Starring:
Imota (NPCing as Iga Akirasawa), Kuoroke
Date: Unknown (log received July 23, 2010)
Summary:
A scene in addition to Itami’s current plot. In the wake of the incident at the Adminstrative Dome, Imota, is visited by Kuoroke, in hopes of the council man finding out from Imota, what happened.
"Inside a Genin’s Mind: A Councilman’s Investigation"
Unknown location
A day had passed since the incident for which the southwest offices of Sunagakure's Administrative Dome, had been destroyed, by a jutsu of unknown origin. The scene of the crime, left no clue of who the attacker had been, nor, any sign of victims for which would be attacked. When ninja had arrived to the scene of the crime, other than dirt from a nearby corner, and the presence of debris would be seen upon first glance. There where's of this mystery however, would lie in confirmation of the office being that of council woman Watanabe Itami. Upon further search of the room, they would find a small nin, a boy, collapse, and left, passed out, and relatively unharmed. Other leads, at this point, have not been found as to the what's, why's and all of the who's involved, however, at this point, ninja who have not reported in sense these happenings, include those of Watanabe Itami, and Nagahara Rika.
The setting now? Room 143, 4th floor, Psychiatric Ward, the current mental treating ward for which houses many a ninja, and civilian alike, who are now subject to damage of the mind, whether it be the effects of prolonged combat, or victims of intense psychiatric trauma, via genjutsu, or other stimilation. Ever kind of person could be found here, from the murderous, to the soldier, the common housewife, to the lead ninja. Some identities, along the doors of this long stretch of hallway, are identified with a name, some a number, and some, with nothing at all. It would be private knowledge of many of those who had been housed in this place, those of social status, and high standing as well as particular involvement, having their identities with held. However, one main giveaway as to the presence of the small boy, now identified as a member of the Sasaki clan, would have been the guards near his door, both elite class nin, whose identities are held in secrecy, by mask, and darkened cloaks.
The doors would also be marked with that of a name, and a rank. Iga Akirasawa, TJ(Tokubetsu Jounin). The name posted on the doors in this manner, often associated the room with the attending mednin who had been in charge of the room.
Having left orders that they not be disturbed, Kuoroke opens that door, looks inside, and then steps in. A stern look from behind his glasses scans the room, and stays on the patient occupying it. Just to be on the safe side, he also locks the door, and then approaches Imota on his bed, with his hands behind his back. "Hello there." One is missing a glove, but then there's nobody behind him to notice that. The other holds quietly rustling papers: the information the local medical staff has already gained about Imota's condition. The man leans over the hospitalized child, and repeats, as coldly as the first time, "Hello there."
The guards, knowing who Kuoroke had been, would part ways, but only after he had entered, would one of them nod silently to the other, and vanish without effort. After a few moments, the spectre would return, and stand as guarded as he had before, as both would look straight forward, not even bothering to say a word. Then it would be a few more minutes, would heels, and the clacks of a walking stick would be heard coming down the hallway, slow paced, and, rather agily. As Kuoroke would stand next to the boy's bed, he would hear a voice from the door, say, "He will not be responding to such a greeting, Councilman Kuroki-sama." The woman, lanky, and slightly talled, wearing dark reading glasses upon her face, and wearing shortened, red hair, would walk to the side of the bed, before she would the look to Imota, despite her eyes being white with blindness.
She would seem to pause for a moment, her ears listening, as one hand would be placed upon the boy's chest, then neck, then forehead, almost seeming to take seconds to check him, before she would stand up, adjusting the white long haori she wore, and standing before Kuoroke, a brown yukata, with white layering, being worn conservatively, with open toed heels, and a wide black obi, the Medical Corp being upon both the obi around her waist, and the left shoulder and back of her haori. "However, I will be responding to such. Iga Akirasawa, Mednin, and Specialist in the Sciences of Genjutsu Trauma, and Psychiatric Ninjutsu." a bow being made before she would continue with her own findings. "The boy had been in a catatonic state since he had been awakened. Before going into this state however, it would have taken several of my orderlies, as well as use of my… lesser calming techniques, to bring the boy under sedation. So far, I have not ordered the boy to be put under further sedation, so that my assessment of him, would not be affected by anything extra." She would move to the boy, and sit down, before stroking a hand through his curly hair, her face seeming to show that of pity, before she would sigh. "I started with questions… things that would be common knowledge for him to answer. I got nothing. I had not been seeing the incident report, however, I am assuming that you are here for to investigate the happenings that day?"
"Yes, I know, I know." Kuoroke nods at the introduction, waving it away with his paper-holding hand. "I've glanced at the files I requested earlier on the way." He nods. "Yeah, that's why I'm here. I also just asked not to be disturbed, so could you please…" The Kuroki sighs, "If you're here, you can just as well be useful. And good thinking, I really need him awake enough to speak coherently." The Jounin crosses his arms, and stands in silence for a while, his fingers tapping on his arm. "So what can you do to make him talk?"
Nodding to the man's knowledge, Akirasawa, would look to the man holding the paper, with a bit of seriousness. She didn't need to hear hims speak to know that he had been really not that socialable. When he would seek to ask her to leave, the Iga mednin would say, "I am afraid that medical jurisdiction of this patient will /not/ allow me to do that, sempai..", the honorific being said with some disdain, as blind eyes would look to where the man had been standing, his voice coming from there. Kuoroke, had seemed to step on the foot of this woman, with that last bit of being useful, as she would have taken quite the offense at his commen about being 'useful'. After all, being the foremost authority on mental health, and genjutsu, was something this woman of the Iga took with pride.
She would come to a stand, upon him suggesting that she may be of help, and would seek to let him know more of her position, before need and beckoning of her help, would cut her off. She would sigh, and shake her head, saying to the man, after clearing her throat, "Not without damaging his psyche further, Kuoroke-sir… And frankly, without my approval, or the Kazekage's at this point, this boy, can not be simply opened up, and read, like a book, just for information. That is something that my nindo, and my pledge as a doctor, just will not allow without an order." She would then look to Imota, and pause for a moment, as she would then mention, "A condition like this, is often inflicted upon one whose has experienced terrible psychological trauma. One way to draw out someone who has been affected in such ways, is to use key references, to draw out a response. In that way, one might be able to get information safely."
Kuoroke's glance at the woman is cold and angry. Her opposition is not something he expected and not something he is planning to tolerate. "Look. I know you think your patients should be cared about, I know you don't want to do any more damage to the child, but you'll listen to me now. Your nindo and your pledge as a doctor may not allow it, but this child's mind holds information valuable to our preserving Council Member's mental, and likely physical health. To be precise, I want to return Itami to who she is, and should I fail, it may come so far she becomes too much of a risk to the village, and will need to die. I can't tell if that's a certainty, I don't yet possess the necessary details about her condition. Now, I'm not letting that happen." He points at the child. "Now, you think. Who is more valuable, this Genin or Itami? Who does the village need most? Losing whom would be worse?" The tension in his voice grows. "If your fear to damage his precious little mind stands in the way of recovering our Council Member, then I'll make sure it is removed from that way, understood? I'm giving you an order, right now. Get me what he knows. This is the kindest I'm ever going to ask. I can go to the Kage, but rest assured. Stop me from doing the Council's job and I will do everything in my power to make sure you never repeat that mistake." By the end of his tirade, his finger is pointing at the doctor and his eyes are looking straight into hers with the familiar rage slowly glowing in them.
Unfortunately, though Kuoroke surely put enough into his tirade to raise an eyebrow, Akirasawa wouldn't really see a finger in her face, or his grimaces and frowns.. After all, he might notice the cane, was a walking stick for the blind, as well notice that her eyes had been quite surely those that had not 'seen' anything, in quite some time. However, for some reason, she would know it was their, and for even that same reason, she would feel the rage building up. "So.. what I had seen in his mind was correct to assume." The Iga clanswoman would come to a stand, and look to the man, saying, "This councilwoman's sanity, and that of this childs, are both equal in this mednin's…. 'sight', if I may use the word so boldly.", she would say this with a laugh, as she would look to the man, and then laugh. "I have nothing to worry about, when it comes to my job. Nor does this, mistake, as you call it, that I am supposedly making, bring any threat that you may make to fruition. Like I said before, I am a guardian of health. And perhaps if you weren't being such a jerk now, then you would notice that I have been helping the entire time."
She would then bow to the nin, and apologize, saying, "Besides, I had to be sure that what I had come upon when /in/ this boy's mind, had not been falsely implanted, or even, part of lies for which this boy's potential conditions may have caused. Not to mention that I had to confirm what had been your /actual/ reason for being her, and not just what I saw in /your/ mind." Wait.. had she really been plotting for a reaction all this time? Had Akirasawa really been coaxing Kuoroke into give away information? And wait? Did she just say she could read minds? She had. "And you should not pretend to be so cold, when it comes to this boy, Kuoroke-sama. You /are/ familiar with this child, in more ways than this simple report. And while you say that this boy matters not in comparison to the woman of higher rank, you don't speak this with enough conviction for me to believe it."
She would come back to a seating next to the boy, and gesture toward an empty seat nearby for Kuoroke to sit. "I am able to see in many ways, the last things this boy has seen, as well as many other ways. But, it drains me, and I am only to do once every few hours. His memories, and the emotions there of, have taken quite the amount of time, to sift through, and even then, I am still seeking to work on what has been uncovered recently, to file my own report of the boys condition, in correlation to what has happened." She would then look to the man, and then ask him, "What if I told you, that you may be able to see as well into what actually happened?"
"You tell me what you've sensed in his mind, and I'll decide how valuable the information is." Kuoroke answers, calming just a little. "As you apparently can't distinguish what's necessary from what you want to. Yes, it's not a good thing if it becomes necessary to crack open the Genin's head to save someone more important to the village, but not doing so would harm every member of this village far more. Do you want that to happen? To harm the entire-" The Jounin cuts another tirade off. Her words about 'seeing' into his mind are met with a surprised expression. He looks more shocked than angry at the announcement, probably because he didn't see it coming. "Would you please stay out of mind?" His voice is similarly taken aback, but not angry, "Before I decide you're trying to acquire information you have no right to have access to." He sits next to her. "You won't try to take anything from my mind, just show me. Do I have your word?" He checks, taking off the second glove. "Go ahead. Be careful, the tattoos on the back of my hands might sting a bit, by the way."
Laughing at the jounin, Akirasawa, would say, "Hehe.. you seem surprised. I think I heard your heart miss a beat." She would smile, as she would say to the man, "You have nothing to fear, Kuoroke-sama. It was only for medical reasons. I won't be that intrusive. I have had this skill for a long time, and can say that with possessing such, it comes with its own brand of manners and such. People don't like having their secrets uncovered. Especially us ninja." Sure that Kuoroke had been now seeing her worth to the Kazekage, she would then then look to the man, not realizing that he had extended his hand, being blind and all, and over extend, her hands falling upon his arm instead. She would feel the scarring, and its seeming to take shape, and say, "Aaaah… art perhaps? The shape.. tattoos." She would then turn her head toward Imota, and hold up a single seal. Kuoroke, would all of a sudden, see massive veins, buldging across the back of her neck, and on her forehead, as she would say, "Shiryoku Ninpou: Mass Neuron Mitosis!!", the very chakra in her system seeming to light on fire.
As this chakra would fire, within the confines of her body, it would then be sent to Akirasawa’s very brain. There, the Iga bloodline of her clan, would be activated, the use of Shiryoku Flesh manipulation of her clan, being used to multiply and divide the neurons of her brain, in mass, growing, and expanding the capabilities of her mind to boundaries not before reached by a mere human. “The Human Brain, Kuoroke san, is a part of the body, hardly researched by many in my field. According to current sciences, human beings have only been able to use about 10 percent of the minds capabilities. However, using my clans techniques, I am able to unlock, currently, about 70% percent more of of my own minds power!” With several moments more, Akirasawa would then say, "Now.. here comes the tricky part. Kuoroke-san, suppress your chakra flow, as much as you possible can. At the same time, clear your mind of every single thought, concern, notion, or emotion. If you do not, I swear that your ride will be the bumpiest out of anything you ever felt."
She would then use both hands, making a string of 40 handseals, from start to finish, before words would rang out, "Enlightment Expansion Technique: Mind and Memory Prognosis!!" Within moments, after a hand would again touch Kuoroke's, the Tattoo Nin would see black, as it would seem to surround and envelope Akirasawa, and then within seconds, envelope himself, before soon, nothingness. Moments later, he would again, hear heels, click clacking, from slowly behind him, before the words, "My… you are, quite the mural, aren't you. You truly are, an aestethic masterpiece." If he turned around, he would see the woman, walking, unaided by a cane, and staring at him, smiling, with green eyes. "And might I say, quite handsome." She would say, "Welcome to phase one of my jutsu. Right now, we are in a dark plane of nothing. This is a representation of my clear mind. I need a few moments to concentrate, but in a few seconds, we will be entering Imota-san's mind. Just keep you mind set on me, and I will do the rest."
"Jutsu." Kuoroke responds. "Kuroki Jutsu." When asked to suppress his chakra, he frowns and attempts to do just that, clear out his mind, put his chakra into a lower flow… it's not going very well. When the jutsu begins, he audibly grinds his teeth, a few drops of sweat appear on his forehead, and soon he's entirely glinting in sweat and quietly whimpering. Over a background of some of his heated battles, and a red canvas of anger, a reminder of what he felt when the medic stood in his way, he can see his fellow Council Member appear many times. Meetings, spars, random meetings with Itami. When the darkness come, he is breathing heavily. The real him, with clenched fists, and the him standing in the darkness, both bow forward and catch their breath for a few moments. "The…" The rest is just a hiss. "Thanks. Let's move on." is his only reaction to the compliment. "It's not art, by the way. Some think it is, but that distracts from its purpose. It's a weapon… be careful." The Kuroki inhales and exhales heavily a few times, shaking off the bumpy ride he was promised.
Sensing that the man had chosen to take the more, 'bumpier' road of trip, Akirasawa, would say nothing. Chalking it up to karma, probably. But thanks to that slip up, there was allot more about him that Akira had no choice but to see. Thanks allot Kuoroke. But she wouldn't have a chance to enjoy it, especially with her actually concentrating on her position as mediator. There would be a couple of moments where nothing but black seemed to stretch, as far as the eye could see. But if Kuoroke were to blink once, he would then find himself looking… at a shelf? He would feel himself moving, and then before long, he would see Itami, sitting at her desk, working. He would feel himself speaking, with a voice that was not his own. If he thought about it enough, soon he would feel, hear, see, smell, and even know every singly thought that Sasaki Imota Sokai, had been feeling at the time.
It would turn out, that Imota, on that day, had been trying to figure out what had been wrong with Itami! He had been investigating her behavior, first, with the turning on of fans and ventilation, that Itami had left off, for some reason. Then when Itami had been having a head pain, courtesy of an injury she had sustained, Imota, noticing the medicine she had for it, would take the medicine and hide it for a moment. Soon, when Itami would be seen flairing up, he would hide the medicine once again, to rehide the medicine. Kuoroke, moments later, would then see through Imota's eyes, the arrival of Rika through in her signature flashy style, and soon the two would began to quarrel about a situation, involving Itami's mother, and the bringing of the Watanabe clan into the ranks of Sunagakure. They would go on like this awhile before he would soon notice another voice in the area. It had been Hayato of course, but due to Imota's ever escalating emotional confusion, the man would not be seen by the young boy.
Kuoroke, the whole time, would see and hear the emotional confusion that Imota had been enduring. The conflict? That of logic, and sensibility, with that of loyalty, and emotional ties. It had been so violent, uncontrolled, and unfamiliar to the boy, that it cause him, and Kuoroke would feel this, horrible migraines, as hands held his head at both times. He would then feel Imota's chakra, as it would fluctuate, and peak, higher and higher, al the while, Imota' mind slowly slipping, shutting down to compensate for its inability to keep his emotions at bay. The result? The same catatonic state he had been now. Soon, Imota, and Kuoroke, would feel nothing, as he stood right in between Itami, and Rika. Rika's last words would be uttered, and then Itami's, which would then trigger Imota to release a jutsu that he had been preparing, without him even knowing.
Soon Itami's words, would cause Imota to scream, and then blades of wind, from every angle, would attack one point… Itami's office. Kuoroke would see Itami get hit, through Imota's eyes… Rika, would disappear, in a mirage of heat, and Hayato, an earth clone. Then, with that, Imota, would pass out. The dark plane would manifest itself again around them again, with Akirasawa's body now visible, standing beside him, in tears, trying to wipe them away. She would ask sadly, "Was that enough for you to use?", her own self trying to keep back the sadness and sympathy she had for the child. Meanwhile, Kuoroke, would probably have felt exhausted, courtesy of the affects of being Imota. A side effect to this, also would be Kuoroke, now having knowledge of all the boy's past, having been him for one day in Imota's life.
"…should keep his emotions in check." Kuoroke remarks, after a few moments of silence in the darkness. He had more than a bit of trouble himself with that just moments ago, but what difference does it make? He had watched the whole ordeal and now stands by stoically and thoughtfully, much less moved by it than the woman. At least, apparently. "That was likely enough. I'm sure you've noticed details I haven't, you're more used to the technique. Could you give the subject some more examination for any details that could help, and tell me about it? Discreetly." Suddenly, the Jounin exhales loudly and looks around the darkness. "Difficult day he's had."
Seeming to calm down some, Kuoroke's comment, and the cynicality of it, would not go unnoticed. She would ignore it passively. After all, she knew its source, thanks to him not clearing his mind. But she would nod when he had seeming to be satisfied with all that he had saw. "Indeed, I have. Even with the second viewing of this, I have noticed quite a few things. I will make sure to deliver my report to you personally." She would sigh, and with handseal, and upon the next blink, Kuoroke, would find himself, rejuvenated, and sitting in the chair, as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, he would notice the time. Only 5 minutes had gone by. Akirasawa would look to the Jounin, and say, "Just as exhausting as that was, Imota's mind, and body in some ways, had to relive the same horror once again. I will stay here, and provide him with some mental healing on my part, and a sedative. But you will see me again, soon. Count on it."
Akirasawa would be seen by Kuoroke, once again blind, as she would tend to Imota once again, but before he would leave, she would say to Kuoroke nervously, "Perhaps, if you would like, maybe we could have lunch upon our next meeting.", a smile, and a warm expression now adorning her face, blind eyes seeming to look straight into him. She would look to the nin, as if she had now known Kuoroke forever.