Starring:
Tobiramako, Shintaro, Mushi, Taiki
Date: February 26, 2014
Summary:
Shintaro brings Mushi to meet Tobiramako for questioning.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"The Silk Conflict - Mushi's Pardon"
Hokage Administration Dome
With Hashiramako out preparing for something big, Tobiramako stays in the office to look after the general affairs of the village while she's gone. Today had been a somewhat typical day, with most complaints being minor and the paperwork generally light, but coming up at any moment was a meeting that Tobi never likes having. The illogical actions of people never ceased getting to the Senju clan head, and today would be no different. Her goal for this meeting was to seek the truth and logical actions of a wandering Medic whose neutral stance had affected the village of Konohagakure in a negative way. But Tobi was probably the best person to be on the other side of the table of such a meeting, as she had no interest in condemning the innocent and only sought the truth and the reclamation of one of Konoha's prized possessions. She files away her paperwork as the time ticks away, the meeting happening at any moment now.
With a knock at the door, the solemn voice of Shintaro would ring out, "Senju-sama, I have arrived with your… guest." A moment later, the door to the office would be held open for the person in question, none other than Mushi, to walk in. This is more than a little awkward, walking one's love interest into an office to be questioned about the murder of a family member… "I will remain in the room per your request," he says with a nod before moving to step into the room and assume a spot where he can observe the countenance of either woman easily.
Each footstep sounds as loud as a drumbeat to Mushi's ears. It's a drumbeat that's the foreboding opening before the… visit? Trial? Battle? Party? Mushi tugs on a lock of her hair, a sign of nervousness. To the point that a few strands come out. Great, now she's going to be guilty /and/ bald when she reaches the Hokage. Her mind seems to be making scenarios worse than what will probably happy.
She'd planned carefully what to see. But now all the words have flown out of her head. Maybe she should have written it out on notecards. More strands of hair are now in her hand. She drops them in a waste bin before she enters the meeting area. She doesn't once look at Shintaro or acknowledge his existence.
Tobiramako waits for Shintaro to open the door before nodding to him in acknowledgement, having completed his orders to retrieve the neutral medic ninja and bring her here. With Shintaro moving off to the side, Tobi's eyes slide over to Mushi, eyeing her up and down in but a glance before she extends a hand over the desk towards a chair. "Take a seat." she says in a dull tone, waiting a moment for Mushi to do so before anything else.
"I won't get into the details of the report, nor the note you sent, Nikumari Mushi, but lets just say that note was a smart idea, because it kept you in my innocent until proven otherwise column. I thank you for returning Kaito to us, and I hope you plan to return 'the rest of him' here and now, but I will let you speak first." she says to Mushi, folding her arms as she starts the conversation off with a direction for Mushi to go in. "Tell me of the events in your own words. Don't leave out anything important or we may be here all day talking in circles."
The first thing Mushi says is, "I have a scroll which I'm going to take out to show you." Her tone is passive as she does just that. "In it are stored ten scrolls. Nine of them hold an equal portion of the bijuu's chakra, and one of them the parasite. I'm giving all of them to you. I have to both warn you and tell you that it's still alive. I thought it was valuable since it acted… beyond, what the common parasites were."
And then she explains all of it, leaving nothing out. She searched for Kaito via her hummingbird summons. When she found him she concentrated not on harming him, but on draining him. It was her intention to leave no physical harm and be able to take him back physically unscathed. She doesn't even leave out the fact that she used and is a Jinchuuriki. "I didn't plan to extract the bijuu, but to have your medics do it," she says, "because… I can't. But I feared that the parasite would injure him more. You should know, and this is only my opinion, that he was being controlled by a sentient and powerful parasite. I heard he killed his comrade, but he spoke as if… well, it was as if the parasite were in control, making him act against his will. I've never seen a parasite so in control of its host and so sentient. It's why I kept it alive. For you to study it and see what it's like."
"So I tried," she finishes. "And I failed. He died." She pauses. "Rise, the Kumo nin, departed. I sent a letter to the Raikage with a similar letter I sent to you, but briefer." She glances at Shintaro. "And on the way before I was contacted, I spoke with one of the Kumo nin. Hiroyasu. They seemed understanding. And there's it in full." Then, she falls silent.
Shintaro is mostly silent and still, though he'd offer a nod once in a while to Tobiramako to indicate that Mushi seems to be telling the truth.
Tobiramako nods her head at appropriate times during Mushi's explanation, her arms still remaining folded and the occasional glance is shared with Shintaro. As Mushi finishes, Tobiramako sighs, running a hand through her hair. It was an icky situation and this parasite seems to be evolving in negative directions. She takes a few more minutes to collect her thoughts and let Mushi stew in case there was anything else she recalled before she starts.
"Alright, hand me the scroll, I will see that things are properly contained and put away so that we don't have another incident. A live sample of the parasite should help our Chief Medical staff finally get rid of this thing once and for all." she starts with, looking over to Shintaro before sighing again. "The truth is, Mushi. It's not just me that is angry at the death of a valuable Nara shinobi." she says, stressing the name for her benefit. "As I wasn't there I have your word to take that you did everything you could've to save and contain the threat before the loss of life. And to try to extract a bijuu, even without a hostile parasite… well we both know the odds aren't exactly in your favour on a good day."
She rests back in her chair before she looks between Mushi and Shintaro before speaking to Mushi. "I feel like I should be thanking you for your help, and yelling at you for your incompetence as a medic. It is a unique situation for me to feel so mixed. What do you feel? Do you feel you did everything you could, made the best decisions you could, and the outcome was just inevitable? I want to know your feelings on this matter." she says as she leans forward, curiously.
Mushi looks relieved when Tobiramako gives her some more time. She pushes the scroll aross the table. "I had an idea for a cure," she says. "Just a thought when I was coming here. I wrote it down in detail, and it's stored in the scroll." She taps her teeth as Tobiramako asks her about her thoughts. She looks troubled. But her lips press together as if she's annoyed as well.
Then, she says, "I'm a medic. And I've lost my patients before, some because there was no chance for them, and some because I wasn't good enough, and a better medic could have done it. It may be a revelation to others, but it isn't and has never been a revelation to me I'm not perfect… not even close."
She runs a hand through her hair. "I feel like a patient died. Another failure. And a Jinchuuriki died. My second failure, though my feelings for that are something I'm not even going to describe to you. And most of all… I feel like I killed and failed a member of Shintaro-kun's clan. So I feel I did everything I could. Did I feel it was inevitable and I'm the best medic in the world? No!" She slaps the table. "Of course not. There's plenty of medics out there who are better and could have succeeded in saving him. Or smarter shinobi who could think of a better plan. But I wouldn't be sitting here if I had tried less than my best."
Tobiramako takes the scroll to her side, her hand hovering over it for a moment before she nods her head, whatever she had done made her seem satisfied. "It seems like you were put in an awkward position that did not work out. I cannot recall any negative dealings Konoha has had with you in the past, so I have no reason to doubt you. I'd imagine the weight of the death of a fellow Jinchuuriki and one of your boyfriend's clan is enough for you to carry. Sometimes of the field, in the heat of battle, people make mistakes. I have no reason to punish or even suspect you of any wrongdoing." she says as she looks over to Shintaro briefly before clearing her throat, not wanting to get into that relationship even a bit. "You did as best you could and returned both Kaito and the Three Tails to Konoha without stall. For that, instead of whatever bad things you were imagining would happen here, I thank you, for helping Konoha at least recover from its problem."
Tobiramako motions and, in a poof of smoke, a masked ANBU member appears, to which she asks him to retrieve Inuzuka Taiki. She turns to Mushi and asks one thing. "I am planning to give this scroll over to Inuzuka Taiki, our chief medical attendee on the parasite issue. Is there anything you would like to stick around to confer with him? Perhaps something you observed or uncovered that would help the world get rid of this thing?"
Mushi looks immensely relieved, and it's now clear her calm had been, at least a little, more on the surface. Relief goes from nervousness, then gratitude, and then she's all business. She leans forward, and says, "That's what I wanted. To work with your medics, the resources you have here, and find a cure. I'd be quite honored to work with Taiki-san." In fact, she smiles at that. Oh aquittal, she's /so/ relieved it's not the last head medic here she had to deal with.
"Umm…" She hesitates and says, "Some people knew I was a Jinchuuriki. But none of the Kages did. Now, two do. The Raikage and… you. I wanted to ask you to not spread this. There's two people I know who I wouldn't like this to get to. Er, not in your village. It's because I think more people than me would be in danger if people knew an unaffiliated Jinchuuriki was on the loose. If it reached the wrong ears."
Taiki had just gotten back to the Clan Compound for the first time in a couple of weeks. He left rather low-key, only informing those that absolutely needed to know, siting "matters of dire consequence." With Atsuro as his official advisor, and Kenshin and Kenichi being there for the clan, he felt confident that his clan would continue to follow his orders. But having an ANBU show up the moment he walked in his front door was not exactly the welcome he expected. Nevertheless, Tobiramako's summons from the Hokage's office was not something he could ignore. Thus, dropping off his pack with the house caretakers, he and his two ninken took off, following the ANBU, without so much as wiping the grime off of his face, or brushing out the dogs.
Therefore it's a very dirty Taiki, Shinobu and Nozomi that present themselves to the Hokage's office, having read the briefing handed to him by the Inuzuka on the way. He blinked at some of the news, but then sighed and proceeded to straighten his torn clothing up. Thankfully it wasn't that bad, as that last guy was rather sub-par. Still, he nods to the secretary and asks him or her to announce his presence, per orders. He's right on the secretary's heals as he walks in and nods his head deeply to everyone in the room. "I'm sorry for my appearance, I just got back from doing some fact gathering. You wished to see me?
"I don't go around gossiping about people's personal life, though I am not the Hokage of the village either, so your recent revelation remains with only one Kage knowing your secret. That being said, it will most likely soon be two, but not in the way you think." Tobiramako says as she folds her hands, expecting Taiki any moment now after issuing the important summons. "Growing up around Daisuke has made me privy to the certain shadow lifestyle you have to live out there in the world. I have no intention of doing anything but making a mental note to keep a name to a potentially dangerous chakra entity that could, one day, threaten our village."
As Taiki comes in the door, Tobi waves him to take a seat. She places her hand over the scroll and waits for him to do so before sliding the scroll across the desk to Taiki. "I will let Nikumari Mushi here explain what this is. I'm sure she won't need to explain why it is important, though." she says before giving Mushi the floor.
Mushi drums her fingers on the table. She probably seems like a very fidgety person to Tobiramako, since this is the first time they meant. She notices and stops with some effort. "I guess you would understand him some," she says softly. She smirks. It seems she knows that Mushi knows about him. "Thanks," she says, and she sounds like she means it.
When Taiki comes in Mushi blinks in recognition. "Hi Taiki-kun," she says with a respectful nod. She looks to Tobiramako to see if she wants her to speak on. Then she'd grab the scroll and unroll it. There's a poof, and a bundle of scrolls appears from within the first. On one of them is written 'danger.' "Taiki-kun, I'll get to the point. In nine of these scrolls is the full chakra of a bijuu, equally divided. If your fuinjutsuists make a coordinated effort they should be able to safely transfer it into the next host. And this one…" she holds up the dangerous scroll, "holds the parasite that was in…in Kaito. Alive. An especially powerful and sentient parasite, having fed off the exceptional chakra of the bijuu. I thought you might want to study it…and I have a few ideas myself on how to use it."
Taiki sits down and eyes the scroll, but does not move to take it at the moment. Instead his brown eyes turn toward Mushi as he waits for her explanation. The two dogs with him take seats on either side of where he sits, attentively listening, but remaining silent until she is done. However, his eyes widen as she discusses the contents of the nine scrolls. Once she is done relaying the basics, he closes his eyes for a moment and collects his thoughts while Nozomi sniffs at the scrolls. She looks up to him and whines, then backs off.
"I was unaware that Nara Kaito was a Jinchuuriki," he says finally in a soft voice. Being a fuinjutsuist himself, and a medical expert to boot, he knows full well the implications of having the bijuu without the body. He glances at Nozomi and waves her back, then continues on. "Let me ask you this, the parasite that infected the bijuu… is it a mutation of the spy-parasite we were working on?"
Mushi hesitates. Then she answers softly, "It was. It was in complete control of both Kaito and his bijuu. It was aware of his thoughts and feelings, much like a bijuu is for its host. Moreover, once it was in control it was violent and sadistic. In other words, it was more in control and more sentient than the normal parasite. But just like the other parasites, it didn't have any power itself, only that of its host."
She rubs the back of her neck. "I think its weakness was the same as its strength. It felt it had a powerful chakra…and it did. But for that reason, it lacked the subtlety and chakra concealment that makes them so hard to find in the person place."
Taiki sits there for a moment taking all this in. So far, it met all the qualifications that Taiki knew about, and did something completely different than he expected. "I hate being wrong, especially when it costs lives of innocent people," he says finally. If Atsuro were here to hear him say that… Taiki then reaches behind himself and pulls out a scroll from a back vest pocket. After rolling it out, he unseals a large glass jar with various tags on it, and a large pair of tongs. He unseals the jar, uses the tongs to pick up the parasite seal, and places it gently inside the jar before sealing it shut and activating the seals around it.
"Given what we found out in Kumo, I half expected to be facing an army of those puppets, or an actual army. But the fact the man behind this ordered the mutation of the virus to this level is even more disturbing. If it can control a bijuu, then no one is safe from the parasites control should it be activated in that manner again." He then unseals another seal on the scroll and pulls out another scroll. "You said you had some ideas? I'd love to hear them, because the only one I have, based on the information I collected, is very risky, not only physically but politically."
"I don't think I need to reiterate the importance of solving this situation with haste, you two, before anyone else's life is needlessly lost. This has been a serious blow to Konohagakure, now is the time to strike back." Tobiramako says, breaking her silence as the two medics discussed things. "Taiki, please take the other nine scrolls to the Fuinjutsu department, I'd rather have our friend in one piece when we need to use him again." she says, preferring to remain on good terms with everything Bijuu. "Mushi, Taiki, do what you have to to end this." she says, letting them leave to discuss things.
Mushi purses her lips. "I was thinking of the person who caused this epidemic," she says to Tobiramako. "And I have a notion for who should pursue that person. Why not send a team of shinobi from all the nations? One for each country. This disease isn't something that should be handled by Konoha or Kiri, it should be handled by the world itself. As a warning to the next person who tries to do it again, that /all/ the shinobi villages will unite to stop them. That's what everyone is trying to do anyway." Then she shrugs, smiles. "Just an idea. Want to go to discuss this Taiki-kun? You know fuinjutsu right, so I think you could do what I have in mind. If it works that is."
Taiki nods and collects the other scrolls before rolling out a standard storage scroll to place them in. He then nods slowly as Mushi puts forward her idea, seemingly thinking about it as he rolls up the now full scroll. "Hai Tobiramako-san, though you might want to hear this part. Right now, we have theorized that the orb we collected could be used to nullify the parasite, but we need the encryption code, which I've tracked down to the Land of Sapphires, outside of the Elemental Nations. Given the message that puppet gave us before it tried to kill me, we must consider it an enemy. Through various contacts, I managed to locate the most probable location of the key, well beyond the Land of Sapphire's borders. My only suggestion is to send a small incursion force into that nation to retrieve it, while possibly sending another group to confront the man behind this. As I said, it's risky both physically and politically, and to be honest, I would have to go with the incursion team." He then looks over toward Mushi and asks, "So what's your idea?"
