Kagerou's Time-Skip I [pre-SR] [DONE]

[HeadlessKoko]

Hospital... places and... blargh. Look, I'm just making this thread to have somewhere for Kagerou to grind if I get around to it. I wouldn't even be surprised if I end up having this thread transition through multiple different medical facilities >>; . Actually, maybe I'll utilize flashback missions and... Gah. I dunno. I'll figure something when I start actually writing.

For reference:
D-Rank: 0100 Ryo :: 0200 AC
C-Rank: 0200 Ryo :: 0400 AC
B-Rank: 0400 Ryo :: 0800 AC
A-Rank: 0800 Ryo :: 1600 AC

Title: Diagnosis
Rank: E
Information: Diagnosing the correct problem makes further work easier, and sometimes leads to almost no work at all! Frequent diagnostic tools include a stethoscope, an enhanced lens, a small hammer, a large padded counter to sit patients on, and a myriad of other day to day items. Also includes day to day paperwork, for when there are no available patients.
Solo or Squad: Solo
Minimum Posts: 3
Note: If followed by or before Purification, treat Diagnosis as a D-rank mission.

Title: Purification
Rank: D
Information: Always an important first step (and last), this involves thoroughly cleaning all tools, clothing, and people involved. Performing even when not needed ensures lower infection rates after interacting with patients.
Solo or Squad: Both
Minimum Posts: 4
Note: If followed by or before Diagnosis, treat Diagnosis as a D-rank mission.

Title: Assist the Hospital
Rank: D
Information: The hospital has been swarmed with patients as of late. You, a medical ninja, have been hired to help cure the minor cases.
Solo or Squad: Solo
Minimum Posts: 4
Note: Medical class ninja only. Bonus: 100 AC.

Title: Assist the Hospital
Rank: C
Information: The hospital has been swarmed with patients as of late. After doing such a good job helping out with the minor cases you've proven your worth as such the hospital has decided to allow you to help out with the more difficult cases.
Solo or Squad: Solo
Minimum Posts: 3
Note: Medical class ninja only. Bonus: 300 AC.

Title: Assist the Hospital
Rank: B
Information: Now it’s time to get serious, now that you have proven yourself as a medical shinobi the hospital has trusted you to help with the more serious and possibly deadly cases. Even a surgery here and there.
Solo or Squad: Solo
Minimum Posts: 3
Note: Medical class ninja only. Bonus: 500 AC

Title: Assist the Hospital
Rank: A
Information: Having proven yourself as an expert medical shinobi, the hospital has decided to place you in charge of the emergency wing of the hospital. Congratulations, now you have to help with every major surgery that comes through your doors!
Solo or Squad: Solo
Minimum Posts: 4
Note: Medical class ninja only. Performing this mission, they are granted an additional 400 AC if they opt out of Ryo payment.
 

[HeadlessKoko]

Resting in the lobby of the Arashigakure hospital, Kagerou leaned against an open window, taking in the fresh air. Her hair had grown long once again, and years had passed since we last saw her. However, as always, she still had a gentle smile resting on her features. The wind passed through the bells on her wrist, shaking their ringing to life. A small tune came humming from between her closed lips, as she took this moment of peace to think back…

After the Sero incident and Inka's strange behavior, Kagerou had really thrown herself into the medical work. She spent every day in the hospital helping out in whatever way she could. A lot of times, that meant diagnosing patients. [1/2; Diagnosis]

A laugh escaped her lips as she remembered that one patient. He'd come in complaining that his sprain, which he had self-diagnosed because "I'm a ninja, I know my injuries," wasn't healing properly. Kagerou only needed to take a look at it to know that it wasn't a sprain but a full-on broken leg. [2/2] [22 surgery]

Impressive as the man was to continue walking on such a leg, and to continue refusing to believe it was broken even after being told so, Kagerou did have to treat the injury. She set about moving the man to another room, a minor operating room. He complained, of course. [1/3; Purification]

Kagerou just turned a deaf ear to the complaints as she wheeled him away. He continued to bicker as she prepared her work area, cleaning her hands and putting on gloves. She requested the nurse to bring in a cast and some operating equipment. [2/3]

No doubt the man would have been long gone if hadn't been threatened with a force suspension if he didn't take treatment. However, he stayed nice and still while his leg was prepared, sterilized with an alcohol formula. The only thing that moved was his mouth, but boy did it move. [3/3] [23 surgery]

The man had been told he needed to take an anesthetic. However, he refused it and refused to hear any counterarguments. Kagerou's smile faltered at this part of the memory. [1/4; Assist the Hospital D]

The broken bone had already begun healing, healing wrong that is. It needed to be re-broken and re-set. The man had been a cheerful memory up until this point. [2/4]

There was something to say about his tenacity. Not a single scream was heard throughout the treatment. He kept his mouth wrapped firmly around the towel and the most Kagerou would hear were the grunts. [3/4]

It wasn't the noise that bothered her, but the lack of it. The man stared stoically ahead throughout the treatment. He had been well-trained, and while Kagerou had been trained in the same manner by her own family, to see this inhumanly blank expression in the face of severe pain made her wonder even as she calmly set the bone into its proper place and placed the cast upon it. It was a common question for her back then: How do I balance the strength and duties of a ninja with the compassion and obligations of a medic? [4/4] [24 surgery]

Painful treatments were often unavoidable, but that didn't mean that Kagerou could give them without feeling anything. It didn't affect her work, calm as she was, but when it was all over and the cast was set, she had to check in on the man. [1/2; Diagnosis]

He was fine. That blank expression melted away and the man was back to ranting like nothing had happened. With the leg in a cast, aside from the man's mental state, there wasn't much else she could check. [2/2] [25 surgery]

That meant there was just cleaning left to do. Kagerou gave the cast a final wipe down just to be sure. Actually, this wasn't necessary, but she wanted to keep the man in the room for just a little longer. [1/3; Purification]

Why? Because he was a hard-head who had walked around with a sprain for over a week. She couldn't just trust a couple minutes of ranting as enough proof that the cast wasn't causing some sort of discomfort. Well, discomfort outside of the usual. [2/3]

Kagerou hadn't expected the cleanup and momentary detainment of the man to clear up her heart, out of all things. While Kagerou methodically went through the post-operation clean up with the man in the room, his banter became more casual. He began to joke, and seeing that… somehow eased Kagerou's misgivings. When he returned to complaining about how the cast was such a pain to deal with, Kagerou asked if it gave him any noticeable discomfort, to which he actually responded with a serious answer, that no, it was actually already starting to hurt less. Somehow, that admittance… eased Kagerou's worries about what she was trying to achieve. [3/3] [26 surgery]

What was she trying to achieve then? The Kagerou of the present thought to herself. Well, it was hard to put a finger on. Even now, she couldn't quite put a single finger on her goals. It required both hands. In concept, it was simple: to help. However, "helping" was complicated in its very simplicity. Sometimes, to help meant to inconvenience another, but that wasn't the main reason why Kagerou had felt such concern at the man's soulless expression as he went through the torture of getting his leg re-set. It was what could someone who could create such a face could do against an enemy. Even receiving the full gratitude by helping one could mean spelling the end for another…

It was an emergency this time. Open wounds, pouring blood. Nurses were already working to temporarily staunch the blood and replenish it while surgical assistants worked double-time to sterilize the operation room that the patient rested in. [1/3; Purification]

As part of the regular surgical team now, Kagerou had been called in to the ER to perform emergency operations. She was already sterilized after seeing to the last patient. However, she needed to run through the process again to make sure none of the blood and other biological matter from the previous patient reached the new one. [2/3]

Old gloves off, wash hands, new gloves on, a change of clothes. At least she didn't need a full shower. Well, she probably should have, but there was no time. After this patient, there was no doubt another. [3/3] [27 surgery]

Kagerou entered the room, and as the medical nin on duty, she was assigned to confirm the diagnosis made by the ER. Her eyes perceived nothing outside of what the medical team had already mentioned, Thought, that wasn't why she was asked. [1/2; Diagnosis]

Kagerou ran the diagnosis technique across the body of the patient. Yes, it was as confirmed. Shrapnel pieces within his body, some lodged in vitals that needed to be taken out asap. [2/2] [28 surgery]

The moment Kagerou confirmed the diagnosis and stepped back, the surgery commenced. Shrapnel removal was a simple enough process. If Kagerou was to use her medical techniques, she could have it done in minutes, but she needed to preserve her strength for the long knight she had ahead. [1/3; Assist the Hospital C]

The more experienced surgeons stepped forward, their experienced hands needed to properly handle the patient's body. One wrong move could mean his death with the placement of the shrapnel. Kagerou stood on standby, working as a third pair of hands to assist the main two. [2/3]

At one point in the operation, the second in command was required to see another patient. All the other surgeons were too busy. Kagerou calmly stepped in to take his place, and remained steady and reliable all the way to the end of the operation. [3/3] [29 surgery]

As soon as the operation finished, Kagerou was left alone. The team leader had to go and handle another patient. Kagerou, who had reached a point where she was visibly tired even before this surgery, was ordered to clean up and then go and rest. [1/3; Purification]

She couldn't argue against such orders and she set to cleaning up the patient. Much as she wanted to help, assisting in her semi-muddled state could do more harm than good. It was better if she rested for a short nap and then rejoined the fight to save lives in the hospital. If the reports held any truth, this string of patients was just going to continue. [2/3]

Ninjas and their superhuman recovery rates. Kagerou had just finished swabbing the last of the blood that had spilled on the operation table despite the best efforts to keep everything clean when the patient woke up and leapt straight into action. She intentionally blocked his way and gave him a good, hard stare as she put the rag away. [3/3] [30 surgery]

The patient waited patiently as he impatiently tapped his foot. Kagerou diagnosed him and asked a few questions. He responded. Everything seemed good to go, and the threads used to stitch his wounds were the variety imbued with chakra that hastened self-recovery, made to efficiently send shinobi back into a fight not long after they've finished their surgery. It was only used during emergencies, like now. Kagerou released him, and she saw him run out to find out what he could do to help. [1/1; Diagnosis] [31 surgery]

That patient was only fulfilling his duty when he went out to end the lives of the enemy, just like Kagerou had fulfilled her purpose to heal him. Still, when Kagerou stepped out into the aftermath of the skirmish and saw all the bodies, she had to wonder how many of people she had healed managed to kill even more because she had tended to them. Alas, she had always known about this dilemma. Her own parents killed for a living, if Kagerou really had to put it that way. Just… stepping out of that makeshift temporary hospital and right into the actual results… It really put things into perspective, and Kagerou had to bear that guilt no matter how many injured enemies she had managed to treat and save that day. Of course, it was under the watchful eyes of the higher ranks, and all such enemies were taken away by prisoners. Was it even right to treat them? Well, she thought so. The battle was over, after all.

(OOC: Actually, you know what? I don't like how I'm writing this. Gonna start from the beginning. Too much of a p***k to continue, but too much of a shameless pile of turd to just let these training posts go to waste. By all means, they still happened… I'm just go for a different angle of narrating what occurred to Kagerou during the time skip.)

Totals from this post. . .
Missions: +10 surgery medical jobs

D Rank :: 9
• Diagnosis [Surgery] [100 ryo; 200 AC] x4 (400 ryo; 800 AC)
• Purification [Surgery] [100 ryo; 200 AC] x4 (400 ryo; 800 AC)
• Assist the Hospital [Surgery] [100 ryo; 300 AC] x1 (100 ryo; 300 AC)
C Rank :: 1
• Assist the Hospital [Surgery] [200 ryo; 700 AC] x1 (200 ryo; 700 AC)

AC: 2600 AC
Ryo: 1100 ryo  

[HeadlessKoko]

It was the zombies again. Those weird, wooden zombies that appeared right before Kirigakure flooded. Kagerou braced herself as she slashed through one, her passing strike setting the thing aflame. That didn't quite make sense, but it made itself make sense to her mind. Besides, she was too busy withstanding that far too human shriek that ripped through the form of the burning body. She grimaced and flinched at the sound but turned around to finish the job anyways. This was her job… It was her job to…

The monster turned and Kagerou saw her father's face, burning in the flames as the monster's wooden exterior broke up. There was another scream, Kagerou's own, as she ran forwards to the father she had just certainly killed. Again, logic was suspended. while the unearthly screaming from the monster continued, she saw her father smile quietly. He cast a single hand sign as his eyes bled and his body burst into black flames. Kagerou hugged the burning body of wood and flesh anyways. She was crying. She ever so rarely cried. Then there was nothing, not even ash. She was hugging herself. All alone.

Yet one was never alone in their dreams, unless that was the point of the dream. Of course, after the wooden zombie, it had to be woman of riddles, and right on cure, a woman nailed to a cow, the stitches that pierced her gaping maw bleeding as they were pulled tight in the tender but pale skin, walked up to Kagerou. Except, when she looked again, it wasn't a woman. It was Shadow. Shadow, with black voids as his eyes, his arms stretched and broken unnaturally so that they could be pinned to the legs of the cow. He was bleeding. He was dead, but somehow still talking. No, not talking, wailing. He made monstrous wails through that open, bleeding mouth and before Kagerou could run to release his disfigured form, for whatever good it would do, ropy shadows consumed him. They built up, knocking Kagerou down and to the side.

She was beginning to understand, and she stood up. The very fiber of her being shook, but she kept a tight grip on herself, both mentally and physically. Well, technically it was all mentally, even the hand that curled itself tightly around the other arm. In front of her, unexpectedly, Kagerou saw Takeda. Then she noticed the black streaks that ran down each eye and it was back to what she had thought. He looked normal for the first few seconds and then his mouth shuttered open. His flesh turned wooden and a root erupted from below, fused with his legs, and raised him to towering heights where he swung about creepily like a monstrous snake. It waited for a strike that never came, and before long, it disappeared, fading into the recesses of Kagerou's sub-subconscious mind.

She met other visions after that. A body missing half its limbs constantly shifting through the faces of various people Kagerou knew: her uncles, the old man next door, Nozomi, Jack, Shadow, Takeda, Kaneko, Akoto, her grandparents. An all-consuming wave of darkness, composed entirely of the grotesquely disfigured faces and bodies of Kumotake and Sukoso. There wasn't much rhyme or reason to who was chosen for each memory, just that it would be people that Kagerou would feel a strong emotional impact upon seeing killed and tortured, of which there were many. The last was her mother, standing in a field of darkness. A flower of red and gold adorned her hair. As always, she looked beautiful, and bore a smile that shone peacefully in the gloom that held so much violence. Kagerou paused at the sight, wondering what would happen here. She was done after seeing Jack's island, wasn't she? In this dream, she couldn't remember any other trauma. Will she see her mother turn into a monster like the rest or was this dream going to end with her mother trying to kill her?

While Kagerou meant to pause, her body continued moving separate her own will, and only stopped when it was standing in front of "mother." "Mother" lovingly cupped Kagerou head in her own hands. It was when the tears of red and gold began to fall, when the eyes shifted colors, that Kagerou remembered what she had forgotten in her dream. That was right, there was one more new nightmare to add to her collection. "Mother" smiled, revealing noticeable canines that she had never had before, and the comforting two-handed cup shifted into a choking one-handed grip upon Kagerou's neck. "Pompous b***h," the now man's face cursed at Kagerou. Kagerou stared in horror as she began to remember only as her own body acted. It plunged a hand into the Inka's chest, weak plant matter and not flesh giving way to her violation of his body.

Kagerou was shaking, shaking in fear and terror, as the memories flooded back, and the dream took a hold of her once again. The Inka before her melted. No, it rotted, slowly peeling and then liquidating away into a mass of semi-permeable brown goo that left behind a bleeding flower. When Kagerou looked up from the flower, she saw a sea of pods on all sides. Pods like back then, but their smooth faces now bore the resemblances of familiar faces. Kagerou ran to one that bore the face of her mother, and having been stripped of reason by her dream, punched, clawed, and did everything she could to it to release her mother from within. She could swear that she could hear and feel someone doing the same from within, trying everything within their power to free themselves until… Until it ceased, stopped in the same way that someone would take their last breath. She was too late. Kagerou was too late.

She looked up and saw Inka, just Inka as he had appeared back then in the Mizukage's office. It was a memory this time, the memory of him trapped and sealed within some intricate fuuinjutsu Kagerou knew nothing about. Then the memory veered away from what had really happened as the trapped Inka looked to Kagerou with lifeless eyes and she felt a rush of guilt fill her. That entire time, she knew nothing about anything. The last time there had been a crisis in the office, Inka had full control of the situation, but when she was placed into the same position he was in, she couldn't even say that she was confident in the safety of the genin that had found themselves attracted to the office.

"Pompous b***h." The words returned and echoed. They echoed endlessly and Kagerou saw the shadows stir. They were in the landscape of Jack's island, again, but there was a large dome that could be seen high up in the sky where cracks that leaked water were forming. The blankly staring Inka remained present and trapped. Kagerou shouted as the shadows snapped to life and the barrier cracked, wrapping Inka in their icy holds. It wasn't just Inka she screamed for. It was for the Mizukage and therefore he who represented her village and home, everything she knew, loved, and cared for.

That was all. The end of the dream

Kagerou's eyes snapped open. She could feel her pulse racing, her breathing keeping pace, and the sweat upon her brows. She didn't really need to bring her fingers up to her neck to tell that, but she did anyways out of habit. It took about a minute for her rates to calm down, to which Kagerou released a pent up groan. It was another nightmare. She hadn't had one for almost a year, but the recent Halloween events had stirred them back awake. More importantly, she needed to shorten the time it took for her to calm down. About a minute to reset her pulse to a normal rate simply wasn't anywhere near good enough.

In the dark of night, Kagerou turned over and cuddled further into her sheets as she looked over at her clock. Hopefully she'd have a little bit mo- Nope. She picked herself up from her bed and gave a big yawn when she saw the time. It was already 3AM. She needed to get a light breakfast, do some self-study on seals, and then meet her uncle at 4:30 for that training she asked for.  

[HeadlessKoko]

The nightmare certainly wasn't giving Kagerou any pleasant thoughts as she sat down at the dining table and took advantage of her dad being busy in the kitchen to steal a slice of his toast. She nommed at it while highly dissatisfied with her current state of mind.

Her dad came out of the kitchen sipping some tea and leaned against the door frame when he saw Kagerou eating his toast. "That's your mother's toast, you know?"

Kagerou spit out that toast faster than Takeda could get himself hurt on any given day and smiled not only guiltily but also blankly, but in a very self-concerned kind of way.

The reveal came ever so innocently, "I lied." It was even before Kagerou could start sputtering for an antidote, how nice of her father.

Kagerou stared at her father, her smile clearly showing that she was in no way amused.

He took a sip of his tea.

Wait for it…

Then the man, who hadn't moved since leaning against the door frame slipped and fell. He did so quite splendidly, too. Taking down the dish rack with him and, somehow, a set of pots and pans further in the kitchen also fell from where they hung.

Kagerou's eyes relaxed and she looked very pleased at the "revenge." Though, it wasn't like she had done anything to cause it.

Miraculously, the tea had somehow survived, and Suigetsu, splayed about as he was, took another sip of it before revealing, "It's a trap."

That's when the stomach pains hit Kagerou and she rushed to the bathroom.

"I'm ever so sorry to report this to you, oh venerable Kage-sama, but I'm also building my immunities?" the ever so caring father shouted after his daughter. He even caringly snickered at the end.

From the bathroom, Kagerou could hear her father pick himself up, mostly because he yelped in pain for some reason.

After that accident, though, he must have activated his sharingan to clean up and avoid any further accidents because there were no indications of any further accidents. Like a good father, Suigetsu checked on his daughter 5 minutes later, asking if she needed the antidote. He got a weak negative as the answer, mostly because she didn't think she'd be able to swallow it in the first place. He checked in again on Kagerou another 5 minutes later. After that, 10 minutes passed before he knocked on the bathroom door one last time for this morning to let Kagerou know that he was leaving for work. There was also breakfast for her in the oven, and she didn't have to worry about mixing it up with Kyoka's because her mother was still out on a mission.

Kagerou mumbled a goodbye from the toilet bowl in between letting out dry heaves.

When she finally left the bathroom ten minutes later, Kagerou still wasn't in any mood to eat. She took the breakfast her dad made her, it was western-style with toast like his own, and packed it as her lunch. For the morning, she forced herself to drink a fruit and dairy smoothie topped with copious amounts of granola at least. She would regret going to her uncle on an empty stomach, otherwise.

As the meal was quite on-the-go, Kagerou took it with her into her room and drank/ate it while studying various fuuinjutsu inscriptions. She reviewed the basics first, confident in her ability to retain knowledge but humble in understanding that she'd only started studying this field in earnest a few days ago. It had been a wholly devoted few days, though. Kagerou had spent every waking moment on training something, and particularly on studying fuuinjutsu. She was determined to, by the end of this month, reach a point where she could research fuuinjutsu, a goal that was at once ludicrous and one that she was fast approaching at prodigious speed. Of course, her maternal grandparents would only say that such speed is only to be expected. [Learn Fūnyū no Jutsu [ Enclosing Technique ], Kaifū no Jutsu [ Unsealing Technique ], Korabo Kuchiyose no Jutsu [ Collaborative Summoning Technique ], Kaifūjutsu • Usuimon [ Unsealing • Rainwater Gate ]]

the infuriatingly humbling words, and the was describing them in a positive light, came back to haunt Kagerou as she turned to the next section, and they remained, distracting her until she couldn't take it anymore and slammed an open palm onto her desk. The slap and the ringing of metal, she wore her bells even now, that resounded through her quiet room helped a little bit in clearing her mind. She still needed a short break, though, so she leaned back in her chair.

She looked like she was thinking, but there wasn't much thinking to do here. She'd thought about those words, full of hate but little substance, as much as she needed to. In no way did they dictate who she was, but even then, they hurt. She'd never had the chance to ask Inka directly about them. After all, why would she ask him about something a pod-born replica of him born from the Sero had said? She had no proof that it had any relation to his real thoughts and… Well, it was an insignificant matter. She would just be wasting the Mizukage's time. Still, because she didn't ask, it left her with… not doubts. No, not doubts at all. Just aggravation, a very familiar type of aggravation: she could have done something better, and even now, there was something she could be doing better that she simply hasn't realized yet. No matter how much logic she applied to the situation, that was how she felt emotionally, and that in itself, her inability to fully calm such unpleasant emotions with logic, was also aggravating. At this point, she was feeling like a broken record, but well, at least this broken record reached the end. In a few minutes, Kagerou managed to reach full circle. She managed to return to a point where the nightmare-renewed horror of that phrase no longer had any hold on her anymore. Thinking about it still stung, but not with the power it did right after she woke up. What the real(?) Inka had told her, emotionless shell as he might have been back then, was simply to train and grow for the sake of the village. Of course, Kagerou would have known that to be the answer even if he hadn't said that to her and Severin, but it held the power to assist in giving her relief because it came from the source of her distress. She would work hard and get stronger for her village, and then she knew, that one day, at least the annoying "pompous b***h" part of her nightmares will be something she can smile back on and laugh at.

Kagerou pushed herself back forwards and flipped to the stuff that she had only recently gained success in activating reliably. The paper and pencil came out now as Kagerou drilled herself in practicing the various symbols of each seal. Underneath her breath, as she carefully marked out each detail, Kagerou recited from memory what each line and curve meant. When she reached one she wasn't quite sure of, she looked it up in the books in front of her. [Fuuinjutsu: Shunshin no Jutsu [ Seal Release: Instant Movement Technique ], Kuchiyose no Jutsu [ Summoning Technique ], Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu [ Reverse Summoning Technique ]]

The summoning techniques, as fundamental as Kagerou realized they were, still gave her some trouble. Trouble meant time, and once she was done with them, she had to look up at the clock to make sure she had time for the preview. Yes, but… barely. She was likely going to have to run to make it to the academy, but she paged her book to the last set of marked pages and read the details as she stood up and walked around her room to get dressed. These were the sealing and summoning of specific materials that required several different components to successfully contain and control. Kagerou skimmed across the contents as she cleaned up, dressed, brushed her teeth, and so on and so forth. She began to understand how each of these seals worked, and would successfully use them within the next few hours, after she'd arrived at the academy and thoroughly studied them. [Shizen no Kuchiyose [ Nature Summoning ], Kuchiyose • Rashōmon [Summoning • Rashōmon ], Godai Houin no Michi [ Element Sealing Method ]]

Then, with the preview done and herself fully ready to go, Kagerou left her house at 4:10 AM sharp for her training meeting with her uncle at the academy training grounds.  

[HeadlessKoko]

(OOC: Posting Sharingan training posts under the assumption that I am permitted to flavor my sharingan's awakening circumstances as I want to since my character has gone through, at minimum, three different occasions that could have awakened her sharingan.

• Flooding of Kirigakure
  
• Kirigakure Nightmare Halloween
  
• Chuunin exam terrorist attack
  

The Chuunin exam terrorist attack was actually approved as a catalyst for the awakening of another, now inactive, Uchiha's sharingan.)

In the darkness of pre-dawn, Kagerou had to rely on senses other than her sight. Even though she was forced to keep her red eyes activated, the glowing Sharingan did more harm than good for her. Her stance shifted in carefully calculated millimeters as the sounds around her shifted and moved. She at least knew something was coming, which she accepted as a huge advantage she would often not receive in the real field. As snap of a branch. A whistle of wind. The patter of footsteps. A response to each, but still not yet. Still not yet. These weren't the sounds of an approach. [Learn Hard Mental] [1/15 Sharingan]

The snap of a branch that muddled just a microsecond more than it should have, the sound of a twig breaking and then being turned. That was the sound of an approach. The pitter of feet that followed confirmed it, but to confirm with that would have been too late. Kagerou's body turned at the snap and her arms raised to deflect the attack. In the darkness, she could make out even deeper shadows, her sharingan tracking what little details she could make out with supernatural precision, and her position adjusted to knock aside the open hand that came to grapple her and hold her down. [Learn Soft Mental] [2/15 Sharingan]

A whistle of air behind her. She ducked, only to get hit with a uppercut strike, no doubt aimed with such accuracy only because the glow of her eyes gave away the position of her head. She couldn't tell if that was the leg or the hand of her opponent, but she kept her wits about her even as she reeled from the attack and ended up kneeling on the ground, a testament to her excellent teachers. She deflected the follow-up strike and locked the limb, she could feel that it was a leg, between her two arms, held in a cross formation. The lock wouldn't last long, but moments were all that were needed. She pushed herself up with the leg locked, forcing her sparring partner off balance. [Learn Hard Physical] [3/15 Sharingan]

She had another advantage here that she would almost never have in a real fight. She knew her partner very well. All of his body sizes and medical records and especially the way he fought. She had learned from him for as long as she could remember, after all, and he was family. It was a given she would watch out for family. Her Sharingan remained… well… sucking away her energy. Perhaps it could have been useful here, but Kagerou paid her bloodline no more heed than something she needed to master for the sake of mastering it. A ninja used whatever tools they had at hand. [4/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Kiritani Hidden Technique: Song of ___ 1/2 after Rinnegan respec]

Except, right now, Kagerou did the opposite of that philosophy. The family member she was sparring had recently got stitches in his left side after an injury on a mission, but instead of taking advantage of the injury, she intentionally struck at the uninjured right side. It connected, but she was given a scolding, "Wrong," as she was immediately taken down right after. Next thing she knew, her teacher had figuratively taken his gloves off and she was eating dirt… because she was being pinned… face-down in the ground where her eyes were of even less use. She could barely breathe with the weight and force of the adult's body pressing down from above her. "You should have taken the advantage." He knew she knew what he was talking about. [5/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Kiritani Hidden Technique: Song of ___ 2/2 after Rinnegan respec]

While she felt her chakra slowly draining out of her unused eyes, Kagerou shifted and adjusted in an attempt to throw her uncle off of her back. However, her position and experience were too disadvantageous. All attempts were countered by her uncle. "You should have protected your back better," he chastised, "Your Sharingan can't help you here." [6/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Kiritani Hidden Technique: Dance of ____ 1/4 after Rinnegan respec]

"I… wasn't…" Kagerou struggled a little more, "Really using it." She grunted, but otherwise sounded calm. Her attempts to free herself were methodical, and in no way panicked or aggravated. She was losing this spar quite neatly. [7/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Kiritani Hidden Technique: Dance of ____ 2/4 after Rinnegan respec]

There was a very teacherly sigh. "You should be." Then a short pause to preemptively stop Kagerou's head from turning to try and get at least one eye on her uncle. With hand pressed down just firmly enough on the eyes to make it clear that they could be easily gouged out, the uncle continued after successfully stopping his niece's ovious attempt. "Your eyes are a tool just like the rest of your body, and you must know how to use all of your tools in even the least convenient of situations." [8/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Kiritani Hidden Technique: Dance of ____ 3/4 after Rinnegan respec]

In a real spar, Kagerou would have lost one eye by this point. As a spar, it was evident in her uncle's voice that she had failed to see the point of it… in a somewhat literal sense. Kagerou surrendered wordlessly, loosening the muscles in her body and laying still until the pressure upon her was released. "I see what you mean, if you know what I mean, but… Uncle Suigetsu…" She had several excuses, but she knew all would only elicit a cold reprimand. Even right now, despite the spar being over, she knew she was not to deactivate her Sharingan. While it hadn't been explicitly stated, that was the nature of the training she underwent with her mother's side of the family. [9/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Kiritani Hidden Technique: Dance of ____ 4/4 after Rinnegan respec]

"You cannot expect to be a master in one day, Kagerou… or even a novice," Kagerou's uncle-teacher explained, "I've noticed you've been treating your sharingan as little more than training weights ever since you received them. Instead of using them to their full extent, you simply use them to slowly eat through your chakra pool and up the difficulty of whatever it is you're doing." [10/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Kuchiyose Rinnegan after Rinnegan respec]

Kagerou pouted but relinquished, "Yes, uncle."
"Maintain your Sharingan until the end of training."
"Yes uncle."
"And while we may not be sparring, use it to read further into the world around you. A ninja's value lies not only in their combat ability but also their ability to gather information inconspicuously."
"Glowing red eyes hardly seem inconspicuous, but yes uncle." [11/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Leech Touch after Rinnegan respec]

There was a pause as Kagerou looked up to her uncle. Her eyes were the same shade of red as always. Aside from the glowing and the black spots that swam within her irises, her eyes looked exactly like normal, actually. She was like her father in that respect. He, too, had Sharingan-red eyes even without activating the bloodline limit. [12/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Fujutsu Kyuin [Jutsu Absorption] after Rinnegan respec]

In the dim light of predawn, Kagerou really couldn't make sense of any of the minute facial movements she caught. She was used to seeing in low light, but the extra details provided by the Sharingan were all details she had yet to become accustomed to reading, yet unidentified indicators of certain movements in the face. She didn't catch her uncle's subtle shift in facial expressions to one more somber than even is already somber natural state. [13/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn King of Hell Restoration after Rinnegan respec]

"Your mother… How is Kyoka doing?"

What Kagerou missed in his face, she heard in his voice. She really was trained by the Kiritani, finding more information through her normal ears than her gifted eyes. Her eyes softened sadly with unspoken worry as she heard the question. Her smile, which had remained friendly and rather jolly even while she was being chastised, grew a little smaller. Her focus clearly drifted. [14/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn King of Hell Interrogation after Rinnegan respec]

A curt, "Your eyes. Don't forget them.

Kagerou attention was brought back to the present, to her uncle and the training she was supposed to be doing with her eyes even during this family talk. Returning those red orbs to their tedious task of picking out details from a face mostly cast in shadows, the Sharingan could do many things but it certainly couldn't see in the dark, Kagerou delivered the news as gently as she could, "She's back on a mission. [15/15 Sharingan] [Changed to Learn Black Chakra Receiver after Rinnegan respec]

There was merely a sigh from the other side. However, both understood that there were more emotions hidden beneath what was shown. The proof was right in Kagerou's eyes after all. The same eyes that had remained dormant through several versions of hell on earth and back, had awakened after Kagerou saw the frail body of her mother, someone she had never considered as anything but strong, recuperating in the hospital bed after a failed suicide attempt. It was… for Kagerou, the fear and concern she felt for her mother as well as the pain she imagined that the rest of her family was going through because of this… All of that was greater than fear for her own self.

However, her mother didn't have any of that fear, worry, and apprehension. At least, she didn't visibly show much. The suicide attempt was less than a week ago, and her mother was already back, smiling up an impenetrable mask of an act, managed to whip up permission to return to active, if slightly less demanding, duty in record time. As always, even after failing to take her own life, Kagerou's mother was the definition of professional in all ways. Duty for her village called, so she followed… no matter what shambles her body and mind may have been in.

The training was supposed to continue until an hour before Kagerou's shift at the hospital started, but not even her mother's little brother could pretend to be fine after hearing confirmation of such news. There was a wave of the hand and the uncle dismissed training with a few last words about continuing to keep her sharingan's awakening a secret, to which Kagerou replied to with her routine mentions of gratitude for her uncle's guidance and a polite farewell.


▰ Kuchiyose Rinnegan [Summoning Rinnegan] | Rank X | Supplemental
Through the power of the Animal Path, the user is able to summon animals which possess copies of the Rinnegan. As with the Six Paths of Pain and the King of Hell, animals summoned through this technique are visually linked to the user's own Rinnegan, offering them a greater field of view. The summons' bodies are also adorned with a number of black piercings, allowing the user to control them remotely through the use of their chakra. If one is the contract holder of a animal contract, the contracted animals may be summoned via this technique to grant them Rinnegan eyes for the omniscience ability of the Outer Path.
[ Animal Path Summons ]

▰ Leech Touch | Rank X | Simple
After reaching out and grabbing hold of the victim, the user of the Preta path can suck out their victims chakra and absorb some of it to replenish their own reserves. The amount of chakra stolen is based on the rank at which the technique is used.

▰ Fujutsu Kyuin [Jutsu Absorption] | Rank A - S+ | Spiritual
A highly advanced sealing technique granted by the Preta Path, that conjures a see-through barrier around the user's body that is capable of absorbing any chakra, regardless of any shape or nature transformation, and dispersing it within one's body by spinning the chakra within one's body in the opposite direction. As a result, this technique can absorb any ninjutsu based technique, rendering it ineffective on the user. This technique had a three [3] post cooldown.

▰ King of Hell Restoration | Rank X | Supplemental
The second ability granted by the Naraka Path is the ability to repair any damage done to a body. To do so the user has the King of Hell ingest the damaged body with its tendril-like arms into its mouth, then, after some time, the destroyed body will emerge from its mouth, completely rejuvenated. The rank of this technique is determined by the rank of the individual being healed.

▰ King of Hell Interrogation | Rank S | Supplemental
Upon immobilizing a victim the power of the Naraka path calls forth the King of Hell. The King of Hell is a large head which sprouts out of the ground surrounded by purple flames. It also possesses the Rinnegan as well as the shared field of vision with the summoner. The King of Hell is only visible to the summoner and those currently restrained by them. The user will then ask the trapped a series of questions. Upon finishing the King of Hell will unzip its mouth and exude long tentacle like tendrils that pull a victims life force from their body. If they answered truthfully then they will be released though left exhausted (May not utilize any activation for the following post). If they lied or refused to answer the question, the King of Hell will bite off their "tongue" and leave them in a state of twilight between life and death. In the case of the later a character will enter a convincing death like state and awake at the nearest allied hospital.

▰ Black Chakra Receiver | Rank C | Spiritual
The wielder of the Rinnegan is granted the ability to manifest a special black rod-like object from either of their hands. This object can be small enough to be used like a sort of body piercing decoration, or up to 30ft long and 10ft thick to serve as a massive stake; its weight changes accordingly with its size, meaning that all versions of itself are not viable for wielding/equipping. The shape/size of a Black Chakra Receiver cannot change after it is created. Commonly, it is used as a sword or spear which is as durable as metal and no sharper than a standard weapon may be. The object is permanently existing unless destroyed or if it is dispelled by the creator.  

[HeadlessKoko]

Kagerou walked into work that morning with a heavy spirit, but a smile nonetheless. Remembering her schedule for today, her first task today was a liver surgery at 10AM, follow-up, then an eye implant at 12PM, and then she would be released from her hospital duties for a few hours of rest before a night mission. Of that rest period, she'd be using about four hours of it for training and prep, then the remaining two hours to rest up.

That orderly schedule was quickly pulled into shambles after a arpeggio of heel clicks caught up to Kagerou. The devil herself, Dr. Angel, pulled on the green-haired teen's shoulders, and Kagerou was staring up into the familiar, severe blue eyes.

"Y-yes?"

She was given only a few lines of explanations--and to Dr. Angel's credit, a few more lines of reassurance that the surgeries she had been scheduled for would proceed smoothly without her help--before being whisked away into a different branch of the hospital.

What followed was a quick introduction of the psych ward Kagerou and Dr. Angel walked through, more of a way to fill in their brisk walk than any new information. Kagerou knew the hospital more than anyone else her age did, and she had expressed interest in expanding into the psychiatry field after sufficient mastery in surgery. In fact, what was happening right now was the very fulfillment of that request.

"You will be placed as an assistant under Dr.," carts rolled noisily by, "Though, that is mostly a formality. He'll expect you to work alone most of the time, collecting some routine information from patients before he sees them. I know you prefer more invested seniors, but I can't trust any of the newbies to not make a mess without supervision."

Kagerou casually waved away any concerns Dr. Angel might have had, already adjusted to this new pace. Her lackadaisical willingness to wing it was met with a sharp glare, which was in turn met with her trademark smile. Before long, Dr. Angel had dropped Kagerou off at the office of her new mentor. Introductions between the new mentor and junior were even briefer. In no time, Kagerou was sitting in a small office for assistants, fulfilling her first task of rifling through paperwork. [1/1; Diagnosis] [2 psychiatry]

The paperwork concerned the patients Kagerou's senior would be seeing this morning. Precision and care was of the utmost concern, but in the case of a last minute addition like Kageoru, speed was also necessary. Unlike surgeries, psychiatry exams rarely took longer than an hour at most. [1/1; Diagnosis] [3 psychiatry]

The doctor was already seeing his first patient of the morning. Kagerou was tasked with organizing the paperwork and information for the second patient onwards. She had, effectively, less than 30 minutes to finish her task for the second patient. No, even less than that. The first patient's appointment would be 30 minutes long, yes, but she also needed to finish preparing for the patients today and get started on catching up. [1/1; Diagnosis] [4 psychiatry]

Kagerou needed to catch up to preparing the information for all of the patients the day after as well. Not to mention, preparation was different from studying. Though just an assistant, she also needed to have all the relevant patient information memorized. At the very least, the major points. [1/1; Diagnosis] [5 psychiatry]

It was only because today was the first day that Kagerou was only expected to work in the office. Starting tomorrow…. Well, not even by tomorrow by normal standards, but Kagerou held herself higher than normal. By tomorrow, Kagerou wanted to have all the information settled so that she could meet patients face-to-face for the preparatory examination. [1/1; Diagnosis] [6 psychiatry]

Tsuki, Kageko, Terra, Barnaby, Zuobian, Kelev. Kagerou had a busy morning as she studied the files of each of these patients. Tsuki was a regular with anxiety disorder who regularly came in after missions. Kageko was an unwilling patient, but her superior mandated that she come in for weekly counseling on account of her behavior. [1/1; Diagnosis] [7 psychiatry]

Terra was a new patient. No previous medical record in the psych ward. He had just knocked his head really hard so would be coming in for periodic exams to check for any signs of brain damage. Barnaby was just a child, but one with a knack for drawing rather disturbing images. He appeared well-adjusted otherwise, however, though that itself might be an issue. [1/1; Diagnosis] [8 psychiatry]

It was suspected that Barnaby might have been trapped in the nightmare incident a few years back, his current behavior being a result of early exposure to such horrors. Zuobian was haughty and aloof. He had even less to worry about than Terra. He was just coming in for the annual psych check up for shinobi. [1/1; Diagnosis] [9 psychiatry]

Keleve was a bit detached, disassociated one might say. However, he accomplished missions in an orderly fashion. Like Zuobian, he was just coming in for an annual check-up. After reading Kelev's file, Kagerou had her suspicions. [1/1; Diagnosis] [10 psychiatry]

Not about Kelev, of course. It wasn't even bad suspicions. She just rifled through the rest of the medical files for the patients assigned to this doctor and confirmed that, yes, all of his patients were shinobi. Well, like said prior, this wasn't bad. It just made Kagerou's assignment even more fitting. [1/1; Diagnosis] [11 psychiatry]

Kelev was the last of the patients Kagerou had to go over for today. That just meant one thing. In the remaining four hours before her shift was over, she would need to finish the patients for the day after. That was just the need. [1/1; Diagnosis] [12 psychiatry]

Kagerou also wanted to get started on studying all the patients. Well, all of the recurring patients. This doctor handled so many annual check-ups that studying all of his patients was simply unfeasible. Kagerou took the finished paperwork. [1/1; Diagnosis] [13 psychiatry]

Kagerou deposited the finished paperwork. Kagerou pulled out new paperwork. Kagerou sat down with the new paperwork. Kagerou studied these patient files. [1/1; Diagnosis] [14 psychiatry]

Kagerou studied one patient file. Kagerou studied another patient file. Kagerou studied the patient files one by one. Kagerou tried to remember each file she studied. [1/1; Diagnosis] [15 psychiatry]

Wow, writing like that hurts my soul. Let's go back to normal. Carefully reading through the files of each patient, Kagerou tried to pick on a particular pattern. Usually, doctors had some sort of specialty in their field, one that led into a pattern. [1/1; Diagnosis] [16 psychiatry]

This doctor was not one of those doctors, however. At least, that was what Kagerou surmised as her shift neared its end. Not like she could blame him. She was similar, herself, preferring a universal approach to a narrow one. [1/1; Diagnosis] [17 psychiatry]

The general scope of this psychiatrist's practices certainly explained his patient variety, however. It was no wonder he was assigned so many annual patients and so few long term patients. Specialists were better suited, with their depth of knowledge, in handling longer cases focused on certain maladies. On the other hand, those who had a wider range were better at catching symptoms and making diagnoses. [1/1; Diagnosis] [18 psychiatry]

Ah, but that wasn't Kagerou's job. Kagerou wasn't supposed to be speculating on her superior's field of specialty. She was supposed to memorizing the patients right now. She returned to that task. [1/1; Diagnosis] [19 psychiatry]

Though, it wasn't like she had much more time left. There were only thirty minutes before her shift ended. Of course, it was thirty minutes that she spent wisely studying. Then, her time was up. Even if she wanted to pull overtime, she couldn't. Her overnight mission would probably end in her pulling an all-nighter. [1/1; Diagnosis] [20 psychiatry]  

[HeadlessKoko]

Kagerou stepped lightly up the winding steps that spiraled within the great Sero tree. She had had a bad feeling when she woke up this morning. She hadn't seen Kumotake for days, and if that wasn't enough, just the other day, Nozomi had been in touch with her about Sukoso's death, which only made her dread all the more tangible. While she hoped her intuition was wrong, she just had to check. Holding a bundle of spider lilies, a questionable flower meaning but a pun in the name that Kagerou thought might serve as a good ice breaker, and a visiting gift of snacks in one hand, Kagerou ascended to Kumotake's room with mild trepidation. She remained calm, believing that Kumotake was likely just grieving heavily. She truly hoped that a visit from a friend, some fresh conversation followed by fresh air, and some quality time in front of Sukoso's grave, she assumed Sukoso had a grave, would help Kumotake out of his slump.

By all her predictions, Kumotake should be living the life of a recluse right now. Recluses wouldn't leave their doors barely cracked open, yet that was exactly the case with Kumotake's door when she reached his room. Her concern growing, Kagerou frowned. She hesitated for only a moment before pushing the door further open. No words. Such an entry would be considered rude, she understood that. However, one also couldn't be suspicious enough of certain situations as a shinobi.

She observed that the main room, while dark and in a general state of disinterested mess, didn't seem like it had been at the receiving end of a struggle. It did smell, though, supporting her theory that Kumotake hadn't left his apartment for anything since Sukoso's death.

Entering carefully, the sleeve of one hand pressed up against her nose to ward against the smell of rotting garbage, Kagerou continued without a sound, eyes keenly sweeping through the mess. Her other hand hung casually at her side, fingers swaying just around the area of a weapon's pouch.

Almost immediately, she noticed that light leaked out from the edges of the door to the only bedroom in the apartment, Kumotake's room. Normally, the door should have been closed to prevent any intruders. Then again, normally, the door to the apartment should have also been closed. So many unusual circumstances did not bode well. Since her normal eyes detected no dangers, three black tomoe in each eye swirled into being over the red canvas of her iris. As ever, Kagerou was secretive about her bloodline limit, to the point that few knew she had one even though it had advanced so far, but she'd risk discovery over losing her head any day.

Even with her other eyes, Kagerou saw no signs of a threat. She weighed the risks. If someone had set a trap, then… Well, in the end, she chose to inquire aloud, "Kumotake?".

She was met with dead silence, and as if her intuition was foreshadowing something, her mind emphasized the "dead" part of it.

Concern ever growing, but her calm temperament allowing her to function rationally, Kagerou stepped with great trepidation to the bedroom door to push it open tentatively.

"Oh," Kagerou breathed a sigh of relief, her words hardly more than a whisper under her breath. She didn't want to wake Kumotake after all. The cautionary sharingan that had been activated faded back into oblivion.

Kumotake lay on his bed, appearing to all the world as if he was sleeping peacefully on his side. His arms and body curled around a black shape Kagerou assumed was Sukoso's corpse. It seemed like he had been so exhausted that he simply fell asleep without even turning off the lights or tucking himself in. She could understand. Those going through a bout of depression often felt like they didn't have the energy to do the simplest things, but that's what she was here for! To make him do the simplest things whether he wanted to or not~

Careful to be soundless, Kagerou picked her way through the mess of a room. The bedroom, like the common area, didn't look like it had been cleaned for weeks.

About halfway through her trip, though, Kagerou stopped being careful. The dread returned as she looked up to see if she had accidentally awoke Kumotake after stepping on a particularly crinkly… something. From this new angle, she saw something that she hadn't seen from the bedroom door, blood.

It wasn't a rash charge. It couldn't even be called a run. Kagerou just strode over to Kumotake's side, calmly and in control. She just wasn’t careful about what she stepped on and how much noise it made.

Still, no matter how much noise her steps did make, Kumotake didn't budge.

He didn't budge even when Kagerou grabbed his arm and held it up to the bedroom light. He wore a black jacket like always, and she could confirm that her eyes had not deceived her earlier. There was a patch on the sleeve that was darker than the surrounding cloth… and slightly crusty. With all haste, Kagerou pulled the sleeve up. Her eyes met the pale flesh of a forearm that clearly did not see much sun and, on the vein that passed through the inside of the elbow, several puncture wounds that still glimmered with semi fresh blood. She immediately guessed the sources--several attempts with the fangs of Sukoso's corpse before finally resorting to a traditional shot, the empty case of which Kagerou could see next to Kumotake's head. She guessed just as quickly why this was the case.

Someone with less self-control would have cursed their negligence by this point. Not, Kagerou, though. Her smile replaced now by lips set in a thin, straight line of fear, Kagerou didn't waste her breath. She dropped Kumotake's arms and hastily undressed him, fingers of one hand nimbly moving to form the equivalent of hand seals in between the motions to pull Kumotake's arm out of his jacket. The spider lilies lay forgotten on the edge of the bed and Sukoso had also been swept aside to the other edge of the bed by Kagerou's earlier motions. There was no time. As it was, she could only hope that even with methods accelerated by chakra, she was still in time. A diagnosis technique detected poison and irregular heart activity. In response, Kagerou cast two techniques at once, one in each hand. Her right extracted poison from Kumotake's arm, trying to slow down the spread of the poison and create a sample she can create an antidote from. Her left hand pressed down on Kumotake's chest, overriding his gradually more erratic heart beat to force the blood to flow at a more regular pace. Worry etched creases into her face, as Kagerou refused the final results given to her by her diagnosis. Even if the poison had spread almost completely, she couldn't give up hope.

"Kumotake," she called almost desperately, "Kumotake." If he could just wake up... Well, that wouldn't do anything, actually, but she needed to feel like it would help him get better. She couldn't think of anything else.

This was not… This wasn't how any of the people she cared for was supposed to die. If she had to endure their deaths, it was supposed to be because of their occupational hazards. Death in the line of duty. Death by combat. An assassination. Not… Not peacefully lying here in their own room. Her mind whirled, struggling to cope, struggling to hold onto hope even as the rational side of her that had been so carefully cultivated told her that it was too late.

NecroPlant

 

[NecroPlant]

"You can try. But your struggle is pointless." This voice resonated through the disheveled state of the room. "Had you been here you would know." The voice coming from another end of the corner though different in pitch as though someone else were saying it. Thousands of little red eyes now began appearing in the corners of the room. Skitterings amidst the garbage and litter. "We tried to keep it at bay best we could." These eyes would then begin to culminate into a form, that form being apparent, a dark blob of many legs which took the shape of their former host only to harden in a henge next to Kagerou fully in the image of their host, it was as though she would be speaking to a ghost in this sense. Having shut himself away from the outside world Kumotake had no others of which to speak than Sukoso and his hive. The second having developed more than the average intelligence expected of their species to do this. Perhaps one could say this was an evolution brought upon Kumotake's breed so that one day they may seek help in his stead. After all their survival was dependent on their hosts as well. But it seemed they were too late or lacked the proper means. "Just like they, we too shall perish soon. Though not before the contract is fulfilled. We exhausting ourselves, to repair the wounds of which he so desperately inflicted. This was the only choice to find his peace, and we were unable to maintain our home do to his actions." The henge of kumotakes hive would then walk standing next to Kagerou to look down at its former host body.

"Our progeny, have already decided, perhaps you realize, you will find no aid in them, for they have already begun the feast, as our contract with the Aburame dictates. There is no longer any hope, you may slow the process but his death is certain." Kagerou though she did not have the Byakugan, would inherently feel perhaps even see to some degree with her sharingan Kumotake's chakra was decreasing rapidly. Reasonably it could be assumed the Kikaichu in Kumotake's body currently were 'cutting loses' under the belief that their host body was ascertained to death they would create the next of their lineage as was their nature, even if they were to die in mere hours after. The ghost made of kikaichu which was now in the Uchiha's company would point to Kumotake's neck. "Bear witness to the futility and struggle, if that is what it takes to ease you human. But know that your interference will bring our former home more pain than if you had never walked through the door." Kikaichu would begin exiting through Kumotake's neck, sleeves and pant legs. They were making as many of themselves as possible before the impending death of their host. The normal healing properties a person's chakra had in combination with skilled medical practitioning would not aid her as the kikai were abandoning ship producing lineage after lineage.

Kumotake was already sickly enough with self-induced malnourishment his frail constitution combined with who knows how many doses of his former partners killing venom it indeed seemed to be a formula for a certain end. Despite Kaeerou's effort to slow his tachycardia the pace started to increase once more. Though the peaceful quiet that was his slumbering death would not come easily as Kagerou's man cries pierced his unconsciousness for but a brief second opening a single eye to meet with hers with a very weak partial turn of his head he'd produce an utterance. "Kag...tk" His eye then closed with mouth wincing. Having been awoken, he now could not die in peace as he so desired. Kagerou's desire to help now made it so that the now thousands of needle like pains that were suppressed by his unconcious would surface in full force. His arm...it so desperately tried to move. It wanted to clutch his chest where his heart was but only a finger twitched. The quiet had become agony...words as though he desired to plead would not be made only what would be low breathy grunts as the entirety of his body felt as if it were aflame from the inside out and he had no power to stop it.

HeadlessKoko

 

[HeadlessKoko]

An unknown voice from a shady corner, Kagerou was on guard in an instant. Not panicked, but not quite her usually calm self, either. Insects, so many insects, spoke in tandem to create the sounds that made the itchy, gravelly a voice, a voice that, fitting to its source, sounded like a billion little voices melding into one. Because she recognized, even through the unsettling feeling the voice of the many rose in her, that these insects were kikaichu, likely the very same kikaichu that resided in Kumotake's body, Kagerou silently accepted their existence with hardly a trace of disgust. Just... More... Confusion. She had never heard of a phenomenon like this. Also, increasing concern. She had never heard of this phenomenon, but that didn't mean she couldn't piece together what could be happening and fear the worst because of it.

While others may have flinched with disgust at the thought of a human-sized colony of bugs standing right besides them, no such thought cross Kagerou's mind. Her whole body shook, but it trembled because of what the kikaichu had to say. . Yet she hadn't noticed. . Not only was she too late, but she was just outright hurting him. She didn't need special eyes to see and feel that everything the ghostly, bug-formed figure of Kumotake said was true. No matter how much she wished against something, even at a time like this, she wouldn't turn away from the truth.

This... Kagerou wasn't trying to ease herself in any way with what she did.

Or... Or did she?...

Kagerou grit her teeth. She left it at that, not even needing to finish her sentence. Breaking her panic and despair, she regained her usual mindset. If she made a mistake, then she just needed to fix it.

The Kikaichu leaving almost infuriated Kageoru. Only almost and only because she felt like she was about to burst with every other negative emotion she could describe. Her still rational self understood that she couldn't fault the kikaichu. This was in their nature, and was no different than how everyone in Kirigakure had abandoned the old village to survive the great flood. Besides, according to those who knew Kumotake best, she had done more wrong than them.

Breathing heavily with the mental stress of the situation, Kagerou started when Kumotake spoke. "Sh... Sh... I'm... I'm sorry," Kagerou gave up extracting the poison to place a hand against the side of Kumotake's face. The bells on her wrists rang, and Kumotake would feel his pain suddenly end. With the subtle movements of her fingers and wrist between moving from Kumotake's chest to his face, Kagerou had cast the Kin'atsu no Shujouteki. Subtly and discreetly she tried to make him as comfortable as possible. [Kin'atsu no Shujouteki [ Emotional Suppression ]]

She bit her lips. She hated it. She knew the kikaichu knew better than her. They had more reason than her to want Kumotake to continue living on, so if even they've given up then... To listen to their observations was the smart choice but... even then... Whenever Kagerou felt herself teetering over the cliff of surrender, she'd just hate herself more. No, she couldn't make that leap. She wouldn't make it only to regret it later. Right now, as much as possible, she would do everything she can to save him in a way she wouldn't regret later.

If Kumotake did die, as it seemed likely he would, then she wouldn't be able to live if she let his final moments of life go down painfully, so making sure he was comfortable still rated high up there. After hopefully suppressing the pain, this was the first time Kagerou had ever actually used the technique, she tried to mask any empty holes that the emotional suppression had left by counterbalancing it with Ataeru Kanjoo no Jutsu. This time, Kagerou's other hand left Kumotake's chest to hold the other side of his face, subtle movements in her hands casting the technique to inflict a delicately balanced medley of peaceful emotions into her friend. [Ataeru Kanjoo no Jutsu [ Inflict Emotion Technique ]]

Hands on his cheek, she could feel his pulse continue to rapidly quicken. Her attempts to slow it down had already proven fruitless. She wouldn't be able to make an antidote in time. The key to this all... It still lied in Kumotake. "Kumotake..." Kagerou's voice croaked out, pleading and almost on the verge of crying. She didn't expect to sound so weak. Swallowing to clear her through, she tried again, "Kumotake," much clearer, "Please... Please, tell me where the antidote is.... You can't give up. This isn't the end of your road."

Thoughts left unsaid so that they wouldn't waste what precious moments were left. Thoughts clearly etched on her face and into her glimmering red eyes, where three tomoe swam in a thin, watery veil, the beginnings of tears from someone who did not cry much. She searched desperately for every sign. Every detail she tried to commit to her memory. Each second, she made the most of. Through these secret eyes that saw more than most, and were seen by so few, Kagerou tried to make the most of what little time was left. This... In this if only her eyes could do something. Anything to save Kumotake.

• Kin'atsu no Shujouteki [ Emotional Suppression ]
→→Rank: A
→→P/S. Sense: Chakra // -
→→Base Duration // Upkeep: 3 Posts // 30 Chakra
→→Source: Inhalation as first seal is made, and a single exhalation at the final seal
→→Description: This Genjutsu affects the mind of the target, rendering them numb of feeling and devoid of emotion. This skill is typically used to calm one’s own emotional panic, or to play havoc on the minds of a foe's allies. However, this skill has also been known to be used as an effective tool against emotionally driven opponents. Can be used on one's self.

• Ataeru Kanjoo no Jutsu [ Inflict Emotion Technique ]
→→Rank: B
→→P/S. Sense: Chakra // -
→→Base Duration // Upkeep: 2 Posts // 25 Chakra
→→Source: Physical Contact, or Eye Contact
→→Description: This is a fairly high level Genjutsu where the Shinobi temporarily changes the emotions of the target to his/her liking. The emotions imparted can be anything from ecstasy, despair, overconfidence, grief, etc.

NecroPlant

 

[NecroPlant]

The pain in his chest subsided...but he could still feel the pressure of a heart attempting to burst from his very chest. With that, he was able to close his eyes again. The sounds in the background. The humming and buzzing of Kikiachu leaving his body. Kagerou's words they all blended together in a void where he could hear only hear the sound of his own thundering heartbeat. When the last Kikai would leave his body it would be the last grain of sand in the hourglass of life. In short, he was already on borrowed time. In a darkness, in a world of his own creation, conjured by the delusional state of a man on his deathbed surrounded by darkness. Floating in the air would be his body turning to face a clock larger than any sannin summon. The clock would tick in a rapid rhythm emulating his heartbeat and in the face of the clock his memories flashed. It was at that point in death where one's life flashes before their eyes. Rather than be dissuaded by them he let the images change welcoming this final transition into his after life.

The very beginning of transferring from konoha to kirigakure, the meeting of a very honey enthused aburame girl only after falling atop her from a tree where he and sukoso decided to camp. The introduction of kage who seemed a bit off his rocker but all the same an inspiration that those whom seem to be outcasts can achieve greatness...the awkward interactions with a neko-nin of whom he would later know to be shadow. The beginnings of a war where he was suddenly thrown. the taming of a spider demon whilst Sukoso shook his abdomen from her allure...the thousands of screams emitted by the upcoming slaughter of arachnids that shook his skull.

The clock began to shake as did the ephemeral Kumotake from that memory. In Kagerou's world this translated to convulsions...which calmed down as the clock had shattered. Now what was like a slideshow of mirrors spun around him. Meeting Nozomi, the feast, the awkward time at the beach in where he almost drowned...where was she now...tirelessly busy with no time for someone like him. Reaching out the mirror shattering. Then came Shadow. The man who lead them when everything went to hell that fateful night the two mirrors of a particular hyuuga and uchiha also part of the team at that time. What good was I then aside from making things more difficult and nearly killing them all? the thoughts he had which lead to the three shattering. The mirror of jack larger than the rest casted is reflection. Of him, then his sage mode, and then a tombstone. "What good is there in becoming strong when there will always be someone stronger to end you." The largest mirror shattered but reassembled itself. Where there was once Jack, Inka appeared the night after the war playing back where he had gotten drunk for the first time in his presence the two laughing. "Saddled with responsibility so suddenly...you always invited me to speak with you, but you were always so busy. What right did I have to intrude. There were far more important things to concern yourself with." The mirror shattered.

Two mirrors took its place, the ethereal Kumotake seemingly growing more and more tired of seeing these things happen as a small light started to form behind him in the distance. Noemi...his father Okabe. The scene that played out in the bathroom on that fateful day playing out. Noemi having never been seen by him again. His father being her father. It made sense didn't it? Why trouble yourself with trying to repair the relationship with a boy and his father that had abandoned him when he was now your father atop of being burdened by a missing sister and parents who threw you away. Why add someone else's baggage on top of your own. "Perhaps I expected to much from her...and at least I'll never have to see your face again." The mirrors of Noemi and his father Okabe shattering. With them it seemed all the mirrors had gone.

Then what was more than a mirror appeared. Several mirrors. Multiple all spinning around him. They were none other than Sukoso. All the moments they had shared together. The bond of partners believed eternal. Saving him from his mother, joking about his social ineptitudes, encouraging him to create children...I suppose it was too late for that now wasn't it? Their triumphs, their failures, their training, the several attempts at trying to stomp him for things he'd done wrong or without his permission while he gleefully played dead or evaded to tee. Then finally they all came together to form a mirror larger than any of the previous. Reflected in it was the moment. The moment his best friend crinkled up. At first it was believed to be a joke but reality sank in soon after. "Why didn't he tell me. Why didn't anyone tell me?...No I should have known. It was my responsibility. I should have been ready..." Tears now in the floating Kumotake's eyes as he clenched his fist. "But...I suppose it doesn't matter anymore. We'll be seeing each other soon again right?" The mirror rather than shatter flipped around revealing the light behind him before vanishing.

Sighing and turning around the light he saw was now growing explicitly brighter. That was it for the mirrors and the clocks, and the memories...it was time to move on. Then it started to rain in this darkness he was immersed in. The otherworldly Kumotake would look up momentarily. The ceiling of this seemingly black void to was a mirror. In it there would be one more person. Kagerou. Kumotake would delay his advance into the light. The first time they had met in the Kage's office. Sukoso's childish enthusiasm to have them breed. The passing of the journal which contained everything about sukoso, spiders, and other secrets pertaining to himself in a blind act of trust and faith. The joyful trip to the hospital for shadow with her and Noemi where he could barely carry a pineapple for a prolonged period. Her waiting outside of the bathroom with Inka after everything with Noemi and Okabe. The play in which was a recounting of his life in a bastardization that she humored him enough to participate in. Teaching him basic first aid in that medical tent... The day she caught him in all his self inflicted wounds and paleness from blood loss to scold him..what would she say if she saw him now. There was now...only shame welling in him. Turning around he started making way for the light..until he heard. These words. 'Please... Please, tell me where the antidote is.... You can't give up. This isn't the end of your road'. He didn't remember these words and looking up again the mirror ceiling revealed the weeping Kagerou. Her tears having been the rain showering his world.

In this realization Kumotake opened his eyes weakly. What he saw was not a dream, Kagerou was indeed above his bed over him. Though to say he was all there would be a lie. However he was there enough for one final goodbye and leaving Kagerou with these parting words. His weak emaciated arm mustered all the strength it could to bring it up to her face wipe away some tears and match his gaze with hers and Kumotake very weakly would say. "You have pretty eyes..." His arm would then fall to the side of the bed. Palm still open like that of a spiders legs. Closing his eyes again his last words. "..Thank..you..for caring Kage..rou.." Then a very subtle smile that was relaxed as if it were saying none of this was her fault before finally...the boys heart could no longer continue and stopped. His hand as oppose to relaxing seemed to show an early unnatural sign of rigor mortis as it began to close like that of a spider legs or someone wanting to hold someone else's hand...where finally from a hole in his wrist the last Kikaichu left his body.

HeadlessKoko

 

[HeadlessKoko]

"Kumotake!" Kagerou called out to no effect when she saw the body of her friend convulse. She placed her hands on his body, trying to hold him down so that he wouldn't hurt himself more. Insects evacuating Kumotake's body skittered across her hands, but she didn't flinch at their crossing. They crossed in peace while their master convulsed violently before suddenly stopping and then... And then?... Beneath her hand, she was witness to the very last moments of Kumotake's heart. His physical heart, of course. It had appeared, his emotional heart had died long ago, and she, some friend she was, had failed to see.



Except, she was already calm. This conclusion she drew, the certainty of Kumotake's death that her mind acknowledged, was only possible because she was able to be calm even now. While Kumotake faced his life in his final moments, Kagerou faced the question this was all ultimately leading to, what was she to do now? In the face of her friend's imminent death, what was the right thing to do?

The pools of liquid welling in Kagerou's eyes. Her tears fell onto Kumotake's chest as her breath heaved. No matter how fast her eyes blinked, the tears just kept coming. She was a doctor. She was here to save lives, but when a life couldn't be saved, what was to be done? Was she supposed to just give up like this? Emotionally, no. Logically, in the face of a diagnosis, one must accept it and take the best course of action. Simply put, yes. Okay then. What was the best course of action? Give him a peaceful passing. She had eased what pain she could. What more could she do?

As Kagerou struggled with this question and the passing of a dear friend, she felt it in her eyes. A power emerging with the tears that dropped. She blinked, surprised, but ever the quick to react and eagerly make use of anything and everything to help a friend. Tightly clenching Kumotake's hand, she dropped her head, pressing her forehead against Kumotake's, her eyes directly in front of his, opened wide and ready. She bit her lip, willing power into what she imagined to be her brilliant red orbs swirling with black. The power to fool. The power to deceive. Ultimately, however, the power to comfort. This, with all of her might, she would make her final parting gift to Kumotake an apology and a thank you. With the power, she also mustered forth a smile.

Though she had smiled, she did not expect Kumotake to open his eyes. She expected, even less, to see that his inky black orbs reflected in an almost unnaturally clear manner eyes that were too light for the scarlet that they usually were and etched with a pattern that looked nothing like the Mangekyou Kagerou expected. As Kagerou began to feel that her chakra wasn't doing what she had expected it to do, the realization set in. Her grip on Kumotake's hand loosened as she further slid down that slippery slope of despair. The smile she had forced up trembled and almost faltered.

Kumotake, however, didn't have the time to waste on such luxurious actions. No, he didn't have any time at all, and in the last moments when Kagerou finally thought she was about to do something right, when Kagerou finally attributed something of value to the bloodline she had always considered as a subsidiary talent, she had failed to do anything right at all. When she should have been comforting Kumotake, Kagerou was the one to be comforted instead. The person and eyes that had proved useless in the end were complimented. She was much too polite to utter her thoughts out loud, even if the only person was a dead person, but through her head, one idea ran around constantly: "Did you think I was going to be happy to see you leave like that? Did you think that would make me miss you any less?". The answer to those rhetorical questions was, of course, a resounding "no." Kagerou now missed him only more. Even after Kumotake died, he gripped Kagerou's hand, which still rested limply in his, stronger than she was able toe return the grip, sobbing ceaselessly as she was.

To be prepared to watch your friends die is one thing. To see them die, especially in what should have been the safety of their home, another.

NecroPlant

 

[NecroPlant]

HeadlessKoko

What sounded like a raucous kicking in of the door outside the room echoed. The sound of hurried if not heavy sprinting footsteps soon followed. Then would come the panicked swinging open of the bedroom door and an exasperated KU...! then silence before finishing. It didn't take long to read the room. He was too late. One of Kumotake's Kikaichu was on the man's shoulder before it died as if having fulfilled its 'mission'. A man in a large olive coat and dark sunglasses stood motionless in the doorway. His expression hidden by the aburame's trademark large collars, but beneath was one that could only be described as frustration and sadness.

Clenched and shaking fist. "You're...you're his father. How..how could you let this happen. No. YOU KNEW! YOU KNEW ALL ALONG! YOU PUT YOUR BOY THROUGH HELL AND YOU WERE TOO MUCH A COWARD THEN JUST AS YOU ARE A COWARD NOW!" Self-loathing expressed in the most traumatic of ways the man fell to his knees clutching his head as if in pain. Behind the dark shades of his glasses the mans eyes trembled. "Why were you so weak...why did you never check up on him...I can't believe she would have gone so far...this is my fault..its always been my fault...since the very beginning....since I left Konoha...I can't stand this...I can't stand me...he had every right to hate you...why couldn't you just face him...why did you expect that he'd come around to you eventually when you've done NOTHING to ever make him want to. I can't...I won't...no more running. I'll never let this happen again. To anyone...even now..even now...I don't even deserve to see him in death...I can't even face him now that there's nothing he could say...I..I need to leave. Here. This place. This village." maddening in a sense the image of a person whom seemingly snapped was in the room. Whether Kagerou could muster the strength to speak with this 'stranger' although he did say he was 'his' father would be determined. But one thing was for certain. Even if she did console him, this man would remain in Kirigakure no longer. Whether he left with some degree of peace of mind or broken records on repeat well. That would depend on what would occur between now and when he left as he was already turning around and ready to crawl away like the insect he felt he was.

 

[HeadlessKoko]

The dramatic entrance of a stranger sobered up Kagerou real quick. He head shot up at the sound of heavy footsteps. This couldn't be dangerous. There were no indications as such. Yet, at the hasty approach of an unknown factor, Kagerou was quick to wipe her eyes, straighten up, and stand up firmly, placing herself between the open door and Kumotake's body, all in a semi-automatic fashion.

Thus, she was standing face to face when the man in the most stereotypical Aburame wear crashed through the doorway and started shouting in grief. She remained standing as the man fell to his knees and as she noticed the deep furrows of grief etched over what little of his face could be seen. Her guard only gradually falling in the face of this genuine outburst of emotion, Kagerou stood as the sole audience to the man's dramatic monologue.

Her face still pallid, Kagerou did muster the strength to speak to this man who was less of a stranger now that she had figured that he either was Kumotake's father, or pretending to be Kumotake's father. "Wait," she called out, hesitating for a moment on how to stop this crawling man before deciding that the safest way was to step on the tails of his coat, dragging along the ground as they were, "Hold it."

First, in the face of uncertainty, establish answers, "How did you get in here?". This man, who she had never seen before, was evidently Kumotake's estranged father... Her face furrowed in a frown of her own. Maybe if Kumotake and his father had met earlier... but no. She tried to rid herself of the regret, but it would not leave. She had lost a friend, after all. Well, the reason she asked all this was because, under normal circumstances...

Oh, wait... She brought a hand up to massage her forehead, eyes squintign at her own distracted mistake. She had a rare moment of feeling like an idiot. The door had been open. Of course he could just walk in...

Taking a deep, shaky breath, the mistake just now being the crack to release the first signs that she wasn't as calm and composed as she appeared to be, Kagerou tried to shift attention by asking another question, "Are you really Kumotake's father? Explain your purpose." Her eyes, still ringed and purple, stared down and carefully scrutinized the upcoming response.

Forgive Kagerou. It was hard for even her to be cheery right now. A strange man crashing into the room her friend just died in? Then blabbering about how he has Kumotake's father, but choosing to run away from his own son's corpse despite otherwise? Her opinion wasn't too good right now.

NecroPlant

 

[NecroPlant]

HeadlessKoko

The sad sack of a man in a coat just pointed to the wide open door meekly, of course, Kagerou likely picked up on that before he even made that motion with her shakey composure. The man would not face Kagerou as looked down at the ground with both his hands barely keeping him up. Her questions. How could he answer them? How could he answer them as he was. A voice almost akin to Kumotake's stuttering would start to speak. "I..I..I..have no right to call my..myself that. Wh..what kind of father aba..abandons his son...I kn.kn.knew she was c..cruel...but n.never..d.did I think. ..Never did I think she'd let her anger for me out on him!...I n..never...I nnnnnever...should have done it...had..had I never made him an aburame."

The second part of Kagerou's question wouldn't be answered quickly but it would be answered loudly. "PURPOSE! I HAVE NO PURPOSE!" he balled himself up on the ground. "I am...I am the one. I should be the one dead...not him...I killed him...I killed him in a way no other person could...I killed his future...ho..how am I supposed to live like this...if you are going to kill me...do it now..please." wails of emotional agony began to come out of the man ball. The man before her oozed weakness but he also oozed something that someone related to Kumotake would have. A lack of social grace, a lack of self confidence, an aura of self loathing, a desire to see his life end for the wrongs he committed that he believed irreparable.

 

[HeadlessKoko]

Under her breath, Kagerou muttered, "He really is Kumotake's father..." Context aside, the resemblances were uncanny. She had to consider, briefly, what to do. However, in the end, she gave him the respect she would give to any friend's did. "My apologies, Mr... I believe Kumotake uses his mother's surname, so may I call you by your first name Mr. Okabe?". Her voice, level and smooth, drew a sharp contrast with the hesitating stutters, but at least one of the two needed to remain steady. With light steps, she moved around the grounded man, stopping in front of him, and then knelt down so that they were on the same level. "I refuse to kill you sir, Kumotake wouldn't have wanted that, but I'm also not going to let you go so easily..."

What was she going to do? With those steady eyes that gazed unblinkingly into the other's? Or gazed unblinkingly at his face if his eyes refused contact? Would she demand an explanation? Would she demand a life story? Would she demand an apology? A thousand bows? Offerings? Repentance?

Maybe... Maybe she would if she thought any of those would help this man. However, before jumping to such conclusions, there was something she had to do first.

She was going to have to lie. Not a bold-faced lie, but nevertheless.

"Kumotake wouldn't want you to blame yourself like this." Kagerou's voice remained steady and even carried emotion, but the pressure to maintain a steady gaze under her guilt was too much for her yet. She looked down at the floor. She couldn't say for sure what Kumotake really felt about his father, but... Whatever anger Kagerou felt towards this man, the easy emotion, the simple way out to just blame everything on him, she couldn't fall to that weakness. "I don't much about your family situation" or really anything about Kumotake now that she thought about it, "but Kumotake showed me a few things... Did you know... I couldn't believe a mother could be like that...". You should have been there but, "You weren't there then... Are you just going to run away again, now? Didn't you just say no more running?".

NecroPlant