Starring:
Date: December 4, 2012
Summary:
Goh catches up with Mushi to discuss upcoming events, along with meeting Shintaro.
"Medical Center Update"
Kirigakure
Mushi has been circling around Kirigakure, but honestly the place she wants to be are within the Exam Grounds. Of course, she can't; it'd break the Exams. But she knows that's where all the real danger is going on. And the sparks likely to fly are only going to begin once all the finalists are assembled from the countries. So she's stopped at the Cliffside Memorial, though it's hardly the place to cheer her up. She's staring at the Obelisk, engraved with the many names of Genin. "Damn Kiri," she mutters. Killing their Genin, others, and now they're taking down the damage dampening barriers for the final rounds. She sighs; plenty of blood will be flowing in this Exam.
Looking for Mushi had been no simple task. On top of her wanting to avoid him like some sort of terrible illness, the tension brewing was enough to cause any trail to stop cold after a while. Thus it's by sheer luck that the pickler spots the healer up in the air, descending down onto the ground from afar. While he could boast that it's his ultimate skill, it's really not.
Regardless, the blonde now approaches from behind, breathing slightly elevated from the running he just did. Didn't want to lose her trail, after all!
"You're a hard girl to pin down, that's for sure." As he speaks, he lifts hands. As if he were surrendering something. "Look — I have no idea what you think about me after being in the sancturary for so long. Or how much trouble you got in for being there, but I need to talk to you about something. It's about the neutral medical center and the upcoming War."
He is idly curious about how much trouble she DID get in for letting so much time pass, but he'll put that in the back of his head for now.
Mushi is reading the names on the Memorial Obelisk when she hears that voice. She turns around in some surprise to see Goh there. Well, not too much surprise. After all, everyone is converging here to watch the festivities, or bloodbath depending on how it turns out. At his words, she lets out a long sigh. "You really /don't/ know," she says. "And you're very adept at not knowing what I think." She pauses, and then gives a shrug. The time for avoiding him was toppled some time ago. Though it doesn't mean she's happy to see him; still, she'd come.
She folds her arms. "As for the Neutral Medical Center and the upcoming War…hopefully there won't be a war. This Exam is the substitute for that, I should hope. I plan to keep most of the Neutral Medical Center where they are. People can come to us. I'd suggest you stay where you are with Jump as well. I can have Aburei-kun stay with you too, but he'd better not get hurt."
"I had a talk with Yuge." Goh replies simply. "He tried to hire Jump as a neutral police force to help keep the peace. He knows something is up, or something will come. Even suspects that some countries have slipped in agents to the exam area to pick off lesser skilled ninja." He pauses. "I entered the examination area myself. Well, snuck in." There's a bit of a mischievious grin on his behalf. Despite being a 'loud' shinobi, he's good at sneaking when he needs to be. "On top of checking in on a close friend of mine, just wanted to see what the vibe was." He shrugs, waving a hand.
"Anyway, I'm getting distracted. If the Mizukage is genuinely concerned that the Exams have had the opposite effect of what they were intended, that's good enough for me to start rallying. I'm calling most of the members back to Jump so we can talk about how we're going to manage stuff if War does come up. If we're going to turtle, get involved, or what. Part of that involves querying to see how we're going to work with you guys at the medical centre." He pauses there, as if waiting for her answer. "If a country tries to take you by force for whatever reason, we'll definitely give you guys support and stuff to help defend. And thanks for Aburei. I really appreciate it."
The third party in this odd situation, for the first time in a while, can actually track Mushi down for the time being. Of course, the fact of all three being here is likely to cause some tension, but the Nara really doesn't care at this point. The dastardly thing about him is… shadows connect to shadows connect to shadows in places like these sometimes with all these rock formations and such. Shintaro literally steps out of the shadow of the memories obelisk right behind Mushi. "Only a fool strikes his own resources ablaze admist a war," his voice rings out plainly. "Turning on her Center would not only weaken the chances of one place's shinobi surviving but all. Even Kirigakure is not that foolish," he states dryly as he goes to wrap his arms around Mushi from behind. "Hello, my love." His eyes then turn to Goh, blue orbs looking him over coldly and calculatively. One might wonder if he's pondering ways he could rip this guy to shreds or could have already attack preemptively… and he probably is.
Mushi smirks and asks, "Yuge is trying to hire you after we spirited Tsun-chan away? Seems he's a bit desperate for allies, but I don't blame him. With all the casualties Kiri has endured under the three Mizukages, he might be a bit understaffed. Anywaywait, you /snuck in/ to the Exam area?" She covers her eyes with her hand for a second, as if trying to keep in some type of emotion.
She's about to say something of her Center when Shintaro comes up. At first, Mushi looks surprised and then pleased. She smiles, a smile that withers awa when she notices his expression. But then she smiles genuinely and says, "Goh-kun, this is Nara Shintaro my boyfriend. And Shintaro-kun this is Ak…Goh." She's not quite sure if he wants her to be spreading his clan name around given their history.
"It's as Shintaro-kun says, attacking my Center would very much break any neutrality we show towards them and quite justifiably. And I've made sure to send all of them post-war aid, particularly Kirigakure." Then she smiles cheerfully. "But more importantly, now that you two have met I want to clarify something. Shintaro-kun is my boyfriend. And Goh-kun is my good friend. I hope both of you will be at least tolerant acquaintances."
"Yeah, it surprised me as well to be honest." The blonde scratches his head. "I like him, to be honest. This is the first Mizukage who hasn't tried to kill me. Even after helping take Tsun away. But yeah… I mean, we're not an army to be rented out. Sort of treds a fine line." The pickler then nods. "Right. Like I said, after hearing the news, I had to confirm something. Person I was looking for was in the temporary healing area setup. Relax, no-one saw me. Getting out was a bit tougher, but all good."
Goh raises an eyebrow when Shintaro slinks out of the shadows, before affecionately embracing Mushi from behind. His other eyebrow raises then, his arms folding across his poncho. "That's cute." He says, before looking back to Mushi. Perhaps avoiding the murderous death stare on purpose. He didn't really have time for all that other stuff. "I'm just saying it could be a concern, however unlikely, that a Village decides to attack the medical centre. In order for no-one to gain its benefits. It doesn't have to be Kirigakure, either. I never said it would be. What if… I dunno. Kumogakure is down and out. And, seeing no hope for victory or are on the threat of elimination, decide to take out the medical centre that everyone relies on. Taking everyone else down a peg. Know what I mean? I'm not saying it will happen, or is even likely. But with War, anything can happen for a country to try and get a foothold over another. Especially if it has nothing to lose." He seems to look up into the sky for a moment, as if considering.
"Anyways. I'm going to visit Konoha not long after the Exams finish and catch up with Hashi. See if she feels similar feelings of uneasiness, or if she's heard anything. We go a fair way back, and it will be good to see her again at the very least." He sucks in a breath.
"Good to finally meet you, Shintaro." He finally says, looking back to the Nara with a friendly expression. "I'm sorry about Mushi pulling a dissapearing act on you for a few weeks. To be honest, I didn't even invite her to join me. But I at least feel partly responsible."
"I am quite aware of who he is," Shintaro says, his tone quite dry again. One might forget he's a Jounin AND an Academy Instructor, so he has access to files. At her comments about their… positions, he cuts a glance at her, lifting an eyebrow. "Do you really have to keep pointing that out? It's annoying enough as it is." While he may have calmed down considerably, doesn't seem that's changed his mind much on his opinion of the situation. Then again, forgiveness doesn't necessarily require him to compromise that.. He makes no response to Goh's rambling on about the potentials of what could happen during the war, though he finally does look back to him when he speaks to him directly. However, there's no 'good to meet you too' or anything remotely friendly, more dry and neutral in his tone. "Is that so?" he asks, quirking an eyebrow at the wanderer, apparently not really caring much for an answer. "… I suggest moving the topic along. Yes, war is unpredictable, but striking against the center is suicide, something Kages and Daimyou are put in their positions because they should know better. From what I've observed of the Kage, all of them seem to be wiser than to do something so foolish, even when they are desperate, because they know their recovery could depend greatly on outside help from an ally or neutral party if too many of their men are wounded or killed."
Mushi rubs her chin as she listens to both sides of the conversation. She does look a little worried, but not distraught at the mention of war. Maybe because she hopes it won't come about. But Mushi seems to have prioritized making Shintaro and Goh friends than any old war. So she looks hopeful when Goh seems to take to it. Though she's unsurprised when Shintaro doesn't. She winces as she speaks, but by the end she is wearing a slightly rueful expression. Maybe in time! She lets out a slight sigh. At least they're being a little civil. "I won't rule out the possibility of attack," she says, "but at the same time we've never believed we'd be untouched. We have defenses."
"Besides, it's not us who'll be attacked if anyone is—it's you. Haven't you realized that? But Aburei-kun has a quick way to contact me, so if Jump needs /our/ help badly, we do prioritize helping the neutral territories before others. Even though we only go out to help post-war, we don't close our doors during war. But so far no Great Shinobi Village has come in mass to us during the war…it'd be a great sign of weakness if someone had to lean on us during the fighting."
"I'm not here to argue, man." Goh lifts up his hands, as if showing he means no harm once again. "Just saying. Could be bad. Thought I'd at least say that the guild is there to help the medical centre if need be." He does sigh a little, before clearing his throat a bit. "…and that's it, I guess. Again, thanks for lending me Aburei, Mushi. I appreciate it. He's turning into quite a guy, you know. He seems a little bemused with the other Doctors he has to work with, and the supplies and stuff. But it's always cool to see people in their element hard at work. Like a fish in water. Or something." Laughing a bit, he continues.
"Yeah. Mogura said something along with what you said, Mushi. Jump is the x-factor in it all, which is probably why we're going to go all turtle on this whole thing and hope it blows over. We have some fire-power to help defend the place, but lets be realistic — we're mostly farmers. We can't really stop a full on shinobi military force on their own if they opt to take us out on a whim." He frowns.
"Anyway. I'm gonna get going. Stuff to ponder and think about. Gonna wait until Rise is out of the exams, and then travel to Konoha with her. Then back to the guild to talk about how stuff is gonna go down." He lifts a hand to wave.
"Be safe guys."
Whatever chance there may have been for Shintaro and Goh to be friends, the Nara seems to have completely ruled it out after that last… endeavor of Mushi's. Still, he is silent while the two talk more about their thoughts on things that could happen in the upcoming war and helping each other's groups out. When Goh finally goes to leave, he simply offers a silent nod, no wave or other form of dismissal. Being civil doesn't mean he has to be nice. He remains silent still, though he does cut a curious glance at Mushi, perhaps wondering something but not going to actually ask until Goh is gone.
"Don't give them a reason to take you out," Mushi says. "Stay out of this war. Trust me, the only thing you'd be doing joining a war is making one side kill more people than the other. You took on a heavy responsibility when you gathered so many wanderers—let them be wanderers, not some sub division of one of the nations. But most importantly, I /will/ get involved if anything happens to Aburei-kun, and not in a way you like." She scowls at him. Seems she's not being quite civil either. But then she does wave at the end and say, "Umm have fun with…whoever. And be safe."
When he leaves Mushi lets out a huge sigh and slumps, as if she'd just run a hundred miles. Then she shoots a glance at Shintaro and then says, "Well…guess it could've been worse. Guess you guys could've tried punching each other. I guess he'll be around for the Exams, so don't blame me if he is in Kirigakure, okay? It's not like he followed me here."
"What the heck are you talking about?" Goh replies to Mushi in a surprised tone. "I know what I setup, thank-you-very-much. I'm not going to do anything to put all that effort onto the side. I'm not even willing to let Jump be part of the Kirigakure neutral forces. Just too much of a slippery slope. We'll be on our own. With your aid too. And not just for Aburei either, but for all the wanderers and neutrals out there who are part of the guild."
His head tilts a bit. "Whoever? I never told you about Rise? It's a girl from Kumogakure who I'm apprenticing. She's not very old or strong yet, but she's certainly got a fire in the soul. Great thing to have, huh? Hates to pickle things, but I have faith I can win her tastebuds over!" He grins widely, before lifting a hand to wave and keep on exiting.
"Later." And just like this, he's gone down the path.
