Daraku stood in the calamity that was the Suna Hospital, looking around at the distressed patients and equally distressed medical ninja as he wondered how he would manage this. Thing was, he needed a human heart. An actively beating one, at that...for what, exactly? He had gotten into another less-than-reputable situation with a rogue ninja. The deal was that if he gave the chick a human heart that was still beating, she would give him the info he needed on the location of his grandmother. Ah, Fuiyoka Ishido, the woman who he blamed all his problems on, to an extent. She may have been his kin, but he wanted to kill her more than anything for ruining the clan. If she had never left, both halves of it would still be in Sunagakure, and everything would be normal. But, instead, he was alone with the rest of the Seekers, part of a clan divided. He wanted to correct that, at all costs.

So naturally, Daraku agreed to the deal, not worrying about the victim whose heart would be taken but rather about how long it would take before he could leave Sunagakure to go kill her. The best place to get hearts was his easiest choice; the hospital. It would be a stealth-type of objective of course, nobody would see him take the heart; if they did, he would surely be arrested or killed. He stood in the middle of an intersection of halls, many people passing left and right, and he finally took a deep breath before approaching the front desk woman. "Hey, I'm Ishido Daraku, I'm here to visit my..uhm, close friend. She is in for a heart transplant?"

The receptionist looked at him with a skeptical expression before thumbing through the records and pulling one out, looking carefully at it with her beady eyes. "Do you mean Ms. Wazashi here?" Daraku took the file and looked at the woman; apparently, she had a perfectly working heart that was recently transplanted, but her body was rejecting it, and she needed another. Target acquired.

"Yes, that's her. Room...23C. I'll go see her now." and Daraku walked off before the receptionist could respond. This should be interesting; the girl's body was rejecting the heart, so he would need to make sure he got there before the doctors who were performing the subsequent transplant did. He turned a corner and noticed a room labeled 14A, and then activated his kekkei genkai, becoming a dark silhouette before walking through a wall and disappearing completely. The experience of passing through objects was always about the same; it was extremely dark, but the sounds echoing through the wall guided Daraku to the other side. He exited, now in a different wing of the hospital, and next to him was room 18C. At least he was in the right wing; now he needed the correct room.

Daraku looked around for a bit, making sure that there were no working medical-ninja around. When he judged the hall as clear, to his standards, he spotted room 19C to his left, and began to continue down that way. 20C was next, of course, and 21 followed, and soon enough he was at 23C. A quick peek inside, and he saw the woman, Ms. Wazashi. She was a sight; though frail and thin, most likely from her body's heart rejection, she held a perfect expression of peace, complete with unburdened eyes, and a soft smile. She breathed quietly as she napped. Another glance behind him, and Daraku closed the door as he entered, sitting next to the girl. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "I'm sorry I have to kill you." He wasn't, but if she could hear him in her unconscious state, it would reassure her, in the very least.

The swordsman's blade skid against its sheathe as he drew it, and he pulled open her hospital gown. Her supple breasts sat on her chest, but he ignored them, as there were more important things afoot. He carefully dug the blade into her skin, using his clear knowledge of human anatomy to pinpoint the exact patch of skin and muscle that laid over the heart. He entered, pulling the muscle and tissue out of the way, until there was a crater in her chest with the heart at the center. He excavated the "treasure" in its bloody glory, and it continued beating in his hand. He carefully charged medical chakra into his hand and wrapped it around the heart, keeping it stable. This jutsu wouldn't last forever, so he needed to get out and get the heart to the woman fast, or the heart would stop beating and become useless to whatever ritual the rogue ninja needed it for.

Daraku gripped the heart gently as he phased through the wall next to him. The sound of footsteps from behind immediately flooded his ears, and he panicked. Crap, shit, fuck, ass, how the hell am I gonna hide...!?" he thought to himself before phasing back into the wall. He couldn't stay in there forever, because he couldn't maintain his kekkei genkai forever without a serious, almost lethal strain on his chakra pathways. Hopefully the medics passed quickly, or he'd have a mortal dilemma. The footsteps grew louder and louder, and his heartbeat pounded as loudly, vibrating through the walls that enclosed him. Suddenly, there was silence. He stepped out of the wall, and the corridor was empty. He had gotten quite lucky! He turned to run down the hall and as he turned the corner, he collided with a man, and they both fell to the ground. The beating heart found its way out of his grip, and rolled onto the ground, spattering blood around.

The doctor looked at Daraku (though he was unrecognizable, his skin, hair, and eyes were all pitch black and he looked like a shadow), and Daraku held eye contact. A nurse behind them screamed, and the doctor stood up, creating a chakra scalpel with his hand. They were looking to kill Daraku, they probably thought he was a monster! He needed to get out, and fast. He picked up the heart, which by some miracle had managed not to get bruised, and sprinted through the doctor's body. His heartbeat was going full speed and it was pounded against his ribcage hard, and the heart in his hand seemed nearly in sync with his own. Medical-ninja seemed to be appearing left and right, trying to intercept him, until finally he was surrounded by around 20 of them. He could feel his kekkei genkai wearing off, so walking through a wall wasn't an option. He hurriedly pulled the sash from his waist and wrapped it around his face so that he wasn't recognizable.

Daraku held his blade out in front of him defensively. The medics were closing in, all using chakra scalpels or other medical jutsu, most likely targeting his nerves so he couldn't escape once struck. He needed a plan, fast. He feinted a swing at the first ninja to his left, before doubling back and kicking the one behind him, and performing full 360 spin, slashing most of the medics around him. One managed to hit him with a chakra scalpel, leaving a deep gash across his back, and he fell to his knees. He wasn't giving up, using a foot sweep to knock the assailant down and gain an advantage, slashing forward to the next medic in front of him. With an opening present after that target's fall, Daraku ran over the fallen men, sprinting to the window at the end of the hall. He broke through it, gripped the windowsill, and slid down to the awning below. Luckily he was only on the 2nd floor, so it wasn't bad when he impacted. He hopped off of the awning, landing in the sand with a thud.

"That was close. Now I just gotta find that woman..." almost as soon as Daraku said those words, the rogue ninja appeared, holding out her feminine hand.

"Hand it over. You've done well." Daraku smirked and handed her the heart, still beating even after that battle. She smiled at it, and brought it close to her mouth. Before Daraku could realize what she was doing, she bit into the heart, and continued to feed on it hungrily, blood dripping from her mouth and the organ with every bite. When she finished, Daraku stared at her in amazement.

"You just devoured a human heart."

"I know, I was there. It's a delicacy, a gift of desire brought upon me by my clan, the Dākuchairudo." Daraku had never heard of that clan, nor of their cannibalistic tendencies, but the woman's hitai-ate held Kumogakure no Sato's emblem with a line straight through it, so they must have been native to Kaminari no Kuni. The heart wasn't just a delicacy, either; the woman now stood taller than before, with a blood-smeared grin and pronounced muscles.

"So eating hearts makes you stronger?"

"Yes, you could say that. But I really needed it to fix a terminal kidney problem, and now I feel much better. Thank you...now, let's discuss the location of your grandmother, Fuiyoka." Daraku smiled and nodded, and they walked off into the night.

"So now that I've done your dirty work, you'll need to explain a few things. Who are you, and why couldn't you just get re heart yourself?"

The woman gave him a sideways glance as she thought for a moment. "My name is Dākuchairudo, Mahe. I hail from Kumogakure no Sato, but I defected many years back after killing to feed my clan's gift. Since then, I've fallen ill, a disease affecting my kidneys, and therefore I've been weak, which is why I couldn't retrieve a heart for myself."

Daraku nodded, accepted her reply as truth. It seemed like an fair reason, he assumed that if she didn't eat hearts she would suffer some sort of consequence. His next question escaped his lips. "How do you know about my clan, more specifically the Pursuers?" Mahe's hair flapped wildly as a gust of wind blew past.

"I spent a time in Konoha just after defecting, and I found those Ishido of the Pursuer Branch to be very annoying. They eventually ran me out of Konoha after my trail of bodies was discovered, which is why I came here, to the Seekers' Branch here in Sunagakure, where murder is more tolerated, at the very least. And look who I happened to run into! Patriarch Tsurugi's son, the famed bladesman by the name of Daraku! I figured you'd be a great asset to me in finding a heart to feed on. And you certainly were."

"Then on to the most important question; how can I find my grandmother so that I can kill her?"

Mahe took a pause before looking into Daraku's eyes. "The Pursuers have a clan hideout up in the forestland surrounding Konohagakure. It's northeast of the village gate, atop a large bluff surrounded by greenery. It's hidden well, but you can easily track it down if you follow the small river that spans the bluff. It will take you straight there." Daraku nodded, as he made a mental note of this. Following the river would lead him to vengeance.

"Good. Now, I must return to the Ishido Castle. It's getting late...I trust I'll see you again?"

"Yes, of course. I owe you a debt, and to repay it, I'll be your informant. Go to the Meeting Cactus whenever you need assistance; it will be our designated rendezvous point. You may take your leave." Daraku gave the woman a pleasant smile before walking off down the road toward his home.

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Training Medical Ninjutsu C > B
Word Count: 2,012/2,000