Some bullshit excuse to leave the village

[Varian]

Nezumi stood at the entrance to Konoha, he tapped the tip of his foot against the ground to shift his sandal around as it had become slightly uncomfortable. He checked his bag once more to make sure he had not forgotten any medical equipment, it was not often he was so well equipped out in the field. This had been a special request from a village chief, his entire village had recently come under some form of infection.

He had been asked to go due to his expertise in both the Konoha medical centre and being out in the field, Konoha was of course worried that the infection would spread country wide. As such they had been given full discretion and any resources they required on the mission, they being both Nezumi and the bodyguard that had been assigned to him. Nezumi closed his eyes for a moment taking in the fresh breeze that blew through the village hidden in the leaves today, the sun was rather warm as well he couldn't ask for better weather to undertake a mission in.

Nezumi turned up earlier than he had intended to, he let out a slight sigh at his own punctuality. "Ah well, I am sure it will all work out." He shrugged off nonchalantly as he spoke to himself, this drew some funny looks from the guard on duty at the gate. He just smiled and waved, then he saw what he assumed to be his bodyguard approaching. "Ah here you are!" Nezumi yelled cheerfully, waving over at the man who approached.

[Sanjuro]

The moments where he had free time away from Mamorinuku had quickly become few and far between in recent months. It seemed if he wasn't patrolling the forest or tracking down some monster with Aina, he was training with (read: getting his asked kicked by) Kawa. So when the opportunity had come up for a plain old escort and body guard mission separate from the group, Kazuo had volunteered without a second thought. He was looking forward to taking a few days away from the village and the forest, much as he loved his job, to recharge his batteries. Well, that was assuming nothing went wrong with the mission.

He was being assigned as an escort for one of the village's medical ninja, Nezumi, while he tended to a mission of his own. Someone was sick somewhere or something. Kazuo hadn't been given many details about his partner's mission, only been given his orders; protect him and make sure he completed his mission. The Inuzuka picked up his pack and slung it over his shoulder. It had basic supplies, a sleeping bag, and some dried meat just in case. Nothing extravagant, Kazuo preferred to hunt his food while on the road. A bark came from outside and the brunet shook his head, his long hair whipping about with the motion. Apparently Koji was impatient to get under way as well.

Heading out, he flicked his fingers in the dog's direction, tossing a treat at his face. Koji snatched the small morsel of meat out of the air with a loud snap of his maw. "C'mon then, let's get a move on. We're gonna be late at this rate." Koji gave him a look as if to say 'and whose fault is that?' but Kazuo simply shrugged and started at a jog towards the rendezvous point.

It didn't take long to reach the gates. When he got there he saw a short boy standing around as if waiting for someone. Kazuo glanced up at the sun, determining the time. No, he wasn't late. Maybe the medic had just shown up early? With a shrug, Kazuo lifted his hand in greeting and offered a smile in return to Nezumi's enthusiastic wave. "Howdy! I hope you weren't waiting long."

As he came to a halt, Kazuo noticed one thing immediately. This guy was short. Incredibly short. To the point where he almost stood an entire foot taller than him short. He cocked his head to the side and gave the medic a once over. If he were to be honest he looked a little like a pushover. But then, Kazuo wasn't exactly able to go around healing people so he supposed everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. Koji remained by Kazuo's side, looking at the short human with an impassive look on his face. He didn't particularly care about the man one way or another, so long as he didn't try and treat him like a common pet.

With a mental shrug, Kazuo gave Nezumi a nod. "I'm Inuzuka Kazuo and this," he motioned towards the dog, "is Koji. We're going to be your bodyguards for the next few days." The Inuzuka waved towards the gates. "Ready to go?"

[Varian]

"Sooo tall..." Nezumi said almost vacantly, he smiled and bowed slightly. "I am Nezumi, nice to meet ya." Nezumi was impressed by the well built bodyguard, he seemed to take good care of his body. He had that wild look of an Inuzuka about him alright, it put Nezumi at ease to know that his bodyguard was capable physically. He hoped there would be no need for his skills however, one could never be too careful.

Nezumi then turned his attention to the Inuzuka's partner, the three tone brown really suited the dog. Koji looked rather well built as well, he smiled to the dog and lowered himself to it's level. "I couldn't ask for a better bodyguard." he said with the same cheer still in his voice. "Take good care of me alright?"

Once Nezumi had finished 'inspecting' the bodyguards he had been assigned he was more than ready to move out, he nodded in response to the Inuzuka's question. "Let us be off Inuzuka-san." As soon as he had spoken Nezumi pushed off from the ground, landing on a rather thick branch nearby. He did not stop there however, determined to get to the village as soon as he could Nezumi darted from branch to branch. He was confident that the others could keep up, Nezumi may not appear particularly strong but he was reasonably quick on his feet.

"So what exactly have you been told about my mission?" Nezumi asked as they were moving, there was no need for the journey to be silent as they made their way to the village. Nezumi certainly didn't intend to suffer in silence, chances were the Inuzuka had only been given the bare bones of his mission. Sometimes he wondered if the administration actually cared about efficiency in missions, so many times had he been given only half the information and had to improvise on the spot. Nezumi could not complain too much, this was the life he had chosen after all.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo held his breath for a moment when Nezumi bent down to address Koji. So far the dog had snapped at everyone that had greeted him because they tried to pet him. When Nezumi simply smiled and greeting the dog in the same manner that he had Kazuo, the Inuzuka let out the breath and Koji sniffed at the short man, lowering his head in mild approval. Kazu grinned at the dog and jerked his head after Nezumi, who had started out of the gates and into the trees. The duo was quick to follow, leaping up to the lowest of the branches and quickly ascending, catching up to the medic. It didn't take long.

He hummed in thought as he kept his ears and nose open for any threats. In the forest surrounding the village he seriously doubted they'd run into anything hostile but it never hurt to be aware. "Not a lot. I got a separate mission detail, which is just to guard you while we're out of the village. You know how it goes with these things; we each have our own jobs to get done." Kazu shrugged, not overly worried up upset by the situation. He was used to it by now. "All I really know is that we're headed to a village about half a day away from the village so you can do your medic thing."

[Varian]

Nezumi continued to bounce from branch to branch, very much like a bouncy ball hooked on steroids. He rolled his eyes slightly, it was typical that his escort was given minimal information. "That is the higher ups for you, sorry to be a pain... Thanks again for accompanying me, we are heading out to a village in response to reports of an infection. Konoha has concerns that this may end up more than a minor outbreak, the last thing we need is our village full of whatever the hell this thing is. Unfortunately not a lot is known about this infection, it could be anything as far as we are concerned." Nezumi started rummaging into his bag, pulling out a surgical face mask he held it out towards Kazuo. "My advice, don't breathe in too heavy." He grinned as if there was no worries, Nezumi was fairly confident that he would be able to get to the bottom of this issue.

The trees began to part as they came towards a clearing, in the center were a cluster of poorly constructed wooden houses. At least they were poorly constructed compared to the houses in Konoha, clearly these people didn't have the money to give their homes the tender loving care they clearly needed. The small village was empty, Nezumi surveyed the area around the village before dropping from his tree. He walked his way into the village, the first thing Nezumi noticed was the well that was in the centre of the cluster of buildings. Nezumi was once again into his bag, he took out a small container and passed it to Kazuo. "Would you mind getting me a sample of the water in that well? I am going to take a look around the houses."

There was something not quite right about this village, sure an infected village might have been silent but not nearly as quiet as it was right now. Nezumi walked towards the nearest home, he knocked on the door with a firm hammering motion. Waiting for a moment to only receive silence in return, Nezumi turned to his partner and shrugged. Next he tried what appeared to be some form of village hall, instead of knocking he disappeared inside.

[Sanjuro]

Following Nezumi through the trees was easy enough. By this point Kazuo knew the forests around Konoha like the back of his hand, so he already had a rough idea of where they were heading and was only half paying attention to his surroundings. He hummed and shrugged nonchalantly when the medic apologized. "It's not your fault. Besides, I could have easily had the missioned assigned to someone else if I didn't want to come along. One of the perks of being part of Mamorinuku, I suppose." He took the mask with a slight frown. He didn't like the idea that whatever this infection was could be airborne. "My tracking skills kind of rely on breathing deeply, ya know?" He glanced at Koji and frowned even more. He'd have to take the dog to his old man when they got back to the village and have him checked out. Just in case.

When they reached the clearing and paused to look at it from above, Kazuo took the opportunity to strap the mask over his face before following Nezumi, happy to have his feet on solid ground again. The abandoned village had a creepy, haunted feel to it that almost sent a chill down the Inuzuka's spine. For someone so attuned to sound, walking into a place like there were it was absolutely silent was… disconcerting to say the least. He started to draw in a deep breath through his nose to get a read on the scents in the area but quickly stopped when Nezumi's earlier advice came to mind. "Tch." Annoyed at his lack of usefulness, he started towards the nearest house and pushed the door open. The wood wasn't of the highest quality and the hinges were loud enough that, in this eerie silence, Kazuo winced.

He was about to head inside when Nezumi's request reached his ears. "Yeah sure, one sec." He called over his shoulder, still looking into the darkness of the house. He couldn't hear anything inside, no breathing, no movement, nothing. Shaking his head, he jogged over and took the container from Nezumi, giving it a once over before shrugging and making his way to the well. While he did this Koji followed Nezumi, though the dog was on high alert and had ignored the medic's advice, constantly sniffing at the ground to find any scents. When the Chuunin disappeared into the large doors of the village hall, the dog followed after a quick look back at Kazuo, who nodded. The crank that lowered the bucket into the well was being decidedly stubborn. It was like trying to lift a barrel full of stones.

[Varian]

Nezumi stepped into the darkened room, the only light source being a crack in the roof that dimly lit the room. The floor creaking with each step he took, scanning the main room of the hall he saw the rough state it was in. "Did I miss sunday bingo?" Nezumi called out once again with no answer, he was starting to feel somewhat unnerved. Nezumi moved into one of two side rooms, inside various pots and barrels were broken and generally strewn about the room. The second room only served to confirm Nezumi's suspiciousions, lying on the ground was a man in his thirties. Surprisingly there were no outward signs that gave away this man's cause of death, the strange thing was the state of pure terror on his face.

Nezumi threw together some handseals proceeding to channel chakra into his hands, he gave a thorough examination of the man. First checking the mouth and throat, there were traces of some strange compound that Nezumi had never seen before. He moved further down towards the Oesophagus, there was noticeable softening of the Mucous Membrane showing clear indication that whatever it was it had been a toxic substance and was certainly linked to the cause of death. Nezumi continued to scan the deceased that was lying in front of him, a rather confused look came across his face when he stumbled across an interesting discovery. "Hmmm... So the cause of death was not the toxin itself, the deceased died of some form of fear induced heart attack." Nezumi was confident enough that the toxic was not airborne, he still had no idea what it was however. Nezumi removed his mask and that was his first mistake, the second mistake he made was leaning in too close to the deceased man when he heard what he assumed was a dead man cough. Spores immediately struck his face, stumbling back out of the room Nezumi began to see double. Staggering about the main hall of the Village hall, no wait this wasn't the village hall... where was he?

Standing in a vast open field Nezumi saw dragons fly overhead, he rubbed his eyes and checked again. When he opened his eyes once more he was stood on top of water in the middle of an ocean, then he began to sink. "Help! Help! I am gonna drown! Help me! I can't move!" Suddenly he was trapped in a building that was caught on fire, he continued to yell for help.

OocShow

Shroom hallucinations for days

Jutsu UsedShow

*Medical Diagnosis Technique
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: 5 Iijutsu
Perhaps one of the most important Iijutsu techniques to date, the Medical Diagnosis Technique allows its users to probe another's body in search for medical answers. After focusing chakra into his/her hands, the user will begin to channel it into the patient's body. Using this chakra as an internal extension of his/her hand to feel for abnormalities and other issues, the user is often able to determine the problem after some time and concentration. In order for a thorough examination to provide sufficient answers, the user will focus for up to one (1) post, seeking signs of internal and external damage, organ malfunction and disease among other ailments. Although skilled medical-nin have the possibility to work faster, skill cannot be substituted in for thoroughness.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo was still struggling with the crank on the well when he heard the noises coming from the town hall. He glanced between the building and the well before letting out a frustrated groan and reached out to the rope itself rather than the crank. Putting a little chakra into his feet, he stepped up onto the edge of the well and leaned back, pulling the rope and thus the bucket up with all of his strength. What came flying up wasn't just a bucket of water, but a corpse that had gotten entangled in the ropes. It was waterlogged and bloated and Kazuo scrambled away from it like it was on fire. For all he knew whatever infection was here was still in that damn thing. He kept his mask on and ever so slowly made his way towards it before he heard the shouting begin.

Abandoning the body, Kazuo raced to the town hall, bracing himself for a fight, only to find Nezumi stumbling around, waving his arms like a maniac, crying for help and that he was… drowning? He looked around to see where Koji was, only to spot the dog lingering off to the side, watching Nezumi with wary eyes and hackles raised. Kazuo shook his head and carefully approached the medic. He noticed that his mask was gone. Seriously, he was the medic and the one that told him to keep a mask on at all times, yet he had taken his off. Was this kid a dumbass?

Grabbing Nezumi's arms and pinning them to the kid's sides, Kazuo tried to get his attention. "Oi! Nezumi! Snap out of it, would ya!?" Holding the Chuunin still was surprisingly easy. This kid was like a twig compared to Kazuo. If it came down to it, he could always resort to slapping him. Repeatedly.

[Varian]

The moment Nezumi was pinned down, his hallucinations went from him drowning in the sea to being buried up to his neck in the earth. The initial panic he had was over, it seemed that the dose he had taken was nowhere near as heavy as the victims of this village. He could hear Kazuo somewhere, he couldn't quite see where however. "Kazuo? Is that you? Where are you?" Nezumi was back in the village hall, the room was spinning around at a rather rapid pace. It seemed whatever he had inhaled paled in comparison to whatever the victims of this village had taken, the effects were wearing off rather quickly.

He looked up to see Kazuo pinning him down, Nezumi stared at him with a blank expression on his face. After what seemed like a lifetime of a pause Nezumi managed to lift a hand into a wave. "Yo Kazuo, turns out it isn't airborne but you wanna keep your mask on around any of the bodies." He laughed in a awkward kind of manner, the laugh itself almost saying 'my bad'. "Did you find anything in the well at all? I suspect that might be the root of our problem."

Nezumi looked to his left and right while still lying on the ground, he had gone quiet as if putting a lot of thought into what he was about to say. "Hey... Don't you think we are missing a few people? I have only found one victim myself..." Nezumi trailed off again going back into his thoughts, it was possible that whatever this thing was it had not poisoned these people by any accident.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo quirked an eyebrow up as if to say 'No shit, really?' at the cheeky response Nezumi gave when he finally snapped out of whatever the hell was going on with him. "Don't be a smartarse, that's my job." He slowly let go of the medic, keeping a wary eye on him just in case he needed to snatch the teen's arms again. At the mention of the well, Kazuo turned a little green around the gills as he remembered exactly what he had left behind out in the middle of the village. "I found something alright. You'll want to see it for yourself though." He whistled for Koji to follow, which the dog was happy to do. This entire village was unsettling, but the town hall even more so.

Stepping out into the light of the day, Kazuo squinted and let his eyes adjust, before he looked around. Nezumi had a point. Despite the small size of the village, there should be more than just two people, even if they had all died. Something was very wrong with this situation. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he pointed towards the well. There laying next to it was the bloated corpse that had almost brained Kazuo when he yanked it from the well. "That was caught up in the rope. It's why it took so damn long to get the bucket up. Didn't get that sample though, heard you screaming like a bitch and came running."

[Varian]

Nezumi only laughed at Kazuo's response to his first words on snapping out of the hallucinations, Nezumi seemed rather excited when Kazuo mentioned that he had something to show him. Putting his mask back on over his mouth Nezumi followed Kazuo's lead, upon seeing the body however his excitement quickly died. "Poor soul, nobody deserves to go like that." Nezumi put on some gloves and opened the corpse's mouth, again the same spore was released. Nezumi was ready for it however, he reached into his bag and pulled out a small glass bottle. Nezumi proceeded to place it into the man's mouth and closed what was left of his jaw around it a small amount of water leaked out of the body, Nezumi looked up at Kazuo and shrugged. When he had collected some of the spores, Nezumi placed a cork on the bottle to seal them and placed it back into his bag.

"A poisoned well supply? People don't just up and disappear, worst case scenario is I am right and somebody has taken these people while they were hallucinating so they wouldn't resist. If I am right though, who would do such a thing?" Nezumi turned to Kazuo for any suggestions, after Kazuo had given his thoughts Nezumi turned back towards the well. "The only way to confirm my theory would be to check the well, fancy lowering me down?"

[Sanjuro]

The Inuzuka watched Nezumi work, keeping his ears open and keeping one eye on their surroundings. Koji was patrolling the perimeter after a quick hand signal, sniffing the ground and air to try and find some kind of trail to follow. Nezumi had a point, if this was a naturally occurring illness, the place wouldn't be a ghost town. They would have all died here or at least tried to get to the village, but there had been so sign of any dead or dying people on their way here. This meant they went somewhere else or, the more likely scenario, were taken somewhere else. "You're probably right. If they had been sick they wouldn't have abandoned the village so thoroughly."

Kazuo scowled at the suggestion Nezumi put forth. "It if really is poisonous down there, is it such a good idea to go jumping in head first? You're the medic, not me. If these people were taken they might still be alive and sick. If you end up getting yourself poisoned, who is gonna be able to help them?" He let out a harsh sigh and shook his head, his long tail of hair waving about behind him. "Can't believe I'm suggesting this. I'll go down. Just… tell me what I'm looking for." He pulled up the bucket and removed it from the rope, wrapping it around his waist. "If I get infected by whatever is down there, call Koji. He'll help you pull me up. No offense but I seriously doubt you could handle my weight."

Clambering up onto the edge of the well, he grinned at Nezumi. "Wish me luck." Channelling a little chakra into his hands, Kazuo jumped down into the depths of the well, his hands sliding down the slides, controlling his descent with the chakra.

[Varian]

Nezumi laughed again, he hadn't really planned that far ahead. "You make a good point, you are looking for anything unusual or out of place. The corpse's seem to be exhaling a spore of some kind, keep an eye out for any residue spores or even fungi of any kind. I don't know exactly what you are looking for, just be careful with what you touch." Nezumi watched as Kazuo positioned himself to descend down into the well, he gave Nezumi a grin which was returned with a grin. "Watch out for those invisible oceans, they are a killer." With that Kazuo lowered into the well, descending into the darkness of the well.


Nezumi sat down resting his back to the well, he took out the vial containing the spore out of his bag. He tapped the glass container, Nezumi had never seen anything like this. "What are you exactly?" He queried out loud, Nezumi waited for a while before he called down. "Still with us?" Nezumi listened for his response, he couldn't help get the feeling that someone was watching him at this moment. Nezumi tried to shake it off as being in his imagination, the feeling would not vanish however this caused Nezumi to take a kunai from his pouch on his leg.

[Sanjuro]

The stone-walled sides of the well were slimy under his calloused fingers, covered in a layer of green moss or something that made him scrunch up his nose. The feeling wasn't exactly what he'd call pleasant. When he reached the water, he shifted the chakra from his hands to his feet so he stood atop the still liquid, ripples echoing out from where he landed and bouncing off the walls. "Yeah!" Kazuo called up to Nezumi and Koji. "I'm fine. The walls down here are green and gross. Seriously it's like a really long fish tank." He bent down and scooped a hand into the water, lifting it up to his eyes. The water itself was green as well. He let it run through his fingers back into the pool and frowned. "The water too. I'm pretty sure this was what was making them sick." Bending down to kneel on the water's surface, he got a closer look at the sides of the well where the water met the stone walls. The moss-like stuff descended down into the water itself. He withdrew a kunai and cut a piece of it away, stowing it into his pouch.

While Kazuo was doing this, Koji had found a scent. Something distinctly human, fresher than the lingering scents of the villagers that permeated every corner of this place. He let out a soft growl as he followed the scent, trying to find out exactly where it was coming from. There was someone nearby, he knew that much. And since his master had decided to go swimming, it was on him to find out exactly who was stupid enough to try and hide from an Inuzuka ninken.