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Naruto Saga » Kaze no Kuni » Sunagakure » Excavation Site » Dirty Tricks, Tainted Blood [Mission | Private | Invite Only]

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Keiko

Keiko


D-rank
Spoiler:

It was an early day as usual, the sun having just started its round, peeking above the horizon to shine its light on the land. Pale eyelids fluttered open, and pink-lilac eyes stared blankly at the ceiling of the one-person apartment. The window, covered only by a sheer layer of white blinds, did nothing to stop the sunlight from streaming in, waking the room’s only inhabitant. Kitahara Keiko woke up feeling cranky with no desire to get out of her bed – a quick glance at the clock hanging on the wall to her left informed her that it was 6:15 am. While waking at this hour was part of a normal routine for her, today just wasn’t working out. Maybe it was because it had been two days since she had last seen Seiryū, or because she had come home late after working over twelve hours at the hospital the day before.

The former, as far as she knew, was because the white-haired shinobi was off on missions. That didn’t particularly surprise her, given that he had revealed he was a jounin, and she knew very clearly what that entailed. In fact, what was surprising was the fact that he even had time to spend with her in the first place, for so many consecutive hours without parting. Not that she was complaining, she thoroughly enjoyed their time together, and now being apart from him was quite the ordeal. It suddenly felt like she had too much free time on her hands, no matter how much volunteering or exploring that she did. Never before had she felt lacking in companionship as strongly as she did now – a thought that was both amusing and alarming.

But the latter reason also applied, given how her body was aching from standing for so many hours, treating patient after patient. Most of her free time was now spent at the Sunagakure Hospital, volunteering her services without pay. It wasn’t as though she wouldn’t take money, but seeing how it wasn’t offered, and the fact that she belonged to another village, Keiko resigned herself to taking whatever duties was handed to her simply as self-training. It was definitely different, working in a medical setting where there was no end to the number of patients. While she specialized in iryō-ninjutsu, Keiko was used to only treating a handful of comrades at a time while out on missions. In a hospital, however, she constantly needed to make on-the-spot decisions of whether an injury required chakra-use as it didn’t take her long to realize that should she try to use her healing abilities with every patient, she would be drained and useless within an hour or two. Not to mention the debilitating effect that the inferno temperatures of Sunagakure had on her as a member of the Aisu clan, which made every attempt at using chakra double the effort.

An hour later, Keiko was showered and changed into a navy blue and white romper – the one piece, flimsy outfit allowing her relief from the hot temperatures as well as ease of movement. Throwing a long cream-white cardigan on top, the ends of the back reaching down to her knees, she headed off down the familiar route towards the hospital. Thankfully, the staff there weren’t anal about what she had to wear – she hadn’t been required to change into any particular uniforms, as long as whatever she wore to work didn’t interfere with her abilities to complete her duty. For now, she would keep her cardigan on until it either got dirty or got in the way, after which she would toss it aside somewhere.

For the next two hours, she would take numerous emergency walk-in patients, dealing with cases ranging from children’s illnesses to injuries from shinobi returning from missions. By the time she officially declared a break, she was even more exhausted than she had been when she first woke up, mood considerably worsened. Another thankful detail about the hospital was that everyone was too busy to care about her attitude, and Keiko was far from the caring and compassionate doctor that many expected from a female such as herself. She didn't hesitate to snap at unruly patients, or tell parents off when they hovered over her every move, watching like a hawk despite most of them not knowing anything about the medical practice. To her own satisfaction, she had not had to use anything beyond low D-rank techniques thus far, meaning her chakra reserve had yet to diminish. Sinking into a chair with a cup of hot tea, she had barely taken a sip with alarmed voices reached the break room.

“Another case... Third male victim... Convulsions and foaming, but now unresponsive... “ Such conversations about patients was normal, but as Keiko began trying to tune them out, another broken sentence revealed a single audible word. “... Poisoned.” Interest spiking up several notches, Keiko abandoned her tea on the coffee table in favour of learning more about this supposed case of poisoning. Even since learning about various types of potent poisons from the lady at the Medicinal Greenhouse, Keiko couldn’t contain her fascination with it. Darting out of the break room, she caught the two nurses whose conversation she had just overheard. Both were young females, matching shades of brown eyes looking up in surprise when Keiko moved into their line of sight. “That patient you were just talking about... What room is he in?“

The moment the room number was shared, Keiko headed towards it, pace picking up with each step. She had pried a bit more information from the two nurses, discovering that this was the third similar case in the past two days, where a shinobi would be found suffering from convulsions and foaming at the mouth for the first hour before falling unresponsive. And in the earlier two cases, the victims had died after another two hours in a vegetative state. Finding the isolated room, Keiko sighed as she realized it required a security clearance that she didn’t have. A succesion of quick knocks soon revealed an exhausted looking doctor, who tugged off the face mask he had on as he gave Keiko a once over. From his expression, it wasn’t hard to guess how well the treatment was going. Instead of wasting words to try and convince him of why she should be in there, Keiko simply offered a few words. “I think you’re aware of the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique. Let me in, I can help.” While not a high-ranked technique, it was well-known for its abilities to isolate substances within the body for effective removal … at least, before the invading substance spread too far. Keiko wasn’t entirely sure whether she actually would be able to save the man’s life – but as far as she was concerned, even being able to draw out some of the poison while it remained in an active state would be extremely helpful in identifying its identity.

There was only a moment’s pause before the doctor moved away from the doorframe, leaving a gap for Keiko to slip through. Inside, there were at least two other doctors – in addition to the one who had opened the door – standing over a still figure who laid on the examination table. Wandering closer, ignoring the confused glances of the other doctors, Keiko didn’t hesitate to ask for the details, hands hovering over the man’s body. “What’s the estimated time that he came into contact with the poison? And point of entry?” After a nod from the man who first opened the door for her, the other doctors quickly filled her in, informing her that it had only been ten minutes or so since he had lapsed into an unresponsive state, so it likely had been over an hour already, going by the previous two cases. The symptoms were almost exactly the same, and the point of entry appeared to be a large gash just below the left of the victim’s ribcage, liekly made by a sword or some similar weapon. Putting on a pair of gloves, Keiko examined the wound, noting that there were no obvious signs of poisoning. One of the doctors added that a quick scan of the patient revealed that the poison was slowly spreading inwards, but despite the slow spread, its effects were obviously lethal enough to kill even before it reached the vital organs. With the aid of one of the doctors capable of using Chakra Scalpel, Keiko’s hand hovered over where the concentration of poison was most notable. Several minutes passed by in tense silence as the small clear bubble that formed from her hands began to draw out a dark blue substance. As it flowed into the bubble, Keiko glanced over at one of the doctors, whose hand began glowing green as she scanned the victim’s body for any remnants of the poison. At the shake of the other doctor’s head, Keiko moved the bubble away, placing it into a readied container off on the side.





Two hours later, at approximately 11:30 am, Keiko found herself cleaned up and waiting at the administration office, where missions were issued out. Since her arrival here, Keiko had hesitated on taking missions in Sunagakure, avoiding it entirely despite wanting to be productive and train herself. It was a matter of inconvenience, given how she would have to identify herself as a Kirigakure-nin, possibly deal with some prejudice and doubt, and likely highlight her location to the higher-ups back in Kiri. Not that the latter was a worrisome thought anymore, in fact, it had come true, with all the messages being delivered right to her door, asking for her return. But now, she was determined to be assigned this meeting. Pacing back and forth as she waited to be called in, Keiko immediately spun around at the sound of the door opening. Walking in, she was greeted by two administration officials who wasted no time in handed her a mission file, stating that everything she needed to know about the target that needed to be found. “We are uncertain of his name, but he is currently being referred to by the numbers tattooed on his arm. As far as we know, he has access to poison in some form, whether from an outside source or as part of his unique abilities – we also know that he wields a broadsword. Keep in mind that we’re giving you this mission because you helped save the life of this third victim – we expect that Kirigakure holds the same ideals regarding missions as we do. However … we will be sending one of our own to accompany you. He will meet you at the front of the hospital.”

Ugh, of course they wouldn’t trust her to do this alone. But for the moment, Keiko was so excited to be handed this particular mission that she couldn’t care less who they tagged on her. Of course, she had her own motives to track down this poison- user, her interest had been piqued, and this was an opportunity she couldn’t miss. Stopping by at home to gather some basic supplies – mainly medical, she opted to keep her current outfit, though changing her flats into black boots. Her medical supplies were packed in a small pouch that went around her waist, kunais slipped into each of her boots. Heading back out, she made her way straight back to the hospital, hoping that whoever she was paired with would be competent – and if not, would stay out of her way. As she neared the hospital, her eyes scanned the front, realizing that she had no idea who she was looking for. Hopefully whoever being assigned to her would know to find her - but just in case, Keiko also ensured that her Kirigakure head protector hung from the belt of her supply pouch, a clear indication that she was not from the village.


2033 | 2033 Total

Seiryū

Seiryū


D-rank
The clock blinked in front of his eyes, though he hadn’t registered the three digits it seemed to be displaying; all Seiryū truly knew was that this was an ungodly hour for any one individual to be awake; much less returning from a mission. His task over the course of the previous night had been to infiltrate a base in the Endless Dune’s in Kaze no Kuni’s wastelands, a mission that he successfully accomplished with a few minor encounters. He had finished the mission the previous day and had spent the entirety of the day travelling back to Sunagakure no Sato to report in his findings to the Administration office. There he had been more or less that his services requiring this particular mission would be needed once more; likely for the fact that they organization would be meeting up in the Mystical Glass Museum. He knew he had a few days break between those missions, enough time to rest, recuperate, and prepare for what was likely to come; his next mission.

Currently, at 5:52 am and just recently arrived at his apartment, Seiryū was more than eager to lay down upon his bed and rest his eyes for the majority of the day that would follow. The mission hadn’t been excruciatingly difficult, only suffering from a few minor cuts on his arm and one that followed along his cheekbone. None of the cuts had been deep, though they certainly would take some time to fully heal; he figured they were unlikely to scar, and even if they did, they would add on to his current collection of battle wounds. Knowing he’d been awake for nearly 36 hours; having not had an actual night of rest since departing for the mission, he was more than dead tired currently. If he hadn’t willed himself in to his room, it would have been more than likely that Seiryū would have slept in the hallway – or even the streets of the slums.

It had also been a couple of days since he had last seen the sole female constantly occupying his mind, Keiko. If he could have made contact, he would have, but the mission had required him to leave instantly and communicating from that point on would have been detrimental to the mission. Seiryū wondered when, if, he would see her again, or if she would return to Kirigakure no Sato before they met again. That scenario playing out was just as likely as meeting Keiko, as they hadn’t made any concrete plans to see each other again. Though that task was made simpler as both parties now knew where the other resided. Desire edged on seeing Keiko again, sooner rather than later, though it would likely have to wait for another day to pass before Seiryū could actively try to seek her out again. His body was no longer wishing to comply, wanting to shut down for upwards of twelve hours if possible. Probability favoured Seiryū in this case, for he had recently returned from reporting his mission to the Administration Building and they would likely seek him out for the follow-up operation regarding the spontaneous findings Seiryū had overheard during his campaign.

His wounds would have to be taken care of further, when actually awoke from his sleep. Seiryū removed his shirt, feebly dropping it by his feet after it had went over his head. With his boots having been taken off the moment he entered, Seiryū couldn’t be bothered to remove his pants; they were semi-comfortable enough to sleep in. Having already put his bow, quiver, and Crota upon the dresser of his bedroom, Seiryū lazily strode over to his bed and plopped down on it. Landing on his side, it solely took thirty or so for Seiryū to fully fall asleep.



A loud resounding thud was at his door, his ears not really wanting to hear the noise at this particular time. It felt like it had only been an hour since he landed on the bed, yet as his tired eyes slowly opened to catch sight of his digital clock, the light presented in the room became a particular pain to deal with. Knowing he shouldn’t keep whoever was at his door waiting, as the clock read 11:00 am, he strode over to the front door shirtless. Seiryū honestly thought he’d be able to have the day to himself, to not be bothered at all, and could wake up much later in the day; when he had at least six (he was hopeful for eight) full hours of sleep instead of five. Whatever it was, Seiryū expected it be important; from either his landlord or whoever else would disturb him, otherwise hid mood would likely remain sour for the day. The wound on his cheek still stung to a degree.

The individual on the opposing end of the door, once Seiryū had opened it was a young female; probably a genin or chuunin if the hitai-ate was anything to go by. A red flush instantly covered her cheeks, though Seiryū simply wanted to know what it was that she would be at his door for at this hour. “What is it?” The resonance of sleep was still present in his voice, a yawn almost escaping him, as Seiryū drew his right hand over his eyes to slightly massage them and then through his hair.

“Uhh… Imada-san?” He nodded. “The administration office has another assignment lined up for you.” She thrust a manila coloured folder forward, Seiryū lazily reached out to grab it with his right hand. “Your expected to be at the desired location at noon.” With that she bolted off. Why couldn’t they have given this mission to someone else? Or why couldn’t they have told him to expect another mission today? And why did they give him an hour to get ready (he’d probably be going without satiating his stomach)? And, ultimately, who the hell decided to give him another mission after returning from one just a few hours ago?

Turning to head back inside, the door shutting behind him, Seiryū began rummaging through the fil in his hand to figure out what the mission he was given today would be. The designated meeting place was the hospital, which wasn’t more than a ten minute walk – less if he moved faster. There was no name given for who he needed to meet – for the mission entailed being a bodyguard and supervisor. Seiryū, however, was given that the person he’d be meeting was a shinobi of Kirigakure no Sato and a medic at that. If it happened to be who he thought it was, it would be entertaining to say the least. Though it could just as easily be someone else. Something else was noted about a poison user, along with a second mission file; one which was likely assigned to the person Seiryū would be watching over. He quickly went through those details and tossed the folder upon his bed once done. Walking over to his dresser, Seiryū pulled out another set of clothing he set aside for missions only; a leather jerkin that left his arms and sides exposed, two forearm guards that covered the backs of his hands to his elbow, white pants, and black leather combat boots.

Once he was ready – minus having food in his stomach – Seiryū began to gather the remaining equipment he had lying about. Grabbing Crota, his bow and arrows, Seiryū was just about ready to head out, though turned back to grab the light lilac scarf he kept in there. Last night he forwent wearing it, but he could make an exception for today. Tying the scarf at the back of his neck, such that it covered half his face; his cut barely exposed, the two ends of the scarf would be left to dangle behind his shoulders. Not bothering to fix up his hair, Seiryū immediately departed for the rendezvous point that was given to him and this medic from Kirigakure no Sato.

The hospital was a semi-familiar environment to Seiryū and as he stepped closer towards the building, he could make out figures stepping in and out of the building. His eyes were scanning for any hitai-ate from Kirigakure no Sato; or the sole female he knew from that village. It hadn’t taken too long to spot the familiar head of hair as he closed down the distance between himself and the hospital. His eyes trailed her figure like they had done numerous times before, taking in her appearance once more – two days had felt far too long. She looked like she was searching for someone and it was easily likely that it was him. Deciding to have a bit of fun in this situation, Seiryū deviated from his path; blending in with the crowd, taking a long curved route that would allow him appear by her side instead. Attempting to keep quiet, Seiryū would only speak once he was a few steps away from her. “Kitahara Keiko?” He poorly made an attempt to disguise his voice. When it would appear that he had Keiko’s full attention on him, particularly her eyes, he would speak up normally behind the scarf. “You know, if you wanted to see me again, you could have just asked instead of making it into a mission.” He clearly knew it was out of Keiko’s realm of control, but he’d try to have as much fun out of the situation as possible, before the actual mission portion began.


1614|1614 Total
Words Required for Mission: 1614/2500

Keiko

Keiko


D-rank
Maybe she could just leave before her tail got here. They wouldn’t be able to complain if she still managed to complete the mission on her own right? Keiko was quite certain that whoever was being placed to partner with her on this mission wasn’t here simply to help her out. It was without a doubt that they had additional orders to watch her, to ensure that she didn’t do anything that displayed ulterior motives, particularly motives that had to do with benefiting her own country. They were right to be cautious, Keiko would give them that. Though she wasn’t doing anything under the orders of her own village, she did have other intentions, which explained her eagerness to get this mission underway.

“Kitahara Keiko?” Just as she was convincing herself to just go on with the mission before her assigned partner arrived, a somewhat-familiar voice called out her full name. She couldn’t identify the voice based simply on the two words that was uttered, but for some reason she was under the impression that it wasn’t this person’s natural voice. Maybe it was how it was said, a bit carefully, as though concentration was being placed into vocalizing her name. Turning to her left to find the source of the voice, her breath caught in her throat as she spotted the familiar mane of silver-white hair. The other shinobi had his face covered with a scarf so that the only visible feature was his face, but there was no mistaking the lilac gaze that looked back at her. No way.

“You know, if you wanted to see me again, you could have just asked instead of making it into a mission.” Keiko laughed, a free sound that escaped from her easily and without reserve. Closing the distance between them in a few quick steps, she launched herself at him, pushing off the ground and throwing her arms around his neck. “Well how else was I going to get your attention? If you’re going to be busy with work, I might as well make myself part of your work.” She would reply smoothly, grinning. Noting that his voice was slightly muffled, she inspected the scarf around his face, finding that she quite enjoyed how it looked on him. It gave him an aura of mystery, and the light lilac color complimented his eyes – she didn’t think he would be the type to think about matching his outfit and features, but it looked as though she had underestimated him. “As much as I like this scarf … I hope it isn’t intended to stop me from doing this –“ Hooking a finger on the top of the scarf, she tugged it down past his mouth, eyes twinkling mischieviously. Once his lips were exposed, she would press hers gently against them, reminding herself of the wonderful feelings that came with kissing him.

After a brief moment, should Seiryū not reject the kiss before that, she would pull back, inspecting his face. Her eyes would immediately zero in on the relatively fresh wound on his cheekbone, concern clouding her eyes. “A few days of not seeing me, and you’re getting yourself hurt?” She teased, but even as she spoke she was inspecting the wound, also taking note of whatever other visible wounds she could find on him. As far as she was aware, none of the cuts were deep enough to pose a problem, but the one on his cheek would likely scar. “Do you want me to fix that?” No matter how close they were, Keiko didn’t want to go ahead and apply chakra unless permission was given. It was a line she wouldn’t cross unless it was absolutely necessary. Depending on his answer, she would or would not heal him with a basic D-rank techinque, closing up the wound and speeding up the process of cell growth to avoid a permanent scar.

After their initial greetings, knowing that she still had a mission to do, Keiko reminded herself firmly that she wouldn’t allow Seiryū presence to distract her from her goals – no matter how distracting he would end up to be, intentionally or not. This scarf was going to be a major issue; the lower she looked at it, the more attractive it was, enhancing the features on him that she was already infatuated with. Taking a step back, she attempted to turn the focus back on the mission. “So you saw the mission right? Of course you did, you’ll have to know what I’m doing in order to watch over me.” Keiko reached into her pouch, pulling out a small vial, containing a dark navy liquid. “This is a sample of the poison I removed from the third victim this morning, it’s likely related to a species of Hemlock – the genus Cicuta to be specific. Except I suspect it to be chakra-enhanced, or a plant grown under the influence of chakra, because it wasn’t ingested like it normally would need to be, it was introudced into the bloodstream, and still produced its deadly effects. Keiko paused, glancing at Seiryū to see if he was following. She didn’t expect him to be able to understand all of what she was saying, but it was information she felt like she should shared nonetheless.

Slipping the vial back into her pouch, she gave him a tap on the shoulder, Keiko began moving away from the hospital and towards the eastern exit of the village. “From what we know, the target enters and exits through the east – he probably does not reside in the village itself. But if it’s as I suspect and he does not produce the poison himself, he’ll need a nearby residence with the appropriate equipment to keep his supply fresh. Anything you have that can help narrow down the search?” She would finally be able to see Seiryū in action as well, a thought that was quite thrilling. Should Seiryū not be able to offer any suggestions, Keiko’s next plan would be to find someplace with a water source – something that wasn’t too abundant in the desert, and likely easy to narrow down. Cicuta was a water-based hemlock, and their target would require constant access to water in order to keep it alive.


1069 | 3102 Total

Seiryū

Seiryū


D-rank
The sound of Keiko laugh resonated in his ears, recognizing the familiar sound from their previous interactions. Seiryū, while not openly admitting to it, certainly missed being around Keiko – even if it had been two days. This infatuation was a bit much, that much he could declare, but for the limited time he would have with Keiko, he would take what he could get. Kirigakure no Sato’s summon of Keiko loomed over their – Keiko’s – heads and the moment it came would possibly spell the end of their time together, possibly for good. For that reason alone, Seiryū was more than open to admitting how much he enjoyed being around Keiko, and how much he relished in having Keiko in his arms.

Speaking of Keiko being in his arms, he only stumbled half a step backwards as Keiko propelled herself towards him. His limbs easily welcomed her in an embrace as she dangle slightly off the ground with her arms around his neck. “Well how else was I going to get your attention? If you’re going to be busy with work, I might as well make myself part of your work.” Seiryū would return the grin Keiko shot at him, not that she would be able to see it currently with his scarf in place. He only continued to watch Keiko as her eyes travelled from his to the scarf he currently wore, masking half his features. “As much as I like this scarf … I hope it isn’t intended to stop me from doing this –” Feeling a finger brush press against his skin and then the feel of his scarf being pulled down caught Seiryū slightly off guard, as he was still occupied simply watching Keiko’s features. Feeling the familiarity and intimacy that had been a common theme over their past few encounters, the shinobi of Sunagakure no Sato easily reciprocated the familiar sensation, albeit knowing to keep things more tame, as they were in public.

Knowing it had to end was both a pain and a relief; a pain because their intimacy was cut short and a relief that he wouldn’t be tempted to take things further. “A few days of not seeing me, and you’re getting yourself hurt?” He watch the concern begin to take over her features, a new kind of feeling arising inside of him. There hadn’t ever been an instance where anyone had been concerned over his well-being, especially not for a minor wound such as the one he had on his cheek. Seiryū’s grin only seemed to remain present after her light chastisement. “Had to pass the time somehow.” It was a quietly muttered reply, not meant to be entirely serious, as Keiko inspected the wound itself. He wasn’t a medical expert, wasn’t sure how badly it would scar – if it did. “Do you want me to fix that?” Knowing that she could easily fix it, if he simply agreed, Seiryū’s response to the question had been nothing more than a nod. Though once Keiko would actually begin healing the wound, he let his hand rest lightly against the small of her back. “And here I thought a battle wound would get me more than a simple healing technique.”

With his cheek wound healed, he let Keiko go as she stepped back, knowing that they couldn’t spend all day here. Well, they could… it just wouldn’t be optimal. Seiryū recalled briefly going over the documents, as he would need to make sure some assassin was captured or eliminated. Seiryū’s primary objective was to oversee the mission, but he knew the underlying message had been that the mission needed to be accomplished no matter what. He didn’t doubt Keiko’s abilities, thus he’d follow her initiative – this was her mission. Seiryū would be there to make sure nothing went wrong, and if Keiko wished to tackle it herself, he would allow her to. His intervention would only come in a situation where he knew the odds were working against Keiko. That is, if that was how she wanted to handle the mission.

His eyes scanned the vial she pulled out, not really registering all of it, but paying attention nonetheless. Seiryū could follow Keiko to a degree, though his knowledge on poisons and medicines, in general, was severely limited. The actual species of plant that it was flew over his head, the name being the only thing he could slightly recall.

Once Keiko put the vial back and gave his shoulder a tap, Seiryū was hot on her heels, easily catching up to her with his longer strides. “From what we know, the target enters and exits through the east – he probably does not reside in the village itself. But if it’s as I suspect and he does not produce the poison himself, he’ll need a nearby residence with the appropriate equipment to keep his supply fresh. Anything you have that can help narrow down the search?” He wasn’t too sure on the specifics of the plant, though knowing most plants required a constant source of hydration and Kaze no Kuni’s rather scarce supplies, Seiryū figured there could only be a select few places for their – Keiko’s – target to be located. Therefore, considering they also needed to head east, Seiryū could only assume the man would be housed close to one of the oases in that direction. There were only a couple located near the village itself and specifically to the east happened to be even less.

“Probably to the east then. A nearby oasis would provide him with access to water. Any further and you’re bordering on River Country. That would be too far to even consider.” Seiryū vaguely referenced as they had exited the village and began to make their way east. He knew the rough location of the oasis and it was unlikely he would need to utilize a sensory technique, lest the man hid away from the naked eye. On their journey to the Oasis, which wouldn’t be more than ten minutes away if walking, Seiryū would either continue on their path in a comfortable silence or making idle chatter. His missions were usually done solo, thus it had always been silent for him.

As they would near the oasis’s location, Seiryū would activate a sensory technique he acquired recently. His already fine-tuned senses honed in on the residual chakra traces left by individuals. Over the course of time there would be even more trails of chakra, but Seiryū ignored those and scanned mainly for any tracks – footprints – that were leading them away from the village and in the direction of the oasis. When he found a pair of constant tracks, that looked relatively fresh, he was prepared to dart off at a moment’s notice. “This way.” He would nod and gesture in the direction he assumed their target would be, waiting for Keiko to confirm that she believed in his intuition.


1178|2792 Total

Chakra: 300/320:

Keiko

Keiko


D-rank
There were benefits to being a medic-nin, she couldn’t bring herself to deny that now. Knowing a handful of healing techniques had come in handy over multiple occasions now, and the medical training and experience she was obtaining through volunteering in hospitals provided her with the skills necessary to provide support to her teammates. Not to mention the ability to heal herself was pretty nifty – with her current abilities, short of death and limited chakra, she was able to heal herself almost completely. Brushing his cheek with the back of her fingers, a soft glow would be visible as she channeled her signature hyōton chakra into the wound. It would feel unnaturally cold, almost to the extent of a frost-bite, but at the same time, the sound will close almost entirely, as her technique allowed her to clean wounds as much as one-inch deep. He would continue to feel the cold for another little while, but the wound would fade to a light pink scar, lasting no more than another day or so. As much as scars were attractive, Keiko couldn’t allow for one to scar his face, not if she still had a chance at getting rid of it. “There, I’ve restored your face to its full attractive potential.” She would add in a light tease, stepping back to focus on the mission.

Keiko wasn’t disappointed – Seiryū did have his own suggestion to add, and a valid one at that. “Probably to the east then. A nearby oasis would provide him with access to water. Any further and you’re bordering on River Country. That would be too far to even consider.” He had taken the information she provided him and condensed the relevant details, making connections to what he knew. Which happened to be a lot, given how he was much more familiar with surrounding lands than she was. Sure, Keiko had been confident about completing the mission on her own, but with Seiryū by her side, it would likely go by much quicker … unless his companionship also hindered their progress. Nodding in confirmation at his words, Keiko would follow at his pace, resisting the urge to grab on to his arm. They were on official business here, and if she was honest about it, her resistance to temptation was much weaker than his. And so as they walked, Keiko remained relatively silent, allowing herself to simply bask in his presence. It was still a strange coincidence that of all Sunagakure shinobi, he had been the one to be paired up with her, but she definitely had no complaints.

At some point, Seiryū appeared to have heightened his concentration – whether as a result of a chakra technique or not – seeming to look at their surroundings with increased intent. Realizing that he had found something worth noting, Keiko followed his gaze down to the footprints on the ground – a pair that seemed to be repeatedly following the same path, some fresher than others. It was strange that their target would be amateur enough to leave footprints … Either he was confident enough to take on any trackers, or he didn’t think anyone would be able to trace down his whereabouts. Nodding once more, Keiko moved with him, picking up the pace as she realized they were likely getting close to their target. Following the footprints would lead them just past an oasis, pushing past some greens that thrived off the moisture provided by the oasis. A small abandoned-looking house would emerge, the roof generally rotting and collapsed inwards. There was no door in sight, but a hole in the roof suggested that it was the only entrance as far as she could tell. Realizing the footprints ended before reaching the house only confirmed her suspicions. “He probably jumps from here up onto the roof, we’ll probably have to follow the same method of entry. Can you tell whether anyone is in there?”

Keiko was certain their target wouldn’t be in the house, he would’ve likely sensed that they were here by now. Either he wasn’t in the area at all, or he had retreated somewhere nearby, awaiting a moment to either flee or respond in an attack. But regardless of whether the target was in there, Keiko wanted to see inside the house, knowing that the conclusion she and Seiryū had come up with – that he stores his plants inside the house – was more than likely. It wouldn’t matter what Seiryū said, because Keiko would jump up onto the low roof anyways, her light weight not doing much to shift the rotting wood. Peering inside, her first thought was that it was relatively dark, with only slivers of sunlight penetrating through the cracks in the walls, or what remained of the windows. Slipping in, she would let go of the roof and drop into the house, landing lightly on her feet.

As her eyes began adjusting to the darkness, the soft whistle of an incoming blade had her shifting to the left, spinning around as she did so to see the edge of a broadsword lunging towards her, now moving sideways as it attempted to close the distance. Pushing off with her toes, Keiko would leap backwards, wincing as her movements resulted in a soft crashing sound as her back hit the corner of an obscured table. Glancing over her shoulder briefly to see what she ran into, Keiko’s eyes brightened as she spotted a tray of little white flowers, seemingly innocently out of place in the dreariness of the old house. “Oh, Sei, careful, his blade is probably coated with poison!” She would call out to her companion, who had most likely followed her in. For now she would let Seiryū engage the target, but knew that at some point, she would have to get some answers out of the poison-user before he was incapacitated.


993 | 4095 Total

Chakra: 270/280:

Seiryū

Seiryū


D-rank
Seiryū could still recall the cool tingling sensation of Keiko’s chakra healing the minor wound upon his skin. He hadn’t often been on the receiving end of medical techniques and past experience had told Seiryū that his body wasn’t attuned to medical based techniques like other individuals. It seemed that medical ninjutsu healed his wounds less so than if they were used on another person for a similar wound, thus Seiryū hadn’t had received much healing from iryō-nin. The amount of times Seiryū had been healed by another person’s chakra could be counted on one hand – something that was a common theme among Seiryū’s interactions with other people – and he knew how his body reacted to the intruding chakra. Keiko’s chakra would, however, be enough to heal the minor wound on his cheek, for the wound was more superficial than actually harmful; the comment about his face being ‘restored to its full attractive potential’ being more true than he’d care to admit. His own thoughts and perceptions didn’t care too much about a scar on his face, his body had a numerous amount, and so what was another one to him? Regardless, he had accepted Keiko’s offer to heal him to both keep his face clean of a minor scar and to still linger closer in her presence.

The silence between them wasn’t unbearable, it never was, but it seemed that something still lingered there from the last conversation they had. Yet, this particular silence wasn’t exactly as comfortable as the one they usually shared between them. Seiryū was unsure of if it was a direct effect of their more serious natured conversation or if it was the scenario they were presented in now. The mixing of pleasure and business wasn’t exactly an ideal, a reminder to Seiryū that he couldn’t exactly do as he wished around Keiko when they had an objective to reach and a murderer to eliminate. His thought pattern had diverted to accomplishing the mission as soon as possible, so that they could return to something a bit more normal for them. The sooner this was done, the faster he could put away the front of accomplishing the mission. Idle comments here and there wouldn’t hurt, but it still wouldn’t be like their other encounters, though those had been a whirlwind in themselves.

Finding the tracks had led them past some of the greenery that thrived from the oasis itself. The rundown shack, if one could even call it that, seemed to lack a roof. From what Seiryū could see the roof had given in, collapsing in on itself due to rotting and age. Seiryū kept the activation of his sensory technique going, trying to attune himself to the individual in their current environment. The way he and Keiko had arrived at the shack gave the impression there was no front entry to the building, though the roof would provide them with easy access as it was. He found that the footprints had stopped just a bit away from the shack itself, disappearing and providing the notion that the man had entered by the way of lack of rooftop. “He probably jumps from here up onto the roof, we’ll probably have to follow the same method of entry. Can you tell whether anyone is in there?” He certainly could agree that it was the easiest and most convenient method of entry, but Seiryū couldn’t be sure if it would be the safest route. From what he could tell thus far, he couldn’t exactly pick up movement inside the building. Either their target wasn’t here or he was and was stealthily locating himself inside. “I can only tell he entered from here. No signs of him recently leaving, unless he exited from the opposite side. He could still be inside for all I know”

Regardless of what Seiryū had said, Keiko had chosen to enter the building regardless. Watching Keiko land on the roof for a brief moment before choosing to drop down inside, Seiryū was only left with the option of following her inside. Thus, with only a second of delay, he would follow after the petit woman, though jumping directly inside instead of landing on the rotting rooftop. It seemed that the moment he landed was when a sword cut through the air, his eyes quickly attuning to the darker environment to spot the broadsword that had swung just a few feet away from him. With both hands instantly reaching for Crota, Seiryū was ready to dart off at the target, preferring to finish this as quickly as possible. He heard a light thud, instantly assuming it had been Keiko who had hit something. While he could see slightly in the darker environment, his eyes weren’t privy to a lot of his surroundings. Charging forward, swinging the right blade in his possession, Seiryū’s ears rung with the sound of metal meeting metal; his attack had been parried. “Oh, Sei, careful, his blade is probably coated with poison!” Not bothering to register the even shortened form of his name, he instantly took in the fact that their opponent’s blade was likely more deadly than it initially seemed to Seiryū. That fact would have been nice before he had been locked in direct combat with the opposing male.

With the free blade in his left hand, Seiryū took a wild swing in hopes that his opponent would back off for the time being. He did have something in mind, but it did require a bit of space and a fraction of time to actually perform. It seemed his wild swing was enough for his opponent to jump out of the way, backing up in the close quarter’s space all three of them had temporarily confined themselves to. Seiryū stepping back a step, took on a stance where both his hands held his blades parallel to one another. Swinging his right arm forward, such that it would arc forward, Seiryū pushed himself forward with his feet as his second sword would follow after the first. Chakra would surge through his weapons as his body would propel itself forward, Crota cutting through anything and everything that would come in its way. Whatever the end result was, Seiryū wouldn’t stop channelling the chakra through his weapons until he cut through the wall directly in his path. It was much more preferable, for him and Keiko, to fight in the open where they would have a ranged advantage – assuming his opponent was only good with close ranged-combat. Once sunlight would enter the building, Seiryū would stop the technique, but keep his body moving forward so he’d be back outside, hoping that his opponent followed him.


1142|3934 Total

Chakra: 270/280:

Keiko

Keiko


D-rank
It was nice not having to worry too much about her temporary comrade’s safety – although she still wasn’t fully aware of Seiryū’s capabilities, she knew enough to reassure herself that he would be fine with or without her help. The only tricky bit was avoiding the poison that undoubtedly coated the assailant’s sword, making close combat a rather dangerous tactic to be engaging in. Keiko knew Seiryū as a strong long-distance fighter, given his prowress over the bow and arrow, but in the corner of her eye, spotting his dual blades, it seemed as though he wasn’t limited to a single form of combat. Hoping that the poison-user would be distracted by Seiryū for a few more moments, Keiko reached into her pouch to slip on a pair of latex gloves and pull out a small glass jar. Eyeing the flowers, she would unscrew the lid of the jar before making her right hand into a cup-shape, scooping up a small plant by picking up the soil and roots, ensuring that she didn’t touch the flowers. Gloves or not, it was risky when she didn’t know the full potential of the plants, especially given how some of its properties deviated from what was known about water hemlocks.

The sound of old wood breaking apart alerted her to what Seiryū was doing, cutting a hole through the walls and penetrating out into the open, giving them a much more convenient way out. Already, their target was moving to close the distance, broadsword out and ready to engage Seiryū in combat once more, following exactly where Seiryū likely intended to lead him. An action he would have completed, had Keiko not interrupted, calling out an innocent question. “Hey, do you have any more poisonous plant specimens that you use? Can I see them?” That got his attention. Stopping in his tracks, the man would spin around to face Keiko. Now that more light had been let into the room, she could see that he had a small black mask that covered half his face, leaving only his narrowed dark eyes visible. He wouldn’t say anything, instead zeroing in on the jar that Keiko was now holding with one of the plants inside. Without a word, he would lunge at her, appearing to throw his broadsword – which was suddenly glowing with an orange light – to the right of her.

Keiko would shift slightly to the left, but the movement was unnecessary – his target wasn’t her. The katon-coated broadsword would hit the table behind her, setting fire to the dry wood and the plants that sat on it, effectively destroying the chance for Keiko to obtain any more. Slipping the jar into her pouch, Keiko ripped off the gloves on her hands, immediately transitioning to a series of hand seals – tiger, horse, rat. Just in time, she realized that the man was doing the same, as both their hands began glowing an electric blue. Of course, she shouldn’t have expected anything less. He had to be a medical specialist in order to properly extract and use the poisons. Blocking the first jab from his right hand that was aiming for her general torso, Keiko retaliated with her own right hand, aiming for his upper left arm. Despite having a strong dislike for close combat, Keiko recognized the difference in speed between them – the small difference allowing her to land a cut on his arm before he pulled away. With even just a small contact, the chakra scalpel she activated did the work for her, ripping through his arm muscles to significantly drop the functionality of that arm.

“From one medic to another, isn’t sharing caring?” She would chime, though she knew he likely wouldn’t give her the answers she wanted. Not yet. Moving forward, her left arm would raise up to block another incoming attack, aiming for his left side once more, now that there was an opening. Her attempt to strike at his lower torso was thawrted as he spun to one side, but Keiko continued to use the momentum of moving forward to duck downwards, aiming to – and succeeding at -  making a nice gash on his lower left leg, ripping through the tendons that allowed for movement. A grunt from the target was the only warning she had before his right hand came down on her, the still-activated chakra scalpel cutting into her left shoulder. Wincing, Keiko pulled out of the way as he dropped to one knee, temporarily unable to move. Unless she did something right away, he would likely be able to get up soon, whether through sheer willpower or a healing technique of his own. Medics capable of healing themselves in battle were quite formidable indeed.

Squatting in front of him, making sure to stay alert for any potential attacks – though the chakra from his hands had now disappeared – Keiko met his gaze with contempt. Cancelling her own chakra scalpel, Keiko would lift her right hand out in front of her, as though offering him something. Her palm would begin to glow blue, chakra condensing into a small sphere. Smiling ever so slightly, she would reach to touch the man on the chest, watching as his body unwillingly abosrbed the sphere, where he would begin to feel the effects immediately. “If you’re not going to share what you have, I guess I’ll start by sharing mine. What you’re feeling now are the beginning stages of hypothermia, except in greater effect, because I’m targetting your internal organs first. You have maybe … ten minutes before your body shuts down.” She would explain calmly, glancing around the room to see where Seiryū was. Keiko didn’t specify whether she would actually save the man if he gave her what she wanted, but that depended entirely on the information he would provide. Leaning in, the man provided her with nothing but silent defiance.

Twisting her nose in disappointment, Keiko sighed. “Seiryū, the mission said apprehension … so I assume we have to keep him alive?” She would ask her companion. If he said yes, she would suggest that they keep the man under her technique for a little while longer to fully incapacitate him. An unmoving body would be much easier to deal with. As far as she was concerned, the mission was completed – they had both stopped the killer and identified the poison … and there weren’t any regulations stopping her from studying the plant even further. Keiko was certain that she wouldn’t be able to do much with it in terms of usage, but at the very least, she would be able to expand her understanding of the poison.

-- Exit Thread --


1129 | 5224 Total

Mission (Dirty Tricks, Tainted Blood) - A rank
2500/2500 -- Mission Complete.

Training
Endurance A-1 -> A-3: 2450 words
Remaining words: 274

Chakra:



Last edited by Keiko on Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:33 pm; edited 1 time in total

Seiryū

Seiryū


D-rank
“Hey, do you have any more poisonous plant specimens that you use? Can I see them?” This woman… as much as he enjoyed spending time with her could be frustrating at the same time. For all its worth, Seiryū could have ended the man with ease and that would have allowed Keiko all the time in the world to gather what she actually needed. Instead, it seemed that she would’ve preferred to rather have her life on the line by going head to head with the man with a poisoned broadsword. As such, instead of Seiryū continuing his bout with the assassin and buying time for Keiko to filter through the man’s possession, she would instead be taking on the brunt of the man’s assault. Thus, before Seiryū could even do or say anything in reply to Keiko’s actions, the masked assassin turned his attention off Seiryū and lunged towards Seiryū’s companion. Releasing a sigh, Seiryū figured he’d wait and see for a moment before charging back inside the building blindly. For while there was light, there wasn’t enough for one to actively look around and be aware of their surroundings.

It took a moment, but a certain smell caught his olfactory system off-guard. A second or two passed before the smell truly registered for Seiryū, easily identify the smell as something burning; and in this case it was likely one of the wooden structures that stood within the four walls of the building. Hearing the sounds of a small battle still occurring just a few meters away from him, Seiryū debated running back inside and helping out Keiko with her bout, though at the same time was thinking she was more than capable of defending herself and apprehending said target with ease. Ultimately, Seiryū decided that he’d just wait it out and see how Keiko fared and if she would actually need his aide against the sole assassin. If he was honest with himself, Seiryū felt Keiko stood a better chance than himself against their opponent, for she’d be able to heal herself from the poisons while Seiryū’s only way of avoiding the poison was to avoid getting hit at all.

It seemed it all came to an end rather quickly, for he heard a slight thud, sounding as if someone had fallen to the ground, not completely, but enough to be immobilized. Not taking any chances, Seiryū rushed forward once more, ready to strike if the need arose. Instead of finding the worst possibly scenario, Seiryū was granted with the sight of Keiko having her palm glowing and touching the man’s chest, letting him know she was utilizing a technique of some sort to incapacitate the male. She was talking to the man, yet getting no reply out of him, thus she sighed and turned her attention his way. “Seiryū, the mission said apprehension … so I assume we have to keep him alive?” As far as he was concerned, both options had their own merits. Bringing the man back alive could allow them to gain vital information, while killing him here and now would just rid them of the man’s presence for an eternity.

“May as well bring him in. The interrogation department can determine if he’s worth keeping alive or not.” He’d wait until the man was fully unconscious before stepping up to him, wary of the man potentially playing along and actually having chakra running in his systems. Instead, it too a few more minutes until the man was completely knocked out that Seiryū would step up to him and haul him over his shoulder. “You may want to get patched up.” Seiryū would lightly chide before they would begin making their way back to the village.


-Exit Thread-
636|4270 Total

Mission Requirement
A-Rank Mission: 2500/2500 Words

Training Senjutsu (+10% Word Count - Kōga Clan Drawback):
C-Rank -> B-Rank: 1235 + 1770 = 3005/7700 Words

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Naruto Saga » Kaze no Kuni » Sunagakure » Excavation Site » Dirty Tricks, Tainted Blood [Mission | Private | Invite Only]

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