Keiko
D-rank
She never had much of an interest in plants. Sure, the typical flowers sold in flower shops were pretty to look at, but she had never seen them as anything beyond aesthetically pleasing objects that died within a week or so. So it wasn't curiosity or interest that led her into Sunagakure's medicinal greenhouse. While she did specialize in medical ninjutsu, dealing with plants and traditional poultices were way down her list of things she wanted to do. Instead, it was the unbearable heat wave that had the Aisu clan member dart into the building that promised cooler temperatures. Though of course, the priority was the appropriate temperatures for plants that couldn't survive under the intense, arid natural environment that was Suna, and not hyōton users melting in the heat, but whatever. As long as she wasn't intruding on private property, right? I'd probably do that too, if it meant getting out of this heat.
It wasn't too hard getting in, the building was probably publicly accessible to some degree. It then split of into various rooms, with labels of temperatures and types of plants, as well as individual placards for each plant species with some information. If she remembered correctly while travelling through Suna like a tourist, this was mainly a medical greenhouse, meaning most of these plants had healing abilities of some degree, thus making more even more valuable than everyday greenhouse plants. And so, once she had confirmed that she was no longer going to reduce into a puddle of melted Aisu goo, she set off to explore the place. Most of the plants had typical uses that she could do with chakra alone. Bringing down temperature, helping blood clot and heal cuts, plants to soothe burns ... There had to be more interesting plants. As a medical ninjutsu specialist herself, she knew that medical was not simply tied to healing.
A quick scan of the area notified her of the locked rooms, ones that most likely held the plants that could peak her interest. Walking closer, she tried each one, applying slight pressure on the handles to see if they would open.
Locked ... Locked ... Locked ... Open.
Eyes widening, the corners of her mouth twitched upwards in a grin of excitement as she proceeded through the door, pushing on it gently to let herself in without a sound.
...
"Miss, I wouldn't touch that if I were you."
Slender, pale fingers froze mid-reach as their owner registered the words directed at her. So close. They were so close to making contact with the startling beauty of the delicate flower before her; the intricate pattern on the petals of the flower seeming to call out to her with every passing moment. It sat alone in a box that encased it on all sides but the top, with a special lamp positioned above it.
"Why?" She wanted to know, ever so grudgingly retracting her arm and letting it fall in disappointment at her side. A soft swish of hair could be heard as she turned to face the owner of the warning, lips jutting out in a petulant pout, much like a child caught before they could eat a stolen cookie. Not in guilt, but rather disappointment that she was caught before she could complete what she wanted to do. A middle-aged woman stood before her, gray hairs beginning to fade into a silvery white. Keiko noted that this woman was shorter than she was, and the older woman's expression didn't appear hostile or angry. Instead, her green eyes twinkled with knowing amusement, as though she knew the thoughts running through the kunoichi's head.
"Why? That one has enough poison to successfully put you in critical state, and possibly kill you within the hour. And you wouldn't even have to put it in your mouth." The woman replied mildly, watching for Keiko's reaction. A blink was the initial reaction, followed by the movement of her gaze back towards the alluring plant, mouth slightly ajar. So there were plants that could kill, and so potently.
"How interesting ... She murmured under her breath, once again fixated on the detailed designs of the flower's petals. It was strange how the one that drew her attention happened to be something so dangerous. As a beautiful rose has its thorns, this one has its poison huh ... To think that something like this had the same effect as a technique meant to kill was strangely fascinating to Keiko. All the potential that this could have. You could send a flower as a gift to an enemy and have them dead within the hour.
Word Count: 782
Training Strength (E-0 -> D-0): 750/750
Remaining Word Count: 32
Keiko
D-rank
Forcing herself to pull her gaze away from the flower once more, Keiko took a few steps back, fully turning to face the older woman. She was likely a caretaker of the greenhouse, but being constantly exposed to plants with both healing and deadly capabilities had to mean she was practiced in medical ninjutsu to some degree. Keiko had spent a short while working in the medical hospital of Kirigakure, but since travelling to Sunagakure, her time had mostly been divided between training and eating everything she could find in the bazaar, leaving no time to meet fellow Iryō-nin. Not that she was too interested - a career in the medical field as an Iryō-nin was not her goal, dabbling in it just allowed her to further develop her abilities.
"Come, dear, I'll get in trouble if I'm caught allowing you in this room, we'd better -"
"How does it work?" Keiko interjected, tilting her head slightly to one side. "Is it just skin contact with the plant? Or do I have to cut myself with it?" She wanted to know. If it caused death within an hour … it meant that she would still have time to isolate its components before it reached a critical stage and affected the major organs. Keiko watched as the women's brows furrowed, clearly confused by the sudden onslaught of questions. But this woman didn't know her - if she wanted to know something, she would try every possible way to get the answer, even if it meant putting herself in danger. Part of the head-strong, stubborn personality that her adoptive parents were always warning her to be careful of, but she had managed to live this far, so as far as she was concerned, she was doing perfectly fine.
There was a moment of silence as the woman considered the questions. The thought process was pretty obvious. Should she reveal this information to a stranger who was likely not from Sunagakure? But at the same time, she probably didn't encounter a lot of people interested in knowing such things. "It … would require contact with an open wound, so if you cut yourself on the petals, it would enter your bloodstream through there. It supposedly starts off with a burning sensation as it spreads, then you go numb and eventually die when it reaches your heart."
"Supposedly." Keiko echoed, curiosity spiking up further. She did have her Delicate Illness Extraction Technique that hadn't failed her yet in removing harmful substances that have entered the body. So if she could try it here … But the woman, as though sensing that Keiko was about to do something, reached for the door and gestured her through. Reluctantly, not wanting to cause a scene, Keiko obliged, wistfully turning to watch the door close and this time successfully lock behind her.
"You appear to hold strong curiosity for these things. May I ask, are you a medic-nin?" The woman asked once they were both safely out of the room and back into the common area of the greenhouse, discreetly slipping the key into the front pocket of her sundress. Strangely, the greenhouse was still relatively empty, the occasional staff members moving in and out of rooms to tend to the leafy occupants of each room. Keiko nodded in response, gaze already sweeping the area for something else to catch her interest. One of the workers, a young male, walked over, bowing in greeting to the older woman.
"Sensei, I fear the one we've been waiting for will pass its due date to bloom." He said softly, grey eyes reflecting an immense amount of worry. Huh. So people can actually get so emotionally attached to plants. "We can't drop the temperature any further without impacting the roots, the concentration is --" He paused as the woman raised a hand to silence him, dipping her head towards Keiko as though to indicate that they were not alone.
Word Count: 696
Keiko
D-rank
Keiko raised a single eyebrow questioningly, gaze switching between the young man and the older woman. Knowing that this was probably her cue to excuse herself and leave, the magenta-haired kunoichi deliberately crossed her arms in front of her chest, a clear indication that she wasn't planning on going anywhere. From what the man had said, she could infer that there was some rare plant that they were waiting for to bloom, but something about its temperature was preventing it from doing so. And if it was dropping temperature … that was something she as an Aisu specialized in. Not that she was going to offer up this information until they sated her curiosity.
There was an awkward moment of silence as they all silently regarded one another. The only moment was the occasional fidgeting of the young man, clearly impatient and wanting to go back to solving their problem. Keiko shot him what could have been an apologetic glance, but otherwise remained fixated on the woman. "One medic to another, these things don't need to be a secret, do they?" Keiko eventually spoke up, answering the woman's previous question while adding in one of her own. In doing so, she likely confirmed the woman's thoughts that she wasn't from Sunagakure, but that shouldn't matter - the two countries weren't at terrible odds with each other, as far as she knew. Besides, what could she do with the information? Steal a bunch of plants and mass produce them back in Kirigakure? Highly unlikely, and completely out of her range of interest.
Heaving a rather exasperated sigh, the older woman seemed to make up her mind. "We are caring for a rare plant that blooms only under the most specific of conditions," she began to explain, "the timeframe is correct, but we have not yet been able to achieve the specific temperature. Only the stem and flower of the plant is capable of withstanding extreme temperatures, the roots with die if we do not carefully isolate them." Keiko listened quietly with interest. To think that even plants had their own picky situations, it was incredibly amusing to her. But this was a simple enough issue to resolve. That is, if they let her butt in. The odds were quite unlikely, given that she had already broken the rules by entering a restricted area by herself.
"Can I see it?" Master of miscommunications, she neglected to mention that she could help, as well as the justifications of how she could help. But surprisingly, after a nod at the young man, the woman began walking, a silent invitation for Keiko to follow. Smiling briefly at the young man as she passed, Keiko trotted after the caretaker, following her into yet another locked room. Inside, they passed various displays of plants, each held in their own special container with only one or two of the same species. It was obvious even to someone untrained in herbalist or botany that these were the rare plants that the greenhouse housed. This particular room was significantly cooler, Keiko noted to herself, pausing to take in the sights before her.
"It's this one." Keiko turned to see the older woman standing by one of the containers. Wandering over, Keiko let out a little gasp at the delicate blue-white bud that stood in the middle of the container, the pale green leaves folded over to conceal half of the bud. Even without it fully bloomed, she could tell it was beautiful, the light reflecting off the plant making it seem alive. Alive, and waiting.
Running Word Count: 1299
Keiko
D-rank
It would probably be a bit too clichė to say that she knew exactly what she had to do. Or that it was her calling or whatever. As far as Keiko was concerned, everything she needed to know about this situation was presented to her already, and she just so happened to have the abilities to resolve it. Her interest was piqued once more, and there really was no stopping her. Stubbornness ran in her blood, and whether that was nature or nurture was something that couldn't really be argued, given that she didn't remember her biological parents. That being said, the kunoichi was primarily a supporter of the nurture argument - after all, she liked to believe that everything she did was of her will and learned through her own experiences and exposure to the environment. If anyone wanted to convince her of otherwise … they'd have to bring her birth parents before her.
Stepping closer, lilac eyes fixated on the plant, Keiko reached out to lift the container out of the way, handing it to the young man without glancing at him. Confused, the boy took the box, taking in a sharp, surprised breath when his fingers made contact with the box, which had suddenly gotten much colder. The air around them had gotten significantly colder as well - at Jounin level with strong Aisu genes running through her, even her natural aura had the ability to drop the temperature immediately surrounding her. Naturally, being in Sunagakure weakened everything that made up the Aisu kunoichi, but perhaps that was the reason she was in the Land of Wind in the first place. To strengthen her abilities even under unfavourable conditions.
Keiko ignored the exchange of glances between the two greenhouse staff members. They made no move to stop her, which she took as a green light for her to go ahead with what she intended to try. Taking a breath, she cupped her hands around the plant, careful not to actually touch the plant. Letting her natural hyōton energy, created by the combination of fūton and suiton chakra, flow outwards, she concentrated them on her hands, drastically decreasing the temperature of the immediate surroundings of the flower itself. By doing so, she exposed the plant to freezing temperatures, and while the roots would also be somewhat affected, as long as she removed her hands and cut off the flow of chakra fast enough, she figured it should work. … Hopefully. Up to this point, she hadn't considered what she would do if this failed and the plant died.
Don't die. Please don't die.
Mentally chanting the same phrases over in her head, she barely noticed when the bud began to glow in response, shifting ever so slightly. It was only when the tip began to separate that her eyes widened, the surprise almost causing her to forget that she still had a job to do. Slowly, with all three of the room's occupants watching with their breaths held, the flower began opening, revealing two layers of petals in varying shades of blue and a pale white pistil. Beautiful. It was beautiful, and the longer she looked at it, the more exquisite it seemed to become. "Dear, you can stop now." The older lady's voice broke through the silence, and with a start, Keiko blinked and removed her hands, dropping them to her side. Stepping off to the side as the woman approached, Keiko finally turned to look at her face, and to her surprise, the woman looked just as amazed as she was. "So … does this compensate for the fact that I accidentally broke into the other room?" Keiko said, smiling wryly.
"Yes, thank you, dear. I never thought I'd actually see that bloom, we were only hoping for the best." The woman replied sincerely, eyes crinkling up as she smiled. "Go get take of it now, Shineki-kun. Come, miss -" Keiko interrupted, "Keiko, my name's Keiko." The woman nodded and continued, "Keiko-san, we'll discuss more in another room, this one is a bit too cold for my old bones, though I'm sure you're doing just fine."
Running Word Count: 2000
Keiko
D-rank
A soft hum of agreement was emitted from the kunoichi, to which the older lady took the initiative to lead them out of the room and out towards the main lobby. Likely a subtle way of trying to keep Keiko from discovering other unique and deadly greenery. Not that she particularly minded, she was done dealing with plants today. Regardless of her interesting discoveries today, enough was enough, and she was ready to move on to more ... active forms of life. To the kunoichi's surprise, they continued deeper into the main lobby where parting some large leaves from the indoor trees revealed a series of comfortable-looking couches. Gratefully sinking into one of the velvet couches, violet eyes watches curiously as the botanist slipped into a room marked "Staff Only", only to emerge within a few moments with a tray holding a beige clay teapot and two small cups. Visible steam rose from the cups and coupled with the fact that the distinct smell of jasmine was wafting through the air, it was evident what they contained.
Keiko wasn't a fan of hot tea. Especially not when she happened to be in an infernally hot country where she couldn't seem to get away with surviving a day without feeling like she was reducing into nothing but a puddle of water, which was likely seep into the ever thirsty earth. Being a rather impulsive person, she also had the tendency to place her needs first instead of thinking about it, like the time she nearly took her entire top off before realizing the number of layers (or lack thereof) that she was wearing. And so instinctually, she wanted to refuse the cup straightaway, but the events in the past hour still played fresh in her mind. Instead of refusing, she instead opted to reach for the cup, internally wincing as the heat made contact with her perpetually cold hands. Whether the wince was actually because of the difference in temperature, or because of her realization that she was actually behaving uncharacteristically would be up for debate. Her adopted parents would be proud of this dramatic display of manners.
"Ma'am, I don't believe you gave me your name." It wasn't a question, clearly, it wasn't. But the wondering tone hopefully made up for the rather blunt statement, as Keiko simply let her words hang in the air, awaiting a response. Another one of her ... social flaws, for the lack of a better term. Establishing clear communication was not her forte, and often that led to misunderstandings that create much bigger problems than intended. Thankfully, this didn't seem to be the case. "Kanoko, you may call me Kanoko, dear." The woman - Kanoko - replied warmly, offering no other introduction.
Running word count: 2463
Training Strength E-0 -> C-0: 2450
Remaining: 13 words
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