Kumo's Finest

With a bottle of sake in his left hand while holding three glasses in his right, the Drunk Doctor made his way over to a spot he often visited whenever in need of a nap after filling his liver with some liquor. Why the multiple glasses one would ask? It wasn't as if Ichigo'd be able to drink that much, well he could but he carried more than one in case he'd come across a familiar face who could share the bottle of alcohol he brought with him. Probably not the prime example of how a Kumogakure shinobi should act but nevertheless, there he was. A beautiful, open field of grass surrounded by more trees than one would be able to count. A clear, blue sky the Drunk would soon lay down beneath. A big, strong tree, wide enough to place his back against. Everything was present for Ichigo to enjoy the rest of his day. 

Placing himself with his back against one of the trees, facing the open field should he notice someone familiar. Opening the bottle of alcohol while putting two of the three glasses aside, one would be enough for now, he poured himself some liquor. It was still pretty early day, around 10 AM, a rather suitable time for a drink he figured. Bringing the glass to his lips before feeling the sake run down his throat, all the way down to his liver. "Glorious." Although enjoying his peace and quiet the Drunk Doctor was hoping someone would join him rather sooner than later. 

(WC: 258)

Quite a bit of time had passed and the Drunk still hadn't seen anyone passing by. His back planted against a tree, his left leg flat on the ground while his other was used to place his elbow on, almost as if he was sitting in a thinking position. But the truth would be different, Ichigo was simply using it to support himself in case the liquor got to him sooner than he expected. The amount of alcohol in the bottle wasn't anything the Drunk Doctor couldn't handle but better safe than sorry, or so he figured. Taking the moment to reflect on past events he started to reminisce about what happened lately. Slow but steady finding his way back into the shinobi world after being retired for so long. Yes, retired cause that's how he felt after having abandoned his duty to the village Kumogakure. Regardless of how he used to spend his days, Ichigo was glad he came upon a couple of people who showed him there was still hope for someone like him. And one of those people decided to drop by, unless he was seeing things.

Squinting his eyes to get a better view he was certain of it, that red hair could only belong to one person and one person only. "Kaito my friend, join me!" Carrying a bag with him was none other than Noboru Kaito, the newly promoted Chuunin of Kumogakure. Or could he really be called that since he technically went from Jounin down to Genin and then back to Chuunin? Oh well, that would be a story for another day. Fact of the matter was that Kaito had proven himself in the Chuunin Exams and earned the rank fair and square. Ichigo would offer his friend one of the empty glasses as he motioned Kaito to have a seat. "So, what's got you all loaded?" From the looks of it the Drunk Doctor assumed the redhead came from a party. "I almost forgot, congratulations on your victory and promotion. I expected no less." As he complimented Kaito he would fill up the man's glass with sake. 

(WC: 355, TWC: 613)

She had been making her usual rounds around the village, waving to civilians, making small talk with shopkeepers and wrangling the school children. The day had begun as it usually had and she expected it to end the same way - still early afternoon her rounds were to be coming to a close shortly as she rounded the familiar bend that housed one of the larger trees in the village’s grassy fields; an optimal spot for picnicking or general outdoor recreational activity. As the view of the tree came into clearing relief she also noticed two figures sitting beneath it - not just any two figures either one was definitely the man who shared cookies with her at the chuunin exams… what was his name… Ichigo right, and the other was none other than her newly appointed men-tee. Kaito. 


Her right eyebrow raised in skepticism for a moment before her face relaxed into a smirk as she formed the hand seals Ram-Horse-Ox, activating the jutsu to make her footsteps completely silent and suppressed her chakra. It was to perfect a set up to not get one over on the boys, she approached without notice from behind them until she was directly behind Kaito, her small frame hidden by the trunk of tree they were residing under, and held her index and middle finger together into a point before placing it calmly against his throat. Her nails would just poke into the soft skin of his throat as she finally made her presence known, “That’s one Kaito,”, her tone was obviously teasing as she dropped her fingers from his neck and made her way around to face the two, though the intention of her counting should be clear to him - with a guard down like that he left himself open, “and for punishment this lovely glass is mine.”, she would attempt to pluck the glass from his hands - her demeanor was teasing enough to not be taken to seriously. “Hello Ichigo, got that factory up and running yet? Remember we had a deal.”, she would wink at him as she said it though. “What's the occasion?”, her left hand would wave at the bottle and still clean glass left in front of her.

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Ichigo waited for his companion to take a seat next to him before he would listen attentively to Kaito's words. "Don't sell yourself short. We live in a world where seven year-olds go around killing, so why can't we kick their ass from time to time?" It was said with a small smirk but of course the Drunk could understand where his friend was coming from. Ichigo shared the same view, the only exception being that he was too afraid to make a fool of himself if he participated. The thought of signing up had crossed his mind, but would he really have his place between them? Anyway, at the end of the day the only thing that mattered was Kaito being victorious and gaining the rank of Chuunin. "You won, they lost. Sometimes it's as simple as that." Done speaking he'd then place his head against the tree while taking another sip.

Closing his eyes for a moment, only to be brought back by a sudden scare inflicted upon his red haired friend Ichigo witnessed they were joined by a familiar looking female who decided to play some sort of prank on the unexpected Kaito. "Pfft, I totally saw her coming. Ahem, anyway." The Drunk was many things, but a good liar wasn't one of them meaning the other two would easily figure out he got caught by surprise as well. "I'm far too sober to be imagining someone as beautiful as you, so you must be real. How've you been Katsumi?" He remembered the kunoichi with the remarkable eyes back from when they were sitting in the stands next to each other as they observated the finals of the Chuunin Exams. 

Ichigo would allow the two of them to go back and forth a bit, as friends do. He enjoyed this new feeling of camaraderie. Personal issues and family business were both circumstances that caused the Drunk not able to experience this type of thing, but he was glad he did now. When they had finished catching up, if that would be the term to describe whatever it was they were doing, the redhead turned to Ichigo to inquire both what his reason for being out there was, as well as Katsumi's mention of the factory. "Taking some time to reflect what I'm missing, be it power or something else I'm still figuring out. And I promised the lovely lady over there a whole factory of cookies, however I didn't expect to see her again so soon." His eyes would meet hers as he took another sip of his drink.

(WC: 432, TWC: 1045)

With one arm tucked under the other that still held the glass, of which she was now eyeing curiously to determine its exact contents, she couldn't hold back the smirk that was playing on her lips at Kaito’s reaction to her sneak attack. Being under her tutelage meant no breaks - even when drinking on a lovely evening such as this. The pair before her were an odd duo when placed next to one another, similarly aged so she was the odd man out and clearly the youngest -though she seemed to wield a fair amount of respect from the two despite their age discrepancy. Kaito however would know for a fact her age would mean nothing as she had been bossing men four times her age around since they met - seems as though she hadn’t stopped either. She had to hold her smile back as she watched Ichi compose himself, pretending to act as though he had seen her coming when she could have sworn she say his frame jump slightly at her sudden appearance. “Charming as always Ichigo.I am well, just finishing up my rounds when I came across the two of you who were very clearly waiting for me.”, she did allow the sweet smile to form on her petite face at his words regarding her beauty, “Though you seem to be already drinking before my arrival, how could you Ichi.”, giving him a swift wink to let him know she was teasing. 

As she directed her attention to her favorite red haired nin she noticed a slight ruffled vibe - curious… sneaking up on him couldn’t have had that much of an impact. She was about to begin her line of questioning when he relayed one of his own, raising her eyebrows in interest she quickly answered him, “A crucial jutsu, remind me to teach it to you when we aren’t among company -”, she placed her hand jokingly to the side of her lips as if to shield the words Ichi could easily hear from view, “- real simple, though you do need wind style.”, her eyes widened in a knowing way, there would be a lot to learn before he could pull that off, for starters… he would need to be able to use wind chakra.  His explanation for their drinking was further surprising as she recalled not a few days prior his reluctance to celebrate his victory in any manner, tilting her head curiously she would nod along with his words - though she was hiding her expression of distaste at his flip flop reasoning, unable to refrain from assuming he simply didn’t want to celebrate with *her*. 

Pushing past the thought she chuckled heartily and raised the glass she had stolen in salue to him, “I assumed it was poured for me, as the adage goes, ‘Ladies first’.”, crossing her legs she would smoothly lower herself into a cross legged sit directly in front of the two men before taking a sip from the glass. “So with all your reflecting you haven’t come up with any idea what you are missing? Other than of course my promised never ending supply of cookies obviously, and you Kaito, what brought you out here today? Or rather, did you plan to meet Ichi out here for a lovely afternoon drink?”, taking a deeper drink of the tart liquid she felt the warmth spread through her chest as she relaxed her posture further. Holding herself so rigidly got so exhausting when she did decide to actually relax it was as if she morphed into a different person - one more her age.

WC 600
TWC 950

A smile appeared on the Drunk's face when he heard Katsumi's joke. "Aw, don't be like that. I simply expected you to catch up with our drinking anyway." This time it would be Ichigo's turn to tease the kunoichi, or Ichi as she so suddenly liked to call him. "I don't remember you giving me a nickname?" Surely this meant he was allowed to come up with one for her as well, right? He would take another sip of his drink while his thoughts were straying and his mind was wandering trying to come up with a cute, little nickname for Katsumi. 

In the meantime the female Jounin had directed her attention towards Kaito as she mentioned something about needing the element of wind to pull off what she did to surprise them earlier. Considering that it seemed to be something between the two of them Ichigo wouldn't pay too much attention and would focus on the lovely glass of alcohol waiting to be consumed. Although it didn't take too long for Katsumi to finally lower herself as she took place next to the two men. "Drinks, cookies. Anything else, your highness?" The Drunk would tease her back after she made the remark about his cookie factory, a promise he remembered all too well.

Ichigo noticed his friend was lost in thought before Kaito would suddenly turn towards the Drunk as he was seemingly getting ready to talk. Wondering what ever it could be the redhead wanted to say, he prepared himself to listen attentively to the words of his companion. The newly promoted Chuunin would go on and explain how back when the two of them met for the first time, he as well was in search for power. Kaito continued talking about a certain tool and how he achieve said one. It was at that exact same moment the redhead suddenly activated what seemed to be one of the most powerful dojutsu in the world, the Sharingan.

Ichigo listened how his friend came into the possession of the famous Kekkei Genkai. It was clear as day and completely obvious Kaito wasn't an Uchiha, so he explained exactly how and what he had to do to get his hands on it. After the redhead explained how dangerous this power was, he motioned at Katsumi and told how she would be able to tell him more about it. But that would not be before Kaito offered to grant Ichigo the same tool, the same curse of love. But it would come with a cost. Not only the one he was warned about but a financial one as well. The Drunk would be lying if he said he wasn't interested to find out more about this power. "You're making me an offer I can't refuse, my friend. Unfortunately I don't have that amount of cash on me, perhaps I could pay you once I gathered enough money?" 

Things were taking an interesting turn and Ichigo figured the kunoichi might have to say something about it as well. "What do you think, beautiful?" Katsumi being an Uchiha might have some sort of opinion on Ichigo possibly gaining the same powers.

(WC: 528, TWC: 1573)

A day without being a murderer… sometimes the things Kaito would say would trigger the alarms in her head  - how much did he know that he wasn’t letting on? How much had he guessed? She kept her frame relaxed and returned the smirk over the rim of her glass as the look on his face turned to ponderment then he turned to Ichigo… with a proposition. Katsumi simply sat, her legs now stretching out toward Ichigo’s as she stared into the liquid in her glass. There was a faint pink blooming on her upper cheeks now as the alcohol began to work its way into her system - she was not a frequent drinker. 

She… heard his words but it was taking time for them to really process them as he spoke them.. Always with the long winded explanations and the riddles as words. Slowly she rose to her knees, setting the glass down as she stared more intently at him - a scroll being snapped into existence as he continued with further warnings… then she was indicated. I could… tell him more about it…? The two pieces weren’t clicking into place yet, all the pieces were in front of her but it didn’t sink in until she heard the *price*. Instant disgust and rage flared in her like a beast set on fire, she was glad in that instant to have set the glass down as she would have shattered it in her hand. This… this was happening in front of her… as if this was some traveling market something she was BORN with being sold right in front of her with the nonchalance of selling flowers to a couple. 

She was so upset she was motionless - simply staring at the scroll in Kaito’s hand… Kaito Noboru. The name dripped with acid in her head. Katsumi was probably taking this much more harshly than it was but… there was something about a man who had relied on the grace and kindness of her father, an Uchiha, selling something that belonged to them as if it were the rarest steak.Still reeling from what she was witnessing, it took Ichigo’s words of eager interest and intrigue into her thought process, to snap her out of her stupor and finally give action to her tense and coiled muscles. 

The distance was so short and she was so fast that it would have been difficult to avoid her as she launched herself at Kaito - one hand attempting to grab the hand that held the seal and pin it above his head as she slammed both of them flat onto the floor, her body landing on top of his and each knee landing on either side of his waist as her free hand reached for a kunai that she would never get to. In that instant her beautiful control had slipped just for a moment, the hate in her eyes would have been too deep to be about this transaction alone…. No it was a deeper more dangerous look. Yet, as soon as it had appeared it vanished, as did the grip on his wrist as she sat back - still sitting on him - with a new look of shock on her face. “Sorry. I lost my temper…”, her red eyes flitted over to the scroll still in his hand and back to Ichi, refusing to reconnect with Kaito’s as they were surely filled with some realization. “Be more… sensitive to whom you sell that around.” She would roll off of him smoothly - it seemed the burst of adrenaline and anger had burned through the alcohol she had drank and her movements were smooth and measured again. Her body was tense once more as she looked at Ichigo for a long moment, “If … that's something you need I get it. I do not condone it… but I get it.” At the end of her sentence she closed her eyes in resolution, she wasn’t the keeper of her whole clan and as disturbing as this was to witness she had no real right to stop it.


WC 680 [x2 wc for event  1360]