haven than his own country despite everything that had been happening recently. Now he found himself in the cross hairs of not only the Shikyo Four but also his countries Daimyo despite Ayakashi’s will to keep him around. It was his job to protect her in every way.

”Care to pour me a glass Gin?”

[428]
[1783 total]

Gin headed up the stairs, guiding the other two to the small med-bay in the Raikage's Estate. It was nothing impressive, with a set of medical beds on the opposite wall of an operation table. It was fully equipped with whatever a medical shinobi could want or need for a variety of situations. "So someone wants to attack Kumo, tell me something new," Gin mumbled as she opened the door to the room. "They can line up behind the hordes of Kiri-nin piled up at the gates," she added. With her free hand, she rubbed her temples. Things just seemed to be getting worse every second. She would eventually have to bring this up to Sanosuke. She was not looking forward to it. At this point, the Raikage might just feed Dameon to the metaphorical wolves just to get rid of one more problem. Well, she would cross that bridge when they got her. For now, first thing was first.

Gin listened to Lin's diagnosis and nodded. "You were right not to go there," she said to Dameon. The risk was too high. Even with his appearance changed as it was, there were still ways of figuring out who he was. Gin sighed and looked at Lin. The girl seemed nervous and unsure of herself. She had reason to be. She might know medical ninjutsu, to an extent, but she was far from a doctor. This was likely the first time she had a formal patient - if it could be called that. "Do you know who this man is?" She asked the girl. It was a rhetorical question. The answer was most likely no. "This piece of shit right here," she started and pressed her hand to one of Dameon's fresh wounds. Her strength was nothing to laugh at and his endurance wasn't particularly great. Maybe she would accidentally crack a rib. "Is Kirigakure's ANBU Captain and a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. You see how this is a problem, right?"

It was obvious why he couldn't go to the hospital or why they couldn't fetch a proper doctor to help him. "I wouldn't trust a Kumo doctor to get within fifty meters, let alone fix him up," she said.

"Gin doesn't trust any doctor anyways," Kero stated. He had climbed up to her shoulder and was now nuzzling her.

"Not the point, dear," she continued. The cat was right, though. Gin had never trusted medics and had always been wary of hospitals. They made her anxious. She blamed it on her natural instinct as a Kuroka. They tended to dislike the non-combative arts - namely Genjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu. "Point is, you're all he's got," she said, taking a swing of the bottle of vodka in her hand. "So you can either give up without trying and wait for that to fix itself, or you can give it a serious shot," she finished. Gin knew that she was putting a lot of pressure on the girl, but really, she had no choice.

"I'll pour a glass straight into your collapsed lung, that's what I'll do," she mumbled at Dameon. She was half tempted to actually pour some vodka on him. It would surely sting enough to keep him awake.

[WC: 1207]

She looked the man up and down. Though he had aged she wouldn't put it past him to be only a little older than her. He was the ANBU of the hidden mist village? He couldn't be Was the only thought she had at being told that. However, he had answered to Dameon and was talking about some sort of ninja group that would come in and destroy Kumogakure, so she had to believe that he was some sort of high ranking ninja. He might as well be a captain of the ANBU for all she cared. Right now she had bigger things to worry about, such as... if she didn't get the fluid out of his lung then he would surely die.

She sighed and looked around the room, finding a syringe and some gloves she said, "Alright, if you're going to die, you are going to die by my hand. Not from this lung of yours. You're bleeding internally and usually it takes two people to get the fluid out, so it's going to take a longer time for me to re-inflate it and get the fluid out than normal." She warned, looking to Gin and then back to Dameon.

Snapping on the gloves she looked at his other wounds, which seemed to be superficial and she would take care of with her healing jutsu, at the moment, however, she was more worried about his physical state because of his lung.

"This is going to be painful, but lie down." She ordered, pushing him gently with her left hand while her right held the syringe, a three-inch needle attached to the end. The first thing was to see if there was any fluid in the pleurae and after, make sure that there wasn't any fluid that was pressing on the heart. If he was bleeding internally it would be blood, and if it was because of a bludgeoning hit, then there would be lymph.

"First I am going to see if it's blood or Lymph that is making your lung collapsed. The fact that you can't take a full breath indicates a collapsed lung, and the blood is probably superficial and will go away when I pull whatever it is out. It could be blood that is seeping in through the pleural wall to the lung, but I can't be sure until I am in there. This is probably going to be very painful so brace yourself."

She took the needle and stabbed it into him with one quick thrust, not knowing the jutsu for anasthesia was a bad thing, and would be the next jutsu she would learn. Cursing herself when he winced she pulled on the plunger and found blood. It would be harder to do it now that she knew what the problem was. She slowly drained the blood from the wound, getting 20 ML of blood out before she couldn't get any more. Afterwards she placed her palms on his wound and tried to heal it. If everything was alright, he should start to feel the pain subside and the lung would reinflate on its own within a couple of minutes.

If not, then she would have to take the same syringe and poke a hole in his chest further to inflate it by force. Now that the blood that was pressing on his lung was gone, and wasn't bleeding into his lung anymore, it should be an easy task to have him take a couple of deep breaths and try to feel for a "pop" in his chest.

"Right, that should just about do it." She said as her hands glowed in a strange teal light, "Keep lying there until you feel a pop in your lungs and breathe deeply. If your lung doesn't reinflate then I'm going to have to stick the syringe back into you, so you better breathe deeply." It wasn't a threat, it was a promise. With medicine one couldn't be too careful. As for the rest of him, it would probably take the better part of thirty minutes for her to restore all of his wounds, and even then, she didn't know if she had enough chakra to do it.

Lin focused on the largest wounds first, closing them up so that they couldn't get infected and then moved onto the smaller wounds for the next couple of minutes, seeing how Dameon would respond to the treatment and talking only sparingly during the process. After all. There wasn't much that she could say to make the situation any better. At least she knew enough about Pleural bleeding to be able to do what she did for Dameon. Now it was up to him to reinflate his own lung or she would have to reinflate it for him.

WC: 1741

Dameon laid there looking at the two of them as he grabbed the bottle from Gin and took a swig of his own only to nearly choke on it when Gin had the bright idea of trying to break on of his ribs. He could have sworn he had heard a crack as well. This was an improvement from the last time she had done something like this and he had ending up spitting water in her face. ”You really enjoy hurting me whenever you can don’t you? Keep it up and I will sell the club and cut you out of the profit,” Dameon said joking himself and ignoring he part where she had called him a piece of shit as he knew it came from a place of love despite it being a usual insult. ”I am tougher than I look Link despite what this old woman tries to tell you,” He said taking a shot back at her before he finally considered what she had said before. ”Wait Kiri is mounting an offensive on Kumo? What for?” Dameon asked as he turned his attention back to Lin and nodded along with everything she had to say. He wound wince slightly at the needle puncturing him but overall the pain from it was being overridden by all the pain he felt elsewhere on his body.

Dameon would do as he was told and breathe in heavily and he could feel some sort of pop in his body. ”I think that did it Lin. Thank you. I know that I am naturally harder to heal based off of experience. Just do what you can and if you want to I can help you suture some of these cuts closed and Gin can have her fun pouring alcohol on cuts to keep them from getting infected. Lord knows it wouldn’t be the first time she took pleasure in my pain,”He added before he looked back at Gin. ”Remember how rough of shape I was in after the fight with Seven Bells? This is nothing compared to that…then again I was in a coma for most of the healing process I suppose,” Dameon said before correcting himself. ”Could you send the guard out for food? I haven’t eaten anything but a single bowl of rice a week for a year now and I could use anything. Just none of your magic chocolate,” he teased.

[403]
[2186]

"Do that and next thing that happens is I rip your balls off and shove them down your throat. Same applies if you call me old again. I don't look a day over 25," she mumbled, taking the bottle back from Dameon and drinking from it for five seconds straight. She sighed and wiped her mouth after she was done. Now Gin would make sure that she didn't let Dameon take the bottle back again. She hadn't had a chance to come back with decent booze after her brief outings. She was going to make damn sure that the rest of the bottle was reserved only for her. Maybe she would give some to the cat for shits and giggles... Nah, that would be mean. The poor thing trusted her blindly.

While Lin started to work on his lung, Gin smiled. Concentrated as she now was, it was unlikely that the girl would notice the hints of pride in her expression. She was learning to trust in herself and her instincts. That was one of the most valuable lessons Gin could teach her. "Yeah, tensions have been high for weeks. What the hell kind of rock have you been hiding under?" She began. Once he was feeling better, he would have to explain exactly what it was that had happened. In the meantime, she supposed that explaining the current situation between Kiri and Kumo would at least distract him a little from his pain.

"I seems that one of Sanosuke's students fled to Kiri. Ayakashi - gods bless her psychopathic soul - decided to kill the girl for defecting. Instead of appeasing Sanosuke, things just got worse. He arrested every Kiri nin in Kumo and we've been like this ever since," she explained. Her distaste for the situation was obvious. Every time she thought about it, she needed a drink. Fortunately, she had one in hand this time. She smirked at Lin once she was done repairing Dameon's lung. "See? Told you you'd be fine," she said simply. Sure, even Gin could tell that her skill was a bit rough around the edges, but it was situations like these that would make her grow. Pressure turns coal to diamonds and all that.

"Don't let him help. He's not as bad as I am, but he'll end up poking an eye out with a needle if he tries to suture himself." She reconsidered for a moment while she drank some more. "On the other hand, that'd be fun to watch. Let him do it," she added. With friends like these, right? She was reminded of the time she shot him through a line of pachinko machines. Good times.

At the mention of food, Gin shook her head. "I don't trust those assholes with my food. I won't trust them with yours," she stated simply. The guards hadn't done anything to sabotage her outright. They knew the Raikage cared for her and therefore wouldn't dare do something out in the open. Still, there were those who probably saw her as a threat - someone that could turn on them at any moment and cause untold devastation. They weren't wrong. It was definitely in her power to do so. However, for the sake of both villages, she would stay put and lie low as much as she could. In the meantime, she wouldn't let anyone from Kumo near her food or drink.

"Kero, dear, mind going to the kitchen and getting that food I made for lunch?" She asked the small cat. He nodded and hopped off of her shoulder, heading towards the kitchen. "That cat is a sweetheart. I sometimes think he's too good for his own sake," she said once the feline had left the room. She slumped back into a chair. This was bound to be a long day.

[WC: 1861]

Lin raised her eyebrows at Dameon calling Gin old, and when he received the response that she had been expecting she couldn't help but smirk a bit. It might help to teach him not to comment on a woman's age. Watching her sensei drink for a good five seconds, she wondered whether she was going to breach from her dip into the alcohol ocean. Lin was pleasantly surprised to find that her sensei could hold her liquor pretty well.

Lin nodded at the "tensions have been high" part of the conversation, keeping her composure until the part where Gin said that Sanosuke's apprentice had been killed for defecting. Her mouth went dry and she almost lost control of the healing jutsu. "Most of these I'll only be able to heal the surface, and they'll act like sutures. If you move around too much in the next couple of days they'll open up the same as if you had stitches and moved around. Though, it'll probably hurt more because it'll be your skin ripping rather than the stitches popping open. I would recommend you lay down instead of trying to help me for now." She shook her head as he mentioned the food situation. She would rather take care of the wounds as soon as she could, but if he insisted on eating she couldn't do much about it.

Looking at Gin, Lin asked, "Is there any way that I could get some food too?" She opened her owl purse and looked inside, frowning, "I think I can pay you for it." She then concentrated again and held her hands over Dameon's wounds, giving him a motherly look that said stay put or i'll make you. It was probably an idle threat, but she didn't want him moving around while she was trying to concentrate on sewing his wounds shut with his own cells using medical ninjutsu.

"Who're the seven bells?" She asked Dameon, trying to keep his attention on anything but the procedure with the medical ninjutsu. It would definitely take a long time, but she knew that she would at least help a bit with the pain, and would leave less scarring than if she were to take needle and wire to it. She had plenty of time to see all of his wounds, which were plentiful. What had he gotten himself into? She had no clue, but apparently he had worse and lived through it. Perhaps he wouldn't die from her (mal)practice after all.

WC: 2186

”You’re right definitely more than a day,” Dameon teased again as he chuckled only to find himself wince in pain because of it. I suppose that was a little bit of karma for his joking at her expense even despite the fact that she had started the exchange. He watched Gin take a long swig from the bottle and he could almost instantly tell just how stressed that she was, well that or alcohol deprived. ”To be fair that rock was more like a cave and I was strapped to an experimentation table and a machine that was used to keep me docile by draining my chakra, life energy, while also giving me medication that made everything slow down. Oh and on top of it all they broke both of my legs to keep me from escaping for the first few months that I was there. All the while torturing me with poisons, animal venom, knives, hooks, needles, and various jutsu. On top of it all that rock used to be my home village which is known to be pacifist in nature, which by the way they decimated by slaughtering everyone including my family that I hadn’t seen in nearly fifteen years,” Dameon said his temper flaring a bit before he calmed himself down. He felt overwhelmingly sad about the last part but he couldn’t let himself feel such weakening emotions, instead he turned it into a much more productive feeling…anger. ”I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up on you,” He said softly before he turned his head to face the other direction if only for a moment.

Dameon listened to Gin explain the situation to him but a lot of it didn’t make sense. At least not from this countries point of view and intelligence. There was no way that Ayakashi would kill a possible asset to the village. Worst case scenario the defector would be questioned by ANBU like himself and intel would be extracted for later use. Ayakashi was a lot of things but he knew her better than anyone in the world most likely since he was her right hand man, even more so than Gin. He thought to himself for a moment before he turned to Lin. ”You don’t need to pay. I have a few hundred dollars in my wallet if either of you needs it. I was running low on money to lay low since I wasn’t sure if Gin would be here. So I pick pocketed enough to cover for a possible medical doctor to look the other way to help my wounds,” Dameon explained as he looked at Lin as she asked her next question and he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. ”Seven Bells was a man formerly of Kiri that decided to wage war on Kiri. He had a lot of followers and was a general threat to any country with thousands of soldiers at his disposal and very skilled ninja. This war went on for a while. I was actually a genin when it all started. As a genin I had killed a few hundred enemy troops and quickly got promoted as someone who was seen as a potential asset. As our higher ranks died in combat lower ranks had to step up to fill the gaps. I got sent on suicide mission one after the other, missions that were designed for three man ANBU teams. Long story short I survived them and had a high enough success rates the Mizukage took notice and gave me a test to be a Seven Swordsman. I passed and in the process also became the ANBU Captain of the village. However when the Swordsmen were asked to assassinate Seven Bells only half of our men showed up and he kicked our asses. I got knocked clean through a tree and was put into a coma that I almost didn’t wake from. All the while Gin here was running around screwing Sano and enjoying the attention,” Dameon said explaining a huge chunk of his career as a shinobi and in the end giving a small jab at Gin.

[687]
[2873 total]

Gin listened to Dameon's quick shift of mood. Ah. So that's what had happened. Gin didn't need to know the details to conclude that he had been scarred in more ways than one. His physical wounds would recover rather quickly, but his mental state... it would need time and a great deal of work. Gin knew better than anyone. She had been catatonic for months after having lost the man she was in love with since she was a child as well as the baby they would have had together. It was a difficult memory to face, even after all of these years.

Still, even though she had extensive experience with loss and pain, she had never been good with words. More often than not, she was much too blunt and came off as harsh or uncaring. It was the only way she had to try to bring someone back into reality, to anchor them to anything other than self-pity and misery. If they became angry at her, they would momentarily divert their emotions to something else. They would have a brief moment to think and reconsider - to sort themselves out. At least, that was how she saw it. Maybe her methods didn't work at all.

For now, she looked at Dameon, her eyes narrowing at him. Her expression was a mix between stern and sympathetic. "Loss isn't something exclusive to you. I've lost my fair share and I've been tortured and abused more than I'd like to admit. What matters isn't the pain it causes you know but what you do with it and what you turn it into," she began. "Now I won't sugar coat it. It'll hurt and you'll want to die a dozen times over. But you can choose whether you want to sit on your ass and cry or get back up again and do something about it," she stated. When she was done, she took a long swing of her bottle of vodka. She cold tell there wasn't much left even without looking at it. Damn. Good things never lasted.

Gin was grateful for Lin's presence and her sudden change in topics. She lifted an eyebrow at her offer to pay for food. Why would Gin ever charge her? She had more than enough money, even though it might all be Sanosuke's. Still, the notion of charging her student for anything other than drinks was silly. "Pay for it?" Gin repeated. "I'll punch you through a wall if you ever say something that stupid again," she answered. The booze was starting to hit her. She could tell by the burning butterflies in her stomach and the lightness of her limbs. At least she wasn't slurring yet. "And I don't want you goddamn blood money, Dameon. Pick-pocketing is beneath me," she said, going back to their usual jabs at each other. Was it really beneath her? Not really. Under the right circumstances, she would do just about anything. There were very few hard lines that she drew in terms of her moral compass.

It was kind of cute and hilarious at the same time that Lin didn't know who Seven Bells was. Most in the shinobi world had heard enough to at least know that it was one person. Gin chuckled and listened to Dameon's version of the events. While it was true that she hadn't helped much with the war effort, she had done her fair share sabotaging supply lines and keeping their own trade routes safe. Sure, it had been largely a support role, but she hadn't been sitting on her ass the whole time. Still, it was just like Dameon to accuse her of it. "I bet I was having way more fun than you were," she said and shook her head, turning to Lin. "Next you'll ask who the Shichiouza were. Though I bet not even Dameon knows that one. He was still in diapers when they came around."

[WC: 2544]

Lin nodded when Dameon acknowledged that it would take more than a day for his wounds to heal. She had done her best to heal him, but it was certainly not the work of the medical ninja of the village. They were rumored to be able to reattach limbs. Something that Lin was not able to do...Yet. Have to have confidence in myself. She set her jaw and continued to work on Dameon's wounds. Most of them closing up, though she could feel through the jutsu that there were still some parts that would have to heal the old fashioned way. if he didn't let them, he would have some nasty bruises, with only himself to blame for them. She should say as much, but when she tried to give him another scolding, Lin just shook her head. Perhaps he would just listen the first time. It was uncommon in men, but just maybe he was a bit different.

"Its fine, you didn't mean to blow up on me, I am sure." She gave him a warm smile, cleared her throat and looked hastily back down at his wound.

When he was finished and Gin said that she had endured far worse. She couldn't imagine anything worse than this, and living, but perhaps people of their caliber were tougher than her. She had seen a man take a direct lightning bolt to the chest once and come out with barely a red mark. It was a Doton user, but still. Even if he hadn't used a defensive jutsu, to take a lightning bolt, that wasn't a jutsu, and not have hardly a scratch was impressive to say the least. Lin sighed and shook her head. She was surrounded by monsters in terms of abilities. She wasn't sure what Dameon was capable of, but his muscles felt, when she palpated to make sure the wound had closed, like she was touching skin stretched over stone. She could probably punch him and have little to no effect, just like Gin. She had learned the hard way that Gin was far above her ability, even in her child-form.

When Gin said that she would put her through the wall, her jutsu wavered and she lowered her eyes. She knew well that Gin, with her speed and strength could easily make good on her promise, especially if she was drunk. Lin would not make the same mistake, "Yes Sensei." She said respectfully. She resumed her medical jutsu, moving to his lower-torso. It seemed that he was covered from head to toe in these wounds. She grumbled exasperatedly, it would take time for her to heal him and there wasn't anything more she could do for him. She really wished that she had an anesthetic Jutsu, the one that she had seen in the hospital. Perhaps working there would bring fruits to her medical justu. Or just experimenting on Dameon, seeing as he seemed to get into trouble regularly. Or that's what it seemed to be from his story.

"Sorry it's taking so long, there are a lot of these, and you're right, it takes twice as long to heal your wounds, and I can feel that they're not completely healed. I am glad that you at least will take my advice about moving about too much. It's unhealthy to not let your body heal before you move, especially after this much trauma." Smiling at him, she turned to Gin, "How did you two meet, Sensei?" She wanted to get to know this handsome, if scruffy, man some more. He seemed gentle, if a bit rough around the edges from war, and she seemed to be instantly drawn to him. He dressed in black, had few words for people that he didn't trust, but apparently knowing Gin was an instant in to him. It was a good thing that she had earned Gin's trust.

She dismissed it for a "sick puppy" sort of relationship. She had brought back animals that were wounded and practiced her medical jutsu on them, when she hadn't found anyone to practice on. They were easier to work with, whether it was the amount of flesh that she was sewing together or something else entirely she didn't know, but she wanted to help them and it worked better on animals. Much better than on Dameon. Lin, thinking about him gulped and felt a tingle go down her spine. It must be a sick puppy type of attraction. What else could it be?

She tried to change the subject, to hide her reaction to her thoughts with him, and to partially distract her thoughts. It was a weird feeling. It was awe mixed with, she didn't know what, "Actually, I would like to know who the Shichiouza were. If you don't mind."

She felt color rise to her cheeks as she turned back to Dameon and listened to them both, concentrating on his wounds.

WC: 3044

”Don’t get me wrong Gin. I have lost and I know how to deal with loss. My last girlfriend was murdered; I was abandoned by that same village when I was seven years old and walked as a scared seven year old from the village on the northern coast of Kaminari to the fire country before I got a boat to Kiri. My parents were tossed in jail simply because I had ambitions of becoming something more than a child of a pacifist village. I have no great love for the elders of my village who decided to toss out a young child and imprison that child’s parents for protesting. I grew up without any parents in Kiri with the only goal of proving to those elders that just because we learn to protect ourselves and others doesn’t make us evil. I never got that chance, my goal as a child was taken away. Regardless I am more pissed that the Shikyo Four would kill so many innocent people just to send me a message. I don’t have time to be sad not when I have to figure out how to properly mount their heads on pikes,” Dameon would say sternly as he reached into one of his pants pockets and pulled out a small flask before drinking some of the contents. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked up at Gin. ”What? I knew you would confiscate the bottle so I prepared some just for me. Also, you don’t seem to mind if its blood money that pays for your liquor,” He said with a bit of a chuckle.

”Don’t worry Lin I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Simply going out into the city could bring the Shikyo Four knocking. So for now it is best if I keep my head down. The last thing I want is to have to fight with almost no ability to do so. I have fought a number of people and have been outnumbered before but this group is probably impossibly to defeat without equal numbers. Hm…speaking of one of them is a seal user. Is there a way to check if they placed any seals on me? Perhaps to learn my location. I looked myself over but I am not as experienced with such skills. Do you know anyone who is? Dameon asked as he finally gave some thought to potential retrieval by the Shikyo Four. ”I mean it wouldn’t be the first time they attacked the city to try and get to me. I just don’t want to put anyone in danger. However it is possible that if they do know my location they are choosing not to act because of the specific location,” Dameon stated as he thought about it all. He turned his attention back to Lin as she brought up the Shichiouza. ”Well I could explain it to you in detail but I think Gin would rather explain in. After all she is much older than I am and was a part of it,”

[509]
[3382 total]

It was hard to find someone in the shinobi world that was a stranger to loss. People like Lin were an exception, more than the rule. Everyone had lost someone at some point in their lives. Hopefully, the girl wouldn't have to live through that. Realistically, though, the odds were that someone closer to her would die sooner or later, if she didn't meet her untimely demise before that. It was just how their world functioned. There was no sense in hiding her from it. It was best to help her get ready for such occasions and pray that they never happened. Gin had never really been one for prayer, though. She listened to Dameon and simply nodded. They would get to talk about it at a better time, if they needed to. All she could really do was listen. Her specialty was in swords, tinkering and fighting. Words were often beyond what she could handle, especially when somewhat buzzed.

All in all, she was grateful for the change in subject. Watching Lin worry over her work on Dameon was somewhat endearing. It would take a while before she was fully confident in what she was doing. It was only natural when starting, though at her age, she should have been at least at the level of a chuunin. No matter, she would get her there soon enough. Gin nodded at Dameon. "You're looking at a bona fide Fuuinjutsu expert," she said. "Let me just get the right eye," she said, popping her left eye out of her skull as if it were nothing. Technically, it was - the thing was mechanical, connected by a nerve port that was attached to her skull. However, with the amount of chakra-infused make-up that she applied onto it, no one who didn't know that already could have really noticed. "There we go," she said, staring at the blue orb in her hand.

She pulled out a scroll and sealed it inside for safe keeping while unsealing another one and fastening it into the empty socket. She blinked twice and fixed her eyes on Dameon for a few seconds. She stared intensely at him, looking at the intricate lining of his chakra system. "Yeah, you're clean," she stated after a moment of silence, relaxing back into her posture. Her legs were propped up against an operating table. Her hands were holding the back of her neck. She would need another bottle soon if she wanted to keep her buzz going. She might have to tap into her personal reserve of alcohol in a bit. For now, though, she would answer Lin's question. "We met during the Seven Bells fiasco. I might have crashed through his hospital wall at some point. It's a blur, honestly. Sanosuke took me to visit him after he woke up from that coma," Gin explained offhandedly.

She did, however, get somewhat excited at the mention of the Shichiouza. "Settle down, kids, it's story time," she said, rubbing her hands together. It was funny how a few years ago, she would have had such a hard time speaking about anything related to that organization. After all, she had lost so much that day. Now, it was just another war story, another scar on her body that she carried with a certain sense of pride. Time really could heal all wounds.  "By the time Shichouza - the Seven Thrones - was founded, Hao was already known for burning down Kirigakure. Sero, the previous Kazekage, was largely responsible for rebuilding, but that's another story. Hao started gaining supporters throughout the country. The first one was a woman named Utau. She was an expert genjutsu user that could manifest herself anywhere in the country as long as there was water. She was the perfect spy," she started explaining. Her intention was to list each member one by one before getting into the events that transpired in the Iron Country so long ago.

"Next was Momo. She was a nigh-immortal medical nin capable of regenerating just about any wound. She was hell to fight, I'll tell you that. There was also Shibirin, a swordsman from Suna who had defected to Kumo during my time as Kazekage. I'd met him a few times before, but he never seemed all that remarkable. He turned against the Raikage at the Summit where they first struck. Lastly," Gin sighed. "Lastly was my husband, Uzumaki Trilby. He was a fierce man. Strong and determined, but ultimately broken by his own past. He was an expert at Fuuinjutsu and was the one who taught the the craft," she spoke somewhat wistfully. She supposed there were parts of the story that still hurt, to some extent.

[WC: 3339]

Lin nodded, and almost lost control of the Jutsu again as Gin popped out the eye from her right socket and stared in wonder as it started to glow with bluish light. She had never seen something like that before, though she had heard of people making modifications on their bodies before to account for lost limbs. She looked at the scroll to store things for later and nodded, that was a trick that her sensei had used in the academy for storing items such as kunai and other such materials for class. It was certainly easier than toting around a bunch of heavy equipment for class. She hastily clapped her one hand down on her other to make sure that she maintained concentration before she had to start over from the beginning. It was hard enough concentrating on the wounds. Sighing with relief she smiled at Dameon apologetically and looked back to Gin.

She would only be able to sustain this for a bit longer, her chakra stores not used to this sort of sustained strain, and she knew it. Sweat was starting to form on Lin's brow as she maintained the link between her and her hands. "Good thing that he is clean, or there would be a bigger mess to clean up for everyone around here, if these people are anything like you Gin." She laughed and the insanity of the thought. Nothing could be worse than a bunch of S class ninja showing up and destroying the city. It would be madness. Kumogakure wasn't a big threat, and it didn't have many S ranked ninja to defend itself. Or so she thought. She shrugged a bit, letting the Chakra die out in her hands. She wasn't able to keep it going safely anymore without losing consciousness. She patted one of the places that wasn't covered in bruises or cuts. "That's all I can do today. I'll see if I can come back tomorrow and check up on you, after a meal perhaps." She said, her head a bit light from the whole ordeal.

When Gin had said to gather around for story time, she sat obediently, listening to her story. She sat with her back leaning up against Dameon's bed, not caring if he needed personal space or not. It wasn't like she was going to harm him, and he seemed too beaten up to be any threat to her right now. It wasn't like he was going to bite the hand that fed him, so to speak. She yawned and was caught mid-yawn when Gin mentioned her husband. Her attention snapped to full-strength again, "Your husband?'

WC: 3506

Dameon listed as Lin and Gin discussed the events from Gin’s past. He could tell Lin was struggling to maintain the healing jutsu and he simply used his own hand and rest it on top of her to let her know that she was okay to stop. There was still a few founds that would have to wait till the next day or two and he understood that but the more severe ones had been dealt with. Reaching over to the nightstand he grabbed a large role of bandages, a tray with a needle and some thread for stitching. He already had his flask as well since they would have to disinfect anything else as well unless of course they had other things to disinfect but somehow with his luck he figured there would not be. Dameon unbuckle his pants and slide them off so that he was just in his boxers before he tossed them aside. There were still unsealed cuts and gashes but mostly superficial along his legs and some more on his back that were not seen since he was lying down. He sat upright and hung his legs off of the bed as he grabbed the needle and thread prepared to do it himself. ”If you want to rest Lin I can take care of all the spots but my back,” he stated realizing Lin needed to rest and he would allow her to do so since he was capable of taking care of himself. He still listened to Gin but he knew she was going into a tough subject and Lin was insisting on knowing more. Dameon would keep his mouth shut and let Gin explain everything. Sure he knew much about that particular conflict as it was all documented and one of the readings that he had to learn when he had become an ANBU. It was still nice to hear it from someone that was there though as it usually changed perspectives. He looked around and couldn’t see anything else to clean a wound so he simply took one of the balls of cotton he found and poured some of his alcohol on it from his flask. He would then proceed to clean some of the wounds on his legs as well as the needle as his tied the thread to it and cut it with his teeth. Next he would start to stitch together one of the more noticeable wounds on his leg.

[412]
[3794]

Gin nodded when the girl asked about her husband. "Yeah," Gin let out a chuckle. "My husband - an Uzumaki. He was... well, he used to be a wonderful person. He snapped from one day to the next, or at least that's how I saw it. There were probably dozens of signs I didn't see," she began. After all these years, she still couldn't bring herself to say his name out loud. "The day he defected, he sliced my arm off and left me for dead. Turns out I was pregnant at that point. I didn't know that, though," Gin sighed. The memory had become something numb to her, at this point. It produced no reaction from her. She had distanced herself from it considerably, repressed every emotion related to her husband and how they parted.

"After that, the Kage Summit happened in the Iron Country - gods that was a disaster. The Snow and Grass Countries were wiped out completely shortly before that. Hao walked into the Summit and threw the Kage's heads on the table," Gin shuddered. It had been years ago, but the moment had still been terrifying. The sheer feeling of Hao's presence was overwhelming. His consort, Utau, was only slightly less so. "The others were right outside, stormed the palace. I wound up fighting Momo while still missing an arm. I was holding my own pretty well until she told me I was pregnant. I lost it at that point," Gin continued. She remembered getting her ass kicked twelve ways until Sunday. It was a miracle that she hadn't lost the pregnancy right then and there. It was a testament to how strong Misao and Shinji were, really.

"Meanwhile, the Mizukage at the time - Sero - was fighting Utau. Nobody's sure what happened. The entire area was surrounded by mist and there was so much going on... There was barely anything left of his body afterwards, though," Gin still felt somewhat guilty over what had happened to him. She had never really known him on a personal level, but he had been Jurou's - the father of her first two children - kinsman. It was why she felt partially responsible for his child nowadays. The young Sero was... quite a handful, however. She didn't quite know if anything she had ever done for him had helped at all.

"Then there was Arashi, the Tsuchikage, who just... somehow exploded into a pile of blood and bones... Point is, everything was a mess and the only reason most of us are alive is because we ran the hell away from there," Gin shook her head as if that would get rid of the entire moment in her head. It wouldn't. Fortunately, time had dimmed most of what she associated with those thoughts. Her slightly somber, mildly annoyed mood was momentarily gone when she saw Dameon pour alcohol onto his wounds to disinfect them. Her eyes widened.

"Stop that! There's literally every kind of antiseptic in here!" Gin said, rummaging through a drawer next to her. She pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and threw it at Dameon. She was much too lazy right now to get up and tear the flask away from the other man. She opened another bottle of rubbing alcohol and took a swing from that.

[WC: 3899]

She nodded at Gin's talk. It seemed that everyone that was older than her had suffered some tragedy, something had happened to them to show them how dark the world was. She looked at Gin's arm once more, not having realized that it was a mechanical arm and cringed at the thought that her husband had been the one to cut it off. It seemed that no one was safe, no one was sacred in the world of ninjas. Lin hoped that she wouldn't become as numb as Gin had become in her path to becoming the strongest ninja. She had to work on her medical ninjutsu to make sure that didn't happen. She would become the topmost medical ninja in the world. She just had to become stronger.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed she sighed, "It seems that everyone has had some type of trauma but me. Perhaps it is a rite of passage that I have to go through as well?" She asked anyone on the room. "I'm scared if that is the world that I need to step into. I hope that I am strong enough to protect those that I care about."

Lin would start to sew up the wounds that she wasn't able to tend to with her jutsu. She was tired, very tired from using it but she couldn't stand seeing him injured for some reason. It was a strange attraction that she had to him. It was almost like she knew that if she took care of him he would take care of her. She knew that Gin would take care of her. Something in her snapped and she asked, "What happened to your baby Gin?" As she tended to Dameon's wounds.

WC: 3815