Daraku wandered through the cold, paved roads of Kirigakure until he reached a tower that fit the description written on the note. It was the infamous Bloody Academy, a name which held no meaning nor significance to him whatsoever since it seemed to be unimportant to those from other villages. He entered the place with an impatient stride, giving glances left and right as he walked. The essence of the area gave him an ominous feeling but it wasn't something he was unfamiliar with. It hardly even bothered him, but he couldn't help but notice its presence; it felt as if he was being watched. He reached the center of the main floor and looked around, taking note of the various branching corridors and the staircase leading up. Interesting rendezvous point, but surely enough, it was entirely desolate with no one around and thus it would leave whatever was to ensue there away from the eyes of the public. Daraku waited a few moments for the person to come to him, but after the silence persisted, he decided to just beckon them to him. He moved the note in his hand behind him, crumpling it into a tight ball as he shoved it into the back pocket on his pants.

"Come out from wherever you are. I came all the way from Sunagakure and now I'm in an empty tower; I'm trusting you not to do anything stupid. You already know who I am for whatever reason, but if you expect to use my 'expertise', I expect at least a proper introduction in return." with his command put out there and left to wait for a reply, Daraku remained still, his eyes intend on the wall ahead as if someone were to jump out from it at any moment. The tension was thick in the air like the musky breath of a deranged animal, but he wasn't uncomfortable in such an environment. He almost felt at home, since tension and pressure seemed to be commonplace in his everyday life. He moved the hand that had held the note from his pocket to Nisebi, the lowest of the three swords strapped to his back, as he continued. If this was a trap, he was fully prepared to not only counter his assailant but also kill them mercilessly. "Well? I haven't got all day."

Droplets of water dripped from the ceiling and echoed through the empty halls. It had been long since the actual pipeline system worked in what used to be the most feared building in Kirigakure. To this day, some believed it to be haunted. Faithful enough to its reputation, merely being inside it gave off an eerie vibe that was almost impossible to shake off. It hadn't rained in days and there were still noises of droplets falling onto the ground through the cracks in the ceiling. In certain areas of the centuries old building, , the ceiling had caved in, leaving nothing but rubble in its wake. But it let the moonlight stream through and the wind envelop everything inside.

This was where the former Kazekage, turned missing nin - Kuroka Gin - found herself waiting. She tapped her fingers against the edge of a pile of rotting wood that had most likely been some sort of desk decades before. She sat in a corner of an empty classroom, her eyes closed as anticipation filled her. The young woman had been subjected to surgery so many times over the years that something as simple as this should no longer phase her. However, she still found herself being skeptical of any procedure that knocked her out and rendered her unconscious. In that instant, she became a helpless target, subjected to the mercy of whoever was performing the surgery. Had she ever been trained as a medic, she would have felt incredibly powerful, holding the lives of people in her hands and deciding whether or not they live or die based off of a whim. She could only hope that the person she had contacted was as trustworthy as she had told he was, not only for matters regarding the surgery, but what came afterwards as well.

The doctor that had performed the first implant surgery on Gin had died recently under strange circumstances - some sort of lab accident. That would have been her go to person for this, but now she was left with no choice but to trust someone else's judgment. She had ended up contacting one of Sunagakure's current Sannin through her contacts within Aoi Bara. This could prove to be her undoing and that of her family based on how this guy felt towards her. It pissed her off.

Footsteps echoed within the building's empty halls. He was here. Gin silently crept onto the ceiling, using chakra to keep herself attached to the rough surface. She remained there, looking at the man and examining him. He bore a resemblance to one of the profiles of the shinobi that used to serve under her in Sunagakure. She used to memorize every profile that crossed her desk. It was an old habit. She dropped gracefully onto the ground when he addressed her. Her landing barely made any sound. "A little antsy, aren't we, Daraku? And you're not even the one that's going to be sliced into in a bit," She said, all the while she started to unwrap the bandages that covered her face.

The former Kazekage let out a heavy sigh and spoke again as she was almost finished. "We've probably met before at some point. Sunagakure's a large place, but people tended to visit me often back when I lived there. Fun times," She finally looked up, revealing the entirety of her face to the man in front of her. "Ta-da."

[Word Count: 580]

A figure fell from the ceiling, landing gracefully on its feet. It was an outwardly feminine figure, with long hair and bandages covering her face. He remembered her from his mission with the Aoi Bara to retrieve the missing ninja named Tame, so he let his guard down when she moved toward him. Her head was poised downward as she unwrapped the bandages slowly, speaking as she went. She referred to Daraku as antsy, which he admittedly had been, but only to be cautious; she also commented the he wasn't even going to be the one getting sliced open. It dawned on him that she would be using him for a surgery of some kind and the possibilities raced through his mind; maybe she was injured and she needed his help? She didn't seem to move with the subdued function of an injured person, so he didn't quite see what he could possibly be working on if she was injured. While his mind raced, the graceful woman sighed and explained that he had probably met her before, dropping Sunagakure into the topic and saying that people would visit her a lot when she lived there. He stopped wondering what his purpose was there as he the connections seemed to click all at once and realized what she meant. He watched closely as the woman looked up, facing him directly. His assumption was affirmed and he knew immediately who it was; she let out a "ta-da", jokingly. "Lady Kazekage." he said, in a stern tone trailed by a hint of relief as the last syllables escaped his mouth.

"Or Gin, rather, since times have changed and all. And here I thought you were dead this entire time. I'm surprised I didn't recognize you back on the mission to retrieve Tame. It's good to see you again...now I see how you obviously know my name, since I defected from the village back when you were the Kazekage anyhow." Daraku looked on at Gin with a warm smile, full of nostalgia and comfort. He saw her as another embodiment of his past, as he remembered the days before his treason against the village, when she would approve his missions. For a moment, he felt like that boy again, that 16-year-old Chuunin who wanted nothing more than to be powerful and rich. Had all that much really changed since then? He couldn't even tell. Reality came back to him all at once and it crashed over him, leaving him in the present yet somewhat disoriented. He didn't let it show, and talked in a smooth voice with the words practically rolling off his tongue. "So I'll be performing surgery on you, but what kind of surgery exactly? There's almost nothing that I can't manage, medically, so regardless it should be easy enough."

Daraku kept his eyes on his former Kazekage, with plenty more questions to ask her but none reaching his mouth. He remained quiet and waited for her to speak before bombarding her with his inquiries. It was pleasing to know that Gin considered him an ally, despite the Aoi Bara's recent deterioration. He still held a profound respect and care for her, despite having betrayed her during her leadership and having hardly known her personally. Perhaps it was a result of guilt, or perhaps it was because she was extremely attractive both in body figure and in the small aesthetic details of her characteristics. Her eyes, her hair, her lips, her smile, he watched every movement her face made and couldn't help but maintain a half smile of his own. Either way, he didn't plan for this to be an encounter of any sort other than in a medical sense, so his appreciation for her physical beauty was a minor detail in the grand scheme of things. He blinked and refocused on the primary objective.

Gin almost burst out in laughter. If she wasn't mistaken, Gin read an initial and brief look of surprise on the other man's face. If that were the case, it was more than warranted. It had been little over a year since Gin simply dropped off of the face of the earth. She was a ghost, presumed dead and fallen into disgrace because of her sudden disappearance in such a critical moment. The most popular opinion on her in Sunagakure, from what she had last heard, was that she had let her people down, abandoned them when they needed her leadership most. "It's been a long time since I was last called that. I can't quite say I miss it, but it has a bittersweet ring to it. Truth be told, I always found the tittle too formal," she remarked. The young woman propped herself up against an old desk, one of the few that was still standing. "And now here we stand - alive - two birds of a feather having defected from their homes. And yet you went back. Why is that? I wonder if the current Kazekage would be so kind as to welcome me back with open arms as she did you or if she would see me as a threat to her rule. Either way, I have my reasons for staying away - at least for the time being."

Gin had always wondered whether the tales of the Bloody Mist were exaggerated by historians - these ruins were well over a hundred years old. The fact that some of the old furniture was still standing despite everything that Kirigakure had been through since spoke volumes of how well the school was maintained. And really, did a school famous for how it forced students to massacre each other have much of a use for desks? Gin had always assumed that the old school would have been riddled with all kinds of weapons and deathtraps. But then again, maybe that semblance of normalcy was what made the school as cruel as it was. Maybe there was only a silent foreboding of what was to come to the children. In the meantime, maybe they were allowed a normal childhood, only to have it torn away from them as they were forced to fight tooth and nail against their friends and comrades in order to survive. An eerie chill ran up Gin's spine.

On to business, now, of course. "I need an implant. The sharingan in my left socket had been doing nothing but drain me of my chakra. I need it taken out and replaced with this," Gin pulled out a small object, an elaborate metal plate custom made to fit in her eye socket, covering the surrounding sin as well in a pattern of gold. "It's an eye nerve dock, designed to act as an interface between my nervous system and mechanical implants. It's built using the same technology as the interface in my arm, if that helps," the pride in ther voice was by no means hidden. The nerve dock was one of her most recent creations, built from scratch in about a month's time and tested on - well, she would rather keep that information to herself. If asked when she was younger if she would ever have any skills for engineering, Gin would have probably laughed at the prospect. Nevertheless, she supposed that certain skills developed more quickly if you had a need for them. She could thank her late husband for that.

The young woman turned her gaze back to Daraku and smiled softly. However, the smile soon turned into a smirk. "I know that look. I get it pretty often," Gin said smugly, locking her eyes with Daraku's own. She was amused, to say the least. Might as well have some fun with it. "Albeit, it usually comes from old perverts, not people anywhere near as handsome as you," She said, accentuating her remark with a wink.

[Word Count: 1249]

Gin spoke casually, explaining that she hadn't been called Kazekage in a long time. Or maybe she was referring to the name Gin; Daraku knew that she had since adopted another alias, the way he had adopted Matsuro. She also mentioned the coincidence that was their defections from the same village, which threw Daraku into deep thought. He had gone back because he knew it was his home no matter how badly he had betrayed it. He had his reasons for leaving and now that his goals were complete, he went back and had luckily been accepted. He further pondered when Gin would make that same choice. The tone shifted when Gin explained her circumstance. "I need an implant." There was a Sharingan in her left eye socket, apparently taken from some long-gone Uchiha, that was draining her of her chakra rather than serving as a useful tool. She pulled out a small piece of complex technology that was meant to act as a communicator for her nervous system and whatever else she was planning to put in her eye socket, essentially acting as a controller. Daraku nodded pensively; his prowess in medical ninjutsu would allow him to perform any surgery needed without little to no risk, but alas, his understanding of technology was a bit limited and he was worried that would screw with his ability to install the device. It was no secret that Gin was a master at sophisticated mechanics and creations such as that, though, so she would be able to help him understand how it worked and how it should be implanted.

Then Gin seemed less focused and her expression softened. "I know that look. I get it pretty often. Albeit, it usually comes from old perverts, not people anywhere near as handsome as you," Daraku let out a chortle but put his best effort in not to blush. "You're sweet. Well, let's get down to it, then...before I get too distracted. I assume I simply need to remove the Sharingan and put the device in the socket instead, correct? Shouldn't be too difficult." He walked closer to her and pulled out a syringe full of an anesthetic, suture material and a needle, as well as a scalpel in his opposite hand. "I came prepared with the right tools, but unfortunately this isn't the best operational setting. I suppose it'll have to do." He was sure the procedure would take at least an hour or two and had come with enough anesthetic to keep his patient unconscious for as long as he needed her to be, but he also had a back up numbing agent in case she needed to be awake for the procedure. It was her choice, really.

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