Arc 1: The White Mask | Chapter 1: A Flame Casts a Shadow
Regaining consciousness, Inotsu Yamanaka opened his eyes only to be greeted by a horrific sight: Fuyuha Village engulfed in flames. Everywhere he looked, all Inotsu could see are collapsed buildings and the corpses of dead shinobi; some of them were his comrades from Konohagakure. He only hopes that the women and children were evacuated successfully. To either side of Inotsu are his ANBU teammates - unconscious but not dead fortunately. On the ground immediately next to him is his ANBU mask which has shattered into numerous pieces. Inotsu tried uttering a few words to his teammates but only managed a light cough. Dried blood caked the area surrounding his mouth. Finally, his teammates gradually regained their consciousness too.
"Ahh... So you've all finally awakened," a deep, distorted voice emanated from above the ANBU operatives. Inotsu looked up to the sky to see a familiar floating figure. Dressed in a hooded black cloak along with a featureless white ANBU mask is the team's target known simply by the epithet: White Mask. The masked man turned to face the wounded ANBU team and stretched his arms out. "Beautiful isn't it? This is my vision... My vision for Konoha."
Inotsu struggled but finally got back up onto his feet using the wall behind him for support. "Y-You... You've killed everyone..." Inotsu uttered.
"Not everyone... Not yet..." White Mask turned around to admire his handiwork: the destroyed Fuyuha Village. "Most of the villagers are safe. Your fellow Leaf shinobi saw to that. Besides, I've no interest in killing them. I did, however, took away their homes - their livelihood," White Mask turned back to the ANBU team once more, "I believe that is a much crueler punishment—" White Mask was interrupted by a kunai flying directly towards him. However, before the kunai even reached him, it circled back around and came flying into Inotsu's right shoulder. Disciplined in resisting pain, Inotsu merely gritted his teeth as a result of the kunai embedding itself in his shoulder.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... I'm afraid that's wasted effort on your part."
Inotsu's chakra is spent. He can't afford to use any ninjutsu techniques without the guarantee of it hitting its mark. He can't even sustain his telepathic communication with his teammates any longer. It looks like he won't be of much use in this fight. Grabbing hold of the kunai impaled in his shoulder, Inotsu forcibly removed it and tossed it to the ground. Then, using his headband, he fashioned a makeshift tourniquet to stop the bleeding. He turned to his teammates. "Sorry... It seems that I'm a terrible squad leader after all," he said with a weak smile.
Forming a one-handed hand sign, White Mask summoned four Shadow Clones of himself and they descended onto the ground below; each of them are equipped with a kunai. "The life of most ANBU are typically short and fruitless. You live and die for your village and yet your names will be forgotten from the moment you die. To history: it's like you were never born to begin with. Such a meaningless existence. Tell me: was it worth it?" The White Mask's clones approached the group. In their weakened state, it looks like the fate of the ANBU operatives are sealed...
-Six Months Earlier-
Inotsu awakened to a cool breeze and the scent of spring flowers. It seems he had inadvertently fallen asleep in the meadow that he frequently visits near Konohagakure. Under the shade of a great tree, Inotsu slept into the afternoon. Fortunately for him, there were no missions assigned to him today. Getting up onto his feet, Inotsu looked at the trunk of the tree, specifically focusing on a carving of the word "Ino-Shika-Cho". He has fond memories of visiting this place as a child with his Genin teammates and here, on this tree, they carved a reminder of their friendship. Inotsu couldn't help but smile at those memories. Then, he noticed on the ground were a pair of earrings - his own pair given to him by his sensei; they've must've fallen out of his pocket. Picking them up, Inotsu tossed them into the air and caught them as they descended before placing them back in his pocket. It's time to return to Konoha.
Pale blue light leaking down from a single sliver of a crescent moon shines down on a shadowy clearing just outside of a large stone castle. Five cloaked figures jump down from three tree's in unison. Four of the five land with one knee down while the fifth remains standing. The standing one is obviously significantly taller and wears a bear mask. He has bushy brown hair and beard that all pokes around his mask.
"Are you all ready? This is serious now." The man speaks in a hushed by serious tone heavy with the weight of responsibility. "For some of you this is your first assassination. The target is the primary objective. If we can get in and out quick that is the best thing. We aren't seeking additional casualties." The four nod in agreement before he moves on. The man turns to one of the middle cloaked figures. "Mayonaka, you take point. You have the best stealth and speed. I'll back you up and take the rear guard. Okay? Break!" he says with a small fist pump and the five jump out quickly into a dash for the wall.
The light of the moon doesn't provide much visibility but for Noraneko this didn't mean much. She saw better at night than most of her comrades did at night. However this mask narrowed her vision and she didn't really like it on her face. She kept it on for now but makes the conscious choice to remove it as soon as it becomes a hinderance.
Slowly the group approaches the edge of the wall and from there they all can see that torches light the whole way round the castle walls. She makes a hand gesture for them to procede with caution and she takes a step on the wall and her foot sticks as if it was glued. The rest follow in the same way as they begin to run full speed up the side of the wall. She wasn't sure if it was because of her sharp night vision or perhaps just instinct but she makes a split second halt and throws up the signal to stop. However one is not able to stop in time and as they step past the point where she was a flash of light erupts throwing her from the wall. With lighting reflexes the leader leaps from the wall as well but the girl is just out of reach for him to catch her.
"Saki! Shit!" She says under her breath as she quickly pushes past the line as it seemed to be a one time trap that blasts all objects on the wall at that point off. She takes a quick glance back at the ground. Saki seems to have landed wrong and now lay on the ground trying to get up. Kumogachi lands just a ways off and seems to be fine. However a group of at least fifteen guards rounded the north corner and was quickly approaching. She saw the captain as he engaged them. "Ryuketsu. Akumu. Keep going" Noraneko instructs. "Once we reach the top wait for the captain Kumogachi to find you. He will take care of Saki and return."
Biting her lower lip she makes a shadow clone which leaps down the wall landing by the fallen comrade. Rounding the corner were another dozen or so enemies all armed with heavy weapons. She remains silent as she starts making a few quick signs before fading away into the darkness. She had not left but stayed standing there with the same stance but now the low visibility with her transparency jutsu makes her nigh undetectable. Two kunai are drawn from her bag and her transparency spreads to them as well. A slight breeze picks ups as the kunai make a low humming sound. If they were able to see her they would see her blades extend slightly from her wind chakra and in just a flash of a moment she moves swiftly slashing into the enemies who never see her coming. The bodies fall to the ground without a single survivor between them. Her comrade can see how that each and every one had been slashed in the jugular with a deep slice into the spine as well. Some of the enemies spines were totally severed.
"Hide" She says coldly coming back into view before her clone dissolves into smoke.
Kuroneko's main body as well as Ryuketsu and Akumu have continued up the wall and managed to make it to the top. Just before getting to the top Kuroneko dissapears into the darkness with her transparency jutsu just as her clone had just done. Two guards were stationed at this particular portion of the wall. Neither of them seem to notice Kuroneko and so turned their attention to the other two also ascending to the top of the wall. It was quick, easy even, as she planted a kunai into each of the guard's foreheads. Looking down she sees that Kumogachi has defeated the rest of the enemies and now scoops up Saki into his arms. He gave her a thumbs up before jumping into the trees unnoticed.
Saki was running along the wall with the rest of her team. She was a little pissed that she didn't get to have a better role in this mission but it couldn't be helped. The castle was well fortified and so her Fukiyu no jutsu sniping technique wouldn't be very practical. She closes her eyes and sighs. However this was the worst possible to have done this as she missed Noraneko's stop signal and she ran right into the trap. She had no time to react as a flash of light and powerful explosion expelled her tiny self clear off of the wall.
Her senses were addled and her head was ringing. She could hardly tell which way was up or down as she fumbled to get situated in the air to land. However before she knew it the ground hit her like a train. Her right leg was the first to hit but it didn't hit evenly and as she tried to catch herself she could feel a sharp pain run through her shin and then a tiny pop. Suddenly it was like her whole leg went numb except for pain and the rest of her body hit the ground with a loud thud.
"What..the ..fuck.." she gasps as the wind was knocked out of her upon impact. Then she hears the whistles and warning bells as some enemies appear from the north corner. "s..shit." She says trying to get up before falling back down again. She was bleeding from the head and her leg was cocked at an impossible angle.
A loud thump echoed as the captain landed next to her.
"Its okay." He said softly. "I'll take care of them." He gives her a gentle pat on the shoulder before rocketing off to the guards and taking them down one right after another. Unfortunatly another group appears around the east corner of the castle. Suddenly as if by magic Noraneko had appeared next to her. If she had landed she had done so without a single sound. Then just as she had seen countless times before she is gone as if by magic and suddenly the guards are felled in an instant.
"Hide." Noraneko says in almost a whisper before disolving into smoke.
"Kage-bushin then..." She says under her breath trying to get up on her one good leg. However she doesn't have the chance as the captain suddenly scoops her up into his arms. She is lifted gently but her leg still hurts. "ouch.." she whimpers.
"Yeah...thats definitely broken." Kumogachi leaps up into the trees and sets her down. "They shouldn't see you if you remain hidden. I could give you some basic first aid but that leg is going to take a full blown surgery and at least two weeks to heal. It won't do much good. Thankfully you are the only one on this team that can still be useful even if you can't walk. Am I right?" He gives her a smile and points towards the gate. "Keep an eye out on that gate. Keep it cleared if you can." He gives her one last thumbs up before jumping back over to the wall to catch up to the rest.
Saki nods twice and summons her Fukiyu and adjusts the scope. At the first guard she is able to see she sets up her aim and presses her tongue to the mouthpiece to summon a dart in the barrel. Channeling her charka she fills her lungs fill so full of air they are about to burst but yet she holds. Waiting till the pressure is peaked she lets out an incredibly powerful blast of wind. The dark flies out of the fukiyu with such speed that a normal eye couldn't even track it. It lands between the eyes of one of the guards and the force is so great that it goes through his skull and several inches into the ground behind him. The guard next to him is struck through the head in the same way before he even noticed his fellow.
"Too easy." She says lining up her next shot.
"New plan..." She said slowly. "Captain is outside the walls and he is having to evacuate Saki. You two prepare a distraction. Stay hidden when you can and make an escape route when I need it." She takes off her mask and rests it on the side of her head. For the first time during the mission they see her. Her skin is incredibly pale and her eyes are a bright and shining blue that seem to reflect what little light is in the area.
"What? But.." Ryuketsu begins. However before she can protest Noraneko leaps down off the top of the wall.
Picking up a great amount of speed as she falls Koraneko focuses a large amount of chakra to her feet. During the descent Noraneko takes note of the layout of the castle's interior. It seems there is a large wall that makes the major obstacle but there is another tall tower like building in the center of the courtyard. They have great steel doors that are slowly being closed as she descends. They must have gathered the target as well as other important people into the building soon as the alarms started. If they manage to close that door she might have a difficult time getting in. There are no windows in the tower except for the very top which is heavily guarded.
"Understood." She says to seemingly no one. She lands a split second later on the ground of the courtyard more than 80 feet from where she had leaped from. Her whole body coils in like a spring being crushed under the weight of her fall. Underneath her feet all of her chakra acts as a cushion as it also builds pressure. As it peaks and her body is at the breaking point she uncoils both her chakra and her body and takes the force of her fall to plunge her at immense speed at the closing door. No one is able to see her but even if they had it was doubtful they could have done anything to stop her. Everything around her moves in slow motion and she takes the two hundred feet to the door in about 1.3 seconds.
---
Kumogachi reaches the top of the tower only a few seconds after Noraneko swan dives off of the side. Looking both amused and concerned he looks at Ryuketsu and Akumu.
"Did she just....leap off the side?" He asks tentatively.
"Yeah...Yeah she did." Ryuketsu says in an irritated tone. "Orders are to wait for you and clear a path for her escape. Then, at least I think, she managed to sneak into the main tower before the steel doors closed." She flexes her muscles and begins to do leg stretches in anticipation of combat. No one else seems to have spotted them yet but the whole fortress was on high alert.
"Well..." Kumogachi says with a satisfied smile. "If the little lady wants a clear escape route then lets give it to her." He looks down the side of the wall at the gate that was adjacent to where they were standing on the same wall. "Lets give her a big escape route." Then he begins to run down the side of the wall and Ryuketsu leaps immediately after him.
"Really....dammit." Akumu says under his breath following both Ryuketsu and Kumogachi.
Skidding to a stop inside of the dark building she immediately spots several bodies moving around. None of them seem to see her and none of them are her targets. With a blank expression she gracefully passes by them with steps softer than silk and movements as fluid as a river. Making her way up the stairs of the tower she remains undetected and she slowly reaches the level just below the top level. She see's a long haired man walking through this door looking tired from his brisk walk up the stairs.
"I don't need any guards in my room with me." The man spats at his men. "Just make sure no one gets past you here at this door. No one can get here without getting through you!" With this the man slaps the hand of a guard and moves into his room. As if moving on instinct Noraneko leaps behind him past the guards just as the door slams shut leaving only the two of them in the room together. "Honestly! The nerve of some of those people. Just do your damn jobs!"
The pathetic man now standing before her with no defenses at all matches the description of the black book profile and her minds drift back into her memories.
"This is Yamagendo Usugi. He isn't a ninja himself but he is amassing a small army of rogue ninja mercenaries. He uses exploitation of the local villages to make his money. He claims to be a noble but in reality he is just the spoiled brat of a noble that has fallen into line of many Yakuza of the local areas. Most of his money and influence is due to drug peddling, gambling and now sex slavery. He imposes taxes he shouldn't be able to impose by law and then takes the property, money or daughters of those that cannot meet his impossible standards. Recently he has obtained a few higher class shinobi. He is now a threat that cannot be taken care of by the regular fire nation forces and we of the Anbu need to step in. We are to take care of him as the primary target. There are two jounin that are also targets if you come across them. However do not pursue if combat isn't required."
A bit of rage boils in her stomach as she grabs her blade tighter. She wants to ask him why he would so something so evil but such questions no longer have any meaning in today's world. People do bad things and we stop them. That is our mission. We are the Anbu. With this in mind she takes her blades and with a swift motion cuts off his head and grasps it by the hair. The greasy hair feels wrong between her fingers. Disgust and nausea fills her. Now she needs to get out of here.
Closing her eyes she ignites something within herself. Suddenly the chakra's of those around her become as clear as if she could see them with her own eyes. She senses several chakra's above her, outside the door and all around her. Quickly she finds her comrade's familiar chakra They are fighting outside the wall that she is at currently. They seem to be defending something so she decides to take a gamble.
"Not really my style..." she complains to herself as she tosses up the head towards the ceiling. She makes several different hand signals and then catches the head before unleashing an incredible blast of fire from her mouth which vaguely takes the shape of a giant fire dragon that hits the solid stone wall and then breaks through exposing the night sky. Keeping with her concentration the great flame dragon descends down the side of the tower to the courtyard. Glancing out at the courtyard she can see that her comrades have managed to lower the gate but it is still being guarded by many men. Changing the direction of the dragon she forces it to blaze through the men and out of the gate before it dissipates. Her vision blurs as she falters for a second but catches herself.
I better not use that much chakra all at once she thinks to herself. I am not suited for that kind of combat. The door behind her busts open before she is able to finish that thought. Gritting her teeth she leaps out of the tower in the same way that she had gotten down from the wall. Similarly to before she lands hard and coils herself. As she uncoils she feels a slight snap in her leg which causes her to gasp out loud but gritting through it she launches herself through the now open and empty gate. She can sense it as her two comrades disappear into the night as she does as well.
Several hours later
The morning dew glistens in the sunrise and Koraneko slowly puts her mask back on. She had forgotten she had taken it off during the mission and hoped that none of her comrades saw that she had taken it off. If she was found out her captain would scold her again. She adjusts her seating on the bench located on the road just a few miles outside of Konoha. This was the rendezvous point that was discussed earlier and she was surprised that she was the first one to make it here. Though the second she had this thought it seems her captain appears next to her.
'Yo!" He said with his overly familiar tone and pats her on the shoulder. She shys away from it slightly and tries to hide the wince of pain she has when she leans on her left leg. "Heard you were quite the glory hog by the other two. Already met up with them and told them to head on into town. They had to carry Saki who I am pretty sure had a broken leg. She will be fine with some R&R." His voice is far more cheerful than she is used to but she says nothing in protest.
"Did you get hurt?" he asks inquisitively. His tone of voice was somewhat off but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.
"No." she lied. Very quickly and suddenly her captain's face changes.
"Don't lie to me." The altered tone put her off for a moment and he takes this chance to grab the bag with the head inside from her. "I am going to take this to the Hokage and report the mission as a success. I was going to offer to heal your leg but if you want to be stubborn about it maybe the walk home will teach you a lesson." His anger is not hid at all. But that is like the captain. His emotions are on the surface and nothing is hidden. Its a harsh contrast to Koneko whose cold exterior is all anyone ever sees.
Just like that he was off and it left Koneko on her own at the bench. She slowly gets up and starts to walk the path to the village. Each step is a bit painful but its not impossible to push through. She might have to take a break for a day or she might have to swallow her pride and go to the hospital. As someone who isn't a medic ninja she has self-diagnosed it as a torn ligament in her leg. She hopes that it will get better soon.
-----
As Inotsu begins his walk back from the village he notices a man leap down next to him. The man is tall and has obvious bushy brown hair behind his bear anbu mask. He stands nearly 190 cm tall and is less graceful than most anbu would be expected to be. This is a man Inotsu would immediatly recognize. Perhaps he didn't know him well but they have had dealings together in the past.
"Inotsu-kun!" he says with a cheerful tone. At his side is a bag with the scent of blood. "Good to see you! Still napping out here?" Inotsu would recognize him as Kumogachi Yamamoji. He is a captain of the anbu with a reputation of being a bit loud but as a capable ninja. "Actually there is a quick request I have of you. I have a cute little ninja that is still being a bit of a pain in my ass. She injured herself in her last mission but still wants to deny it. As punishment I am making her walk home but if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on her just in case for me buddy?" the usage of the term 'buddy' was definitely not warranted for their relationship but still it didn't stop him from using it.
"Thanks in advance!" He says with a slap on Inotsu's back and was off the next second.
It was dark. It was so dark. Dark and cold. Those were the last thoughts of Chen's target as his face with ice and snow in a routine assassination mission. The target was an old 63 year old man who had decided not to pay for a B Rank mission after it was completed. The guards outside the door were knocked out and tied up with Chakra Suppressing rope. The water throughout the building was spiked with powder that caused the drinker to pass out and lose the memory of the past 24 hours. Anyone in the building would believe the target passed away in their sleep once they all woke up. Chen should probably untie those guards soon.
Chen walked out of the room after erasing any sign of his presence and making the target look peaceful and covering him with a heated blanket. He untied the guards and sat them down in chairs on each side of the door. They would go into the room in the morning and find the target dead and would believe it to have died in it's sleep. A job well done.
As he walked through the building he saw a guard waking up and beginning to panic. A kunai through the throat quickly solved that problem and he sighed. The powder was ineffective. All the guards were waking up and were ready to brawl. 47 seconds passed and they lay on the floor frozen, bleeding, dead. Chen sighed, whoever gave him that powder needed to be fired. 7 hours of unconsciousness my ass. That was 0 hours, 42 minutes, and 23 seconds. Fucking useless.
He walked out of the building and pulled out a small piece of paper with various seals on it. He slapped it on the front entrance and it began to ignite. 5 minutes later the building was on fire and Chen was fleeing back to Konoha as fast as he could. No plan survives contact with the enemy indeed. Reporting to the chief was going to suck.
1 Day Later
Chen walked in through the gates of Konoha and flashed his A.N.B.U. ID to the gate guards. They tried to make friendly banter with him and he ignored them. He headed straight to headquarters and passed by a man in a bear mask. It was Captain Kumogachi, a... boisterous man who was damn good at what he did. Chen despised him with a passion. Last month alone he had tried to set him up on 4 dates and forced him to go out drinking with him once a week. Chen lowered his head, let his hood cover his mask as best as possible, and tried to quickly walk around him. He did not have the time nor patience to deal with him right now, he needed to go chew out that Medic Nin for giving him bad drugs.
Current Midnight: Forest to the north, major cross road.
Three Shinobi hid among the trees on a large looking down on the cross roads. The leader, a tall man with a falcon mask and white cloak stood leaning against the tree, as he looked down at the cross roads he twirled a Kuni on his pointer finger The other two Figures, A shorter woman with a blue fox mask and an average height male with a cat mask sat ideally on a branch playing Cards. “So why are we here playing cards?” the male playing cards asked as he placed two cards down and drew two more. ”we are here to ensure these rookies have earned the right to be called Anbu” The woman said with emphasis on mission. The male with the cat mask looks at the woman silently. With a sigh the woman placed a card down and took a deep breath ” For the third time…the rookies have been given a task, some Ninja from our village went rouge.” she said as she placed all her cards down ” we are here to make sure the team can do their job up to Anbu standards… there are multiple A rank criminals with a few S rank… if that squads can’t go up against a S rank then we will be called in.” she said as the Man in the Falcon mask chuckled “Well Katsumi you summed it up nicely, Shino Quit playing cards, Katsumi Don’t play with him just because he asked you nicely.” The leader said as he stopped twirling the Kuni. ”Sorry Kazu… he just wouldn’t stop asking.” she said as the two playing cards put them down. Shino quickly gathered the cards up and stored them in his pocket. As Katsumi and Shiro stood up Kazu looks up at six figures quickly rushing to their position "seems they took care of it let us go home and celebrate the rookie's..." he said as he stopped suddenly after a few seconds he looks at his team "Alright new plan I will leave a shadow clone to inform the others, we are going to Fuyuha Village... An anbu squad had an assignment there and the situation is unknown. From what we know there has been fighting...We are not far for the village so we will be moving over to find out what is going on."
Some time after Kumogachi had reported in for his mission and report he spotted Chen in the distance. Chen had a hard look on his face as if he didn't want to be bothered right now. Kumogachi respected this and pretended that he had not seen him. However a few paces past him he stops suddenly. Looking down and remembering something he lets out a small sigh and a slight smile breaks out on his face for a moment. This isn't a mischievous smile but a soft honest smile. Chen wouldn't be able to see his face and Kumogachi turns on his heels and quickly walks up to chen throwing his arm around Chen's neck.
"Hey there Chen!" He greets loudly while his arm stays firm but not tight over Chen's neck like friends often do when they see someone they haven't for a long time. A larger and more friendly smile has now replaced the more gentle and sincere smile that was there just before. "How have you been? Keeping healthy? How did the last date go? What was her name...Sachi...or Samuii or something? You know I have three little cuties in my squad right now! Your solidary cold demeanour might come off as attractive maybe to one of them. Hold on I got a picture." Without loosing his grip on Chen he nimbly reaches into his pocket and pulls out a photo of himself taking what looks to be a selfy of sorts with four others in the background. He uses a free finger to point to a very very young looking girl in the back of the photo. "This is Saki here. She looks like a total loli but she is actually 26. That isn't far from your age is it? See she just got injured and has to spend the next week in the hospital here. Oh, and she's single. Bet you could make a hell of an impression her by showing up and bringing her flowers. Eh? eh?" He says with a little nudge
"Either way we should get a drink. What say you?" He folds the picture up one handed and puts it back in his pocket. Kumogachi looks tired but determined.
Chen sighed as Kumogachi slung his and around his neck. How does anyone tolerate this man? "Hello Kumogachi-taichou. Sammy-san was fine, thank you for asking. She left about an hour into the date after dinner was over. I am also fine. I just returned from a mission, which I need to report on." Chen added as an after thought. Captain Chokashi continued on and started talking about one of his subordinates and then immediately tried to set him up on a date with her. This was going to prove annoying. Although she was pretty cute and an A.N.B.U. like himself, so no civilian problems like the last date. "I'll bring her flowers. Do you know which room she is staying in?" He asked quickly, maybe this could get him out of having to go to the bar with Captain Chokashi right now. Time to capitalize on this oppurtunity.
"Also, where's the nearest flower store? What type of flowers should I bring? Should I bring a mix of just one type? I'm afraid I don't know much when it comes to bringing sick people flowers." Chen tried to make himself look as eager as possible, he loathed drinking and alcohol in general. Tea was much more refined and better tasting. "Her name is Saki right? How did she get hurt?" This part he was actually interested in, hurting an A.N.B.U. was quite the task. He wanted to know who was able to hurt an elite fighter such as this Saki.
Kumogachi pats Chen on the chest twice keeping his arm around his neck.
"You are quite the agreeable person. Has anyone ever told you that?" He said with a little bit of a surprised tone. He hasn't expected him to simply go along with his suggestions so easily. In the past he had to be a bit persistent. Hopefully this means he is slowly breaking down Chen's walls. Probably not though now that he thinks about it. Its possibly just his excuse to get out of going drinking. "She is in room 304 I think I heard the medic say." He pauses a moment to think about the flowers. It was a loose suggestion. He then remembers that he had asked Inotsu a favor. If his memory recalled Inotsu was from the Yamanaka clan and the Yamanaka had a family flower shop not too far from the hospital. Kumogachi nods twice as it all seemed to fit together rather well.
"Well I owe a certain Yamanaka a favor so how about I recommend you to the Yamanaka flower shop. Its only about a block away from the hospital on this road." He lets go of Chen's neck and points down the direction of the road that Chen was already traveling. "You can probably get her anything. Just nothing potted or wild. That's bad luck you know." He seemed satisfied with his directions but caught off guard slightly by Chen asking about how she injured herself. This was a good sign and that honest gentle smile started to come back.
"I wish I could say it was because of an awesome battle but that would be a lie. We were scaling a wall and she stepped on a well placed and well hidden paper bomb. It threw her off of the side of a very tall wall and she happened to land wrong. Another one of my little cute kunoichi hurt her leg as well but I don't know how. Its doubtful she will go to the hospital though. She just isn't that kind of person to ever be taken care of." He lets out a sigh of frustration and suddenly seems to remember an appointment of some kind. "Ah..." He starts. "Well this is embarrassing. I think I will have to get a raincheck on that drink. Something important had slipped my mind. Must be getting old." He gives Chen a goodbye wave and begins to walk away.
"I will see your walls broken eventually." He says to himself in a low serious voice rather unlike his normal silly tone as he walks away. The next moment he was gone into the shadows.
