[Uchiha Hotaru]

[googlefont=Roboto]

"Candidness: being straight forward, open, and honest,” Hotaru replied. "The world makes an ordeal of the simplest things, and you do not. It is refreshing.”

It was refreshing to speak with someone around his age at all. Most of the people he spent time with were either children, or his aging benefactors who held lofty positions within the village. Even with Abe Ruto, one whom he relied on for medical advice, was much older than he. Even during his time in Konohagakure, he was far ahead of most in his age group. He would spend his time among older shinobi and his very sickly young sister. Compliments on his appearance were not entirely new, though back then he paid no mind to the people who gave them. He hadn’t had time for such things then.

He was relieved that she hadn’t taken offense, and attention turned to the topic of the head in his filing cabinet. There was a faint mumbling barely audible as the jashinist tried to protest through his gag. He wasn’t sure how much he should say, but she had been open with him and he had already given her a false name. He would be forthright.

"I am hoping to negotiate with his leader,” Hotaru admitted. "It may sound selfish, but I want to protect this land. I can’t solve every problem, but the less that it relies upon shinobi villages the better. I want to gain agreement with them to leave Tori no Kuni alone and take other highways to the east in exchange for his return.”

The manual elevator finished making its way up, and Hotaru lifted a finger up as if to hush her- to indicate that the company who was arriving wasn’t suited to the conversation.

When it opened a person in a white robe with bandages covering their face beyond their eyes stepped out. They held a tray with a boiling kettle for tea and an offering of rice and several other sundries for Hotaru. When they saw that he had a patient, there was a look of surprise in their eyes.

"Don’t worry,” Hotaru said to the aide. "My guest won’t be able to eat solids quite yet, you can leave my meal in my room.”

The bandaged person nodded and moved quietly past them to a door at the opposite end of the stairwell. They slid the door open and put it down before turning back, seeming to be making their way to the stairs rather than the elevator this time.

"Aoi, please send a runner to see if Dr. Ruto is still traveling the roads of our countryside,” Hotaru said. "They can take a horse…”

They gave him a thumbs up and began rushing down the stairs.

@

[Akatsuki]

 

- A WORLD AWAY FROM HERE -

"It's the Morning"

Oh, well, that made sense, she supposed. There were many different words that were lost on her--as fluent as she was, Japanese wasn't her first language. So while the word had been unfamiliar to her, as Kazutoshi described it in greater detail to her, she could nod in understanding and agreement. Although she didn't like to consider herself to be the most open person in the world--there were plenty of things she kept to herself--but she understood there was certainly truth in it. It was, after all, how she'd earned her namesake. Her sensei had commented on how she seemed to have a bleeding heart of sorts, and always displayed it for the world to see--as bright and apparent as the morning sun. It was something she'd thought was clever, and the nickname had always stuck. Even despite how in this present situation it held a sort of cruel irony to it, "Akatsuki the Bleeding Sun" had always been a title of endearment to her, and a descriptor that she'd always felt apparent and true.
    Usually, it was easy to know exactly what she was thinking. She spoke her mind and, for better or for worse, she didn't have the strongest filter. She often struggled to hide her emotions and when she did feel something, it was usually with the entirety of her heart.
    When Kazutoshi spoke of his plan with the Jashinist, however, it became... somewhat concerning, to Akatsuki. His intentions were pure--she believed that, and at the heart of what he wanted to achieve, she couldn't scold him for it. But... she worried it was a wasted effort. "I'm not... sure if Jashinists... work like... that..." She wasn't an expert of every religion. She wasn't. It wasn't even until just recently that she realized a Jashinist couldn't be killed--though she knew their god gave them strength and that they couldn't experience pain any longer. But she also knew and understood that every religion was different, and just because two members served the same god didn't mean they were allies.
    Even with the Yōkai, it was that way.
    There were no leaders in the religion. There were the pillars--and the yoki, of course, but... it wasn't an official hierarchy. Each member was an individual, first and foremost, who directly served under their god. Members could kill one-another without consequence. There was nothing in their rules that forbade it.
    She had little hope that Jashinism was very different.
    Though she had to admit that she didn't know fully how the religion worked... her hopes weren't high. She doubted that they would value the life of one single member enough to promise protection to this land. They worked alone. They did as they wanted, and they served their god alone. They killed and sacrificed heathens to further display their deity's might and power, to Akatsuki... it seemed unlikely they would so willingly listen to his demands. Even at the exchange of one member who--really, Kazutoshi couldn't even kill or harm to begin with.
    Was the Jashinist trapped, now, without a body?
    Yes.
    But what could they do? He couldn't feel pain. He couldn't be killed. There were no stakes.
    She didn't want to discourage Kazutoshi, but neither did she want to encourage foolishness that might cause more harm than good. Provoking another Jashinist and trying to make demands likely wouldn't settle well...
    But she didn't have the energy to speak extensively on any topic. Everything hurt. Her throat was sore from where she'd been strangled, and even if the wounds had been seared shut to avoid bleeding out, she'd been stabbed several times and even now, it was difficult to breathe. Juggling her basic needs for survival and extended conversation were proving difficult. She could manage a few words at a time, and even that was easier than trying to swallow or anything else. Right now wasn't the time for that conversation, though.
    The person who had been traveling up in the elevator arrived, the door sliding open as they entered the room. From where she lay, Akatsuki could see they were young--a child, probably only just a teenager if she had to judge from their size. And they were covered in bandages. Akatsuki wondered for their own health and safety--but if they were able to move so freely and without signs of suffering, she had to hope they weren't under recent injury. Perhaps they had burn scars, and all of the bandages were to help with those injuries? She didn't know. Really, there was no true way to tell, but it wasn't her place to ask. In a hospital, surely, there were all kinds of people who had suffered all sorts of things--it was rude to make conversation of it.
    From their brief interaction with Kazutoshi, though, she figured they must have been an assistant of sorts. Perhaps an apprentice, even? It wasn't certain, but one thing she did notice was that they didn't speak.
    I wonder if they just had nothing to say and are generally non-verbal, or they're physically unable... Another conversation for a different time, she felt. Their name was Aoi. A pretty name. And Kazutoshi sent for them to get a runner to track down... Dr. Ruto? Another new character, for Akatsuki. She could keep up with the names easily enough, though.

@tag | ### Words | Notes:

Blue Text - Tsuchi Branch Kyōbō Only
Pink Text - Sign language
Violet Text - Common Language

Shin of GS + Adox

[Uchiha Hotaru]

[googlefont=Roboto]

Hotaru looked away from Akatsuki as she voiced her opinion that the Jashinist’s could not be reasoned with. He looked back outside the window at the children that were playing in the yard and even further beyond to the quiet little village that lay between two empires. In comparison to those villages that he would like to challenge, the cult seemed small in comparison.

"I know it isn’t easy to understand,” Hotaru said in a sad tone as his grey eyes slid back to the carnation. "I will always try to keep the peace in these lands. It is a sacred place to me with a fragile freedom.”

He turned away and paced for a moment as there was something else on his mind. He wasn’t sure how much he should reveal about himself, but she already knew that he possessed enough strength to best at least a low level jashinist in battle.

"They are but humans,” he said. "If I told myself otherwise than I’d have to accept that I am a monster as well. I don’t expect they will change their ways, but if they wanted to they could find a way to overlook this place. At least to delay our confrontation to a later day,” he said.

Perhaps he was monstrous. ANBU had taught him a vile technique to make use of the dead for combat, and he still had no qualms in using it so long as the corpse belonged to an enemy combatant that he saw as valid. He had blood on his hands and likely would spill blood again. To him innocence was sacred, but he had no qualms with violence against the wicked.

"You should focus on resting for now,” he said. "If my teacher receives my message, and should fate be kind, he will come. I regret I have not the skill to make you whole faster, but his talents far surpass my own.”

@

[Akatsuki]

 

- A WORLD AWAY FROM HERE -

"It's the Morning"

Akatsuki watched his expression carefully as he looked out the window once more, contemplating how to properly answer. There was a serenity to him, and a sort of melancholy as he gazed out at the children playing.
    He said it wasn’t easy to understand, and perhaps that was true.
    But this place… this land. The children here, and his life in this town. It was important to him. Something he wanted to protect.
    And that, she could understand.
    Maybe she didn’t fully understand what it was like to have a home. Not really. Maybe she now wandered aimlessly, without a goal in mind or anything to live for. She didn’t know what was driving her forward other than a sense of obligation to her god. She didn’t have anyone or anything to live for. Not to fight for, not to protect. There was no hope, no dream for a different future, and no aspiration shining light in the valley of darkness that she had found herself in.
    But there once had been.
    Once, there had been her brother. She’d loved him, and had wanted nothing more than to protect him. To keep him by her side. And when he had been taken from her, she sought him out desperately. Searching far and wide, turning over every corner of the world. No matter how hopeless it seemed, no matter how many people had told her it was pointless--no matter what she suffered or had gone through, it had been worth it. It was something she’d refused to give up on, no matter what. Because it was important to her.
    So even if, now, she had nothing like that. She understood. Truly, she understood. So even while, from the outside looking in, she thought that his attempt would be in vain, she wouldn’t shame him for it. The choice was his own, and if he thought there was even a chance it could ensure the security of the people and place he loved--who was she to stop him from reaching out and trying?
    She wouldn’t.
    "I understand,” she whispered, offering a weak nod.
    And he was right. She didn’t fully understand Jashinists. And to her, she worried the path they followed was… one of violence, and possibly of selfishness. Without a care for any other but themselves and their god. But she recognized she didn’t know enough to say for certain. And like Kazutoshi said--they were human.
    She had never doubted that, of course. Akatsuki wasn’t the type to see people as monsters, even if their actions were monstrous. She believed they were human, though whether they still possessed their humanity would be yet determined.
    Maybe he could spare them time. Even if he could only delay their confrontation one day later, it was one day more with a peace of mind. And for that, she could not blame him for wanting to try.
    Kazutoshi suggested that she focus on getting some rest, and the young woman offered a small nod of the head. He’d sent for his teacher, and for that she supposed there was a chance things might get better. At least for her physical condition, that was. She knew they could not heal a broken heart, but if they could mend her body then she would be grateful to them for it.
    "It’s no fault of your own,” she spoke softly, hoping to ease his mind as much as he could. He’d expressed a few times, now, that he wished he were more capable of helping her. And while she understood that, naturally, he wished there was more he could do in a situation where his abilities were limited, she didn’t fault him for it. She wasn’t angry at him, and neither was she concerned. "If I die… that’s okay.” She was willing to accept that fate if that’s what had been decided for her. "But…” She wouldn’t want him to blame himself for it, either. And she understood the burden of carrying someone else’s life on your shoulders. She didn’t want to die, knowing he had been trying to keep her alive. It wasn’t fair to him. "Here’s for hoping… that fate might be kind.”
    There was always hope, she supposed. Even if she didn’t really believe in it, anymore. But, for his sake, she hoped she was wrong. And hope was hope, no matter its form.
    And so, unless conversation carried on further, Akatsuki would try to rest. Lying her hands by her sides, she’d close her eyes and do what she could to sleep.

@tag | ### Words | Notes:

Blue Text - Tsuchi Branch Kyōbō Only
Pink Text - Sign language
Violet Text - Common Language

Shin of GS + Adox

[Uchiha Hotaru]

Hotaru placed a blanket over the woman and checked her vitals after she passed out. She was stable enough, though mostly in part to diligent medical care. She wouldn't be able to depend on herself for awhile at his current level of knowledge.

A long night and a day would pass. He still had very little in the way of sleep throughout the ordeal. She needed to be checked up on very frequently and it was to complex to leave to one of the youths he had taught basic first aid to.

When word came that Dr. Ruto was making his way into town he spent most of his time preparing supplies and notes for him to read over. Vital information and a diagram of her wounds would be ready.

Upon arrival, Hotaru let out a sigh of relief and approached the door himself.

"Thank you for coming," he would say to Ruto. He would lead the man upstairs and begin going over Akatsuki's condition. The sedatives he had given her would have likely worn off, so there was a good chance the conversation would rouse her from her sleep.

"Do you think you can help her?" Hotaru asked Ruto with a hopeful voice. "It might take a long time because I havn't learned more advanced techniques yet."

🗡️

[Mikatakujira Ruto]

It had not been long since Ruto had finished his trip through Tori, where he had stopped to train his companion, Kazutoshi, and had then set out again. He had several other villages to stop in on along his travels, so he did not make it far before a runner came to greet him, requesting his aid. In part it made him nervous. He did not like how seemingly easy it had become to locate him when asked; if he were just slightly more self-serving, he might deny the request and continue on his way to confuse his path. But it would ruin whatever reputation he had built if he did not come to the aid of his fellow medic. It was for a good cause. This severely injured individual needed his help and, despite himself and his self-preserving instincts, he could not help but want to lend aid. 

He rode back to Tori, scarcely sleeping in an effort to make good time. After a full night and day of riding, he finally returned to the village and came to greet Hotaru. 

"Of course. I always try to come where I am needed," Ruto said, smiling softly at the young man, eyes tired. He stretched his arms over his head to loosen himself up and get the blood flowing, preparing for the methods to be used ahead. 

As he stepped into the room, his eyes immediately lingered on the patient. She was in bad shape- he could tell just from looking. Hotaru had done a shockingly good job patching her up, but it was clear she was still in need of much work. Her recovery time would be long and miserable without intervention. 

Ruto felt conflicted. He knew a technique that could ease her suffering greatly, but it was a very difficult one. To use it would all but reveal he came from a shinobi village. 

"I can help her," they eventually assured, moving to the bedside. If the notes were nearby, they would pick them up to begin reading. Spikes through multiple limbs, deep lacerations to every body part, broken bones, organ damage requiring surgery... She had really gone through hell. 

"You've done a great job so far. I'm impressed, honestly. Many medics wouldn't be able to treat someone as injured as her." Especially not ones Hotaru's age. 

"I'm going to perform a technique now to assess the damage." He spoke to her. Even if she was still asleep, it would hopefully comfort her in her rest. But if she was awake, it would give her warning before he proceeded. 

He placed his index and middle finger against her sternum and sent out a soft pulse of chakra, trying to get an internal read on her current physical state.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:

NAME: Ikkou Gazou
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [Medical]
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
REQUIREMENT: Chakra Control SA
DESCRIPTION:
Developed before more advanced medical technologies were around this is a technique where one is capable of creating a incredibly accurate 3-D mental image of a target's internals. Similar to a palpation exam, the physician is capable of performing this by pressing their index and middle fingers against a target and releasing a simple wave of chakra where they then mentally map everything the chakra comes into contact with with precision detail. While this technique is considered far more accurate than many modern technologies is it only useful for the user and is only as good as their knowledge. User can map out around 1ft diameter around the area of contact.