[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Waiting

Azarea waited patiently beside the village's gates. The Kumogakure Shinobi dressed in her usual red, black, and maroon mission jumpsuit with her red jacket. Two weapon pouches strapped to either of her legs and a belt pouch strapped to the small of her back just below where her mission pack would sit lest the two wear against one another as she ran. The woman's forehead protector tied gleaming in the early morning sun to her upper left bicep as she took a moment to braid her long wild mane of red hair back with some razor wire. The wire undoubtedly a nasty surprise for anyone dumb enough to try and grab the woman's braid. The shinobi herself was pretty in the way paper bombs and the light glinting off the edge of a blade were pretty. Her face delicate, but severe with high cheekbones, a straight aristocratic nose, and sharp glinting scarlet eyes. Though she perhaps might have oncee been prettier before her right eye had marred by a large scar bisecting it and a second one sliced across her left cheek from her jaw to nearly her nose.

The woman held herself with the sort of calm confidence of someone used to the work that had been assigned. Her gaze flicking over the gate guards and then back to the gates before she begins to once more check over her equipment. The work they were assigned today was simple bandit cleared, something she could nearly do in her sleep these days, but any combat mission warranted due caution. Hopefully this time around her partner was someone already blooded who wouldn't be too squeamish with the work. As brushing a stray strand of crimson hair back from her eyes Azarea settled in to wait.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 294 | Yamamoto Shosuke

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Alright Sho, the young ninja thought with a minor tang of panic as he walked towards the village's gates, no need to panic. This is just your first mission you've gone on since you regained your status as a Ninja. Nobody's expecting anything of you, so there's no need to get worried about it. Just do the best you can and help as many people as you can, and nothing could possibly go wrong. Right? The fact that they've trusted you enough to place you on this mission in the first place is a good sign!

That was what he told himself, at least, but the truth of the matter was no matter how much of a pep talk he gave himself he was still nervous. This was his first job as a Ninja, and as everyone knew first impressions mattered. What happened here may not make the biggest difference in the world, it was far from affecting nation-states, but it would matter to him. He wasn't just working for himself, after all, but carrying his mother's dream. He couldn't let this go to waste, especially not by fucking up on his first job.

As he approached the gates, his eyes fell upon the person he had been assigned this mission with - Aburame Azarea, another chronic Genin like himself. Unlike him, however, she had been in active service for quite some time now, and he was just a rookie in the village's eyes. Speaking of eyes, he couldn't help but notice those scar tissues immediately. He tried not to draw attention to exactly what he was looking at, but it was hard not to. His eyes trailed the lines of her scar tissue, wondering for a moment just what would have caused something like this.

Perhaps this was something other people knew about... Sho never put his ear to the ground, wasn't one for gossip, so he simply didn't know how she had ended up like this. Instead, he just stared, and stared, and stared. It took him about twenty full seconds to realise that he had stopped walking and was just looking at her like one might admire an art-piece, something out of a master's collection. Where other people might see injuries and disgrace, he saw someone who had taken such hideous wounds and had survived. The old mantra "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" was a bunch of garbage, but he was reminded of that old art of fixing something broken with gold.

"Ah! S-sorry, I got distracted." Sho blurted out, realising that he had probably ruined his introduction to her and was probably only making things worse. Approaching her, he bowed respectfully, formal and polite as always. "You must be Miss Aburame, right? Your reputation proceeds you - I'm Yamamoto Shosuke. It's an honour, truly."

If she had wanted someone blooded, he was far from desirable. Everything about him was stiff, formal, overly polite. He seemed like a little lordling who hadn't had a hard day in his life, far from her own experience of struggle and pain. But such was one's job...

517 words | Aburame Azarea

SPOILER: Click to show

C Mission 2/15
No Jutsus used

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Introductions & Plans

At his approach the woman turned to face him. Her scarlet eyes thoughtful and observant as she takes a moment to inspect Shosuke the same as he is herself though perhaps with a bit less intensity. The change in angle revealing another matching scar raked across her left cheek which in combination with the one on the right... it became clear someone had tried to claw her eyes out while the woman struggled. Her attacker unable to get a good enough grip to finish the deed.

In turn Azarea's eyes lingered checking the Yamamoto's gear, noting the lack of built up callouses on the man's hands, and eyeing the thinner equipment then her own trial tested weapon layout. Her gaze thoughtful, but not disdainful though he words do garner a wince, "Please call me Azarea. I'm not at leave to use a clan name." She requests her words polite. Whoever had sent him her way must have either had her old papers or... weren't her biggest fan if they didn't tell him she was one of the nameless.

"It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance Shosuke-san. We'll be heading down into the valley to hunt down a group of bandits and their leader and preferably bring the man back alive. Your skills will be a great boon in getting the man back intact to stand trial. The scroll didn't specify that we need to kill the rest of his group, but I will inform you I intend to either do so or maim them in a way to prevent further banditry given these are repeat offenders who've made a career of this rather then simply desperate civilians. If you have issues killing or with killing please let me know now so we can divide the work evenly." Azarea explains her voice calm, patient, business like and a without judgement.

"I will however ask that if we end up in a combat scenario that you defer to my judgement due to my experience to prevent infighting or risk of harm from seconds lost questioning things. If this is an issue I can see if we can find a chuunin who is free t act as squad leader if you find listening another genin problematic." She adds not wanting to risk a confrontation once they're in the thick of things. Other villages shinobi were their responsibility, but she cared what happened to her own.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 403| Yamamoto Shosuke

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Not at liberty to use her own clan's name? What a strange concept.

Perhaps it was because the Yamamoto were a found family, people who had come together over a shared interest in saving lives and protecting others rather than anything quite so flesh and blood, but the idea of being denied the use of a family name seemed absurd. Names were not something you could confer or deny something, they weren't accolades, they just were. Still, he wasn't about to go around correcting this woman, not so soon after they had first met, so he decided just to let it lie.

As for himself, it was not exactly true he lacked callouses. They simply weren't where one might have expected. The outside of his hands were pure and porcelain white, almost like they belonged to a doll. However, palm up they looked far different. He had, after all, spent several years working over bodies with his scalpel as a surgical assistant. His hands were calloused in the same way as an artists might be, or a writer, but she had him bang to rights on one thing - He was no warrior. Not yet.

"Yes, I know." He responded, his tone matter of fact as she reiterated the nature of their mission. "I was given the same briefing that you were, Miss Azarea." It seemed he had picked up the not calling her Aburame bit but had failed to internalise the not calling her Miss bit. Oh well, such things were inevitable when you came from Yamamoto stock. They were geniuses, eccentrics, people without whom the village would have fallen apart, but social graces were one of the things they lacked.

"I would expect nothing less - We're here to get rid of the bandit problem, not just to eliminate one person. Cut off one head, they're liable to grow two more. Only by paralysing the body will this sort of surgical extraction work." He said, likening their mission to removing a tumorous cyst. It was a crude analogy, one that had been used far too often, but it worked in the moment.

"As an aside, Miss Azarea, if I might make a request - Do not kill people unnecessarily. If you can, restrict yourself to crippling and disabling. People can still live happy, content lives disabled, but to kill them ends any hope for that. Besides, with medical techniques, in the future I may be able to regenerate their injuries. Only once they've proven themselves worthy of such treatment, that is."

At first it might have seemed as if he was speaking naively, trying to be merciful and kind. Perhaps he was, in his own little way, but it came down to something far more important than ethics - practicality. The village could benefit from their continued existence, if curtailed and made to atone for their sins against the villagefolk. Death was absolute.

As she spoke once more, he simply nodded pleasantly. "Don't worry, I'm not about to quibble over silly things like leadership and pride. You have more experience, so you should lead. It's the same with surgeries at the hospital. The senior doctor should always run the medical room, disagreements can risk shortening or even ending lives. Now, shall we?"

With a single hand, he gestured towards the gate, waiting for her to start leading before following.

557 words | Aburame Azarea

SPOILER: Click to show

C Mission 4/15
No Jutsus used

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Pleasant Surprises

Azarea blinked, but inclined their head in acknowledgement, "My apologies. My prior mission partners had not bothered to read over the parameters of the tasks assigned to us so explaining the mission has grown habitual." She explains voice sincere as she cocks her head slightly to one side akin to a bird and listens to his reasoning. The man's request sound and something she can agree with rather then high handed preaching in regards to not wanting to dirty ones hands.

"If you can treat the bandits to prevent bleed out I'll strive to hamstring and maim instead of kill, but only so long as it does not risk your safety or my own." Azarea accede with a slight twitch of a smile, "I don't feel these thugs will ever be of much use given the lives they've chosen, but I am not one to deny second chances." She quips turning to head out the gate as she gestures for Shosuke to follow. The tension that had lined her shoulders relaxing a touch at his agreement and recognition of how the hierarchy worked. Field missions really weren't that different from working in a hospital in that way.

"So would you mind giving me a little run down on your skills? I'm afraid this is the first time we've met so I'm not sure other then you being a medic what all you are skilled in. I myself am specialized in genjutsu, capture, and assassination techniques." Azarea explains giving him a little preview of her own capabilities in return.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 258 | Yamamoto Shosuke

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

As she apologised, Sho couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Nothing loud or extravagant, just a minor expression of humour at this little revelation. It seemed no matter which world you worked in, people could never be trusted to just read the paper put in front of them. Even when it was printed nice and clear on their medication, there was always one person who would come back having tried to swallow an analgesic.

"Seems everywhere you go, people just don't do what they're supposed to, eh?" His tone was commiserative, bonding with her in that moment of shared frustration. "But don't worry - Ya can't last long as a doctor without having the will and patience to be able to listen to others. There's been enough doctors who've learned that lesson at the cost of their job for me to pick that up by now.

I'll handle the bleeding and the clean-up; you handle putting them in the position to be healed in the first place."

As they walked out of the gates, Sho made sure to keep half a step behind her, ensuring that she was always in front and able to take command should anything go wrong. Though they were ostensibly the same rank, working in a hospital and even doing field operations was hardly the same as going out to crack skulls. That was why he had been so eager when he had been given this duty in the first place - Not only was it a sign that the village was taking his intentions seriously, but he was working under a seasoned professional.

It was true that Azarea was just a Genin, like himself, but that was why she was so useful for this. He could observe a Jonin or a village elder or someone who had been doing this for years, but they had had time to perfect their artform, they were an impossible standard to measure oneself against, it was like trying to run before you could walk. It was Azarea's very status as a Genin that made her the perfect comparison point for what he should be aiming for.

"Capture and assassination, huh?" he asked, trying to make conversation. To be trained as that before one even reached the rank of Chuunin, it really showed just how impressive this girl actually was.

"I can't claim to be anywhere near that impressive myself - I only re-joined active service recently. In fact, this is my first mission out of the village in half a decade."

This was mumbled out, as if he was embarrassed about it, not liking to admit just how weak he was compared to her. He wasn't prone to something as stupid as self-hatred, there was no point in that, but this moment of comparison did paint him in quite the bad light.

"Since the Academy I've been specialising in medicine - I'm a trained doctor, though I'm not licensed cos I'm still too young. I can heal, recognise injuries, keep people alive, all those sorts of things. I can also do a bit of ninjutsu, though I'm sure nothing all that impressive. They probably stuck me on this mission cos they wanted to ensure you brought the leader back alive, considering the whole "assassinating" thing you mentioned..."

546 words | Aburame Azarea

SPOILER: Click to show

C Mission 6/15
No Jutsus Used

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Instructions On The Tin

"Ah well it's hmm maybe less a specialization and more something that has just naturally happened. Most members of my former clan tend to fall into such roles of either assassination, tracking, or as messengers and well I'm not squimish." She admits lifting a hand to scratch the back of her head her expression calm, but rueful as the two made their way down the mountains following the road and eventually heading off them on one of the goat paths towards where the bandits in question had last been spotted.

"However I will tell you a secret. Up until a few months ago I'd been stuck on desk duty due to injuries. I've only recently recovered enough to go back out in the field and begin trying to catch up for the years lost. If I can make this much progress by buckling down and dedicating myself I'm certain that if you are motivated you'll be able to catch up to me in no time." Azarea assures him with a lopsided fanged smile.

"Buuut you're not wrong on the instructions thing. I've had some very good mission partners, but also some rather lack luster ones at times. However I can safely say I've thus far always brought my team home and that's all you can really ask when you're just a genin." She quipped with a low chuckle and a shake of her head. "Hopefully I'll shed that label come exams."

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 241 | Yamamoto Shosuke

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

She just happened to get into assassination NATURALLY?! The very idea of that seemed kind of laughable, to stumble backwards into assassination the same way you would a dead-end job. How did something like that happen? As far as he was aware, it wasn't even a recurring trait in her family like medical work was for his.

Whilst Sho wasn't exactly what you would consider an expert in inter-village affairs, he did know enough to at least recognise the name Aburame. Their main clan was from Konoha, an allied village of Kumo, and they were defined by their bugs. The very clan itself was something that Sho would have paid good money for the chance to study. An excellent case study into the nature of parasitic organisms, their entire family were known for deliberately infecting their youth with Chakra-devouring parasites. It wasn't a Kekkei Genkai or a natural mutation like one might develop an extra elemental affinity, this was a deliberate act of self-mutilation perpetuated through the familial line.

Yet, despite this seeming by its very nature self-sabotage, they had somehow turned around and turned this mutilation into an advantage that put them above and beyond other clans. It reminded him of those little birds that ate the gunk out from between a crocodile's teeth, only in that case they were two wholly separate organisms. Perhaps the better comparison was one of those parasites that necrotised a fish's tongue before assuming its function. No, that didn't work either, the fish didn't want the parasite, they kind of dealt with it but it was far from desirable.

Perhaps there simply wasn't a 1:1 comparison in nature?

Regardless of this internal curiosity, their feet continued down the dusty roads of the mountain, heading further out towards the danger zone they had been tasked with clearing. As they did so, Sho couldn't help but feel a pang in his stomach about what she was saying. She had clearly said it to try and make him feel better, reassure him that he could end up on the same pedestal as her, but there was something else that he took from it.

"So, this community have been threatened by bandits, and they chose two people who are new to the job? I get it's not a Jonin level threat or anything, but doesn't that seem a bit disrespectful? I know our Kage isn't the kind of woman to disregard people's lives, but shouldn't they at least have sent people who these folk know they can rely on?"

He wasn't trying to be insulting, wasn't trying to insinuate that she wasn't good enough, but if they were both relatively new then what did that state about the village's priorities?

Then she mentioned the exams and he could comfortably speak about a 'safe' topic again.

"You're doing the exams too? That's intimidating - I just got the news from my elders that I've been registered for the exams. I hope I don't end up pit against you. It's hardly Roshambo but I'm pretty sure "assassin" beats "doctor" every single time. Especially when it comes to fighting... Sorry if I let you down in that regard by the way, you don't get a lot of fighting practice in a surgical suite."

543 words | Aburame Azarea

SPOILER: Click to show

C Mission 8/15
No jutsus used.

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Sickness

It was probably best that most people didn't realize that Kikaichu were omnivores and excellent for body disposal. Some knowledge just made people uncomfortable and Azarea had worked hard to become a 'likable' Aburame even if she couldn't use the clan name. The woman letting out a soft humm at Shosuke's musings her eyes cutting across their surroundings with a frown. The man mentioned he'd spent most of his time in the medical ward so perhaps he had yet to realize what was slowly growing obvious to the field agents. Something was badly wrong with Kaminaro no Kuni. A sickness called greed investing the land from the festering boil of the glutted capital. One she itched so badly to lance like a burning rod of fire, but it was not time yet. Not yet.

But soon.

"I think the people will be very grateful for whatever help they can get." Azarea murmurs choosing her words with great care. It wouldn't do to speak out against the Daimyo or at least be heard doing so. "The Ashigaru typically handle issues like banditry and patrols, but they've recently pulled back to the main roads and capitol leaving smaller villages like this vulnerable." She explains glancing towards Shosuke as they ran curious to see if the medic was picking up on her implications or... noticed that trails once well maintained were now rough and storm worn. The bricks lost or stolen by the desperate peasants to build much needed walls to kep out the floods and mud from washed out passageways that the roadworkers had failed to maintain.

"There's a reason I wasn't very inclined to be merciful until you spoke up in regards to these bandits. They saw an opportunity with the Ashigaru pulling back and rather then help and protect their fellows... they've exploited desperate people who are in need of defense." Azarea adds her jaw tightening nostrils flaring slightly in fury at the situation. This village could not afford more then a couple of chuunin. Technically the village couldn't even afford one genin even less two, but Azarea doesn't tell Shosuke she won't be taking pay for this job. There's a good reason why even though the Yakuza were growing rampant in Kaminari no Kuni Kumogakure turned a blind eye to them. The Yaks were dangerous, but they helped their communities and worked with Kumo shinobi to keep the rats and actual filth out of the country when the government would let them all in for a slip of coin.

Though as the village in question became visible in the distance tucked into the side of a hill Azarea grasped onto the safer topic of the exams with both hands. "I wouldn't be too worried. There's going to be a lot of rookies in this years exams and even if we did fight I've no intention of harming a fellow Kumo nin so please don't fret. I think you'll likely excel during the first half of the trials anyway. Medics always ace the field portions of the exams." Azarea assurs him with a smile.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 514 | Yamamoto Shosuke

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

In all fairness, if there was ever anyone who would not have been offput by finding out that the Kikaichu were omnivores, it would have been Sho. They were far too interesting to be put off by such a simple morbid thing, and besides there was always more need for corpse disposal efforts. No matter how many he saved, some would always end up dying, and sometimes the incinerator just wasn't enough. Not to mention that should the plague rise again, the insects would be a perfect way to avoid contagion, as diseases rarely spread between different species of animals.

"I suppose so, but still... Public image is just as important in missions like these as actual capability is. If we're seen to be stingy or barely compliant, we risk making them upset and stoking fervour against the Daimyo."

IF she was looking to see if he was picking up what she was putting down, she would be happy to find her faith rewarded. Despite barely leaving the village. Sho's mind was sharp as a tack and perceptive as an eagle, and he couldn't help but notice everything that was happening around them. The missing bricks. the disregarded pathways, and the mention of the Ashigaru pulling back to protect the main roads. He could see all of it, understand all of it, but the one thing he couldn't get was why.

Why, now of all times, was the Ashigaru pulling back to fortify the main roads? It wasn't like Kumogakure was going through financial difficulties, they had always been an international trade-hub and were well known for their great commodities. They could surely pay for the wages of more Ashigaru being deployed to protect places like this. The Kage was far from stingy, she was a wise and benevolent woman so what was the root cause of all this apathy?

Still, when Azarea continued her rant, he found himself responding in a way she might not have expected.

"You're wrong, Miss Azarea." It was almost as if he realised what he was saying after he said it, causing his face to flush almost as red as her hair, before muttering apologies and immediately trying to explain what he meant.

"Poverty hits everyone differently - We saw that during the plague. To lose money is to starve, to starve is to die, and some people refuse to die. It's not a pretty fact of reality but it's a fact of reality.

If these bandits had the access and money that we have in the village? The ability to work earnest jobs and not risk starvation? It seems likely to me that they'd stop this predation. Maybe not all of them, maybe not even most of them, but to tar them all with the same brush seems... ignorant, if you don't mind me saying."

At this point, the topic of the Chuunin exams seemed a little soft in comparison to the actual debate going on here about the nature of man. Sho knew he could have responded, perhaps should have responded, with some easy comment about how skilled she surely was, or about how his Wood Release would probably just get him defeated by one of the many Fire Release users in the wider market, but he didn't. It seemed disrespectful to change the topic from their suffering so quickly.

557 words | Aburame Azarea

SPOILER: Click to show

C Mission 10/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Politics

"Kumogakure no Sato is helping Shosuke-san. The village serves the Daimyo as a contractor. We're allowed to remain here so long as we follow set rules. However we're not responsible for the day to day well being of the country. That responsibility belongs to the Daimyo and his court. If we were to overstep and start doing missions for free and without the Daimyo's approval it would be considered an act of war." She explains her voice patient. Years working alongside a kage having taught her all the nasty tricks and tangled webs that made of politics and regulations. How to bend them and how to avoid breaking them lest you find yourself caught and choked by the rope you thought was a life line turned into a noose.

"Kumogakure has only recently begun to recover from the plague. We can't afford nor win an all out war. The only reason the village is doing so well right now is we're supplementing a lot of our income with outside joint missions and trying to invest in trade. The Nanadaime may not have been the most popular Kage, but he did a lot for our infrastructure and businesses. It's only thanks to him we're not struggling far worse and the Hachidaime is building upon that. Technically a mission like this would only come into our hands if the Ashigaru were unable to handle it or some of the bandits were suspected of having combat training. Otherwise it would have been handed off. Someone snuck it into the pile and must have gotten it stamped with a large group of missions to go unnoticed." A trick she herself had used more often then not as a desk ninja to bend the rules. Once the seal was on the mission it was official regardless of whether it should have been there or not.

As Shosukes words the crimson haired woman turns to eye him fully arching a brow at his insult, "Not all bandits are the same and poverty may effect everyone, but it effects each of us differently. If these bandits were doing this just because they were desperate and starving we would have heard of them moving from place to place or hitting the richer caravans near the off roads that feed into the main highways. Instead their tormenting villages that can barely feed themselves even less afford to..." Azarea trails off realization settling over her as she snarls swearing long and low under her breath. It had struck her as odd that the bandits were targeting small villages and even odder why they appeared to be sticking to a few select areas near the mountain peaks that bordered one of the harsh ridges before dropping down into the sea. The snows there were some of the worst come winter, but if the rogues had managed to find a year round pass through the peaks to the water. Not to mention the fact this all started up the moment the Ashigaru backed out of the area...

"Shosuke what does a village with barely enough money to pay for a genin and barely enough food have to offer a group of bandits hardened enough to have a leader and to have setup a turf?" Azarea poses her questions knowing that the medic could probably take a good guess. Even if he'd spent most of his time in a clinic... well organs had to come from somewhere.

"I think we're dealing with slavers. Not bandits. That would explain why they want the leader alive. If they've sold people off the information he has might be the only way of locating some of those that have gone missing. That is... if my guess is right." The woman murmured her expression hard as she put on a burst of speed. The two shinobi eating up the distance between them and the village. Even as the worn gates loomed before them. Hopefully pleading eyes peering out through cracked windows and in the distance the sound of crying.

SPOILER: Click to show

Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 671 | Yamamoto Shosuke

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

She was right, of course, Sho knew that. Despite what some people might assume based on balance of power, the village was just that - a village. It wasn't the nation, didn't have control over the nation, it was one part of a larger cohesive whole. Still, the idea of one part of the nation being penalised, even threatened, for being willing to help? It seemed absurd, laughable even.

Sho was no master of politics, he was a doctor, but he did understand the image problem. If the village was seen as being too helpful, then they might be seen as trying to usurp the power from the Daimyo, they might be seen as trying to draw power away from the current system, sabotaging the inner workings. But still, to let people starve to death so that you didn't look bad? To deny them the basic rights of life like medicine, housing, community and food, all for the sake of some loftier ambition towards total power? It seemed monstrous.

"I'm sorry for criticising," Sho mumbled, after a quiet moment of contemplation. "It's just... it doesn't feel right. I know that's a childish complaint, that emotions are not what rule the world but cold, hard politics but to be expected to only do what we're paid for and leave behind any additional suffering? It's insane. It'd be like only treating the medical conditions of someone if they could get a lawyer to confirm it was necessary. Is the daimyo that s-"

Sho stopped, biting down on his tongue to stop the word from coming out of his mouth. Still, they both knew what he was about to say, even if it went unsaid: that selfish. It was a criticism of the daimyo, something that if he was surrounded by the wrong people could put his head on the block. Still, as it went unsaid, perhaps that alone would be enough to stop him from suffering any additional penalties for this indiscretion.

"I don't know about you, Miss Azarea, but I was raised in a clan who felt that when they saw suffering, it was their obligation to alleviate it. Charity, medicine, even just giving a frank conversation when needed. It was our duty, and our obligation, and our life. We can't accept all the thanks, but I know the Yamamoto were pivotal in constraining the plague, in keeping things from falling apart completely, but nobody seems to care. We haven't received more doctors-in-training since the last generation, we haven't received extra donations to our efforts, we haven't even been given thanks.

What kind of system is it that ignores the people who protect others whilst rewarding those who hamstring and constrain said help?"

Compared to the calm, understated and gentle boy that she had met just a while ago at the village gates, it seemed this conversation really fired him up. It wasn't hard to see just how passionate he was about saving lives, about improving the world, making things better for others. But perhaps that was simple naivete, the will of a doctor when faced with the cruel slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Then she began to speak about the village proper, and about their actual situation, and Sho went quiet.

"I wasn't aware of the state of the village. It wasn't mentioned in the briefing we got that they had so little food. I thought the bandits were preying on a provincial food source, somewhere where what little remains in this land was gathered together, a storehouse or something. If that's not the case, if they are slavers like you think..." A dark look seemed to flash across Sho's face, his eyes that usually seemed to glisten and twinkle with life seemed to harden like flint.

"... Miss Azarea, please countermand my earlier request. I have no interest in letting a single one of these bastards live."

In step with her, Sho broke into a burst of speed, heavy footsteps running across the darkened ground. It seemed even the merciful doctor had a limit to what he would tolerate.

674 words | Aburame Azarea

SPOILER: Click to show

C Mission 12/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

The Bare Essentials

"Shosuke..." Azarea trailed off her expression conflicted and furious, but her fury was not directed at the medic simply the situation the village found itself in. "The Daimyo also supplements the village's income, but and major project funding needs to be run through the court scribes and..." She grits her teeth words forced and filled with an age old anger. "Some projects such as medical facilities, farming, and other 'mundane' needs simply aren't as important to the court as maintaining military superiority over their rivals." Azarea would know. How many requests had she helped Riku-san file? How many pleas for funding had gone unanswered? Requests met only with tighter restrictions. Before they'd been able to slip away some funding, but now if a box of kunai went missing hell would be upon their heads.

"While the Yamamoto where not the only clan essential in combating the plague the reason thanks has not been given is there simply isn't anything to give. The village shows it's gratitude by trying to maintain the standards of our hospitals even as other budgets need to be cut. Hopefully the festival will change that. If we can get more foreign merchants and trade going... maybe things will not be so dire." The Kumo nin murmured her own eyes haunted. Her gear is of good grade despite worn and made of material to hold up over time, but she hasn't forgotten the many missions she had to run to afford it. Her hands slick with foreign blood and spent in local stores to afford to pay for the quality equipment she needs.

"If they are not slavers then I will aim to maim only." Azarea agrees, but as she takes off after Shosuke following the crying the hope that these are despite her assessment just simple desperate people grows less and less. The signs of distress are everywhere. Broken doors. Empty homes that showed signs of recent living. Sword marks around windows and broken shutters and drag marks in the soft mud of the road.

Marks that lead to a crying woman hugging empty swaddling and hunched over the still body of a man face down in the mud. His throat cut and blood long grown cold even as the woman rocks back and forth sobbing, throat hoarse with her cries and eyes empty as she stares at what must have been her husband. The other villagers watching on silent and fearful from their own homes.

"Can you help her?" Azarea asks in a soft whisper nodding towards the woman her eyes soft with pity recognizing shock when she's seen it. "I can bury the poor man and maybe if we can calm her down we can learn what happened from her and the villagers." She suggests voice low and barely above a murmur. Not wanting to startle or distress the poor woman further.

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Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 478 | Yamamoto Shosuke

[Yamamoto Shosuke]

The plague. That was always what it seemed to come down to, in the end - that damnable plague. Of course, it had been devastating and had fundamentally changed the way that Kumogakure functioned for years upon years, but sometimes Sho wondered if more people had died from the plague during or after it was active, just based on sheer economic destruction and usurpation of resources alone.

"It's a good thing they have such a strong military then, cos the people who they've abandoned? We can't guarantee they'll stay quiet forever.

How many rebellious towns and homesteads will they burn to the grounds rather than grant enough pittance to survive? When putting down a rebellion costs ten times as much as preventing one being fermented in the first place, you've got to question their priorities."

A less charitable person would assume that what Sho was saying was a threat, but it wasn't. It was an observation from a scholar, from someone who understood how trauma and emotional damage could build up and up and up in a person until they exploded. Each person had their limit, and whilst starvation might keep people quiet from sheer lack of energy for a while, sooner or later they were going to come to the decision that anything but rebellion meant death and suffering.

It was a basic fact of humanity that people kept grudges. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, maybe not even in their lifetimes. But eventually, one day, if it wasn't redressed? The uprisings would come, and they would be bloody.

Speaking of bloody, as their conversation came to a dark and sombre topic, they quickly found themselves arriving at the village. For the first time, Sho felt his eyes fall upon the true meaning of suffering. Doors kicked down, sword marks in everything, anything that could be looted had been, and it seemed that even the townsfolk themselves hadn't been spared. A knot formed in his stomach as they entered into the street, their eyes falling upon the deceased man and the woman rocking his body back and forth.

The bandits had done this. That much was obvious, but why? Had the man offered some paltry form of resistance? Or was this just a show of force, to remind them what could happen if they tried? Even if he had offered resistance, the man was scrawny, pallid, frail. He posed no threat, and there weren't even any signs of him having had a weapon.

"I'll do what I can." Sho nodded, moving over to the woman crying over her loss and placed a small, comforting hand on her shoulder. "Excuse me, Miss? My name is Shosuke, that's my partner Azarea. We're here to pr-" The word died on his tongue, rotted like fruit on the vine. To protect them? Well, they'd clearly already failed at that. What was one even supposed to say at times like this?

Sho thought back to the times when he'd had to comfort a new widow or widower in the waiting room of the hospital, of when he'd had to tell them that despite their best efforts the worst had happened. But how was he supposed to compare that to now. They hadn't done their best.

Sho and Azarea had come as quickly as they could, but they had only come once they'd been paid, once these people had scraped together enough to pay them.

Once the daimyo had let them.

"We're here to help." He said, finally, unable to make it any clearer than that. "I'm sorry, we can't bring your husband back, but we can make the bastards who did it pay for it, and make sure they don't do it to anyone else." That was the best he could offer.

624 words | Aburame Azarea

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C Mission 14/15
Jutsus Used: None

[Aburame Azarea]

The Devil That You Forgot

Empty Arms

The woman flinched a bit at Shosuke's touch, but she didn't stop rocking. Her sightless black eyes shifting briefly from her husband to the medic that had reached out to her offering what comfort he could give as Azarea watched on fury burning in her gut. Change was coming as she added Shosuke's name to a mental list of individuals to call on when the cry went out. The new widow's entire body shuddering with a loud broken wail as at Shosuke's words she threw her arms about the medics neck. Tears long dried out, but soul still aching.

"They took our baby! My Midori-chan! They took our Midori-chan! You have to get my baby back!" The woman screamed the wail of a broken woman. "I t-told Tachi not to tell. Told him asking for him would just... I didn't think help would come. They found out about the letter and... Midori's barely over a year old. I didn't think they'd take my baby like the other girls!" She sobbed bony fingers strong with desperation as she clung to Shosuke for comfort. Azarea slowly circling around to the other side of the downed man.

"Let me put your husband to rest Ma'am. We'll..." She trailed off throat tightening with emotion, "We'll get your baby back." Her voice came out gruff, but honest. The man couldn't have been dead for more then a day at most. The thugs hadn't likely had the time to get to any boats or trade off any slaves. Not while also caring for a child barely over a year old.

"And Kana-chan?" A little voice piped up from the window a girl no older then four peering over the sill as her parents grave faced tried to hush her, but the child would not be silent. "You'll bring sissy back too?" The little girl asked voice desperate.

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Justu Goes Here

流人

                           Made by Keen of FBNRP | Word Count: 311 | Yamamoto Shosuke