His eyes absorbed the surroundings, fully awake and aware of where his feet and mind had carried him on this particular day, though it was sufficient to say that Seiryū had no intentions earlier on in the day to arrive here. With the sun looming on the horizon, just hours from setting and removing the daylight, Seiryū stood in a place that was somewhat unfamiliar to him, instead of like previous years where he would spend time getting prepared to head out and enjoy the nightlife available to one in Sunagakure no Sato. His purple orbs absorbed the building before him, a building he could never recall setting foot inside, but he figured he could at least be mildly aware of what the Medicinal Greenhouse held within. Seiryū knew, whatever knowledge he could gather, would be limited by what was inside and what would actually catch his interest. Though, he had a tingling feeling, that the particular thing he was looking for wouldn’t be found here, solely for the reason that he never heard a whisper of such a thing. It seemed that the majority of those who knew about the Greenhouse wished to keep that information secret, or it simply did not exist.

With a light sigh escaping him, Seiryū stepped forward, his dark brown shoes pressing softly in to the grains of sand below him, his baggy light grey sweatpants having no contact with the sand below as the didn’t reach the ground itself. The only noise that reached his ears that wasn’t a direct result of nature itself was the light noise of the necklace around his neck, the sound of metallic objects hitting one another. It was a gift he had received, one he didn’t wear often, for the simple purpose that he didn’t wish to lose it due to unexpected circumstances. The one who had given it to him, he could consider a friend, one that he likely didn’t deserve, but nonetheless, Seiryū kept it safe thus far, even after meeting the giver of the gift in Sunagakure no Sato.

A light gust of wind only pressed against his face and exposed hands, for his arms were covered the black sleeves of his shirt, one that wasn’t too thick that it’d absorb heat, but rather thin enough to absorb enough heat that it wasn’t stifling and keeping the wind from bothering his arms. Blinking a few times, Seiryū’s feet kept carrying him forward until he was placed in front of the entrance to the Medicinal Greenhouse, though he was a bit hesitant, for some odd reason, to open to door and step inside. The thought of just turning around and heading back home was a possibility, such that he wouldn’t be entirely disappointed when he became aware of how lacklustre the contents inside would be. Then again, knowing that this notion was entirely ridiculous, Seiryū mentally slapped himself, shaking himself out of the negative thoughts that would always arise inside of him no matter in which situation he placed himself in.

---

517|517 Total

Daraku sat in the medicinal greenhouse just before sunset, having one last task to finish for the hospital before he would be able to call it a night. There were a number of unique plants here, some known to have almost magical properties, and there were always medics formulating serums and cures from them. These plants thrived in the habitable greenhouse, which shielded them from the ever-so-harsh sunlight and provided them with shelter to grow. Considering how well they were tended to, they seemed healthy and robust. Flowers, vines, cacti, leaves and sprouts, blooms, and the smell of nature filled the room and made it lively. Daraku's job there was specifically to tend to the lavender and the echinacea. Now, watering plants was not Daraku's favorite activity in the world. He hated going to the greenhouse and he thought it was ultimately beneath him to go worship some flowers in hopes that some desperate combination of plants would help cure someone's illness back at the hospital, when he himself had spent years training as a medical ninja in order to save lives using his chakra. But, Daraku liked money, and that was part of what he was getting paid to do when he wasn't doing surgery.

The Sannin waited on the edge of an upside-down, empty planting pot, large enough to support his weight but still small enough to make him look funny sitting on it, as he turned on the faucet to put water into a watering can. He then moved over to the vibrant purple mass of lavender and watered them, and the much softer, smaller echinacea cluster afterwards, and then he put the watering can aside and picked up a broom to clean up the area a bit. Once everything was finished, he went back to the pot and sat down, looking out the window of the little house to watch the village. He remembered that when he was first starting out as a Genin, he was sent on missions to the greenhouse all the time, and despite how pretty it was on the inside, it had never really grown on him. His mother had loved it there, because that was where she used to work, too. She was never a shinobi like Daraku or Tsurugi, but she was like an apothecary for the hospital, and that was how she had picked up medical ninjutsu as a hobby. Daraku looked through some of the flowers with long stems to see if he could locate her favorite, and surely enough, it was in the far corner of the greenhouse; chamomile, which she had always used to make tea and would comment on how beautiful the flower itself was. He lost track of time in thought of his mother, and he was reminded that he missed her dearly.

Another presence moved through the greenhouse, which Daraku initially assumed was one of the other hospital workers tending to or harvesting the plants or a worker bringing in some new ones, but after a closer inspection of the figure, he realized that it was someone else entirely. Familiar, slicked-back white hair and a lean build, obviously male. The other two women in the greenhouse hovered about, too, but Daraku couldn't have cared any less about them. In fact, they'd been there before Daraku had even gotten there, if he remembered correctly, and he'd left them to go about their business, but now that this new person was there, he grew curious. He wondered what Seiryū would be doing in the greenhouse this late; did he need a plant or an herb for an injury or an illness? The question piqued Daraku's interest enough to prompt him back up to his feet, and he found himself moving toward Seiryū in casual strides, wearing his archetypal grin.

And from there, Daraku propped himself up against on of the mounted wall fixtures, which was made to hold plants on display but was uncharacteristically empty since all the herbs that were usually there were rather scarce around this time of year. He kept one hand behind him, leaning onto the fixture for support while his other hand made its way into the pocket of his black pants, which were rugged and rough in contrast to his silken, yellow shirt. His crystal blues caught the gaze of Seiryū's arcane violets. "Hey there, Seiryū." his tone was soft and kind, but he knew that Seiryū's response, whatever it would be, would likely be coarse. That, from what Daraku had gathered of him, was his norm in terms of attitude, although their encounter at the sandbox had shown a much lighter side to the shinobi with the help of alcohol. Not every encounter would be so sweet, but Daraku was adaptable (or at least he tried to be) and he genuinely did like being around Seiryū, for whatever reason, so he was bent on being as kind as possible. With greetings out of the way, he followed with an interrogative.

"Isn't the greenhouse nice? Not exactly a conventional hangout spot, but it has its charms and with those charms come the occasional visitor or two who isn't searching desperately for a cure-all," he broke eye contact for a moment to look over to the two elderly women walking around, and then continued, "Point is, it's not often I see people that I know here, unless I work with them at the hospital. Are you just having a look or is there something specific I can help you find?"

Seiryū's voice held the same smooth and even tone that it always did. He often seemed calm regardless of the situation, a quality which Daraku wished he could manage. No, Daraku was too hotheaded to even look like he was composed half of the time. Emotional, reactive, with snappy comments and sarcasm always lurking just beneath the surface. And that was just who he was; not much he could do to change it. There was a flat "hey" in response to Daraku's greeting, and he went on to say that the greenhouse was different than he'd thought it would be. Daraku nodded, figuring that most people who had never been inside the greenhouse would've had a hard time imagining what it would look like. Having been in and out of there constantly since he started working at the hospital, the greenhouse had lost what initial charm it had that made it seem less special, to Daraku. The last question dissolved slowly as Seiryū had a lengthier answer; he said he didn't need a cure of any kind, which surprised Daraku, but he was "looking around" for poisons. The word poison resounded in Daraku's mind and plenty of malicious and murderous images came to mind, and what wondered what Seiryū of all people needed some poison for. Someone on his wrong side that he wanted to get rid of? Or was there another, more moral explanation? It really was none of Daraku's business, but that wasn't going to stop him from prying.

"Poisons? Damn, I never pegged you for the poisoning type, but I might be able to help. Who or what do you need it for...?" he asked, his eyes bright and curious, alight with the excitement of murder. He had to slow himself down and redirect his intentions. "Well, I suppose that doesn't matter, so much as what exactly you want this poison to do. There's plenty of stuff here that, when taken incorrectly or overdosed, could kill someone, which is fairly general for a poison. But if you're looking for something more complex, if you could list the specific effects you want or need, then I'm sure I could figure out a nice mix of the ingredients in here." Daraku had known many shinobi, specifically medical nin, who had incorporated poisons into their battle strategies and jutsu. It was a common application of medical ninjutsu on the offensive turf, but Daraku hadn't ventured into that world himself. He could probably have pulled it off if he wanted to; it had just never interested him, and paying for poisons like that regularly was expensive. His understanding of "alchemy" and poisonmaking was enough to be of assistance, and getting in on poisoning someone was too juicy to Daraku for him not to want to play a part, even after "reinventing" himself into a less violent and more benevolent person. He walked over to the echinacea flowers again gently played with their petals, waiting for Seiryū to give him the details.

The shinobi proved reluctant to express his ulterior motives, instead attributing his visit and his interest in poison to mere curiosity as he surveyed the area. This wasn't necessarily a lie, but Daraku couldn't help but feel there was more to it, probably because he just really wanted there to be for the sake of excitement. Regardless, that was what was presented to him and thus there was no assistance he could offer nor any riveting backstory where Seiryū was tasked with the burden to kill his lifelong nemesis or something dramatic along those lines. He let out a soft sigh of disappointment but continued speaking with Seiryū with his usual, cheery tone. "I guess I can't really blame you. Maybe if I wasn't already so heavily involved with it, I'd come to a place like this on a whim, too. Another 'what-if' to add to the list." he faced Seiryū and flashed a warm grin. The context of the situation had shifted, slightly, and rather than being on a mission to try become an accomplice to murder, he was more focused on enjoying his time with Seiryū. Their relationship was an interesting one, to say the least. The pause in conversation was broken as Daraku's intentions were put into question: "Why are you actually helping me with this? Isn’t there some kind of code or something to follow?"

Daraku put some honest thought into it. A "code" for medical ninja which dictated that those ascribed to it not harm others? Hardly. If that were the case, Daraku would've been fired from the hospital and prohibited from continuing work as a medical nin immediately, considering both his past crimes and how often still he hurt and killed others for the village on missions. Granted, there was an implicit moral aspect to the title that would make sense as to why Seiryū would think so. Healers and people who save others should be...well, not hurting anyone, by most standards. But certainly, there was no code preventing such. In fact, Daraku's offensive applications to medical ninjutsu and how he used it to kill were only more of an asset to protecting the village and thus he was valued for it just as much as he was for his medical work. "Nah, nothing of the sort. There's some general rules to follow when working as a medical ninja, sure, and going on a murderous rampage will result in some punishment from the village just like it would for anyone else. But there's no nonviolence contract, that's for sure. It's more of a personal moral choice, and I was never one to shy away from bloodshed." his smile faded a bit as he considered his kills throughout the years.

"So, to put it simply, I trust whoever you're out to kill is probably deserving of it and though it's really none of my business, I'm glad to try and help because why the hell not. It's not much of a big deal now, since you're just putting 'curiosity at rest'." his liveliness was ever present in his eyes, in a gleam that shone just beneath the ocean surfaces of his ultramarine irises. "Anyway, this whole poisoning thing aside, it's been a bit since I last saw you when we ran into each other at the Sandbox with Mari. How have you been?" he stretched a bit as he spoke, since his body was starting to grow stiff. The greenhouse wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to spend the day, and Daraku was looking forward to returning to the solace of his bed later that night.

"I'm pretty good myself. And a few incidents never held you back. But be careful, alright? I know you can take care of yourself, but...eh, whatever, who am I kidding. You know what you're doing." He smiled at Seiryū, who left just after he offered that advice. Little did he know, that was the last time he was going to see Seiryū. For a long time, at least.


[OOC: Exiting the thread because damn son this is old and also I don't want my words to go to waste]

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