Rose Ghosts [P] [Solo] [Mission] [Ended]

Being trained in the ways of medicine, Shiroi had some idea of the rose’s importance. Having once roamed these lands, she also knew of some out of the way places it used to grow. It had been harvested to extinction, said some individuals, but not everyone agreed with them. Certainly, some of them were believing that out of pure hope, but some knew that the majority of the desert was not mapped extensively. Without exact knowledge of the locations of things, they could not be certain of the extinction. Plus, the rose had thrived in several extremely remote locations, meaning that it likely inhabited most of the desert. So, there was hope.

Unofficially, Shiroi was out here to find some old “friends”. She began reminiscing of her time right after she first left Hoshigakure. There was little to see, and as long as Shiroi paid enough attention to the stars and moon, it was extremely unlikely for her to get lost. So, she let herself drift into memories.

Code:

Haven was plagued by missing ninja in those days. Small bands, large coalitions, and ‘allied’ groups that were as likely to destroy a village as they were to ruthlessly murder each other. More so, even, since most of them did not have any real power behind them. Shiroi had left Hoshi several years ago for the explicit purpose of hunting these people down. She had started with small fries, ones that were easy for even her weakened state.

Yet, she never showed her face, nor even her gender. A multitude of small towns within Haven paid “protection” to groups of ill willed individuals. If Shiroi ever ended up in one of these towns in the desert, and was recognized, she would be denied service, if not simply kicked out or killed. So, whenever she went hunting, she wore a mask, and disguised her body and voice. Her form of choice back then was not unlike the phantasm she choose to project whenever she used Show of Power. It had a certain feel to it. The red suit spoke of elegance. The simple mask had an air of creepiness to it. Perhaps this is the period where Shiroi most embraced her violent pleasures. While she never killed, she also rarely held back. The few times her mask was removed, it revealed a featureless face, except for two eyes and a much too large mouth stuck in a perpetual smile. When opened, the mouth revealed nothing but a pure blackness, as if the inside of her mouth had been painted in the blackest of blacks.

‘Those were fun days’, she thought. Sadly enough, those days were short lived. While she herself remained unknown, her persona was quickly named. “Painted Smile”, both for the smile etched into her mask, and the inhuman maw she displayed when demasked. However, a person of anonymity has no way to fight against identity theft. Soon, there were copycats. Some shared goals with Shiroi, taking out small time criminals, others… didn’t. Within three months of when the “Painted Smile” figure became well known within the outer edges of Haven (though not in villages closer to Hoshi, as they were controlled by stronger groups Shiroi could not yet handle), a new version had shown up. This one did not seek the betterment of Haven, nor even the betterment of themselves. They sought the thrill of the hunt. They were, plain and simple, a mass murderer. They would kill by slitting the neck, and painting the effigy of the mask onto the abdomen of the host in their own blood. A ruthless killer, their targets were random. Soon, word began spreading about this new “Painted Smile”. Several rumors that the two were one and the same sprouted up, and quickly became popular opinion. The face of liberation soon became the face of horror.

Shiroi was dismayed when she discovered this. It had been an ego boost, hearing others speak of her work. Now, they reviled her. Well, not her exactly. They reviled Painted Smile. They reviled the individual whom had tainted the image she had striven to foster, to grow.

And such began her quest for revenge. The copycat would pay. Dearly.

But that was enough reminiscing for the moment. Shiroi was approaching her destination. Well, the first of many. Her hands unentwined themselves, and slowly left the pocket in the center of her “hoodie”. Shiroi bent down so that she was nearly sitting on her heals.

Before her stood the withered remains of a small plant. Despite its state of decay, the fact that the plant was at one point a flower was obvious. The color of the bud, however, was less obvious. It appeared to have once been a bright white, but it was also possible that it had simply been bleached of all color by the sun and the heat. Regardless, it was past the point of having any antidote extracted from it, though it may not be completely past its usefulness. Shiroi took off the small pack slung onto her back and pulled out a small specimen baggie and a pair of scissors. Snipping the plant near the base of the stem, she placed the flower into the bag and put the bag back into the pack, though in a different pocket. Concluding this, from a third pocket she withdrew a flask of water and took a long, hard drink.

One down, two fucks too many to go. She moved on once again.

Code:

The imposter was good. He would kill once per town, then leave. But he was staying after the killings, and arriving before them. Nor was he ever the only outsider in a town when the killings happened. He was a shrewd man, and could deflect blame away from them with remarkable ease. It was almost uncanny. Shiroi recognized these patterns among the stories of the townsfolk almost immediately. And yet, none could remember neither the name nor face of the individual. Shiroi had a suspicion that the individual possessed skill in hypnosis, or perhaps even genjutsu. He would be a dangerous foe, most certainly.

Shiroi, however, was also a fierce foe. She had regained much of her lost strength and speed, and held a new respect for the chakra arts. Her skill set and knowledge was much more advanced than it had once been, even if her physical might was not quite caught up yet. That would come with time.

Soon, it became obvious to Shiroi was she was not going to find the imposter by following them. She had to catch him in the act.

The next location she reached was much less… dead. It remained an oasis, still harboring a small amount of life in the bleak desert. However, Shiroi found no roses, let alone the rare white one that grew not only on bushes, but also as singular, standing flowers.

Time to move on.

Code:

He seemed to strike at random. But there was a pattern, of a sort. Who his victim was, what day of the week it was, where in town it was, those all seemed to be random. However, his direction was foreseeable. His killings were all in towns that were a three days walk apart from each other, give or take. This meant that Shiroi could predict, with an about thirty three percent chance of being right, where he would strike next. She just had to be lucky.

The third location was barren, save for a brave cactus and a lone lizard. Shiroi took another drink of water. The sun would be rising soon, and with the sun came the heat. She would need to change.

The next search location would have to wait, however. Shiroi had an errand to run.

Code:

There was a thirty three percent chance that she was right. If she was not, it could mean another month, maybe even two, before she had another opportunity. Hopefully she was right.

The cave was just as bleak as always, and the two thugs sitting outside it just as ugly as before. They noticed the figure approaching. It was hard to miss, with the sun beating down on their lightly covered figure. In fact, the figure was so well covered in twisting linens that the only perceivable parts of their body was a mouth that seemed two sizes too large and a pair of piercing eyes. The two men stood up, one drawing a sword.

“Hey, are you lost? Town’s back that way,” said the one without a sword, motioning for the other to back off. The figure looked up, revealing the hanging cheeks and crows feet. Then the lady seemed to… smile. No, that’s not right. Grin. Yes, that fits much better. A grin spread across her face, revealing interlocking pointed teeth. The man with the sword was put aback at the sight, but quickly regained his composure. The other ceased signaling to his companion. “Did you hear me, lady? Town’s that way! You should really b-”

The old lady had disappeared from the vision of the talkative one, and then reappeared with her fist pummeling the stomach of said man. He collapsed over, struggling for breath.

“He’ll live. Now, if you don’t want to meet the same fate, you’ll drop the sword, and take a message to your boss.”

The man quickly dropped his sword, and lifted his hands to the air while nodding furiously.

“Good…” Shiroi said, her disguise having worked perfectly.

Code:

It was the seventh night in the town she had guessed, and Shiroi was getting worried. Had she picked the wrong town?

Each night, Shiroi walked the town, on the lookout for anything strange. Each day, she slept, complacent in the fact that all the killings had taken place at night.

It was at midnight on the eighth night that lady luck turned out to have come through. Shiroi caught sight of the streak of light through the corner of her eye, from the vantage point at the top of the cathedral, or whatever the local religious denomination prefered to call it.

Moving quite fast was a man in a mask and red clothing. Shiroi donned her own look, becoming nearly identical to the sprinting figure, and took off after him.

The deed was done, and the message soon to be delivered. Shiroi walked away from the cave, and released her old lady form once out of vision range.

Code:

She caught up quickly, but was noticed equally fast. The masked man picked up speed, and actually managed to outrun Shiroi. This all but confirmed her beliefs that the man was a missing nin, enjoying a life of lavish murder.

Shiroi knew the man in that cave. Far from the most powerful missing ninja in Haven, he still sat in a decently dominating position at one point. Why? He used to be knowledgeable about everything. He used to be one of if not the most well informed man in all of Haven. Of course, this was years ago, before his tragic ‘accident’ that left him unable to move without extreme pain. He still retained some followers, but they were few in number, and lesser in ability.

Code:

Shiroi had to speed up, full speed, to catch the man. He was surprisingly fast. She had chased the man out of the small village before finally catching up close enough to grab him. Upon contact, however, he turned and tried to stab her hand. Shiroi was surprised that he managed to conceal a blade, even one as small as that, so well in that clothing.

The Osprey showed up a few hours later. It carried a message with a time, and that was it. No location, no date, just a time. Luckily, Shiroi knew where, and the day was today.

Code:

Her hand let go of the man. Of course, he did not stab himself either, but this series basically confirmed that they were locked into a fight. Two people, nearly identical in height, weirding the same clothing, with the same hair. They stared each other down, trying to weigh out how the fight would go. Shiroi had an advantage, however. This body was not her own, it was significantly more elongated than normal. But her opponent would not know this. She would have the advantage.

Flat and hot. That perfectly described the world. As Shiroi walked, she saw the heat lines. The world looked wavy. Drink. This was one of the few times she wore actual shoes. Normally she liked being bare footed. It is because of this flatness that she noticed the place so far away. There was a small windmill. That was the first thing she saw. It was far off, barely a blip upon the horizon. She kept walking, and the chimney came into view. Then the entirety of the house. It was small. She had been there once before. A long time ago.

Code:

The man lunged at her, aiming his blade for her right side. She dodged easily. He was fast, but there was no strength to his attacks, no finesse. He was not a fighter. Perhaps a runner? But she was both. It became clear to both that this fight would eventually go in Shiroi’s favor.

Shiroi had finally reached the building. She did not go to the front door, however. There was an entrance into the basement on the left side of the building. Shiroi found it locked. It took three pounds of her feet as she released her transformation. The complex clothing coating her fell away. She stood under the hot sun, looking like her normal self, as someone came to let her in. She was a little early, so she stood there waiting, the men watching her carefully. It was several minutes before a thumping was heard against the giant metal door at the far side of the room. One of the men went over and opened the door, removing the lock upon it. She stepped inside.

Code:

The man was exasperated. He was getting nowhere with harming the opponent, and had taken many a hit already. He dropped the knife and ripped off the mask, raising his arms to the sky. “I YEILD!” Shiroi dived the man, pinning him to the ground.

“What is your name?” she asked in a deep, distorted voice.

“Izaya,” Shiroi said, seeing the man in front of her. He lay flat on his back, completely unmoving. Several IV lines sprouted from his body, including one central line. Several thin, unnaturally smooth scars could be seen along his body, encircling it, as if it had been bisected at those points. Wrist, elbows, ankles, and knees, and just past the hip and shoulder too.There were more. Above the waist, as if his midsection had been cut off, and another directly below his pectorals. One more existed in the middle of his neck. The last was different, larger. It ran along his torso, neck, and head, lining up with his nose and navel. As if he had been chopped in half long ways. His breathing was slow, obviously pained. Along each of the scars, just faint enough to see, was stitching. As if he had been sewed back together.

The man was conscious. He recognized her presence and looked to her. Not by lifting up his head, but by shifting where his eyes looked upon the large, curved mirror that hung overhead.

“So it’s true then,” Shiroi began. “Cut into twenty pieces and stitched back together with your nerves.”

Code:

Shiroi glared at the man, though her eyes could not be seen through the mask. “Why?” she asked, voice hissing out the words.

“It’s nowhere near as nefarious as you might imagine,” he began. “I am an information broker. My subordinates bring me information. I then sell it to the highest bidder. Or three.”

Shiroi threw her face directly into his. He gulped, but kept up his stressed smile.

“The people I’ve killed, and was going to kill tonight? They’re my informants Except they don’t work for me anymore, they work for my competitor. They’ve been feeding me false information. Of course I knew this all along, I knew my men had been poached before even they knew it!”

“Then why wait so long between killings?” Shiroi asked. She made a mental note, however. This man could prove useful, even if it meant behind bars.

“Each of the informants have specific messengers that travel between them, the next informant, and one of the higher ups within the organization. Not me, of course. I’m an auctioneer.”

Shiroi tightened her grip around his wrists. He yelped.

“OK OK! So, I was waiting long enough for the courier to find one dead informant and go off to tell the next. Then I’d wait for the next informant to pack up and take them out the day before they left. I’m faster than the messengers, so I could always get into town a day ahead of them or so.”

Shiroi loosened her grip, but not enough to free him.

“But why this getup, why imitate me?”

“Well, I was doing the same thing you were, was I not? Weeding out bad eggs and such!”

Shiroi gripped harder.

“AH- ah, um. Ahem. Because it was convenient. The mask was cheap and the clothing I already possessed. I did try to stay hidden. I was through several towns before they saw my dis-.”

Shiroi head butted the man. Her mask shattered, but he was out cold. There was also a replacement mask right there on the ground, not even a foot away. How fortuitous.

The man blinked. Once for yes, twice for no, she thought.

“So, I’ve got a proposition for you.” Shiroi walked closer to the man. “I know what happened to you, and I know how to fix it. In exchange, I want information.”

She glared at the man through his reflection. “Lots of it.”

Izaya’s face remained unchanged, but a single blink made his decision known.

“I requested some supplies in my inquiry about attendance…” she began. Izaya hit a tiny button very near where his fingers rested. He seemed pained to do such, but he still hit it several more times.

“Morse code..?” she asked, to which Izaya blinks twice. “But similar.” He blinked once. The door behind Shiroi opened, and a man walked in. He carried a box filled with medical supplies. He placed the box upon the table and then left, the door closing behind him.

Shiroi removed an IV bag and placed it upon the stand. She connected it to the other IVs in the man, and also grabbed out a series of syringes. “I can’t safely give you general anesthesia. This will hurt. A lot. Even with what pain killers and local anesthetics I can use, that you’re already using. Then again, your very existence has been painful the last few years. What’s a few more hours of increased intensity of the exchange is a conclusion?” There were no smiles upon her face. His face did not move.

And so it began. An hour of preparation. Forty hand seals to generate the field. Forty more to populate it. One of, if not the hardest technique Shiroi not only knew, but knew of. So many intricacies involved within the casting. So many things that could go wrong.

None did. She had practiced this technique over and over, over and over. She had been crafting what would be needed ever since she entered the room.

Even so, it was a long hour.

And what was to follow would only be longer.

Code:

Shiroi stat cross legged upon the floor of the cave. She was still within her disguise. Izaya was laid out across from her. He was still out cold, with his ankles and wrists bound. Shiroi was chewing her thumb nail, contemplating what she would do.

It was over. The room was formed. Izaya could no longer willingly move. He could still breathe, but little else. Shiroi was suppressing his ability to scream. Otherwise he would. A lot. She stood up and walked back towards the box, This a single seal, her body began to transform. The outer layers of her skin gathered near her ankle, forming a large ball just barely connected to her body. She kicked off the collection of cells. Cheap and easy sterilization, she thought.


Removing a scalpel from the box, she pulled off the protective encasing. She stepped away from the table, and beckoned the man to her. He floated over, as if carried by ghosts. Yet his body remained perfectly stiff, as if he still lay upon the cold, hard stone. She beckoned down, and he descended. The blade fell upon the man, and began gliding across his skin. Vertically down his face it traveled, cutting a thin line through his body where the scar once sat. His breathing quickened dramatically.

Code:

”Well, hello there,” he said, waking up from his ‘slumber.’

It was long work. Shiroi cut at the roots as soon as she found them, making the pain the man was being exposed to slightly easier. Even so, it would still hurt. A lot. She had a multitude of tools that were all going to work on him, some several at a time (minor telepathic powers are great). Bone saws working their way through his, well, bones. Scalpels tracing out first the outermost layers of his many scars, they cutting deeper and deeper, until bone was met. While those attacked the man, splitting him into twenty fragments, Shiroi worked on removing the fibrous materials that had once sown him together. The roots had been cut much earlier in the process, so the pain from them would be gone, but leaving them in would not be smart. There was always the chance of them attaching to some other part of the nervous system. In fact, several already had, and those ones created new bursts of pain for Izaya whenever Shiroi plucked them out. But it was improving. Izaya was improving. It was only a matter of time.

Code:

”Soooo, what’re we doing here? Not that I don’t like it. It’s a beautiful cave, and my hands are so lovingly tie- ok, fine, *expertly* tied.”

“Not going to say anything? Mmk.”

It really was rather gruesome. It’s not like the incisions and cuts had some magical black film over them, or lost all color, or anything. Shiroi could see every cross section of the body as if the cuts were real. Because they were. And yet the body continued to function. Even though the man’s heart was in pieces, split within chambers, even though she could see the liquid blood within it, everything continued to function. Not a single drop spilled. It was truly a marvel.

It would be several hours before all the extra nerves had been removed. Surprisingly enough, the man had not passed out.

Code:

”Look, I get it. You don’t want to kill me. I’m too handsome- ok, um. Not handsome. Strapping? Dashing? Hot?

“… Cute?

“Ok, obviously none of those are correct. And those are the ONLY redeeming properties I can think of. So how about, instead of you making me guess, you just tell me.

“I’m chained up in here. You obviously wanted me dead earlier. Or at least shackled up in a prison somewhere. So, why am I alive?”

…

“Still not going to answer? Mmk, I see no benefit in pushing you.”

The sphere dropped. The chunks of nerve had been removed. His body had been pulled back together. He still had the scars criss crossing his body, but now Izaya was free. Free from the prison of his own body.

“It’s been a long time since I could move my arms, you know.”

Shiroi merely nodded.

“So, you wanted to trade knowledge for freedom. Alright. Spit it out. What do you want to know?”

Code:

”I don’t know.”

“Ah-um, who, whe-, oh, yeah, um, sorry, you say something sweetie?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know wha-, oh. Why. You don’t know why. Well, maybe there’s something you wanted to know?”

“A few things. But first, I want to know about the queen. The late queen.”

“Aw, she died? I liked her. What happened?”

“Do you really not-”

“I’m joking, of course! Yes, I know what happened. I know what utter idiots the ninja of that village are, no offense, and I also know that, no matter how hard I dig, I can’t find anyone with real standing claiming they’re actively against the populace, as they appear to be, so either they’re a really well oiled machine, or they’re just straight incompetent.

“Anyways. Ask your questions. I’ve got some time while I get used to moving again, get some clothing on, as soon as my men find wherever the box of them is. I hope you don’t mind me being naked in the meantime. I’ve not seen a female in awhile and, even if you are so poorly endowed, you’re still a little cutie.”

Shiroi kept a straight face and rolled right in with her next question. Or rather, her first question. “Around ten years ago, the Queen received a letter from someone outside this country. A letter about a child. A daughter. Someone… secret. I want to know everything you might possibly know.”

“An unknown daughter? My, that’s quite the spectacular claim! Well, about twenty years ago, a foreigner was allowed onto the ‘council’. He was not actually on it and had no votes, but was allowed to attend regularly. Many thought it was due to him being in the queen’s good favor. He spent a lot of time within the village, then left one day in the middle of the night. Another popular theory was that he was a foreign medical professional brought to Hoshi for the Queen. She had been looking… down before his arrival, and it was not but a month afterwards that she was declared ill and unfit for public excursion. It was about ten months later that the man disappeared in the night, nary a word to the townsfolk, and the day after the Queen was declared in good health and came to look upon the village.”

“Wait. Wait just a minute. That seems too…”

“Perfect? Yes, yes it does. See, many of these facts are not common knowledge. They are certainly not hidden, or kept from the masses, but most people simply do not know all of them. And the crown has gone out of their way to make these factoids difficult to acquire. Again, not impossible. They won’t deny any of it happening, they will just often have simply ‘forgotten about it’ until it is brought up directly.”

“So, what you’re saying is, she was-”

“That’s right. She was pregnant with the foreigner’s child. Of course, letting word get out would be an incredible scandal. So, they kept it hidden. When her belly began to show, she hid away, claiming to be of poor health. When the child was born, she cared for it for a small number of months behind closed door, before the man left with the child in the middle of the night, likely to return home.”

“Ok so, is any of this certain?”

“Only the proclaimed illness, and the timing of the man’s arrival and departure. The rest is pure conjecture, but I firmly believe in it. Especially now that you explain there is a potentially ‘lost heir’ to the throne. Now, is there more you wanted to know?”

Code:

”I- I guess, yeah.”

“Well, name it.”


“...”...

“Yes. Do you know anything about the man?”

“Not much, unfortunately. He seems to have been very, very wealthy. An early investor in a major project that many thought would fail. Or rather, the man was not the early investor. His father was, and the man inherited the money. Or something like that. It’s not entirely clear. I do know that his given name, or at least the name he gave out, was Adel. Which leads me to believe his family was from Moon or potentially Bear, as that is the region of the name’s origin. Beyond that, I can’t say exactly.”

“Bear… or Moon? And a large investment that paid off? Could that be…”

“You’re thinking of that village, aren’t you? Tengakure? Why yes, that is my assumption, too. Not much happens in that region of the world, so either his father was a traveler too, or that was the money maker. I know some fun stuff about Tenga too, including current events, but I feel you don’t want those right now.”

“Can’t say it’s a top priority, no.”

Code:

”So, you want to know about them, then?”

Shiroi nodded, not looking directly at Izaya.

“A despicable pair, the two of them.” Shiroi’s head hung low. “Murderers, part time assassins, using their work as courier nin to hide their activities. Over one hundred confirmed shinobi kills, and significantly more civilian kills. Mostly low ranking nobodies. If I remember right, they bought a child at one point.”

“I’m sorry, bought?”

“Why yes, though the buying was just a rumor. What I know for certain, is that they went off the grid for two or months and came back with a few month old baby. Obviously, that math just does not add up… I’m curious as to why you’re curious.”

“None of your business.”

“Correction. Everything is my business. Or nothing, depending on who is asking.”

“All right, a few more questions. How have you been collecting information recently? Your forces are far inferior to what they once were.”

“Mongooses.”

“...Mongooses.”

“Yes, Mongooses.” He bit his thumb and slammed his palm upon the ground. The long, slender being that appeared and scurried around a moment.

“Iza!” is said, its eyes falling upon Izaya. “You’re better! How’re you better!?”

“This fine lady here fixed me.”

“But aren’t they-”

“Shh, shh, it’s fine. We worked out an.. Agreement.”

Code:

The silence had lasted quite awhile now. Izaya was getting uncomfortable.

“I know some more, too. About those two.”

“What more would I possibly need to know?”

“Where they hid their treasured things.”

“And why should I believe it hasn’t been looted yet?”

“Well, it has been, several times over. But last I heard, there were still some things. A letter, for starters. Plus, they spread stuff out, and it’s unlikely that its all been taken.”

“Fine, where is it?”

“So, how do the mongooses help you?”

“They replaced my workforce. They can slip into places that humans can’t. Some of them can even use a human like a puppet, or so they claim. I personally think they just use transformation, but I don’t dare try to find out for fear of it being true, and me being their next one.”

“...ok then. So, they’re a stock standard summon race?”

“Oh entirely, but I quite like them. This one here is my favorite, he can make amazing pain meds. Probably a big part of the reason I’m still alive today!”

“Then why have any actual crew anymore?”

“The simple answer is, these guy’s can’t do everything, including a lot of the things that were my life support.”

“Ok, I guess.”

“You seem interested in them.”

“Quite frankly, I am.”

“You interest me, and I want to see how it goes. Would you be interested in being able to summon them?”

“But Iza! Why would you let he-”

“Shush now, I have my reasons, and once you hear them, you will be most glad.”

“...how about, before I answer, you tell me your reasons.”

“Simple, really. Hoshigakure is likely to have snake summons. I’m not certain who, but the mongooses have detected traces of the snakes throughout areas of the village.”

“So, what?”

“Mongooses hate snakes, and the reverse is true too.”

“...you want me to let them loose in the village to fight another Shinobi?”

“No, not really. There’s no requirement for you to do that. I’ll let you summon them, and then you can do whatever. I just think the interaction will be… interesting.”

“So basically, I avoid summoning them around snake summons, unless I want those summons dead.”

“Precisely.”

“Fine. I kind of want them.”

“Let me get you that scroll.”

…

Code:

It had been silence for quite awhile when Shiroi finally stood up. Silently, she walked over to Izaya with a bundle of rope. She tied him up tighter than before, despite his struggling. He could now barely move his body, and certainly could not move from his spot. Then began the hand seals.

“Sign your name here, in blood of course, and you can summon them!” So she did. The contract was signed, and the mongoose took it away.

“Go ahead, try it!”

“Maybe later,” Shiroi thought, remembering the fact that… she did not actually memorize how to perform a summoning technique yet, and would have to figure that out.

“Eh, your loss!”

Code:

An hour passed before Shiroi untied the man, for the ropes were no longer needed.

“Anything else?”

“No, nothing. I have something to look into now.”

“You’re off to whatever remains of Tengakure, aren’t you?”

“It’s like I’m an open book.”

“More so than you know.” Shiroi began walking for the door, and knocked. The door began to creak open. “Make sure to stop by your parent’s stash site, it’s on the way to Tenga.”

Shiroi froze. “Pardon?”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t say ‘parents’. Abductors? Purchasers? What is the proper word… And you simply must sate my curiosity, how did they raise you? Were they kind? Abusive?”

“How did you know.”

“Know what, that they’re your parents, or that you are, or more accurately were, Smile?”

“Both.”

“I guess I can answer two more questions, and then we’re even.”

…


“Chakra, for that second one. You aren’t even TRYING to disguise your chakra! It’s simply absurd. The former question, well that was just a good guess that you confirmed. Not many would ask about those two. And the few instances of emotion you showed at our last encounter were all in relation to those two. As if you missed them. So I assumed you were the fabled child I’d heard of. Of course, back then I’d heard they had a boy, so I passed off the idea. But when you showed up here, in this form, one that I knew was within the village, that I realized. So, I dug into your story a bit. You’re an interesting person. Gravely injured delivering a letter, but managed to hang on after being in a multi-year coma. You beat all the odds, crushed them into the dirt! Then you left to ‘clean up the trash’, though I doubt you ever used those terms. And then you met me. And you stopped.”

“...”

“Why did you stop?”

Shiroi pushed the door open and walked out, letting it creak closed behind her.

Code:

The surgery was fast, all things considered. He looked like a frankenstein monster, and his existence was pain. Shiroi left with nary a word.

Shiroi had walked for about two hours when she entered the small town. There was a small inn, and a small post office. She wrote two letters. One was to be delivered to the Hoshi mission office. This one had a package accompanying it. The other was to be delivered to one Hikari Namikaze of Hoshi.

The former read as such:

To whom it may concern at the Mission Dispatch Office,

This is Shiroi Shinzo, whom recently undertook the mission to hunt for white roses of a specific nature. I was unable to locate and exemplary specimens, but did find some. They, as well as information about the location, are within the included package. I will not be returning to the village for a short while due to injury. There is nothing to worry about, I just twisted my ankle something fierce while performing stances at an inn. I am fairly certain it is not broken, and will return as soon as I can walk to the village without sustaining injury. I am currently staying at the Drowned Wench in Aftcastle, a small town in the desert. I request that payment for this mission be forwarded to one Hikari Namikaze within the village. She, in addition to her other ninja roles, is currently acting as my housekeeper while I am away. I kind of have to pay her a bit extra to cover it.

Regards,
Shiroi Shinzo
###################

The package had the described contents, as well as a hastily written note with Hikari’s address.

The letter to Hikari went something like so:

Hikari,

It’s Shiroi. Messaging you to say that there’s some cash coming your way. 1,000 of it is payment for you watering my plant, as well as continuing to water it for awhile longer than you probably expected. The rest, just hold onto it for me, please.

I’m currently out of village. My mission is completed, but there is something else I must do. I trust that you will believe me when I say I am not abandoning the village. Even so, I doubt the higher ups would believe that. As such, I’ve told them that I twisted my ankle ‘something fierce’ and will be recuperating at an inn until I can come back.

-- Shiroi

It was a single trip to the postmaster and a small fee before the packages were off, as was Shiroi.

In the opposite direction.

[exit]

[[
6237 words
Claiming 20 AP (max stats) (unless I can get the full 62. I'm assuming 20 b/c 10 stats, 1 stat/200 words, && 2 AP/200 words.
Trained http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t33806-kanpeki-shujutsu-medicalcustomopen
Signed http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t36555-the-mongeese-of-the-deserts-of-haven
Completed http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t31970-ghost-of-a-rose-b-rank
7 AP
3000 Ryo
]]

[done, done done done, DONE!]

Extra ap may not be claimed on missions so I'll have to deny that 20 ap. Approved everything else though.

Works for me, much thanks.