To the earth country!

[Kanade]

Chiaki travelled along the road. Their destination was Iwagakure no Sato. Chiaki kicked a pebble, which left the ledge to her and clicked against a bigger pebble, which knocked against a rock, which hit a loose large rock, that dislodged a boulder. Her actions caused a small rocky avalanche which rolled down the mountain with a roar.

She stopped and looked at where she had kicked the pebble, the breeze of the morning had tussled her hair so that it was in a messy ponytail, rather than the well-kempt one she usually sported. She had put on her ninja gear and put her headband in her backpack that day. Her white mask was pulled up and over her lower face.

"Just one action can cause that much devastation-cha." She murmured. This wasn't like the last time that she had visited the lands surrounding Iwagakure. She knew that she was close to the country, even though the landscape was different it was similar enough. There was more to it than just the geography, the rocks sang a different song, the trees whispered in a different language, the water roared in a different pitch here. She sighed. The Kami of this place were more peaceful than when she had visited the land that was around the village hidden in stone.

She had gone before to search for new materials for medical supplies, and now she was with Maido. She didn't know whether this was for better or worse, but she had to get stronger, she had to learn to heal any wound, she had to make sure that her mother wouldn't die. Chiaki bit her lip under her mask as her golden orange eyes scanned the horizon around her. She didn't know whether or not she would be able to survive Maido's training, but she would endure as much as she needed to, all for the sake of making sure her mother lived.

She didn't have a team assigned to her. She was always the extra in the village hidden in the clouds. She had a couple of acquaintances, but she never had really fit in. They always wanted to train, always wanted to fight, always wanted to hurt others. Maybe she could establish a place of peace, where the ravages of war, no matter their cause, could be healed in a neutral zone.

In order to enforce this though, she had to get stronger. In order to get stronger, she had to learn from someone strong. She had to find someone who had medical ninjutsu. She had to be able to train on those who were wounded away from a safety net, to really test her abilities.

[Sia]

It hadn't been terribly long since Chiaki had decided to join Maido's little operation. Well, perhaps it would be Hisayo's little operation soon. An East wind was coming, Maido could feel it, and the changes in the air were obvious, even to her. Things just were not going according to plan, now matter how hard she tried, so, it seemed that to Maido the best course of action was to embrace the present, so she did.

Maido, Hisayo, Kayoko, and Substiwolf had had a most prosperous outing with the Lightning Empire. Maido delivered the bodies, chatted with the shinobi, and was on her merry way. It wasn't her fault Chiaki wanted power, was it? Maido tossed her needle to Hisayo, whom then transferred it to Kayoko, whom returned it to Maido. Invisibly then, the three of them stalked through the brush, sneaking up from around Chiaki from various different locations within the forest. Eventually, they had finished scouting the surrounding area and decided to make contact after they were sure the three of them and Chiaki had not been tailed by any would-be Hunter Nin from the Lightning Empire or otherwise.

Kayoko was the closest, and dropped down from the trees above, breaking her invisibility after she landed in front of Chiaki. She looked, admittedly, quite annoyed, with a scowl across her face as plain as day. She was joined shortly by Hisayo, whom landed next to her, called Kayoko a bitch to her face and to "fix her fucking face, moron," before her own invisibility broke and she reflexively ducked to avoid Kayoko swinging at her for her obnoxious mouth in the moment. "Behave." Was the only word Maido said as she landed across from Chiaki and the other two, causing Hisayo and Kayoko to both immediately cease talking, as though Maido had literally grabbed their tongues and forced them to be quiet. If Chiaki looked, she would see that, in a way, Maido had, for a purple colored aura certainly encompassed and oozed out from Maido's eyes, hands, and Hisayo and Kayoko's mouths.

"So, you decided to play with us after all then, young one?" Maido asked finally, snapping her fingers and causing both Hisayo and Kayoko to become completely and entirely paralyzed, falling over like frozen statues on the spot. After they sat their a moment, Maido brought her thumb and pointing fingers together, rubbed them for a moment in a circular motion, and releasing the contact point between the two fingers, forcing Hisayo and Kayoko to be moved several paces apart by a purple aura that shot out from Maido before their senses were returned to them. Hisayo and Kayoko nervously looked away from each other and Chiaki in embarasment. "I thought you couldn't do that if we didn't have blood in our body." Kayoko said loudly, pouting at Maido. "No Kayoko, Maido uses something else specifically on people without blood instead. I believe it's Kakujutsu, the same type of jutsu she used to make us into immortals. She said something to me once about utilizing it to properly make a new series of cursed seals too, but I'm not sure what she intends to do to Chiaki." Hisayo said to Kayoko, but not at all quietly. It was certainly loud enough for Chiaki to hear.

"Why are you here, young Chiaki of the Lightning? Do you wish to die? Do you seek a mentor? I'll admit I didn't take you for serious when you chose to follow us out of Lightning Country, but, here you are, on your own, ready to die at my hands for no reason."

Maido took a singular step and in an instantaneous moment had traveled sixty five meters towards Chiaki, landing directly in front of her face, flash stepping through the forest with ease after having gone through great trouble to train the technique. "Tell me why we should take you in and not sell you to Iwagakure for extra money?"

[Kanade]

Kayoko showed herself with a scowl and Chiaki quickly moved from a fascinated and thoughtful look at the rock-a-lanche to a cool and blase look. Then came the other one, and finally Maido. With a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach she was asked if she wanted to play with them. It wasn’t a game to her, and she grit her teeth to hold back a harsh word or two and she nodded a couple times in ferverous vigor in order to overstate that she was there to train with Maido and the two others.

She was well aware of the fact that someone could be controlled with some jutsu, and even taken over. She had heard stories of the jutsu but never had seen someone who would use it, even on a comrade. She considered both of them, and then Maido as if she were a wolf that she was trying to placate, and beg for a spot in her den.

“I am here because I wish to have a mentor. You have the power that I seek and I seek it for someone other than myself-cha.” She tucked her hands in her robes, her staff resting in the crook of her arm. She knew that the woman before her had the answers to her problems, the secrets that she needed in order to save her mother. She just had to buy a little time and pick her brains a bit.

“I am a field medic that wouldn’t be of any use to Iwagakure, so you’d be wasting your time and energy by turning me in. Not only that but I do not know any hidden jutsu and I doubt they would like to take me in anyhow, seeing as I am probably not even worth your time. What you said before intrigued me though, and that was that you were bored and that you wanted to do an experiment with me to make me immortal-cha.” She sighed and bit her lip, bowing her head.

“Maido-sama, please take me as your disciple in Iijutsu so that I might become strong and save the ones I love-cha.” She pleaded, keeping her head bowed in Maido’s direction.

[Sia]

Hisayo and Kayoko were mostly quiet now, having been thoroughly embarrassed by their older cousin. Kayoko quite visibly pouted, but did sit on a log and mind her own business for the time being. Hisayo wandered off, leaving the rest of them behind now that she was in a particularly foul mood due to Maido's actions. Maido waved goodbye to her with a cheeky grin, which Kayoko saw and smiled. Maido's eyes began to glow with light blue chakra, and images of the forest came into her mind rapidly as her sensory jutsu fanned out over the area. She observed Hisayo and her surroundings for a brief moment, then turned her attention to Chiaki and analyzed her in great detail with her sensory jutsu.

Female. Pale. Approximately twenty-five, around five-seven, looks to be about a hundred twenty pounds, notable chakra pool, no other notable statistics. Was her initial analysis, but she gazed further into Chiaki's very being and scrutinized her soul. As though picking through Chiaki's mind and body like playing with toys, she examined her chakra exquisitely. "Hmm... Lightning eh?" She said as the girl pleaded to her. Practically begged her, for Maido's help. Why? To become immortal? To transcend humanity? For what purpose?

The answer to that question became clear as Chikai continued. Maido's blood red cloak shifted behind her, forming into a throne of sorts which she fell into lazily and crossed her legs, propping one arm up in the arm rest and then propping her head against her hand. She looked, to be clear, quite bored. "I could always snatch a random medical ninja from anywhere in the world and just brainwash them to do whatever I want. While that is fine and easy, there is some merit to you approaching me, knowing fully well who I am, and seeking me out yourself... Hmm." Her thoughts raced. "What do you think your first year will be like as an immortal? The first ten? The first hundred? The eighth hundred?" She said, staring directly into Chiaki's eyes. "I am eight hundred years old, girl. I am not easily impressed."

Hisayo's voice shot out from the trees nearby. "She's from the Kyoukan clan in Kumogakure." Maido's face lit up immediately. "That does explain the foreign chakra signature in her body that I don't recognize." She analyzed it further, staring at Chiaki as though her clothes weren't even there, as though she was looking directly through her entire body and seeing her insides and how they worked. Essentially, she was. To Maido, Chiaki's heart had been outlined and colored bright red, plain as day. Hisayo and Kayoko's too, though tinted a bit purple. It didn't matter where they were, it didn't matter how far away they went, Maido would see them. It didn't matter in the slightest.

"A Kyoukan? Then, make no mistake, I would for sure fetch a nice price handing you over to Iwagakure...fortunately for you, money does not motivate me. It never really has, and if it does for you currently, I assure you that eventually, through immortality, you will grow quite bored with it." She said casually before she continued. "I am bored a lot, it is hard to find ways to entertain yourself when you are as old as I am and I do experiments quite regularly. I'll admit, I enjoy seeing the way the world works and bending it to my whim. Imagine a world without chakra? How dreadfully dull." She said with a grin.

Hisayo and Kayoko both immediately paid more attention though after what Maido said next. "You seek it for someone other than yourself, you say?" Maido purred. That's exactly what she wanted to here. Someone that wasn't tainted by the world just yet. Someone with a good heart, a strong backbone, and good ideals. A medical ninja. A tried and true caretaker. A truthseeker. A scientist. New blood was always a shot in the dark, but perhaps Maido would give this one a shot after all. She was quiet for a long moment and Hisayo and Kayoko listened intently from their positions in anticipation.

"Fine. I'll train you. But we have to go to Iwagakure anyway. There are things I would like to collect from my house and I don't want to just send Substiwolf to do it. In the meantime...let's do something about your clothes. You reek of priests."

[Kanade]

Chiaki tilted her head at the questions the first couple of questions, she didn’t know what being immortal would be like, she had never experienced it. She was going to open her mouth to say so, but just as easily closed it as she noticed that she wasn’t going to get anywhere, especially when she was told that she wasn’t easily impressed. Well, so much for her wanting to start out on a good note. Perhaps she could get some answers as to what an immortal was, or what an immortal did. The eyes that Maido stared into were calm, determined, full of the want to make her mother well again, to give her a good life, to make sure that her mother was able to carry on even though she had a failure of a daughter.

Failure of a daughter.

Maido told her plainly that she would fetch a high price from Iwa, which wasn’t any news to Chiaki, as she knew that ninja from other villages with bloodlines, such as hers, would fetch high prices in other countries. She also gave no apparent value to the blood that coursed through her veins, the chakra that she held inside of her. She was a below average kunoichi, with below average scores on the chuunin exam who was only able to make due because of her medical ability and the help of the temple. That was why she had to get stronger.

“A world without chakra would be both a blessing and a curse-cha.” Chiaki traced the scar on her face, starting just below her cheekbone and ending on her jawline absent mindedly. She knew what chakra was capable of, the awesome destructive forces that could tear limb from limb. She wanted to reverse all of that, to travel the world and bring healing to the people that were scarred by the ravages of war. And here was someone with the power to do it, that didn’t put on airs, that didn’t boast of bravado but oozed power.

“Something about my clothes-cha?” Chiaki asked, caught in the middle of a nod about going to iwagakure. She also had no idea who this ‘substiwolf’ was or what they had to do with anything. “What am I supposed to do about my clothes, these are the only ones that I have! Am I to walk naked to Iwagakure no Sato-cha?” She demanded, a hand on her hip, her eyes narrowed in disbelief and defiance. Reeking of priests, hah!

[Sia]

"I suppose those clothes will have to do for now then..." After that, or a long while, Maido merely stared at Chiaki. What an odd human, she thought to herself silently. She motioned for Hisayo and Kayoko to join them. "What do you think of this one, really?" She asked them. They continued their pace, traversing across the terrain with little difficulty through this particular part of Pebble Country. "I think there's some potential there." Hisayo said plainly. "Medical ninja are always a fickle sort are they not? Dabbling in whatever experimental nonsense that compels them on any given particular day? Reminds me of you a little actually." She added, to which Kayoko let out a chuckle. "No I think she's right, Maido." Kayoko said with glee, though drew closer to Chiaki as she spoke. "Can you fight? Like, at all?" Kayoko asked her teasingly.

Maido's sensory jutsu permeated Chiaki's soul. "No, no she cannot." She said definitively. "But we can fix that," she continued with a wicked smile crossing her face. Suddenly, Maido's body turned dark red all over, and her form began to fade away, ceasing to appear human all together as her body suddenly shifted into a cloud of dark red mist and flew into Chiaki's face, forcing itself into her nostrils as Maido violently inserted herself into Chiaki's body and began to snoop around inside. "Ah yes yes, very good." Maido's voice emanated from Chiaki's chest. "You're not quite as frail as I had suspected. Sizeable chakra pool. Yes, yes, I think I can work with this." Maido said from inside of her.

Hisayo shook her head. "You're a little rude sometimes when you do that ya know, Maido."

"Am I? Is it rude of a God to play with his sheep?"

Hisayo drew silent, not entirely sure how to respond. Kayoko did, "Yes it's still fucking rude to just hijack peoples bodies without asking, even if you let them keep control of themself while you did it." Maido thought for a moment. "You mean like this?" Suddenly, Chiaki would find herself unable to walk, unable to talk, unable to blink, unable to breathe. Maido had restricted all control of her senses from inside of her. She held her blood grip for only a moment inside of Chiaki, allowing her to experience the sensation of helplessness good and properly before relinquishing control back to her. "How do you feel about flying?" Maido asked Chiaki suddenly as she channeled chakra and caused a gigantic pair of red wings to burst painlessly outwards from Chiaki's back.