Revisiting the path best left untouched

[Jinan B]

Plot Board

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It was dark in the tunnels that run below Konohagakure. Damp too, with drops of water dripping from the earthen ceiling as a result of the recent rains. The ANBU operative inside the tunnel didn't care for any of it, however, for his thoughts were on only one single target.

Hokkaido, Haruka

Even now, 7 whole years after his first meeting with the vile doctor, the memories of those fateful weeks stood clear in Katsurama's mind. He remembered how he had come to his senses in Haruka's prison; locked behind the rusted iron bars and powerless to do anything thanks to the fuuin entrapping him. He remembered how the three of them had tried to act brave at first, devising schemes to break out of the Nukenin's grasp. They had all failed of course; they had been nothing more than a group of foolhardy genin stuck in the grasp of a far more powerful adversary.

But it didn't matter, even after Haruka had taken Leiko he had spent the next day trying to get out of the hellhole even while he heard the screams of his friend echoing through the halls. It was all futile; even the Senju himself learned the bitter truth eventually. Futile... But this time it would be different. The ANBU soldier was not the same child that he had been all those years ago, it reflected in everything from his height to the fact that he wore the uniform of Konoha's elite. He had been training for seven long years all in the hopes of gaining the strength he needed for this eventual day; the day that had finally come.

For 7 years the Doctor had managed to evade the clutches of Konoha's keenest hunters after he had escaped from his confrontation with Kazuki, but now he was within their reach once again; continuing his repulsive experiments somewhere in southern Grass Country. How they would track him down Katsurama didn't know, but it mattered not. All that mattered was that Katsurama was going to find Haruka...

And he was going to kill him.

The sounds of another being approaching distracted the man from his thoughts, and he turned to see another member of the ANBU approach: his partner for this particular mission. He did not know who the women was, only that she had been assigned to hunt the nukenin specifically because of her tracking abilities. Not that she would know him either in all likelihood despite her knowledge of the man, for his own face was concealed behind his mask; white with red and grey marking depicting a long, thin beak. "Konchū? We'd best be on our way." Katsurama's voice was cold and almost unrecognizable due to the sheer lack of emotion behind it.

But that didn't matter either, did it? The only thing on the Senju's mind as he turned and began to move out of the tunnels was his mission...And his target.

[Willoria]

She was still new to the organization, and her mask betrayed that fact. It was perfectly clean, the white absolute porcelain. Yet the design was of course different than her partner's. The mask itself was indeed white, the lips a simple line though behind them against her actual lips was a mechanism to change her voice. Marks like a bug's antennae sprung up around the narrow eyes and up the forehead, markings like mandibles on either side of the lips. And in the top of the mask were odd notches. She didn't have the crown on today, her hood pulled up instead, but if she were to put it on it would fit perfectly in the notches.

She approached her partner, tilting her head as she heard his voice. It sounded familiar somehow, at least that was what Dai told her from within her hood, but she couldn't place it. The lack of emotion seemed to be changing his voice enough that there was no way of knowing. As he spoke the woman nodded, stopping her approach a few feet in front of him. "I was told you had more details for me on what we are doing?" she asked simply, her voice holding a bit of a distortion to it, giving away that it wasn't her real voice and yet still hiding her true tones.

[Jinan B]

"Our target is an A-Rank Nukenin believed to be hiding in Southern Grass Country: Hokkaido, Karuka. The man has committed... Numerous offenses against Konoha in the past." For the smallest of moments a slight change in Katsurama's voice could be heard as he described the man who had killed so many people who were dear to him, as it lost its emotionless tone and instead gave way to pure bitter hatred. It lasted for only the briefest of moments, however, barely long enough to be heard at all before the former cold tone reasserted itself. A Shinobi doesn't give into his emotions... Not when it could affect the mission at hand. The Senju chastised himself silently, knowing just how close he was to breaking point and trying his utmost to prevent complete loss of composure. Luckily for the Senju, the bubbling rage within him could be contained for now (even if only barely). How long that would last once Haruka truly came into the picture, Katsurama couldn't say. He forced the burning question out from his thoughts; it didn't matter if he could restrain himself, all that mattered was that the Doctor was brought to justice.

"One of his known associates was killed during a kidnapping attempt in the village of Furano. Once the local Samurai realized the connection, they reached out to us. We'll most likely need to begin our search there before he can begin picking up his trail." It was of course unsurprising that Haruka would be seeking yet more test subjects for his experiments, and the thought of just how many people had died in the 7 years since the Senju himself had been such a victim thanks to his survival only served to increase his determination. Their lives were on his head, so it was up to him to prevent their being any more deaths...

The man had said what he needed to, however, and he was undoubtedly in no mood for idle chatter. If Konchū tried to speak to him during the journey, she would find that his responses were short and uninviting. So it was for the entirety of the 2 day journey; regardless of whether the two ANBU operatives were on the move or at rest Katsurama would remain as unresponsive as ever, his mind instead absorbed in his memories.

On the morning of their third day of travel the two shinobi arrived in the village of Furano, but the sight that greeted them would surely come as a shock to anyone who came within visual distance of it. Under normal circumstances the collection of buildings was little more than a hamlet with a somewhat lively marketplace at its centre, acting more as a hub for trade than anything else. Now, however, where once there stood wooden houses lay only ash. The only thing that rose out above ground level was a mound in the centre of the village. Something that even from this distance Katsurama could see was made up of human corpses. "This... This isn't right." There was no chance now that the Senju would manage to keep his tone from showing emotion, and instead the clear shock at what he was seeing was as clear as anything could be. For so long Haruka had been hiding well enough that even the Hidden Villages wouldn't find the man, yet now he was making a move so bold as this? "...He knows that we're coming for him, getting rid of any witnesses took priority over subtlety." If the assumption that the Senju had come to was true, then this entire mission would turn out to be far more difficult than he had originally thought. Yet more deaths on my head...

"We'd best go see what we can find."

[Willoria]

The more Mai watched his body language and listened to his voice, the more Dai pestered the woman that this had to be the same Senju that Yosuke had recruited to ANBU. But as she tried to listen to what was said, she eventually convinced the bug to go quiet, though he wasn't convinced that such a revelation was unimportant as she told him. Of course, none of this "conversation" happened aloud where her new partner could hear it. She simply remained silent as the man explained the entire mission to her, only nodding to show she understood what he said.

Yet she hadn't missed the changes in his voice when emotions came to play, but she didn't point it out either.

She only tried once or twice to speak to him as their two day journey began, but long before the second day began, the woman had given up on getting him to speak. The man was clearly focused on the task at hand, and she was not the sort to try and break that focus. Part of the secrecy of their own organization was not always knowing who was behind the other mask either, she couldn't help but wonder perhaps that was part of the reason for his silence as well.

But her mind quit running over those questions when they arrived at their destination. Even she had to pause at the horror that lay before them, and as Katsu first began to speak, she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze in place of words. It was meant as a reassurance, but she knew no words could really convey what might have been going through the other shinobi's head. No matter what anyone might think, she knew this kind of sight could not be fully prepared for.

As he mentioned seeing what they could find, Mai nodded and walked towards what had once been the nearest home, allowing a grouping of her bugs to fly out from her clothing to begin sifting through the ashes.

[Jinan B]

The sheer extent only became clearer as the two shinobi began to make their way down to the village. Everything that could have been burnt had been, yet in the ash and rubble left behind Katsurama could still spot the arms or legs of human corpses. Bloodstains ruled the dirt paths that crisscrossed the village, but how much of it was human was left unclear due to the present of the bodies of dogs, cats, horses and sheep. Yet it was only the bodies of the animals that had been left in the streets. Every single human that hadn't died trapped within their humans had been moved to the centre of the village instead.

At least, that was what the situation appeared to have been.

It was a truly morbid sight to behold for the young Senju once he reached the place where the bodies had been dropped. Not every corpse remained in one piece, with severed legs or even heads lying separately along with the rest of the once living villagers. Katsurama thought he saw a woman who could even have been pregnant. Even so, the most striking thing about the mound was that a single wooden arrow had been deposited in each and every corpse. The Senju would have stopped there, would have turned around and focused on picking up the trail, if it weren't for those arrows. His hand moved up to behind his shoulder, his fingers touching his own near identical weapons. This was so much more than the Doctor destroying the evidence that could lead Konoha to him; this was a message meant for him in particular. I know that you're coming, the message said. But you still can't even come close to touching me. Suddenly the man's mind raced back to those woods in Fire country so long ago. He remembered how Haruka had caught his arrows just as easily as if it were a ball thrown by a child. How he had laughed about it all while putting him down. The man felt dirt underneath his knees, and then between his fingers. And yet he still hadn't noticed the worst detail that was there to be seen.

There were no children to be found among the dead.

Images of the cell in which he was kept came unbidden to his mind. The sounds of screaming filled his ears. Leiko's screams, and Mei's, and those of all the people who had surely been taken from Furano to suffer the same face. His vision blurred until he could barely see what was before him, yet he still couldn't dare to glance elsewhere. Had his life truly been worst all of this? His grandfather's survival, his father's happiness, the lives of the people in Furano, and now the futures of the Doctor's next experiments. All that, just because his life had been spared 7 years past. So much lose, for so little gain...

[Willoria]

Mai watched as her bugs sifted through the ashes. If it weren't for the gruesome things they were finding, it might have been almost peaceful to see. The way they flitted into the ashes and had to shake it off, it was almost mesmerizing even now as Mai watched. But the things her bugs were finding were gruesome, leaving a sick feeling in the pit of Mai's stomach. It was certainly one of the worst things she'd ever seen, and she despised asking her bugs to go over every inch of every 'part' they found for any clue as to what was happening, or what had happened really.

But she heard a sound and turned her head as Dai made a noise from her shoulder and she was surprised to see her new partner on his hands and knees in the dirt. Instructing Dai to oversee the other bugs, the woman walked over to Katsu and knelt beside him, though she didn't touch him at first. She could almost see that his mind was not on the present, despite the mask. Touching his back or even shoulder unexpectedly might have an unforeseen consequence.

Instead she finally reached out a hand to touch over one of his own, a small attempt to bring him out of whatever plagued him, and hopefully to calm him. If he allowed it the woman would go so far as to intertwine her fingers with his. While the scene before her was the worst she had so far witnessed in her career, it was not the first time she had seen a partner so affected by the scene. His tones before had already hinted at something about this being personal, but this reaction convinced her of it.