Starring:
Date: August 22, 2013
Summary:
Taiki meets with Katsurou to determine how the situation should be handled.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Evaluating the circumstances"
Doctor's offices, Konohagakure Hopsital
Taiki is in his hospital office at the agreed upon time, with his two ninken in residence on their pads off to the side. Taiki sits behind his desk, which sits in front of a small library of medical texts, focusing mainly on chakra and seals. A couple of them he even wrote himself. The room is modestly decorated, though artwork appears to be hand-carved pieces of stone or wood. All in all, this appears to be a senior medic-nin's office. To contain matters as much as possible, Katsurou would be directed here instead of the Inuzuka complex. Apparently this meeting is to be kept quiet, as the person to direct Katsurou here only knows that this is a medical consultation. Thus Taiki sits behind the desk, working on some medical documents while he waits.
Katsurou was hanging out in the med bay getting his injuries from a previous spar looked at. The Shirayuki chose to come here instead of healing at his own apartment due to how soon the next stage of the chuunin exams were. An intern medic nin comes into his room with a clipboard. She glanes down at it then back up at to Katsurou. "Shirayuki Katsurou?"
"Yes?" Katsurou answers.
"The doctor wants to see you." The medic nin is too busy for dilly dally so she turns on her heels and leaves the room in hopes Katsurou will follow. The Shirayuki does indeed follow but he wears a puzzled look on his face the whole time. He walks through the walls behind the girl until they come to Taiki's office door. A knock is given and the medic nin pops her head in. "Sir? Katsurou is here to see you."
Once Taiki was ready to call him in, Katsurou walks hesitantly into the office and once he spots the young Inuzuka he quirks an eyebrow. "I was unaware you practice in the art of medicine."
Taiki nods and takes the clipboard detailing Katsurou's injuries and looks it over. "I'll take it from here," he tells the intern medic, who then leaves. As Taiki reads the details of the injuries he responds, "I wear many hats in this village, among them are senior medic-nin for the village. Have a seat on the table please." he says, indicating an examination table nearby.
After another couple of moments reviewing the notes he sets them down and picks up another folder and begins to read it. This one is a plain manilla folder save for the word "Classified" stamped on the front. "Another hat I wear is an the Clan Alpha for the Inuzuka. In Konoha, we clan heads advise the village council and the Hokage on various matters," he explains, which would explain the folder's presence. "So how are you liking being a part of Konoha so far?"
Katsurou slides on top of the table shortly after the medic nin passes him on her way out. "A doctor as well? You are not just a lowly medic nin then hmm? You must have started your medical career by the time you were ten to be where you are now, huh?" His eyes scan the walls of the office. "How have I enjoyed being part of Konoha? It is going well. Nothing really that earth shattering to persuade me either way. It stays quiet around the village." The Shirayuki says with a shrug.
Taiki shrugs as he begins his examination, at first checking vitals like pulse and breathing, then doing a standard diagnostic jutsu of his own. "Not really, I was a chuunin when I started down this path. Just that ninjutsu of all kinds comes rather natural to me, and my teacher was strict but fair. My program was accelerated since I utilize a rare form of medical ninutsu." Taiki picks up the medical notes and makes a couple of notations, then picks up a single tag and places it over what would be Katsurou's chakra network core. "This won't hurt a bit," he says as he activates the tag.
The tag and Taiki's hand glows green as he appears to concentrate intently. "Well, I daresay we are pretty different from where you were born. I was there once you know," he says as the details flood his brain. The tag fades away, but strangely enough there's no effect that could be felt on Katsurou's part. If anything, it only felt slightly tingly like the first diagnostic jutsu.
Katsurou hmms. "Not really a typical sight to see a young medic nin like yourself already a doctor with his own office. Usually established people with a lifetime of experience and skills with a bit of gray in their hair have their own offices dedicated to them. Interesting." He muses. His eyes look down at the tag Taiki was placing on him. "That is not the explosive type is it?" It was an obvious jest as he had a basic knowledge in seals to know the difference before he even put it on. "You were in Kirigakure? How was your stay there? I am sure it was full of pleasant people and wonderful aromas."
The tag isn't even remotely the explosive type. Instead it looks to be more of a sensory type, though not by any means a common one. "No, this is an advanced diagnostic jutsu. It allows me to have a basic knowledge of your chakra network, and any injuries or seals that might be on your person. In that respect, it's rather low level comparative to my other abilities, but it does what its supposed to." Taiki nods and makes a note, "Chara network developing normally, evidence of stab wound to chest, no seals evident," he says as he makes notes.
"My expertise is medical sealing jutsu, with a focus on chakra networks. You could say I'm this hospitals foremost resident expert on chakra and medical sealing. Only my sensei is better at medical sealing, and he's not from Konoha," Taiki explains as he makes notes. "It looks to me as if you know a few things about sealing arts. I won't be employing them on you today as all you really need is standard healing, but as you can see from the tag, I know my profession very well."
That said, he starts a light healing jutsu over the worst of the injuries even as he heals continues with the other part of the conversation. "Yes, I was there for the second chuunin exams, though I was a chuunin sensei and not a participant. I daresay it was… enlightening… the differences between the two villages, especially the hospitals. I even spent time as a patient in Kiri's hospital after an attack at the local bar. It was an interesting first-hand view of Kiri's outlook on life."
Katsurou smirks at the sarcasm that Taiki misses in his words. However, Katsurou is a hard one to pick up on when he is being a calculation. His tone has always been dry and calm. It was very Kakashi-like. He watches as the Inuzuka medic nin works his healing jutsu on him, but stays concentrated on the conversation at hand. "I see. I plan on seeking out a team to lead myself if I am lucky enough to be promoted after this year's Chuunin exam. Though, I will not be disappointed if they decide to assign me as an instructor at the academy instead. As far as Kiri's hospitals, it might as well be called Kiri's hotel. It is no secret that the hospital in Kiri is part of their shinobi's daily training routine with as brutal of their teachings are."
Taiki nods as he leans back after completing the routine stuff and says, "Well, I didn't call you here to talk about the oh so wonderful experience that is Kirigakure," he says, his own sarcasm making itself a bit more obvious. No, he didn't miss it, just re-routed it while performing his other duties. "I'm sure you're interested in what the results of the summit between Kiri and Konoha were," he says as he takes a seat. "The talks were a failure, as Kiri has given Konoha just three options. One I won't go into, save that will cost Konoha greatly, the other two are quite simple really. Return you to Kirigakure, or we go to war." Taiki stops there for a moment to gauge Katsurou's reactions to those statements and adds, "Your own clan is most… vehement about getting you back. I daresay you don't have many friends amongst Kiri in general, or the Shirayuki in specific."
Katsurou's insides drop with disappointment, but the only thing that Taiki would notice is the Shirayuki's eyes falling to the floor. "I see." He says as he takes a moment to collect his thoughts after hearing the news. "Well this is most unfortunate." Katsurou grows silent as his over active mind begins to work. He spends the next couple of moments processing various possibilities and outcomes in this situation. Taiki would even be able to tell that the Shirayuki was processing and working his gears.
Taiki hates to do this, but he figures that Katsurou needs to know exactly what they were facing to make an informed decision. "You of course know your clan better than I do, but odds are that if we return you to your village, you're likely to die. I will say that Konoha does not really find that solution ideal, as so far, the only thing that we know you've done is left your clan and village and defected to us. If I may ask, is there another reason, other than your defection, that you would be in Kiri's bingo books as an S ranked threat?"
A few seconds pass in silence after Taiki's question is asked before Katsurou finally brings his gaze back up to meet the Inuzuka's. A smirk forms at the corner of his lip. "Because I will be the undoing of that village one day and some believe it." He says as he recalls past conversations with Yoma and Meruin after his assassination attempt. "As far as Konoha's safety while harboring a celebrity in bingo book? You need not to worry. I am only dangerous to those who throw me to the wolves. My allegiance is with Konohagakure."
Taiki nods and forms as a small grin forms on his lips. His eyes regard Kasturou's entire being for a moment, and he even uses his sense of smell, highly attuned as it is, to monitor his reactions. "So you wish to stay in Konoha then, regardless of the consequences?" he pushes as he uses all of his senses to measure Katsurou. His facial expression is serious, deadly serious, as he regards the genin before him.
"I will continue fighting for and under the Leaf's banner just as I had agreed upon before first intering the village." Katsurou says. "However…know that one day far into the future, I will have my vengence on Kiri. When that day comes, I will make sure Konoha is not dragged into my own personal conflict. It is the least I could do for their acceptance of my presence within their ranks. Until then, I am at Leaf's disposal."
Taiki nods slowly and thinks about this for a moment. He then leans back and gauges this for a moment. "What if I offered you a way out, off Kiri's bingo books, and a way to gain a measure of revenge against the Shirayuki? It's not without risk or cost, but given your attitude and expressions, I don't believe you'll find these costs or risks particularly onerous."
At the question of his vengence on the Shirayuki clan, Katsurou's demeanor seems to lighten a bit. "Their…judgement will come one day as well." He says not fully sure of his family's hand in this whole ordeal. "But I am open to suggestions in exchange for my freedom."
Taiki nods slowly and then stands. He walks over to the wall and activates a seal array, which in effect seals the room against eavesdropping, bugs, or any other form of spying. "I will not go into all the operational details with you at this time, as you are scheduled to participate in the second round of the chuunin exams where members of the Shirayuki clan, especially one Shirayuki Sakuryu will be participating. Therefore the less you know, the less they can torture out of you should you be caught by any of Kiri's forces in the exam."
After letting that soak in, he continues, "As far as most of Konoha and Kiri knows, we are preparing for war to occur after the last bout of the third stage of the exams. That will not happen, but what will happen will seem like Konoha made a mistake and is taking action to correct it. Know this, not everything is what it appears, and the chances of you truly being returned to Kiri is nil. Things will be explained further on a need to know basis. But you are not being thrown to the tigers." Taiki makes this distinction with a derisive sniff and a frown. Given his clan's styles, saying that Kiri is a bunch of wolves is apt to be more than he can do and keep a straight face.
"I will caution you of two things, your life will change after all is said and done, and you need to be especially vigilant of the Shirayuki. At one point in the talks, they threatened to remove themselves from Kiri and attack Konoha directly over you. Those words were spoken by Sakuryu-san, who happens to be in the second part of the exams. Don't doubt that she will kill you if you give her that chance."
Katsurou chuckles. "Little Sakuryu? She is only 13. Those were only barks. She can /try/ and kill me but her bites are of no concern. She only lashes out as she sees me as a threat to her clan headship due to me being the next male in line for it if her father passes. That and she feels as though she has to show off to her father for recognition. She is an infant. I will not go out of my way to bring harm on my family but if she insists…" Katsurou lets the rest go without saying. But when you say my life will change, should I even bother asking or is this the price i will have to pay for choosing this path?"
Taiki's eyes become clouded for a moment, then he shakes his head. "No, you are not asked to kill her or any member of your family for the price. I would /never/ be party to such," Taiki says with a slight snarl as if they were hitting on a delicate subject for him. "I told you that so you could protect yourself. For I know full well what its like to have blood relations want you dead." Taiki's expression here makes that perfectly clear, even as he begins to see the true extent of what is going on. "The price will be high though, something probably of equal value. That will be divulged later, but you can take my words as an assurance, at least on Konoha's part."
Katsurou nods at Taiki. "So it is settled. I will trust that when the dust settles i will be taking on my new life within Konoha. I do understand there will be cause for concerns down this path, but I will have my full trust in Konoha not to panic. But Taiki, if I find myself in Kiri's chains with no sign of Konoha coming to extract me from the situation longer than three days…" Again, Katsurou's words goes without saying. He was not the threatening nor the hostile type, though at times he feels the need to express his feelings and concerns in these ways.
Taiki nods as Katsurou seems to be understanding just what was /not/ being said as much as what was being said. "It may, depending on unforseen factors take four, but you will not remain in Kiri hands for longer than is absolutely necessary. Rest assured of that. Preferably, it will be less, but we need to account for factors that are not under our control. You will not make it back to Kiri, of that you have my personal assurance," he says again, this time emphasizing the fact that he is deeply involved in this scenario.
"Well good doctor." Katsurou says as his mood seems to return back to normal. "Wish me luck on me making it out of the second round alive, and I assume we will see how things play out for us in the next coming weeks." The Shirayuki says as he was hinting towards the ending of this conversation. Unless of course Taiki had something else to add.
Taiki nods and stands up. "Good luck Katsurou-san. And here's hoping to your success. Just remember, what happens in here stays in here." And with that, he brings down the seal arrays and allows the young man a chance to leave, having completed his work for the day.
