High Hopes, Slim Chances (Risako)

The moment the duo were able to pass through Yensung and the gate, Hikari immediately headed for the Hokage Chambers, wanting to discuss the fate of the shinobi in her arms with the woman who didn’t seem to agree with what had happened to him either. The white haired kunoichi thought that maybe, with the Hokage’s permission, she could try and find a way to revive Kotetsu, which if she were lucky, would open the doors to her being able to revive Salzem as well, something she hadn’t even thought to attempt, her mind having been too preoccupied with revenge to think clearly. Her current jutsu that allowed her to revive someone only worked if they had died recently, within a couple of hours, Kotetsu, however, had been passed for longer than what she could bring back. But perhaps there was a way for her to invent another technique, one that would allow her to extend the length of time they were dead for candidate’s that needed to be revived.

If that were possible, then maybe, just maybe, she could bring him back to life. Hell, maybe she could bring Sal back to life with such a jutsu too. What a miracle that would be if she could. But none of that mattered if she wasn’t allowed to attempt anything, which she needed Risako’s permission for.

Thus, with the corpse in her arms, she briskly walked towards the central building in the leaf village, her mind going over a thousand ways to word her request, none of them appeasing the jounin. She wasn’t sure what to say or how to articulate her idea. She wasn’t even sure if Risako would want to see her when she got there. Yet she knew she needed to give it a shot, even if the outcome was no she could at least say she tried all that she could..

It didn’t take long for her short, thin legs to reach the building in question. Hikari was fortunate that someone else was going into it at the same time and held the door open for her, for it would’ve been a pain to try and open it with the body still in her hands. Once inside, she went up to the reception and spoke calmly to her, “Hello, my name is Hikari Hyuuga and I would like to speak to the Hokage about the body I was told to bring back. She’ll know what I mean…” She trailed off, unsure of how much the receptionist needed, and weary of the skeptical looks she was getting from others in the lobby. She tried to ignore them as best she could while she patiently waited for the Hokage to see her or tell her to go home.

(WC: 460)

Kinzoku had just finished up a meeting with The Watchman a couple of hours ago at best. He had remained in the Hokage's office to clear up the notes he had taken from the debriefing. It had been a rough draft at best and if the Hokage or anyone else were to read the report it was going to need to be a lot clearer. Once he finally finished up with the final report he slipped the papers into a file and neatly stacked it on the side of the desk ready for Risako whenever she decided to return to her office. After her sudden appearance on top of her own desk, Kinzoku was unsure of where she had gone off too. He did not dwell on it too much though. Perhaps she simply went home and decided to unwind from the Gokage Summit she just returned from. The Nazar was interested in hearing of the summit and what had been discussed there. He was hoping to hear about it straight away. But there would be time for that later. For now it was time for Kinzoku to take his leave from his temporary position in this office.

Getting up from the chair Kinzoku grabbed his jacket and flipped it over his shoulder as he began making his way towards the door. As he did so he picked up on someone approaching as they stopped to speak with the secretary outside. He listened in just before reaching the door, the voice coming from another female. The voice none other than Hikari Hyuuga, one of the Hokage's body guards for the summit. So it seemed the guards had finally arrived as well. Good to hear. Seemed she was looking for the Hokage which did not surprise Kinzoku. What intrigued him however was talks of a body, but what body?

Needing the exit the building regardless, Kinzoku opened the door to the sight of the Hyuuga stained in dried blood with the scraps of a corpse clutched in both her arms. Well that explains what body she was talking about. Bewildered as to why she was carrying a corpse in her hands, it took Kinzoku a few moments to gather himself from the confusion. "Come in" Kinzoku said, giving Hikari space to enter the office before he looked back to the secretary. "Send someone to find the Hokage. Have medics come down here right away. And get a change of clothes for her, please" Kinzoku said as she returned a nod to the Deputy. Just as she went off to do what was asked of her, Kinzoku closed the door behidn him remained inside the Hokage office.

Tossing his jacket and laying it down onto the ground, the Nazar looked back over to the blonde girl. "Put the body down here while we wait for the Hokage" Kinzoku said as he motioned to his jacket. Sure it would likely get ruined from the corpse, but a new jacket could always be bought. If she had been carrying the body the entire way back from the Land of Iron she least he could do was offer hid jacket and allow her some rest. Whether she obliged or not, Kinzoku would offer her a seat as he moved to the other side taking a seat where he had just been mere moments ago. For now the Hokage was not here so it seemed he'd be handling things until she returned for a little while longer. Pulling the chair out the Nazar would take a seat before looking over the Hyuuga girl ahead of him.

"Why are you carrying the corpse of a boy?" Kinzoku asked as it would likely lead to an explanation of the events that occurred during the summit.

As the secretary was about to see if the Hokage was available to speak with her, someone approached from the door to the said kage’s office, yet it was someone the Hyuuga never would’ve wanted to see. Kinzoku Nazar. The man whom, during the war, shot a bullet through her brother’s neck as he was reaching out to grab Yensung. Hikari clutched the body tighter in her arms, trying to remain composed in the presence of the man Risako had left in charge during her time away, afterall just because she despised him didn’t mean she had the luxury of lashing out. To murder Yensung was one thing, but a Deputy Hokage was on a completely different level.

So instead of glaring at him as she stepped into the office she merely wore a monotone expression, one that could be reasonable for anyone to wear given her circumstances over the past few hours, as she nodded at him and said, "Hello, Deputy Hokage.". While she stood in the room he asked his secretary to do multiple tasks, two of which the snowy haired kunoichi didn’t think was necessary. Medics wouldn’t bring him back to life, plus he was in the presence of one already, and new clothes were pointless, Hikari had grown accustomed to the stench of blood, having been surrounded by it on many occasions to the point of becoming numb to it. But she reasoned that the clothes might have also been for his sake, that he didn’t have the same experience as she and was uncomfortable with all of the blood covering her, and that the medics were only to take the body to the hospital instead of keeping it in the office while they spoke. Which would’ve been pointless given what she wanted to get permission for, yet of course he was unaware of that as well.

The first thing he did after returning to the door and closing the door was lay his jacket down, and it was obvious to her before he opened his mouth that he wanted the body to be placed there. The simple notion earned Kinzoku a bit of her respect, he had enough courtesy for the dead to not just leave a corpse on the ground as if they were never human once. Thus when he asked her to put Kotetsu’s body down she willingly obliged, walking the short distance to where the cloth was and kneeling down to gently place the remains on top of it. Once she was done doing that she rose again and was motioned to a seat across from where he presumably had been sitting moments before she arrived.

She gladly took the offered chair, the effects of carrying the body all the way back from the Land of Iron was finally beginning to set in as her arms and legs ached. The chairs reminded her of days prior, when the Hokage had asked for both Kotsuzui and herself to be there and she asked them to be her bodyguards for the summit. It had, in all honesty, surprised the Hyuuga that she had been entrusted with such an important task, one she hadn’t felt prepared for. Fortunately they didn’t need to test her abilities during it and the Hokage was able to make it safely back home without any problems.

Only the Hyuuga had a problem to deal with, a problem that the Deputy just asked her about as he settled into the chair across from her.

Her lilac tinted eyes looked up and hoped to meet his as she spoke, “I am carrying this corpse because the Mizukage commanded that I bring him back here. His name was Kotetsu Shinogami, shinobi of Hoshigakure and, due to his family fleeing the village during the war, missing-nin of Konohagakure. His parents are supposed to be brought here as well by a delegate of Hoshi.” Her voice was cold as she vaguely explained who he was and why she had brought him back, the memories of the ordeal still fresh in her mind. She hated that he had to die for the mistakes of his parents, and hated even more that the man who was supposed to protect him betrayed their duty.

(WC: 1,166)

After she finished speaking a knock came to the door, it was the secretary exclaiming that she had a note in her hand for the Hyuuga. There was never rest for the wicked it seemed, as she walked over to collect the note from the older woman, her eyes scanning its contents hurriedly. Apparently a squad of shinobi had encountered a group of missing-nin while out on a mission and the hospital was in dire need of more medics to care for all the wounded since most of their newer staff was at a training seminar in another land.

“It appears the hospital needs my assistance, Deputy Hokage. My apologies for cutting this meeting short, but such is the spontaneous life of a medic it seems. I do hope we can continue this another time. If you'll please excuse me now.” She bowed politely to the man, hoping he didn’t try to stop her for the hospital sounded very desperate in the letter. If he didn’t stop her then she would walk with a brisk pace out of the building and begin running towards the hospital the moment she stepped foot outside the Hokage Chambers, wanting to be reverend while inside of the place.

(Exit)
(TWC: 1,370)
(Will make claims later)

(Claims w/ max stat discount: all 1,370 towards Rain Shark, putting it at 3482/3600, previous wc from here)

Approved.

I messed up on the jutsu I claimed, need to change it to Body Pathway Derangement, placing all of the wc towards it and putting it at 2274/3000, previous wc from here.

My bad, I'm sorry ^^'

Re-approved.

Kinzoku listened as the Hyuuga explained, very briefly, why she was carrying a corpse all the way from the Land of Iron. In all honesty, it was a shorter reply then Kinzoku was hoping for. Less detailed. But it would due for now. Based on her reply, Kinzoku gathered that the dead boy was likely one of the guards chosen by the Hogokage. But how they discovered who he was and how it all went down was left out by the Hyuuga. Information Kinzoku would have liked to know. But perhaps he'd learn it from Risako herself. Another interesting piece of information was that the Mizukage had given Hikari the task of doing so. Another one of his tests for Konoha's own. Before Kinzoku could usher another question to the all confusion situation, there was a knock at the door proceeded by the secretary opening the door and requesting for Hikari's help at the hospital. "I have no doubt we will" Kinzoku said with a warm smile as he tipped the outer rim of his hat before watching the Hyuuga leave the office. Before the secretary closed the door he had her make arrangements for the retrieval of the corpse dirtying his jacket and for shinobi to await the arrival of the young boys parents.

[Exit]

842 words into Steel Edge (4584/7325)

Approved.