A raven's thunderous wingbeats.

[Kanade]

Kyoukan Mizune breathed a sigh of relief, taking a hissed intake of breath. The burnished gold rays of the sun lit the simple bedsheet that covered her frame. Her feet hung off of the bed by quite a bit, and had a pair of what she called ‘walky sockeys’ but were really just socks with grips on the bottom. They were quite fluffy and thick, but being away from the heat beneath her covers meant that she felt like they were cold.

The heart that beat within her chest was donated to her by a shinobi who had just died on the front lines, but donated their body for the village. She was quite a bit down the list, being a chuunin, but se had finally found a donor to have her transplant. It was too bad that Chiaki had left on what could only have been a trip to go and train. She had told Mizune, Mizune remembered, that she would be back to heal her mother. Still, a woman of fifty three, and a chuunin at that, was something of a rarity even in the heart of Kumogakure. She was the same rank as her daughter, and she had thought that Chiaki would follow in her footsteps, becoming a medical kunoichi, and perhaps take the least dangerous job of being a teacher for the academy students.

Mizune had stopped teaching when she had her first signs of arrhythmia, after she had taken the congestive heart failure into her own body from Theraveda, Kyoukan. Theraveda was a jounin of the village hidden in the clouds, was a field-surgeon, and had control over four of the five elements, and perfect control over her chakra. The one thing that she couldn’t, however, heal was the growths in her heart and liver from a lifestyle of smoking, drinking, and moving about in dangerous circumstances. Being only 6 years Chiaki’s senior, Theraveda was more valuable to the Kyoukan clan than Mizune could ever hope to be, so she was honored to be able to take the sickness into herself and let the younger generation step up.

It was only by Theraveda’s counseling, and her pushing, that she was even on the transplantation list. When Chiaki had found out, she had thrown a fit, insisting that her mother was in perfect health. The signs didn’t take long to follow the jutsu though, and soon enough Mizune had to walk around with a cane, had trouble hiking up and down the steps and the roads of Kumogakure and had taken up residence in an apartment just outside the hospital. She couldn’t continue with her classes at the academy, and therefore had to hand over her position as medical ninja teacher to another, older but handsome ninja who took it over and apparently was rather strict on his students.

She coughed a bit, a tickle in her throat causing her to convulse in pain as the muscles around her broken sternum convulsed and tightened. She had undergone a surgery that was a conventional one, and was told that it would take her a couple of weeks to heal.

Mizune had sent a missive for Chiaki, letting her know that she had found a donor, and hoping that it would reach her daughter wherever she was. There was a way to find people, and Chiaki was never one to not leave a trail, nor one to not be found, she was quite boisterous, loud, and a personality that filled Mizune with love for the daughter she had raised. It was one of the reasons that she had continued with the regular procedure instead of having Chiaki perform it like Chiaki had promised.

Chiaki, she knew, would be devastated if she failed the transplantation and so that is why Mizune had waited for the missive. She was almost completely healed now though, and was expecting her daughter any moment now.

Mizune wondered what Chiaki had seen of the wide world, not knowing where she had went without a word to her mother, but she assumed that was because she was on a mission. Shrugging and grabbing her tea, she looked at the sunset over the mountains outside her window and sipped it, feeling the warmth of the tea through the porcelain of the hand-crafted tea cup. A good strong green tea. Caffeine was something that she had missed dearly, and so she had been drinking it all day, since she now could.

With the last rays of the sun peeking over the peaks rimming the Kumogakure no Sato hospital, she wondered whether or not her daughter would visit her at temple like she had asked for in the morning, or whether she would go to the temple and Chiaki wouldn’t be there again. The exercise was certainly not new to her, and the lands between the temple and Kumogakure, while a long trek, were rather safe, as the borders were patrolled by shinobi that protected the Lightning Emperor’s domain.

Yes, in the morning, she would head out to the temple and would, perhaps, meet Chiaki there.


--------

Chiaki read the note again, and then again from her mother as she readjusted the backpack that she had on her back. Her mother had undergone the surgery without her there. If only she had stayed at the village, then she could have been there for the transplant. She didn’t know the jutsu still, but maybe that would have been different had she stayed?

No, she was definitely stronger now, and would have only been able to watch as she was too weak to help her mother, and would have felt like more of a failure than she was feeling currently. She had studied under Maido, and would continue to do so. She was going to get stronger, she was going to be able to protect all of those who were, like her mother, unable to change their own destinies. Perhaps she could even open up a village of medical ninja, who would go far and wide and heal the wounds of the shinobi world. A neutral faction like the samurai of the land of iron.

She shrugged her backpack back into place once more and gripped her staff, climbing the path that lead, ultimately to the temple. It was early morning, and the breeze played on her face a little chill tune, and danced in her hair.

She had missed the mountains.

The path that she had chosen actually led to where her mother would be walking, and she had hoped that she would come upon her mother on the way to temple from the village. Chiaki took out a map as she came to another cross-roads and nodded as she continued right and uphill, kicking a loose stone down the other path.

Today was the day she would finally see her mother, and her mother was finally healthy!

[Sia]

It had been some time since Maido had visited the Lightning Empire. Truly, she didn't particularly desire to be there in any capacity, but Chiaki had been insistent, and so Maido and her gang of merry Muramasa cousins concocted a plan together. Truthfully, it was at its core the most basic and simple of plans, but for some reason Maido had a strong suspicion that that was just fine. Hisayo, Kayoko, and Maido had, on many occasions, mused with each other and the other Kintsugi members on how they might infiltrate into each of the respective villages through various different ways and the simulations that the lot of them had ran in the carriage had yielded fantastic results.

These simulations only became more and more realistic too, for the time jump that Shio had forced upon Maido had stirred a spark within her and ignited a path into armageddon. The humans of the world cried out in desperation and Maido would be their salvation. No...Maido shook the thought away. There was another now, another contender for saving humanity. Maido stared at Chiaki inquisitively and said nothing as they walked through the forests, a long ways from the Lightning Empire. She had been nosy and read over the girls shoulder, and had decided to, at least, escort the poor girl back home to see her mother. The more Maido thought on it, the more she thought it likely she could even heal the girl's mother herself, after some discussion on the matter.

Still, Chiaki was quite attached, something that would need to be severed if she were to become a proper menace to society under the guise of Kintsugi's watchful eye. Hisayo, Kayoko, and Maido each performed the basic transformation jutsu, changing their hair color into shades of purple that were so dark they were almost black, and their eye colors as well. Maido sported bright purple, and Hisayo and Kayoko both sported bright green. They changed their outfits, switching into stolen Kumogakure Shinobi attire of various ranks. Maido sported the look of a Jounin, and Hisayo and Kayoko appeared much like a typical genin and chuunin respectively. The disguises themselves were quite fitting, having been taking from real Kumogakure shinobi through various devious and less than happy methods.

The four of them had traveled together in a group, and blended into society quite easily as they engaged and entered into the Lightning Empire. Not a soul the wiser, the four of them had made their way through the country bit by it until they had finally arrived in Kumogakure itself. Maido examined her sensory jutsu, taking in the sights of all the souls in the area as she accompanied Chiaki, Hisayo, and Kayoko throughout the country. Any time there was even a remote question that they should take a different route, they did so. Maido was vigilant in her sensory analysis. She examined every individual thoroughly. Those with large chakra pools were noted, and then promptly avoided, this particular part of her job in their infiltration was the most stressful on her. Properly coordinating their movements so as to be avoided by anyone that may even remotely think they were up to no good was, truly, the hardest part of the job. Still, she had made a promise that she would see Chiaki to her mother and back, even if it meant risking her own life on the line.

Finally, the group of them had arrived at the hospital, and Maido sent Hisayo and Kayoko in with Chiaki alone as she herself instead went to the rooftops and shared a smoke with a Kintsugi associate. The two of them chatted for a while and caught up. "I am worried about the young one I brought here today." Maido said to them plainly. "They have a good heart, I am not sure the Kintsugi life is truly the life for them." Maido said plainly to them, taking a long drag on her smoke afterwards and holding it for an ungodly amount of time before releasing it. "She seems too....benevolent." She gazed at Chiaki's chakra signature within her sensory jutsu, several floors below her. "Still...It would be nice to have someone with her talents on board. Perhaps she could use a little incentive to dip her toe in the wild side." She said and left it at that, leaving her associate alone on the rooftop as she descended the stairwell back into the building, carefully continuing to analyze the signatures of everyone around her, a task that had become much more harrowing and difficult around such a large quantity of people as the hospital, but a task which Maido carried out anyway, and quite efficiently so.

Maido walked by a desk with an attendant and very firmly inquired about the location of one Kyoukan, Mizune, within the hospital's care. She thanked the attendant and made her way to the appropriate floor and performing the transformation jutsu once more whilst she was in the stairwell. Now she took on the appearance of a doctor she knew from Kirigakure, but with the clothing and attire of a Kumogakure medical ninja. She entered the room and greeted Kyoukan, Mizune, before Chiaki got there, and said that she just needed to "run a few tests." Maido examined Chiaki's chakra signature and saw it was too beginning to ascend the stairs. Maido closed the door behind her, and walked over to the bed, standing next to Mizune, before her appearance changed, her transformation jutsu dispelling and revealing herself more properly as Muramasa, Maido. Her right hand immediately covered the woman's mouth "We don't have a lot of time so just be quiet for now." She said, then once the woman nodded through her shocked and widened eyes, she continued. "You have a lovely daughter. It is a shame she is so attached to you, when she could be so much more if she would only just...let go." Maido gestured out the window. "This place, this village, this hospital, it reeks of death. Of war. Of sadness and despair. These are the types of things your daughter wishes to purge the world of, and yet, she seeks out my guidance? Mine? Of all people?" Maido laughed. "I don't even understand the logic behind it, truly, my dear." She shrugged. "I will give her the world, but first I will take the world away from her." Maido said blankly.

Her hand shrouded in acid, it seeped, soaked, and wretched acidic hatred from her fingertips. Her right hand covered the woman's mouth again as Maido suddenly moved violently and quickly from the window back to the hospital bed, then her left hand sank into the woman's chest and gripped her still beating heart, the acid dissolving away the flesh and bone that had been in the way with ease. Effortlessly, Maido slid her hand into the woman's chest and grasped her heart, and began to turn the woman's heart into acid, then the rest of her chest, from the inside out. However once the heart itself had finished being turned into acid, Maido removed her hand and began to heal the entry wound back together. She surged iijutsu chakra into it feverishly, working hastily against the clock as she sensed Chiaki coming up the stairs, closer and closer now. "Rest well, young Mizune. I will put your life to good use." Maido said to her, then shut the dead woman's eye lids, examined the healing work she had done on the chest once more, then reapplied her transformation jutsu to look like the same doctor from before, and exited the room, smiling and waving at Chiaki, Hisayo, and Kayoko as they passed each other in the hallway. Hisayo and Kayoko didn't even recognize her, not at all. She doubted Chiaki did either.

Once she was back in the stairwell and out of sight of everyone, she transformed back into the other disguise, the one which she had originally entered the building with. She turned, then went back up the stairs and entered back onto the floor from which she had just came. She wasn't too late, she hurried up, and caught up with Chiaki, Hisayo, and Kayoko, just before they would reach the doorway to Mizune's room.

[Kanade]

Chiaki knew that they needed stealth, and for sneaking into the village Maido was the best thing for it. According to the Kumogakure roster, so far, Chiaki was not a missing nin, nor was she on any sort of probationary status, so her being seen wasn’t a problem, but for Maido and the other two: they were in the bingo book. Not exactly the best place to be when laying low or attempting to get into the hospital. And why the hospital? Because her mother hadn’t been at the temple, and Chiaki knew that she was under surveillance still for her condition, and would need to visit the doctors office at least daily in order to get her check-ups and make sure that her body wasn’t rejecting the heart transplant. It would have been easier if they had just let Chiaki do the transplant jutsu, and Chiaki wasn’t even there to do it.

She shook her head, clearly bothered by it, but then made her way around the hospital as Maido and the others toured around the hospital as well, Chiaki assumed that they were gathering the long laundry list of supplies that Kintsugi would need for the upcoming battle dome thing that was going to happen. Who knew what they were really doing though, and Chiaki could really care less. She perused the hospital gift shop, which she did while she was waiting for her mother. Perhaps something nice to say that she had missed her mother, and that she would help with the recovery process?

Scanning over the various plush toys, necklaces, and cards, she settled her eyes on an inkwell that had a place where it could be engraved and then looked over at the clerk’s counter. Apparently they had an engraving set for some of the other items as well, as the plaques on many different items were blank and were waiting to be claimed by their respective owners. Her mother loved to write letters still, and with either a quill or a brush, so an inkwell would suit her tastes well. Chiaki, on the other hand had messy handwriting, and preferred either pencil or a pen in order to expedite things. Messages that were slowly sent didn’t save lives after all. Her mother was probably just getting checked out, and the gift shop was positioned so that any visitors and outpatient procedural hoo ha had to come in or go out and by the gift shop.

She picked it up, turned it over a couple of times, nodded to herself and then set it on the counter and rang the bell, waiting for flipping ever for a clerk to come over and engrave it for her mother. Then they wrapped it up in a little bit of paper, placed it in a fancy pink bag and tied the handles together with a bow. Perfect.

Now, where was her mother at this time

______________________________________

Chiaki should be arriving any time now, since she had missed her daughter at the temple that morning. She sighed as she looked out over the land of lightning. She was there for a check-up and she was waiting for what seemed like an eternity when she heard the sliding door open and close behind who she assumed was the doctor. She looked the woman up and down, and then looked back out the window.

“Suppose you’re the one to check my heart today?” She shrugged her shoulders, and unbuttoned the front of her loose-fitting shirt, wincing as the newly torn muscle over the newly broken sternum railed against her movements to open her blouse to reveal her heart.

Then Mizune was grabbed by the cheeks, the palm of the woman’s hand over the Mizune’s mouth and nose, closing off her breathing. Her shinobi experience kicked in as the transformation melted away and she saw the blood witch of the wars standing before her, holding her face. Why was she here, and targeting Mizune of all people. There was fear, confusion, and desperation in her face as she attempted to move, but the irrevocable grip and the fact that she was still recovering meant that she was putty in the other woman’s hands, she nodded along with the request to be quiet, and hoped that the woman was after information, which, unfortunately she had.

At the mention of Chiaki her brows furrowed, even though she wasn’t able to breathe, and she kicked at Maido with a feeble strength which her, and her daughter, were known for in the Kyoukan temple. She was much taller than the woman who was holding her, but she felt smaller, knowing that inevitably she would be asked something about her daughter. Why was Maido, the blood witch, interested in Chiaki of all people. Perhaps it had to do with that mission that Chiaki was sent out on that she never had returned from? She just prayed that Chiaki was very far away. All of this, while Chiaki was exiting the gift shop not three floors down.

Then Maido dropped a bombshell on Mizune’s reeling mind, wondering why Chiaki was in the sights of Maido. She was working for Maido? That couldn’t be true! Her daughter was all that was beautiful and good in the world. Mizune had made sure of it. She had specifically talked with the Raikage to make sure that Chiaki was only sent out on missions that needed a medical ninja, and nothing else was asked of her daughter.

She looked at the hand numbly, contemplating whether Maido was lying or whether she was telling the truth, wondering why Chiaki would ever seek the help of a person like this, and wondering why, if Maido was lying, she would be lying about her daughter of all people. It didn’t make sense. She would keep the faith. She gave a defiant growl behind the hand and a look of hatred as she felt a hot burning sensation where her sternum was still weakly trying to repair itself, felt a tug on what seemed to be her entire chest and felt the wind come out of her as her heart stopped beating, or rather, someone else’s heart, beating in her chest stopped.

Her defiance turned to fear, then desperation, then rage, and then she recited with a mouth full of breath that would never come from lungs which were no longer there, a final prayer. For the Kami of this world to be good to Chaiki, and that they would guide her back to the right path, if what this woman said was true. The acid had done something though, the pain burned away with the acid, as all of her nerve endings screamed out, and left her with a warm, tingly, fuzzy feeling as her soul left on the next leg of her journey, leaving behind the husk, and the hope that she would rest well.

------------------------------

Chiaki had enough of the waiting, it had been a good ten minutes now, was the doctor a complete incompetent? She had worked with doctor Minato before, and the doctor had never taken this long to perform a simple check. The doctor had enough time, Chiaki would just go and examine her mother herself. Her mother could even do these checks, but there was a reason that they had to be documented, Chiaki supposed. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair, moved towards the stairs and had picked up Kayoko and Hisayo on the way. Ascending the stairs, a doctor waved to her on the floor that her mother was in and she gave a confused half-wave back, wondering whether or not the doctor was just new and friendly, or whether they were a transfer from another hospital? She hadn’t worked here for about a half-year, so it made sense that she wouldn’t know everyone, but she did recognize most of the doctors. She shrugged, after stopping for a couple seconds to readjust and went to the charge nurse’s station and inquired exactly which room that her mother was staying in.

She started to walk towards the room and Maido had apparently gotten lost in the gift shop or something, no matter, she nodded to Maido, raised her gift bag and entered the room that her mother was in.

She opened the door, after knocking of course, and said, “Mom, I brought you a gift, and I wanted you to meet some friends of mine.” She grinned and looked in, past the curtain that was supposed to give a little privacy to the person on the bed, her mother, with her feet hanging off the edge. Chiaki understood, her mother never fit in the hospital beds, being too tall and large for that, but it didn’t bother her at all. She supposed that the operation had taken it out of her mother, and that she was just resting. There was ample seating in the hallway, as the staff milled about and Chiaki set her mother’s bag in one of the seats and motioned for the others to sit down as well, “I’ll just be a moment to wake her up, then I’ll introduce you to her-cha.”

Chiaki smiled to the three, gave Maido an appreciative squeeze on the arm and then walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. The room was quiet, and the view from her mother’s room was a stunning one, looking out over the landscape of Kumogakure no Sato. It even had a view of the lights from the dome, and would be spectacular to see at night with the light show that happened every night as the sun set.

She chuckled to herself, and ran a hand through her hair once more, wondering if she looked a mess and then went over to her mother, her eyes closed and apparently sleeping peacefully. Chiaki neared her mother and something felt-off.

Like Chiaki felt like she was the only one in the room - off.

She placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder and gave a gentle wiggle to the sleeping woman and then placed a finger on her mother’s neck. She waited for four heartbeats from herself before she sighed and wove a string of hand-seals, lightning coursing down her arms and she placed her hands on either side of her mother’s chest. There was no heartbeat, no signs that she was living. But she still had her color, which meant that she had gone into cardiac arrest, probably, and would need to be resuscitated.

She zapped her mother once and then started chest compressions, shouting to the door, “I need help in here-cha!”

She compressed twenty times, breathe, breathe… then zapped again, waited, waited. She didn’t feel like it was doing anything, she felt like her mother’s chest didn’t compress right, and didn’t- Then she noticed that there was blood all over her, blood on her mouth, blood on her dress that she had gussied up in before seeing her mother, blood on her hands as she had tried to resuscitate her mother.

As Maido and the other two entered the room, she looked back at them, horrified. Her mind was numb, the taste of iron in her mouth made her mouth hang open, tears welled up in her eyes, and she couldn’t take a breath in.

Her mother was dead.

Murdered.

[Sia]

"What do you think Chiaki's mom is like?" Hisayo asked Kayoko and Maido outside of the room after Chiaki went in. "Oh, she seemed like she had seen better days." Maido said very quietly, so that only Hisayo and Kayoko could hear. They both shot her a quizzical look, but didn't quite get what she meant. "Have you met her before?" Kayoko asked. "Ah yes, once actually." Maido said, amused with herself that it wasn't a lie.

Chiaki didn't see it, but Maido did smile at the situation. She stared directly and purposefully into Hisayo's and then Kayoko's eyes, winking at them both before her face visibly changed into something less wicked and she put on the facade once more, taking to Chiaki's side and appearing to be concerned with the situation, as though she had had absolutely nothing to do with it. Whilst Chiaki had done compressions, Maido watched through the wall, her sensory jutsu detailing to her the methods of iijutsu and raiton with which surged into Chiaki's mother's body, even though Maido and Maido alone knew that it was beyond hopeless. The acid was, after all, far too deadly to survive once it was inside the body. Even if Maido hadn't made it a point of making sure she had died before reuniting outside of the room, it wouldn't have mattered.

Once the acid was inside you, it was too late. Maido's brand of acid was particularly potent, a very special concoction of infliction and damnation that she had potently and purposefully brewed over the years. One drop was all that was needed when applied to the correct area, as its horrible effects would only grow stronger with each passing moment. Still, Hisayo and Kayoko weren't entirely sure what was going on. They looked at Maido with alarmed expressions. They had never seen her unable to reconstitute a patient, though they admittedly kept this information to themselves. Hisayo speculated and then concluded, finally, that Maido had in fact disappeared earlier to carry out this task ahead of time. Though, she had to admit, she had no idea how she managed to pull it off in the way that she had.

They entered the room after the shouting started, and what they saw was no surprise to Maido, but she acted surprised anyway. Hisayo and Kayoko gasped, not at the sight of the blood, but rather than it had happened in such a location. Chiaki was covered in her mother's blood, and her mother was, well, very clearly dead on the bed before them. Other doctors and nurses had rushed in first with the yelling, the Muramasa Trio had shuffled a bit out of the way to allow them to pass. Hisayo stared at Maido with wonder, wracking her brain to figure out how she'd done it. There was no way Maido had managed to get to the room before them and still sneak back around to meet up with them before Chiaki found the room herself, right? That had to be impossible.

The doctor and nurses that arrived first were disgusted with what they saw, and they immediately ascended upon Chiaki, grabbing her arms and pulling her way from the bed very roughly. "What did you do?" One of the nurses asked her."Tell me exactly what you did and we may be able to save her!" She shouted into Chiaki's face. The look on the Nurse's face told Chiaki quite clearly that she was pissed, and it was obvious that they thought Chiaki had been the culprit of this situation. "Security!" The nurse screamed loudly, her voice echoing suddenly and booming throughout the entire building with an inhuman roar that had to have been fueled with Chakra. Maido recognized it for what it was, a Jinrai technique, and she had to say it was much louder than she remembered.

Just how had Maido managed to sneak into the room and kill her without being noticed? Kayoko was oblivious, she hadn't picked up on the signals Maido has shot at her and Hisayo to let them know what was really going on. Maido forced herself to cry, faking tears of sadness for Chiaki's mother. "I'm so sorry little one." She said grimly, walking towards the bed, standing on the opposite side of it from the doctor, whom was now also attempting to revitalize the very dead patient. He performed the medical diagnosis jutsu whilst stopping the bleeding, but quickly realized that there was nothing to be done. "I would have loved to have met her." She said softly. Kayoko finally connected the dots together and now both her and Hisayo were each fighting the very, very violent urge to punch Maido in the face for what she had done, but instead they maintained their composure.

The three of them watched as the Nurses and Doctors interrogated Chiaki and attempted to revive her mother. Hisayo finally had enough and screamed loud enough for all of them to her. "It couldn't have been her, that's her mom!" But it fell on deaf ears. All the evidence presented? It rather did look as though Chiaki herself had murdered her mother right then and there. Then again, why would she be so stupid as to do such a thing and then call for help?

[Kanade]

Chiaki was taken out into the hall, away from her mother, numbly and dumbly walking away, her gaze continuing to stay on her mother, the scene burning into her brain. One of the two, Kayoko or Hisayo were making a case for her, but they fell on deaf ears, just like the words of the doctors, the nurses. She had seen people die on the operating table before, she had seen death, she just didn’t expect it from her mother.

Her mother was still warm which was the anomaly. Her mind raced as she looked at the floor, the blood dripping slowly from her slack jaw, her hands, the front of her shirt. She stared as it pooled into reflective surfaces, showing her the madness that was lurking behind her eyes. The blood made it real, the blood made it real.

She clutched her chest with both of her hands, her fingers hurt from the tension she exerted on them and she dropped to the floor. Someone was shaking her and trying to move her towards the door. It was a Kumo ninja, she didn’t recognize them.

“Get away from me!” She screamed, pushing the individual away and forming hand seals. Lightning burst from the lights in the hospital, causing a sound like a thousand gunshots and coalesced around her. She stood there in the glow, in the suddenly dark hallway. Her hair was a mess, matted with the blood that she had apparently run through with her hands. She still dripped the liquid crimson as she breathed hard, trying to control the shaking, trying to control the pain that seeped into her chest, trying to figure out who to blame.

The hospital staff? They were the last ones to see her mother alive. And they were trying to blame it on her. She grabbed a chair and hurled it at one of the kumo nin that came around the corner and stormed, literally towards the stairs. Nothing was there for her in the hospital now, nothing but death and facing that death. Her mother was dead. The only thing that was in that room now was a husk.

As she moved down the hallway the Raiton armor broke the electricity in the hospital, the lightbulbs popping and exploding around her. She looked like a vengeful, blood-soaked demoness.

She just wanted- she didn’t know. She didn’t want to feel, her chest hurt, her brain was numb. She couldn’t hear everyone from the pounding of her heart in her ears.

jutsu usedShow

*Raiton • Lightning Armament
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After the correct hand seals are performed, the user coats themselves in a thick layer of lightning. This armour of lightning forms near instantly and requires [50] Strength to break. During this time, the user's physical strikes apply the Raiton shocking effect.

[Taiga]

The Raikage sat in his office before a war board that mapped out all the realms of their great empire. Pins were fixed to the board with red strings between points- coordinates on the map. A single line of red went from the border all the way through, increasingly closer to the capital before the line prematurely ended. Stroking his chin, the Raikage looked out to his advisors. While no outsider could possibly know it, it had been a week, and as such, their leads would be cold. The sensory barrier that lay over their regions didn't help much from there, and to make matters worse, whoever had entered the country had managed to escape the first squad they sent at the border. They were dealing with someone who most likely was a shinobi. From the group of men and women gathered before him a tall man wearing a mask, dressed in black, stepped forward and pointed to the map.

"Well- let's not forge it was multiple outsiders. While they might have slipped the guards at the border, we know the direction they are heading in based on the nodes- directly for Kumogakure." he said as he pointed to the line which stopped cold outside of the Hojo province. "The Sky Guard promptly responded and has been following the node alarms. While we don't have further intel, we do have pictures from aerial." he said as he shot the Raikage a glance. "In each tripped zone there was one thing in common, well not every, but more than one." the man said as he put the photos on the table. "This red hair kunoichi." he said as he waved to another man in a mask, though in white. "We believe she is one of us but she was spotted several times with some other figures moving throughout the countryside." Hayate looked at the picture and paused.

"Kyoukan Chiaki." He looked at his advisors. "Precisely my lord." the second man said. What was Chiaki doing?

"Fan out a wide search with the jounin- I want sensors battalions out and Sky Guards on patrol throughout the village. Wherever Chiaki is is probably where our guests are..." he said as he stood, gathered his robe and left his desk as everyone poured out of the Kage's room hot on their heels. The first place he would go was the hospital- where Chiaki's mother was. It was his clearest hunch. Tsukiko followed.

---

The sound of rolling thunder filled the air as dust kicked up covering the immediate surroundings outside the Kumogakure General Hospital, if not only for a moment. As the dust faded in a matter of seconds, the Raikage was left kneeling gracefully, one fist upon the earth in a heroic landing. He stood up as he opened his senses to the world around him. The alarms in the hospital were going off- those that happened when someone passed, and if he closed his eyes and listened hard, the sounds of a quarrel. And then the words "murdered" crossed his ears. And then he heard Chiaki's voice... Just what was going on? With the Sky Guard arriving overhead he would stand firm at the entrance as the rest of the buildings would begin to be blocked off. He'd look to Tsukiko, who had just caught up.

"Begin evacuating the areas surrounding us quietly- sensory teams fan out." he said as he looked towards the hospital and opened his eyes, changing to his chakra sensory instead. Inside were many types of people- however, there were a few strong chakra signatures, but, nothing too powerful. It was unsure just who was in there or what was going on. He honed in on where he heard the fight, certain that he had heard Chiaki's voice, and interestingly, there was a powerful source from within the area. Who was it? There were several shinobi within the room... Perhaps Chiaki had grown in power... but perhaps the others they had sensed breaking the barrier were here?

"Stand back." he said as he stepped forward, flames and embers dancing around his body as feathers encompassed him. He felt like using Fire today, despite his moniker.

UsedShow

A-Rank
Lightning’s Shadow • Watchful Eye
A-Rank Discipline Taijutsu
Possessing immense perception capabilities, Hayate is cognizant of even the most subtle details around him, to a point where he can even pick up on the slightest tension changes in an opponent’s body allowing him predict their movement before it is complete or even read what someone is writing by the way the top of their pencil moves. At times his eyes seem to move on their own will, rapidly tracking an amount of movements equal to his [Instinct]/3. A downfall to this technique however is that while his eyes may be aware of movement, his body is not always capable of knowing and keeping up.

Starforce • Power Level
C-Rank Ninjutsu
By channeling more chakra into his body to Hayate will extend the capabilities of Starforce's sensory to include the ability to compare the power level of each source of chakra within range. The power level of the individual is determined by the average of each person’s Chakra Pool, Control and Strength stats.

Katon • Ember Feathers
D-Rank Ninjutsu
Either by hand seals or channeling, Hayate will cause a "tuft" of feathers made of fire (each feather 6x2 inches) to form at his back, 32 in total. The feathers can be moved safely with his hands or via separate jutsu, but otherwise fall off naturally whenever Hayate makes strong movements. The feathers themselves are like burning embers and spawn fires that spread at [Speed]. The feathers last for 5 posts or until consumed. x2, casting at 5 speed....

[Sia]

Maido's own sensory jutsu persisted, as it always had, and she continued to monitor everything and everyone within radius of her, a grueling and troublesome task but a task which she carried out anyway for the sake of her own and her cousins safety. Whether or not Chiaki got into any trouble ultimately for being involved with her was of little consequence. Suddenly however, a new chakra signature had come into range, and from within the hospital Maido sensed a soul that was far more dangerous to tango with than the Jounin and Chuunin she had been slipping by thus far. Almost immediately, she turned to Hisayo and Kayoko and mouthed quietly. "Time to go." Maido turned and grabbed the nearest doctor by the throat, lifting them off the ground immediately. "You're coming with us." She said. Simultaneously, so did Kayoko to another doctor, and Hisayo withdrew Maido's two swords from her belts and the five of them made their way to Chiaki.

"Come on Chiaki we have to go the gig is up." Maido said to her hurriedly. "Either come with us now or we're leaving you behind and can meet up later...it is your choice, but the three of us have to go, and we have to go now. Maido finished. Hisayo scanned around with her own eyes whilst Kayoko scanned around with hers and Maido continued to monitor the entire radius around them with her sensory jutsu. "We'll can come back for you at the edge of the country I guess." Maido said finally. "Or send a messenger at the least." Chakra suddenly surged throughout Maido's body and twelve tendrils of chiton and affliction shot out from her, piercing into herself, the two doctors, Hisayo, and Kayoko. "On second thought..." Maido began to channel chakra while standing in the middle of the hospital, then summoned a violent and horrible mess into the entire building. Acidic mist began to form in every room around her and spread out to cause even further damage. The patients, the staff, and the hospital itself, were now all in incredible danger as the acidic mist poured through doorways and windows and indiscriminately wracked chaos into the situation.

Another tendril shot out, towards Chiaki, but waiting for her response on whether she was staying or going before Maido definitely decided whether or not to stab it into her. Suddenly, through intense utilization of chiton at its finest, the five (or six if Chiaki chose to come along) suddenly were catapulted through the air at blinding speed, crashing through the very walls of the hospital like a meteor as Maido's cloak surrounded and encompassed them. Maido's blood manipulation was the finest in the lands, and with any luck, they would all escape out of the village with relative ease, regardless of the threats thrown their way. They moved incredibly fast, only the greatest of shinobi would even be capable of tracking their movements as Maido exerted her control over all of their bodies.

Hisayo was worried about the destruction attracting unwanted attention. "We had already been found out before I destroyed the walls," Said Maido. Fortunately for her, Maido's sensory technique meant they would always be one step ahead of anyone that dared try to chase them down. "That way, please, there is a rather sizeable threat that has suddenly arrived with a squad of underlings and I don't think we want to stay to see whether or not they can capture us." Hisayo and Kayoko agreed and for just the time being, the Muramasa Trio decided to just run. They would fight if they had to, but they knew they already had the advantage in the chaos of the situation. They would never be caught. Maido hadn't lived to the ripe old age of a thousand to be detained here. Surely though, they would tryi. Maido already knew, the seeds had been sown and the wheels set in motion. Whilst Maido kept a watchful eye on the squad in pursuit, Maido worked her tendrils and rifled the lot of them through the air and into the horizon, flying about and darting from rooftop to rooftop with ease. "Time to go back to Waterfall, hope you're all ready for a long journey." She said to her associates and the two hostages.

Acidic Mist: Shroud and Seep
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisites: Mist Concentration, Acid Concentration, Shrouding Mist Technique
After forming the required hand seals, the ninja creates a blanket of Acidic mist which covers the area in front of them. The mist covers 40x40x40m area. The mist limits the visibility of those inside to 3 meters in any direction, and dampens scents, weakening any advanced scent techniques, or controlled scent techniques by 2m. This technique lasts a number of posts equal to the user's 1/3 chakra pool.

[Kanade]

Chiaki didn't hear maido, didn't respond when asked the question. She hurt so badly and the darkness that surrounded her was fitting. She swatted at the tendril automatically, numbly, and continued down the stairwell to the first floor.

Something crashed around her as she stepped out of the hospital, the blood hadn't dried and she looked with a deadened gaze in front of her. The debris exploded as the hospital collapsed, her armor disintegrating bits of concrete and drywall as the dust from the collapse coated the area within a 50 meter radius, expanding slowly and throwing particulates into the air which would be unsafe to breathe in.

Chiaki didn't care, couldn't care. The thing that chiaki saw was like a genjutsu, but was reality. Reality playing itself over and over in her mind. The feel of her mother's skin, the rush of blood and breath from the empty cavity, the asking maido for help, then the nurse has shouted for security, had asked what she did, had blamed her.

The woman who had said it was her stumbled out of the wreckage, chiakis brain processed it automatically, like she was taught to do, the training drilled into her became automatic. She had a fracture of the humorous and the metacarpals, most likely a stressed compound fracture of both from attempting to stop something unstoppable.

That bitch! screamed something inside of her as she grit her teeth, covered in blood, covered in rage, covered in soot and dust and death.

She wove some hand seals and shot three bolts at the woman who had dared accuse her of harming her own mother. The woman jerked and twitched and started to fall before chiaki wove more, walking automatically towards her, it wouldn't kill her, no, but it would hurt, it would burn.

Chiaki screamed inarticulaty and continued to fire shot after shot of chakra into the woman that couldn't perform jutsu with the wounded arm. The lightning chakra kept her on her feet, each bolt making the muscles spasm enough to keep her erect. Chiaki was standing face to face with her finally. The woman could only whimper as she saw the rage that had been contained by numbness burst through with terrible ferocity.

How dare the hospital kill her mother, how dare the nurse blame her, how dare the security let this happen, how dare the woman that called her a murderer live while her mother was dead. It was her fault, her fault, her fault!

Chiaki wound up a punch to knock the woman to the ground.

SpoilerShow

*Raiton • Stun Gun
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals, the user will channel Raiton chakra to two of their fingers. They will then be able to fire up to three total bullet sized balls of concentrated lightning from their fingertips. These bullets will travel at [50] speed, but will not have any physical force. Instead, they will apply light electrical burns similar to a sun burn and will apply Raiton's shocking effect.

[Taiga]

The Raikage's eyes burned with fervor as he stepped forward towards the building, the flaming feathers all about his body. He was one with the Starforce and the Starforce was one with him. As his senses fanned out and he continued to monitor the ones near Chiaki of interest, he suddenly felt a sizeable burst of chakra welling up... A jutsu was coming and his target was on the move. Instantly he sprung forth, his body channeling as he created a shadow clone, which then made its way to the hospital and through a window. The clone could hear the distant screams and as it went further, began to backpedal at the site of acid mist filling the hospital. Instinctively it put its arms out and released a torrent of bubbles, shouting "Suiton • Bubble Fortress" as its bubbles fille through the entire hospital, counteracting the acid mist and doing what it could to save both those inside and the building. The clone would continue its efforts on rescue. At the same time, Tsukiko would rush to the hospital prepared to use her EMP as needed to get rid of any other threats that might be.

With the speed Hayate was moving at she could tell the threat was too much for her to keep up with, and her duty was to the village.

Hayate on the other hand would waste no time in continuing his pursuit, tipped off by the impending jutsu. He would leap up to the wall of the mountain and then the rooftop, keeping in parallel with his target as they broke their way through the building and its walls and came out on the other side. Both their technique and their need to physically overcome obstacles helped him catch up relatively. From there, even as Maido took to the rooftops, Hayate was equally as fast but unlike his intruder, he knew the rooftops and the city like the back of his hand and also did not need to lug around multiple people. Maximizing his path he would begin his assault.

Channeling into the cloak of feathers on his back, he would send four rocketing towards Maido, the spread such that they would hit to the north of her, the back of her, the left of her, and her right.

USEDShow

Hayate:
Starforce • Clairvoyance
C-Rank Ninjutsu
By channeling more chakra into his body to Hayate will extend the capabilities of his Starforce granted sensory to include the ability to give him a tingly sensation when ever anyone in a 30 meter radius begins building up chakra for a jutsu. This effect lasts for 6 posts.

*Ninjutsu • Advanced Shadow Clone Technique
A-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user proceeds to create a number of clones of themselves (maximum is equal to 1/3rd the user's stamina). Unlike the Clone Technique, these clones are actual copies of the user in both appearance and substance. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing jutsu on their own and can even bleed, but they will usually disperse after one or two solid blows. The clones will be created in roughly the same condition as the original and any experience the clones gain during their existence is transferred to the user once they are dispersed. Given that the clones are an exact replica of the user, they share the same stats except for stamina, which is determined by the number of clones presently in effect. The advantage of this form of the technique is that once dispersed, the chakra distributed to the clones returns to the user, allowing any un-used chakra to be regained, slowing the draining usage of this technique. The chakra returns to the user at a different rate depending on the user's control.

• 1-15 Control: 1/5
• 16-25: 2/5
• 26-35: 3/5
• 36+: 4/5

Katon • Bursting Feather Arrow (Cast at 50 control for 50 speed, 20 strength)
D-Rank Ninjutsu
Either by hand seals or channeling, Hayate will cause up to four feathers on his back to rocket forward towards a target at [Control] speed with a range of 15 meters. The feathers fly in a "shotgun" spread and on impact with [Control] strength before bursting into a 3-meter diameter puff of flames.

Clone: Cast at w/e it needs to be to neutralize the acid.. not sure what sia casted at but w/e
Suiton • Bubble Fortress
A-Rank Ninjutsu
By channeling chakra into his palms and aiming them at the desired location within 25 meters, Hayate will release a torrent of bubbles that forms a dense dome, 100 meters in diameter, 5 meters thick, and 20 meters tall at a speed of [Control]. The dome has the ability to abosrb force from incoming attacks of up to [Control] strength or less, capturing projectiles or solid objects that don't pop the bubbles inside of the walls. Due to the walls being made of bubbles, damage that breaks the walls only breaks that portion of bubbles, allowing whatever wasn't hit to remain. The wall lasts up to 3 posts unless dispelled earlier by the user or completely destroyed.

[Sia]

"Oh hello Lord particle collider." Said Maido with a laugh as she soared through the air and landed on a rooftop. She ignored the flames, they were of little consequence to her, and instead jumped between them and continued on her intended path away from the hospital. Now that they were out in the open, her freedom to travel and move as she pleased had been regranted to her. She continued to escape, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and mostly ignoring the Raikage in truth. His flames were of no consequence to her, she simply moved between them and continued onwards without a care in the world, keeping her hostages in tow and slowly but surely making her way to the outer perimeter of the village.

Meanwhile, attracted to the ruckus, Kirari, amongst several other shinobi, had come to help. Circling around the rubble of the hospital, Kirari fearlessly entered the building and began to help disperse the acidic mist with the aid of the other shinobi. Her moths fanned out and began to take in surveillance for her, jittering and juttering and flying all about the hospital and the surrounding area in a multitude of colors. Kirari channeled chakra and leapt through the air, causing milk-white opaque chakra to fly outwards from her body as she dove head-first into the cloud of acid mist as though the acid itself would be of no consequence to her, and, it wasn't. The milky fission chakra flew outwards and immediately simplified the acidic mist into suiton and fuuton, causing regular water and gusts of wind to rifle through the hospital instead of acid. She exited the building and was surprised to find Chiaki there...beating up a nurse.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!" Kirari screamed loudly over the chaos of the hospitals destruction. "Knock it off!" She said, sending a plethora of moth's Chiaki's way to land on her face and obstruct her vision.


Fission Fist: Frontal Fear Remover
D-Ranked Nintaijutsu Maneuver
Channelling chakra, the user will lunge forwards and cause opaque, milk white chakra to spew outwards from their body up to 15 meters in every direction as they leap through the air in a spiralling maneuver, causing Fission chakra to splash outwards at [control] strength and speed as they travel through the area for up to 3 posts, simplifying any extensions, supers, or fusions in the area.

[Kanade]

Chiaki moved to punch the woman and then the world was dazzling multicolored rainbows everywhere and a moth even flew up her nose.

Snorting and swatting she let go of the nurse, who crumpled to the ground and whimpered as her body was burnt, not severely, by the sunburn gun (what chiaki called it.) Chiaki, managing to get the moths off her face was confronted with the carnage in front of her. She stayed stock still for an instant, looking at the nurse, but as a moth fluttered back to kirari she looked at the other girl for three, maybe four heartbeats.

She wondered, silently, how she must look, how the situation must look. The nurse wasn't able to talk yet, due to the paralysis but just lay there, shuddering and whimpering. Chiaki's rage was dispersed like the acid, the moths bringing multicolored clarity to her world that had seemed so dark and so grey before.

"I, I, ah-" she took a step towards kirari, and the wreckage of the hospital and then stopped, her hands and her mouth still stained with blood, the nurse had only a little bit, where chiaki had gripped her hard by the front of her scrubs.

Chiaki just numbly stared at her hands for what felt like an eternity. She fell to her knees, her shield breaking as she did so and she gasped for air as her vision blurred, her tears tearing hot lines of blood tinged red down her front, soiling her gi further.

She hugged herself and shuddered in a sob. The world hurt so much, her chest felt like someone was pouring acid into it. Her throat wouldn't let her breathe. She gasped twice in two shaking breaths before she dug her nails hard into her arms, trying to numb the pain she felt in her chest, in her head, in her heart with real pain. Why hadn't she let the hospital crush her?

She looked to the wreckage that was her mother's tomb, then to Kirari in the fore and just whispered in a faint voice which was tinged by tears, and bloody bubbles, "help." She didn't know whether the word would reach kirari, or what kirari thought of her bloodstained, bedraggled, dust and drywall covered self. She needed help.

[Taiga]

"Oh hello Lord particle collider."

Hayate couldn't help but grin- as he let the words escape his lips "Well, that's a first." But it was not the only reason he grinned. The intruder, in ignoring the flames, had done exactly what he had hoped they would do.

Hayate wasted no time as his fires hit their mark and his eyes tracked the movements of his opponent with flawless precision- the moving of the fabric of their clothes, the rhythm of their cloaks tendrils as they moved rooftop to the rooftop. Even the gaps in roofs were accounted for. This figure had attacked his village and a hospital no less. That... was unforgivable. Golden chakra emanated around him and began to pulsate as the Starforce energy was allowed to fully run rampage through his body, as the Raikage's arms swung out from under him in a violent but precise motion. The rage within him at this intruder faded as only serenity towards the mission at hand came- to stop the intruder.

As he swung his left arm up and rocketed forward, the first set of flames would attempt to sever the tendrils holding her hostages, such that they would drop to the rooftop, relatively unharmed. With his right arm and as he dropped his shoulder and moved forward, he would take control of the explosions of flames that surrounded the intruder and move them right for her, the flames springing to life with tremendous fury as they descended upon the intruder with the intent to burn them to nothingness. The flames moved faster and with more power than either of the shinobi could physically, and he would end this here with a decisive blow.

He wouldn't stop there, though, as he would use the kinetic movement in jumping between the rooftops to throw the flames with his body.

---

Hayate's shadow clone continued to use bubble kingdom to eliminate the acid. Along with the help of those who arrive and Tsukiko, they'd be able to dilute the acid and deal with it, turning focus to healing those who might have had contact. "Doton users- reinforce the pillars and floors as safety measures." he barked as the clone lept out a window. He'd dealt with the threat and hand and would need to double back to help the real him.

USEDShow

Activating Starforce + +5 Control, +10 Chakra Pool, +5 Endurance, +5 Strength

Lightning’s Shadow • Watchful Eye
A-Rank Discipline Taijutsu
Possessing immense perception capabilities, Hayate is cognizant of even the most subtle details around him, to a point where he can even pick up on the slightest tension changes in an opponent’s body allowing him predict their movement before it is complete or even read what someone is writing by the way the top of their pencil moves. At times his eyes seem to move on their own will, rapidly tracking an amount of movements equal to his [Instinct]/3. A downfall to this technique however is that while his eyes may be aware of movement, his body is not always capable of knowing and keeping up.

(At 55 Control)
*[Pyrokinesis]
A-rank Ninjutsu
Having achieved notable mastery over Katon, Hayate is capable of shaping, directing, and manipulating existing bodies of the element without the need of hand seals or an existing technique. The range at which Hayate can manipulate the element is equal to his control times 2 metres. While Hayate can freely manipulate this element, they cannot produce the element naturally.

[Sia]

The flames began closing on around Maido and she reflexively shot her cloak outwards around her body to launch herself in an entirely different direction, back towards Hayate whilst she grabbed her hostage by the collar. She found however, that she wasn't quite fast enough, and that the flames were still coming for her either way. "Shit!" She exclaimed, batting at the flames with one hand and dragging the doctor through the air with the other. "Run away, leave me!" She said to her cousins as the futility of the situation began to dawn upon her. The flames came in and Maido began to smile.

She withdrew a singular needle from her pocket and jammed it into the doctor's throat sideways before tossing them off the roof. She leapt, upwards, and towards Hayate as her body began to surge with chakra. "Maido no!" Hisayo screamed loudly and with horror, Hisayo and Kayoko watched as Maido began to perform the most forbidden of jutsu before them. Her entire body turned red, blood-red, including her hair and her skin and Maido laughed maniacally. "I'll see you in my next life, Lord Raikage." She laughed at him with a smile.

Suddenly, Maido's body ceased to exist. Instead, the entire vicinity around her was wracked with a horribly potent and powerful explosion, the likes of which had such concussive force that Hisayo and Kayoko were sent flying off into the vicinity, far away from the Raikage. Chiton flew about the area, causing blood to drench a rather sizeable chunk of the village. Trees were uprooted, windows were blown out, the closest of the buildings were obliterated into pieces almost instantaneously. Hisayo and Kayoko landed quite far away, hitting the ground incredibly hard and immediately finding themselves unconscious.



Kirari turned, finding herself suddenly distracted from Chiaki's zapping of the nurse by the incredibly loud and large explosion that rocked the village. "What the hell was that?" She asked to noone in particular in alarm. She paid it no mind, for in the moment, there were more pressing matters to attend to for her specifically. She recalled her moth's from Chiaki's body and closed the distance to her. Seeing the state that she was in, Kirari wasn't entirely sure what she should do, but she dropped to her needs and embraced Chiaki in a tight hug. "What the fuck is going on?" She asked finally.

Body Blast
S-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: 50 Ninjutsu
By channeling chiton chakra into a target that has at least a quart of her blood inside of them, Maido can cause them to quickly turn a very dark shade of red before violently exploding from the inside out at the end of the post with a strength of 50. This explosion covers an area 128m x 128m x 128m.

Target: Self

[Kanade]

Chiaki threw her arms around Kirari as the other girl approached and pressed her face into Kirari’s shoulder, gripping her tightly and shuddering uncontrollably as she was wracked with another sob. She lay there in the wreckage, the coarse ground digging into her supple skin, her knees had buckled and were rubbed raw by the carnage that she had helped wrought.

Then the world seemed to fall out from under her. Maido had been killed. She didn’t know how she knew, she just new that she had been, and at the same time the world seemed to spin, to rock, and there seemed to be a deafening explosion. Chiaki looked to Kirari with horror. She had lost her mother, and an older mentor in the same day, in the same hour, in the same thirty minutes. The world was dying, the world was dying and she needed life, she needed some beacon of life.

Her chest felt hollow, somehow, as if someone had taken away some of her energy, some of her life force was just gone or something. She clutched at her chest and stammered out, the words tumbling like dripping blood from a death-wound. Her other hand held Kirari, steadying the world, steadying her swaying, teetering self.

“I brought my mentor here to see my mom, and then they said that I would have to wait, and I went to the gift shop, and then I went up the stairs, and I was going to give her a gift. I can’t even remember what it was, but then she wasn’t there, she wasn’t breathing so I gave her chest compressions and tried to restart her heart and called for help and then the nurses came into the room and I was covered in blood and then they said that I murdered her and I know it was them and she was still warm Kirari, she only looked like she was sleeping, she’s dead and now my mentor’s dead.” She looked up and her lower jaw quivered as she tried to say the next words, but they, like the clotting blood of a dead person refused to come out, and started to congeal in her sore throat. She realized that she had been screaming this at Kirari and the next words came out in a whisper, a death-rattle of a life that would never be anymore, a past with Maido that would always be a past, and never a future.

“A-and, and, and I am not sure I want to live in a w-world of d-death.” The words came out with harsh intakes of breath, she was hyperventalating from the sobbing, but she couldn’t stop her diaphragm from interrupting her words, couldn’t interrupt her mind from bombarding her with the realization that she was the reason for her father’s death, her mother’s death, her mentor’s death. She would probably be responsible for Kirari’s death, but instead of pushing Kirari away, she clung to the girl, clung like she was the last piece of wood in a blown out ship that had already sunk far below the waves of a bloody sea.

She clutched so hard that, if Kirari had blood to shed, she would have probably pierced her skin and shed the blood, but she was desperate to hold on for dear life to the last person alive that was special, the first person she saw since the terrible scene. She felt like she was in a whirlpool of emotion, dragging her down a maelstrom of madness, into the bottomless depths of despair. Her multicolored lifeline was there though, she was real, she was safety. Chiaki felt so alone, so helpless, so exposed.

“I didn’t k-kill her, I-I-I don’t want-t-t to kil-l-l y-you.” Chiaki sobbed into Kirari’s chest, and then into her neck, and she gripped her tighter, letting the sobs jerk her body around, reminiscent of the nurse who was coming to, and was no longer paralyzed by Chiaki’s rage. It seemed that the sorrow washed away the aftereffects of the raiton.

[Sia]

It felt like forever, but it could only have been a few moments. Kirari listened, gazing around the area and taking in the damages. The hospital was all but ruined, and the village had been rocked with the violent plague of Maido, whom up until a few seconds ago when she'd heard the name, Kirari had been told was dead. Well, she certainly looked dead now, she supposed. Kirari wondered whether or not someone such as Maido ever really died. She had seen the bingo book entry once before, an interesting read to say the least. Kirari stared into Chiaki's eyes as she told her story and never once wondered whether or not the girl spoke the truth. She could tell, as rattled as the girl was, there was no way she was lying to her in this moment.

Kirari's arm came up, and a plethora of moths shot outwards and began to fly high into the sky in a spiral, fanning out and around the side of the hospital upwards towards Hayate. When Chiaki said that her mother had still been warm, Kirari's gut clenched. Her heart sank. Chiaki was hurting so badly. She had been through so much in such a short time. For Chiaki, Kirari supposed it felt like her entire world had been set on fire, flipped upside down, and blown into pieces. For a moment, she really wasn't even sure what she should say. What was there to say? What words could she possibly utter out of her mouth that would ever even begin to take the pain away? She knew that anything she said would only be a slight comfort in the grandest of things. These types of wounds, Kirari knew, did not heal quickly, if ever. Loss. Death. Pain. Betrayal. These were things Kirari too, was quite familiar with, and because she was so familiar, she knew that truly the only thing that was ever going to help...was nothing.

But that didn't mean she couldn't try. "This world is indeed a world of death, but I wouldn't ever pick any other world to live in." Kirari said confidently, squeezing Chiaki's hand. "After all, if it weren't for this world, you and I would never have met, even if we did just happen to meet in the strangest of circumstances." Kirari wiped tears from her face. Tears? She hadn't even noticed when she started crying. When had she started crying? She wasn't sure, probably sometime partway through Chiaki's own sobbing. "Breath slower if you can, you're hyperventalating." Kirari said calmly, trying her best to compose herself. Chiaki's hands sank into Kirari's body and loose suiton in a rainbow of colors oozed out where blood should have been. It didn't hurt, and Kirari never commented on it or made any motions or movements to prevent Chiaki from doing it further. If her false body could provide some stress ball relief function in this moment, she would gladly use it for such.

"I believe you," Kirari said after a moment. "I know you would never kill your own mother. It's just not in your heart to hate like that." She said softly, wiping tears from her own eyes again. She saw that they were rainbow colored and accidentally laughed out loud at the sight of it. "Oh my god I didn't know my tears were rainbows too that's wild," she said aloud before snapping her focus back to the situation on hand. "You could never hurt me." She said finally.

[Taiga]

Hayate's eyes watched like a hawk as every detail flowed forth to him in slow motion. He watched as his flames began to incinerate the cloak around the intruder and as his blows began to strike at her. To his surprise the intruder began to bat at the flames and seemed to be durable. It was a testament to their strength that they were able to even withstand such absolute brutal force. The mysterious cloak he had was not so dissimilar to his own, and perhaps it worked with kinesis. It came to life as it threw her and the doctor away from the others she had carried and she screamed out for them to leave. His heart sank at this moment as he knew the doctor would die, but it was now also very obvious to him that the other individuals were fellow intruders, not hostages. He would need to deal with them too.

As everything unfolded he bit his lip as he watched the intruder jam a needle into the doctors neck and toss the doctor off the roof. Hopefully his clone would arrive and be able to do something for the doctor, but most likely he would be unable to save him. More than anything rage welled up inside of the Raikage for the blatant waste of life.

What is their motive?

The intruder had now stopped their running and had instead decided to come for him. It was clear she would attack- and even clearer it would be grand given her previous attack in the hospital and the distance she had put between herself and her comrades. Beyond the workings of his mind the tells were there. Her movement, her trajectory, the seals. His chakra sensory felt the massive surge of chakra that precluded a jutsu.

Just as immediately as he had processed all this his body surged with chakra as he instinctively began to prepare a defense. He was confident that he could survive anything the intruder would do, given the Starforce barrier that surrounded his body, but he walked a fragile road while fighting above the rooftops of his village- the rooftops of buildings filled with innocent life. Though Hayate had not known who the intruder was, as Maido gave her final words the Raikage would ignore it, focused only on creating a tomb for his enemy.

A torrent of bubbles would release from him forming a dorm around them and trapping both himself and Maido within the dome, though separated by layers of bubbles as the intruder exploded. The bubbles would absorb the impact of the explosion, and with their resilience and strength, have no issues though the sound of both the explosion and the bubbles that did pop would be a tremendous sound that rivaled the thunder of the heavens itself. Within the dome would be almost a bubble of blood where the intruder had been, everything held together within. Uncertain whether or not his opponent was truly dead, Hayate would bring his hands together and his arms repeatedly, such that he would crush whatever was trapped inside the segment of bubbles. When he was sure he'd destroyed whatever was in there he'd let the bubbles remain and use his kinesis to open a gap from which he could escape.

Slightly out of breath the Raikage would turn his sights to the doctor and the other intruders- he would see if there was any chance of resuscitation and also make sure that the squad of shinobi who would soon arrive would take them into custody. He needed information.

---

With the intruders dealt with, the shadow clone would instead return to the hospital. There was great confusion as folks were being wheeled out of the building for transfer and medical ninja groaned in disbelief as they tried to treat the burns on their skin and that of others. Stone braces had been erected against the building to keep it standing... He hung his head low in shame. While true damage had been avoided, the fact that someone had managed to even do this was something he could not swallow. In Konohagakure, sure, but in Kumogakure, things like this... acts of terrorism. They didn't happen.

In disbelief the Raikage slowly approached the scene, only to find Chiaki covered in blood and knelt down, held in the arms of another but an unfamiliar girl. He had completely forgotten about Chiaki's involvement in this... whatever it was, but the moment he saw her again he was filled first with deep regret, regret that he had thought she was the future of the village... and second, filled with unbridled rage. What was her relation to the intruders? So many questions arose.

Stepping forward he calmed himself and steeled his nerves as his voice called out.

"Chiaki, you need to come with me." They needed to figure everything out. He wasn't even aware of the assault Chiaki had just committed.

UsedShow

Sensory continued

Lightning’s Shadow • Watchful Eye
A-Rank Discipline Taijutsu
Possessing immense perception capabilities, Hayate is cognizant of even the most subtle details around him, to a point where he can even pick up on the slightest tension changes in an opponent’s body allowing him predict their movement before it is complete or even read what someone is writing by the way the top of their pencil moves. At times his eyes seem to move on their own will, rapidly tracking an amount of movements equal to his [Instinct]/3. A downfall to this technique however is that while his eyes may be aware of movement, his body is not always capable of knowing and keeping up.


Casting @55
Suiton • Bubble Fortress
A-Rank Ninjutsu
By channeling chakra into his palms and aiming them at the desired location within 25 meters, Hayate will release a torrent of bubbles that forms a dense dome, 100 meters in diameter, 5 meters thick, and 20 meters tall at a speed of [Control]. The dome has the ability to abosrb force from incoming attacks of up to [Control] strength or less, capturing projectiles or solid objects that don't pop the bubbles inside of the walls. Due to the walls being made of bubbles, damage that breaks the walls only breaks that portion of bubbles, allowing whatever wasn't hit to remain. The wall lasts up to 3 posts unless dispelled earlier by the user or completely destroyed.

Water kinesis

[Kanade]

Chiaki shakily got to her feet, her breathing still wasn't stilled, she still hiccupped from the lack of energy, the lack of oxygen, the omnipresence of pain that exuded from every pore. She recognized the Raikage's voice. Had recognized it like something of a general ordering a soldier from the backlines. She patted Kirari's shoulder lightly and then turned around automatically. She was clumsy because she wasn't exhausted physically, she wasn't even hurt, she hadn't exhausted any of her chakra, but she saw the man that she had seen wreathed in fire in front of the hospital.

"Where were you when my mother died?" She whispered, shaking with the boiling emotions trying to settle on something, getting control of her breath, getting control of her pain and aiming it like a knife at the Raikage. She clenched her fists and then leveled a death-glare at the clone. She knew that she couldn't do any damage to him, she had tried when she was in training, and then pointed at the nurse, "Where were you when the hospital staff murdered my mother!?" She screamed, screamed so loud that it tore at her voice, made her instantly hoarse. She wasn't cloaked in Raiton, wasn't cloaked in chakra, but instead was cloaked in remorse, in pain, in rage.

"Where were you!?" She stomped her foot, expecting the ground to break, expecting the earth to erupt beneath her, but it came with a sickening, unsatisfying pat on the hard ground as it resisted her anger, resisted her sorrow, made her feel small again. She felt pain in her foot, but it wasn't going to be anything serious. She stared at the ground in disbelief that it could prove that she was so powerless, so small, so helpless. It settled on her like a cold mantle. She would have to wear it whether she wanted to or not.

With the emotion snuffed out, like the attempt to break the earth that she stood on, she nodded her head with impotence, "Yeah, Bring the nurse with you, she knows the doctor that killed my mother, I am sure of it." The Raikage would perhaps notice that she was missing the '-cha' at the end of her sentences, she was a changed woman, she had grown in ways that he didn't understand.

But they were ways that didn't matter. She couldn't protect her mother, she couldn't protect the hospital, she couldn't protect anyone. She was alone, and alone she would stand trial for trying to visit her mother. She clutched at her chest, the paper wrinkling from her mother's note that she had carried close to her heart this entire time. Probably stained with her mother's blood now. The fire had gone out in Chiaki's eyes, the spark wasn't there anymore, she stumbled towards the Raikage automatically, like he was controlling her and she felt so alone.

She was so alone.

[Sia]

The world might do us in, but sometimes that's alright when we're with friends...The thought hung clearly in Kirari's head like a mantra that she just couldn't shake. This part? This was the part that she hated the most. She stared at Chiaki as she cycled through her own personal rainbow. A rainbow of emotions. Mixtures of anger, sadness, grief, shock, and defeat. Like a book, Kirari read Chiaki's body language, her expressions, her words. Chiaki was in pain, horrible pain. In such a short time, she had lost her mother and now her supposed mentor. Whomever that was, Kirari supposed. Kirari's thoughts soared rapidly and rancidly as her moths circled around the Raikage in the sky as well as what had been Maido's body.

"You smell like outsiders again," Kirari said finally as a moth came back from Maido and landed on Kirari's nose. "The moths...they never lie." She said grimmly, her expression turning from concern to discontent, perhaps even malice almost. She glared at Chiaki with her own mixture of emotions now. Whatever had happened here, it was becoming apparent to Kirari that Chiaki was indeed quite involved at some level, whether she had really intended to do so or not was entirely irrelevant. She had it on good authority that ones motives and intentions meant nothing if their actions caused harm. A great Raikage had told her as such once. Kirari wasn't sure what to think now. Surely, Chiaki wasn't responsible for the murder of her own mother, Kirari had seen enough of her to know that she didn't hold that level of hatred within her. But, the fact of the matter was that here they stood with the hospital having taken quite the toll in damages.

She listened to Chiaki begin to lay into the Raikage's clone. "And where were you, Chiaki?" Kirari asked finally, brows furrowed. "What were you doing here with outsiders that resulted in this?" She gestured towards the hospital, then brought both of her arms to the sky, causing moths to suddenly populate and encircle around from the entire area. She moved her arms about, opening her palms and causing a storm of moths to circle around overhead Chiaki, herself, and the Raikage. Like a flock of murderous birds they circled, swooping down and beginning to surround Chiaki from all sides. "You need to calm down, and you need to calm down right now, I'll never be able to forgive myself if I have to put you to sleep." Kirari said acidicly, using a tone that, up until this point Chiaki had definitely never heard escape from her lips. "I believe you when you say you didn't kill your mother, but the fact of the matter is, there are outsiders in the village, and they seem to be related to the murder of your mother. For all you know, they could have done it. Had you even put any thought into that Chiaki?" Kiraris voice wavered and her lip trembled.

Her composure broke, and rainbow colored tears fell down the side of her face and she screamed. "You brought outsiders into the village and now the hospital has been halfway destroyed Chiaki!!" Kirari was livid, heated. Her blood boiled, or rather, it would have if she had had any to speak of. Nevertheless, the sensation was there, and she felt the wild chakra that composed her body shifting colors into a fiery orange and red facade. Her eyes, her hair, her skin, it all changed colors in an instant. She looked like walking lava, in a way. "Do you understand what you have done? I may never get to fucking see you again for your treason!!" Kirari fell to her knees and the moths that she had circled around began to fly into Chiaki, like tiny pebbles pummelling into her repeatedly from every side. They wouldn't do a terrible amount of damage, but they would be relentless, and unyielding. They would be a nuisance, and slow down Chiaki's movements and ability to properly be a threat to anyone in that moment.

[Taiga]

The real Hayate sat quietly as the squads of shinobi arrived to collect the other intruders and take them into custody. He was unsure of what had transpired and had a lot to figure out, including who the intruder was. Perhaps the other intruders would be of use. When things wrapped up, he would begin to make his way back towards the hospital pondering what had happened the whole time. While it was hard to ID the disguised intruder visually the high-level blood and acid techniques told a different story. One of a classified bingo book listing for one infamous and brutal witch- eons old, but a witch who was also supposed to already be dead. They'd have to find out in post-ops... for now, they had a village to tend to.

His arms lowering as he ended his kinesis usage he took a deep breath before calling out to the first responders.

"The intruder had high-level techniques with acid and god know what else- the liquid appears to be just blood, but let's not take any risks. Containment and smart decisions to evaporate or remove it." he barked as he rubbed his temples and took off back towards the hospital.

---

The disappointment of the shadow clone grew until Kirari and Chiaki would likely be able to smell it in the air as it stepped forward. Rage filled up within the Raikage and he had to carefully decide his words. In her emotions, her judgment had been completely clouded. Her mother had died and he was sorry, but the truth of the matter was why would the hospital kill her mother? There was no world in which that made sense. A far more believable answer existed. That a powerful intruder who just tried to destroy the village, and the only people who should not have been in the hospital, were likely related to the death... if it even was murder. People died all the time, even unexpected.

As Kirari spoke, and more rationally than the other girl, he sat and watched. She was right and in many ways on the same wavelength as the Raikage- but as the emotions began to grow too strongly he stepped in.

He'd raise his hand as a torrent of wind would blow away the butterflies and his voice boomed.

"ENOUGH."

This whole time he had viewed Chiaki as a child, but here before he realized something. She was not a child. She was a full-grown adult. "I never thought you were this naive." the Raikage said with a harsh tone, stepping forward and unable to pull his punches any longer. "Your emotions cloud your judgment and remove any sense of rationality. What possible motive would anyone in the hospital have to murder your mother you sniveling child." he said as he pointed to the bruised, battered, and beaten nurse.

He stepped closer.

"I'm sorry for your loss but who in that hospital was the most suspicious, Chiaki? The intruders were evil- and you let that evil into the village and the hospital and it killed your mother and hurt hundreds. Your mentor almost destroyed an entire city block." he said before once more shooting her and even more intense and burning look.

"Point your rage somewhere else- you have brought this upon yourself." he said as he stepped closer yet. The real him would be here soon.

"Chiaki, you are under arrest for potential treason against your empire. The outcome will be decided and all paths that lead up to this considered. We will see that justice on all fronts is delivered."

[Kanade]

Where was Chiaki… what was she doing when the outsiders did this. The outsiders. The outsiders from the village. The one she had sworn to protect. She nodded once to something, something breaking, it was a fond nod, almost like she was greeting an old friend that she hadn’t talked to in years, but it was a part of herself. That past self turned her nose up in disgust at what Chiaki was now, it glared at her, it burned her to the core of her being just as the thought came crashing down on her head that maybe… maybe Maido had done it. She looked into the past and only saw that Maido wasn’t with her the whole time. Strange. She had thought that she was. She could have sworn that Maido was beside her at all times. Beside, or… or was it inside?

She clutched at her chest as the moths descended, a couple hit, and she didn’t stop them, they cut into her face as wind-blown paper would. Good. She deserved it. She looked at the hospital and all the destruction there, the building was half-way collapsed and the nursing staff and shinobi were digging people out of the rubble, digging her people out of the rubble. She recognized patients that she herself had treated among the wounded.

Then the blast of wind came, since it blew the moths away, Chiaki, unguarded and shamed didn’t stand a chance. She got caught up in it when she was half-way already to turning herself in for being under arrest and got slammed to the ground hard next to the nurse who gave Chiaki a horrified, terrified look. Chiaki saw herself reflected in the eyes. She looked like a demon, all red hair and white skin and orange seemingly hollow eyes.

She nodded to the nurse, wove some hand seals and performed a jutsu as the last homage to her mother, the one that had put her mother at risk and had saved the life of Theraveda Kyoukan. This was the technique of Mizune Kyoukan, the mother who would take the scraped knee from their child rather than let them bear the pain. Now Chiaki understood what it was to be a Kyoukan.

The tether looked angry and deep red as it took the hurt from the nurse, and Chiaki grit her teeth and gasped as her own arm and hand were broken, effectively ending the tether, and her chances of using Jutsu anymore. She wasn’t a threat now, but her right arm hung limply to her side as she nodded to the nurse and said, “You’re more help than I am, go help our people.”

The words ‘our people’ sounded fake, sounded hollow, and she knew it the instant she said it as the nurse’s eyes narrowed and she picked herself up. She nodded curtly, professionally to Chiaki and didn’t even look as she passed the kunoichi with the red hair, the red hands, the red face.

Chiaki got up slowly, favoring her unbroken left side, though she had sunburns all over her, and welts were forming on top of them from the jutsu that she had unleashed on the nurse. She was grateful that Kirari had stopped her from actually striking the nurse, and doubly grateful now. She glanced at Kirari, doubt, grief, and regret were heavy in each footfall and in her gaze.

She thought, as she plodded along, how much better it would have been to have not cast the lightning armor, to have been caught under all of that rubble, and to have been buried in that tomb with her mother. She had abandoned all hope for a future, not that she saw a viable one now anymore.

She went up and addressed the Kage’s feet, holding out her broken hand with her good hand in a supplicative and submissive gesture, “I submit myself for arrest into the custody of Kumogakure.” She said. The only thing in her words was formality. The rage had burned off, the sorrow had buried itself, the relief at seeing Kirari had soured and gone stale, and her heart was in too many pieces to tell how it felt.

The broken Chiaki, broken in body, spirit, and mind, held out her broken hand to the Emperor of the land of lightning, waiting to be bound, holding still. A raven passed overhead, letting out a thunderous croak in the silence of the scene. It might have been a couple of seconds, and it might have been an hour, but Chiaki would always hear the harbinger of death; raven’s thunderous wingbeats.

Jutsu usedShow

~Tenketsu Tethering: Link Up II
C-Rank Ninjutsu/Iijutsu
After a set of hand seals, the Kyoukan family member will make fire off a pink wisp of chakra from themselves at a target at a speed of [Control] and up to [Control] meters away. If contact is made, a tether will form. This tether can stretch up to [Control] x 2 meters and lasts for [Control]/5 posts. When stretched further than this range, the tether remains but will be unusable as a medium for tether techniques.

~Tenketsu Tethering:[/b] Sacrificial Transfer
C-Rank Ninpou
After a set of hand seals, the Kyoukan family member will place all five fingers delicately on their heart and with the other hand touch all the tethers they wish to target. Those targeted will find themselves covered in a strange veil of pink smoke-like chakra that is perfectly see-through. This layer is known as the "spirit link" and with the full-fledged tether complete the subject will be healed of all wounds, and the severity of the wounds will show in the tether as it makes its way down the link toward the Kyoukan. The darker the chakra, the more dangerous the wounds are. Once the chakra reaches the Kyoukan, all of the wounds of the individual transfer to the family member.

[Sia]

The raikage interfered in her punishment on Chiaki, but, that was to be expected after all. Kirari scowled at the both of them and recalled her moths, raising both of her arms as they swarmed around overhead before coming back down into Kirari's body part way, or at least some of them did. She was hurt, betrayed, she almost cursed Chiaki's name. Did she have any idea the magnitude of what she had done by bringing in outsiders into the village? And, Maido of all people, if the analysis was correct? A powerful, horrible, treacherous shinobi from the Bingo Book that even Kirari knew was not to be trusted, for even Cros had mentioned stories of the woman to her.

What have you done? Kirari thought to herself as she continued to stare at Chiaki in bewilderment. She took a long breath, and held it for as long as she could before just as slowly releasing it, then repeating the action several times and thinking on the situation. It was likely that Chiaki would be detained, questioned, no, interrogated, and just as likely that she would receive harsher punishment from there and the chances of Kirari seeing her again seemed to grow slimmer and slimmer the longer she thought about it. Was she out of her head? Was she out of her mind? She couldn't figure it out. Why on earth would Chiaki ever bring outsiders here. Surely she had to know that no good could possible have come from it. Then again, they were letting in Konoha ninja all the time these days. What difference would it have made, really?

Any Konoha ninja that wanted to could just as easily walk into their village now and do whatever they wanted with very little to stop them, so, she supposed it wasn't all that far fetched that other, non-Konoha ninja might be able to sneak in as well. But why? For what purpose? Surely they hadn't come just to cause what was, by all accounts, a relatively small issue in the grand scheme of things. So the hospital was partially destroyed and the patients were gruesomely afflicted by various horrible issues. So what? This was but one hospital throughout the entirety of the empire. What had they really been here for then?

Finally, Kirari let out a long sigh and her arms came back upwards once again, causing her moths to flow out from her palms and begin to circle around Chiaki once again, as well as fanning out and taking flight into the trees and the side of the hospital. "Please...come with us quietly...I don't want to hurt you." Kirari said finally as her body shifted into a more regulated and calm appearance, the fiery orange and yellows dissipating into lighter blues before turning into her regular, dark complexion, save for her eyes. Her eyes? They burned like coals. Red-hot, orange embers for Iris and pupils had found themselves in Kirari's skull as she stared through Chiaki's being with her cutting gaze.

[Taiga]

The shadow clone of the Raikage peered down at Chiaki as the rage that had boiled up within him began to slowly, but surely, cool. Disappointment settled in his stomach as he took a deep breath in with his mouth and released it out his nose, his nostrils flaring. He held his hand up and out to Kirar, signaling he had the situation under control as he spoke. He stood in silence looking down at the young woman contemplating what came next. He was a legend at fighting but truth be told had never been so great at this part of being a kage and emperor. Looking around him he saw the pain in Kirari and though he didn't understand their relationship could tell they were friends and that Chiaki meant a great deal to the other young woman.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Chiaki. It will be noted... Kirari, you have 5 minutes to talk with her." he said as the clone disappeared, only for the real Hayate who had finished detaining the intruders to arrive. The intruders would be taken in, any chakra abilities dampened with fuuinjutsu and EMP along with physical strains. They would undergo a deep interrogation process.

With the power of the star force having surged through him, the return of his chakra from his shadow clone, and the assurance that there were no more threats he could focus on tending to the injured in the acid attack. Putting his hand to his thumb he bit it, drawing blood, before slamming his hand down onto the mountainside. The smoke cleared revealing a massive turtle- an island turtle... though his size wasn't quite big enough such that he couldn't be summoned. Hayate bowed his head as the turtle irrately commented in a bellowing low voice, "Oi- cunt, why you drop me in a place like this yea?" Playing off the crudeness of his behaviour, the Raikage motioned to the injured outside the building which was slowly collapsing in the areas the shinobi hadn't managed to reinforce.

[color-#fe0]"I need you to swallow up the most injured for a bit- heal em up." Hayate said calmly, the turtle nodding as he opened his mouth and slowly the first responders gained to push people into he turtle.

As this, all happened he'd keep an eye on Kirari and Chiaki.

I wonder what they can tell me...

[Sia]

She took in a long breath and held it for some time, then slow exhaled it for just as long, before holding her empties lungs for a moment moments before breathing in slowly once again. She listened to the Raikage, to Chiaki, and she thought long and hard about the situation before she spoke. She stared Chiaki up and down, taking in her not bloodied, battered, and mangled form. Her jutsu had taken in a considerable amount of damage from the nurse she had assaulted and rather rectified the damage, but not the behavior. Still, Kirari supposed that if she had been accused of something so heinous she wasn't entirely sure she would react in what one might call a graceful sort of way. Graceful? This was just...distasteful. Everything about the situation reeked of horror and spite. Just what had really gone on here, what had really transpired today? She wondered if she would ever really know. It would certainly be harder to find the truth the longer she waited to investigate, and especially with one of the culprits seeming to have blown themselves up, Kirari feared she may never find the answers she seeked.

She turned her attention away from the Raikage and fully on Chiaki as he gave them a bit of space. "What...What happened Chiaki? Why did you bring outsiders here, what good did you possibly think would come from it? Do I mean nothing to you? You're...you've thrown your life away and for what? Do you understand that I may really never...ever see you again? You could be executed. You could be imprisoned. You might grow old and die in prison. Is that what you want? What were you thinking?" Kirari's composure broke. Her face screwed up in an expression as she fought back tears, but they came anyway. Rainbow droplets pooled at the edge of her eyes and began to slide down her cheeks as her fist collided with Chiaki's shoulder. "How dare you!" Her voice raised sharply as her expression portrayed anger and frustration. Kirari was quite cross. "If you needed help with something you could have asked ME!" More tears, they came in large streams now and her voice cracked as she wailed in desperation.

"My...my heart hurts Chiaki..." Her brow furrowed and her gaze fell down, she couldn't meet Chiaki's eyes. "It's just..principal...." She said finally before turning back to the Raikage with her rainbow-colored tears still rolling strongly down the sides of her face, despite her quite obviously angry expression. "What's going to happen to her? I don't know if I even want to know..." She said finally as she clenched her fists tightly. Her knuckles whitened and her eyes burned with a ferocity that could kill a lesser man.

[Kanade]

Chiaki gripped the front of her clothes, the clothes that she had gussied herself up in for her mother that were now ruined by her mother’s blood and listened to Kirari, listened to the Kage, nodded as he said that he would give her five minutes with Kirari. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know that saying anything would help, didn’t know that doing anything would help the situation that she was in. Her world was spiralling towards something, and it seemed like the maelstrom had swept up her mother, her girlfriend, and the Kumogakure No Sato Hospital all in one fell swoop. She saw the pity, then the disgust, then the confusion spelled out on Kurari’s features. She knew that she would have to answer something.

“I-” She started and then cast her eyes downwards and used her unruined hand to pull something out of her clothing. It was her mother’s note. Where she was going it would be confiscated and looked over, scrutinized, labored over, and then probably never returned to her. She wanted to keep it but she also wanted for Kirari to understand. “I got this from my mom.” She held it out for Kirari, the paper was torn, beaten, crumpled and covered in her mother’s blood, but was still legible, “We were supposed to meet at the temple, but I got delayed as I am… not the fastest person to travel with. Maido came because she wanted to meet Mizune and ask her some questions. She also said she wanted to protect me because I'm rather weak. I figured that it was fine because Maido hadn’t hurt me in any way when we trained. She looked deep inside me once when we were traveling and said that I had potential, said that I could be a light angel where she was a dark one.” She stopped and bit her lip, it still tasted of iron, of blood, of tears and sweat and sorrow, “We looked around the temple for her, but when we saw she wasn’t there, I figured she had returned to her apartment or the Hospital.” She nodded along, her eyes on the ground, on Kirari’s clothing, it was so pristine compared to the ruined garb that she had, compared to the warzone that was Chiaki’s appearance.

“When we got here I went to the front desk and asked if we could see her. They said that she should be out of her routine check-up soon, and that I’d have to wait. I’m used to that so I tooled around the gift shop for a time. I-” She turned her head as if to look around, she was looking inside her memory for something, “I don’t know what excuse Maido made to leave but she did and then when I had bought something for my mom I went up the stairs to her room. Maido met me somewhere along the way and- and I told them to wait outside.” She looked down at her hands, one broken and useless for seals and one not, both covered in blood, “I went into the room and tried to wake her up, because she seemed to be sleeping. There wasn’t even a sense of disturbance in the room, she looked like she was napping on top of the covers, and with transplant patients, they need their rest.” She looked down and to the side, as if she were seeing her mother again and then tears streamed down her face once more. Mizune’s face, her mother’s face, like she was just sleeping, like she was just napping and her breathing was shallow, too shallow to tell. Her nose and throat hurt as she recalled the warmth of her mother and the feel of the chest compressions.

“I tried to resuscitate her with my hands, after finding she had no pulse and then I shocked her trying to restart her heart while calling for help but it felt like I was inflating some sort of just… sack of tissue. There’s a resistance with lungs, but there wasn’t in mom.” She looked to and fro, like she was looking for something on the ground, recalling the looking for help, the look for someone else to be there with her, “I called for help.”

She shook her head, “Maido came in and embraced me, said she wanted to meet her, was a tragedy. Then I was torn away from my mom, I’m not strong, so it was probably easy. Then the nurse shouted at me, said that I did it, told me to tell her what I did so that they could save her. The twins said that it couldn't have been me, that there was no way, I hadn't been there long enough. Hisayo looked livid at the nurse. I had no idea and then they shouted for security.” She turned her head looking at something else that wasn’t there, her vision blurry from the tears. She was looking for someone to help her, she wasn’t living in the moment, but remembering the trauma, “I remember coating myself in lightning when Maido tried to reach out to me with a tentacle, and swatting her away and then there was a crash and I found myself in the wreckage, and crawling out of it was the very same nurse that said that I had killed my own mother. My mind flashed and I tried to put together a puzzle without all the pieces, and saw the nurse and thought that she had killed my mother in the heat of the moment. It all made sense, why else would she blame me, her daughter, for killing her own mother? I remember flying into a rage and then you stopping me.” She hung her head low, her chin touching her aching chest, “And you know all the rest.”

“I was told by Maido that I could fulfill my dream of being the ninja to do the organ transplant on my mother if I went away with her, and then she thought me so many things that I believed that she was my friend. She was my mentor for a while, and I trusted her.” She clutched her chest and tried to choke back a sob, her chest heaved and sputtered before releasing the tension and she sobbed, “I wasn’t thinking, She brought back Missing ninja from the land of lightning, the ones that were kill on sight, and dropped them. Cros picked up the bodies and returned them and Maido promised to teach me.” She shook her head, “She taught me, but not the way I wanted to.”

The rainbow droplets caught Chiaki’s gaze, in mid-tears as she looked up at Kirari, who was torn up, as torn up as she had been, as torn as she was. Chiaki had hurt Kirari, was hurting Kirari even now. Chiaki felt like she wasn’t even worthy to have Kirari standing there, wasn’t worthy of Kirari’s affections. Chiaki had hurt everyone, everyone that she cared for by bringing Maido to see her mother. She knew that she shouldn’t have now, but it seemed so innocent, an afterthought, at the time. The blow came to her shoulder and she didn’t move out of the way, she let it hit her, let Kirari vent on her. The bone was already broken so it elicited a hiss from Chiaki as she felt it rattle against its broken self in her arm, but then she continued to listen and nodded, “I… no one was going to help me achieve the jutsu I needed for the transplant and Maido seemed like the easy way.”

Chiaki couldn’t bear it anymore, she needed to touch Kirari, needed to know that Kirari didn’t hate her, needed to know that Kirari was still her safe place. She didn’t have any more safe places, she didn’t have any more safe people. She wanted desperately for Kirari to be that safe place. She would do anything, even stay in Kumogakure under arrest if she knew that Kirari was her safe place. She pulled Kirari toward her for a hug and sobbed into Kirari’s shoulder, “I don’t want to be away from you, I don’t want to go to prison forever, I just wanted to see my mom and let her see how much I’d grown.” She had tears spill down her cheeks, “I didn’t think I needed help until I was already in too deep. You’re my safety, and I should have let you be my guide. I was foolish and stupid and I’m so s-sorry Kirari.” She gripped the other girl tightly, not wanting to let her go, wanting to stay pressed up against her, even though her shoulder, her arm, her hand were screaming out in physical pain. The pain in her chest, the emotional pain was less with Kirari there.

She let Kirari go and waited for the kage to pass sentence on her, she didn’t know what it would look like, what it would feel like. She had never had this experience before, but she, lost in herself wept, and she tried to hold still, her whole body shaking. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving her mind a cloudy mess, her stomach felt like she was going to vomit at any time, and she tried to stand still, but also didn’t want to be away from Kirari. She wanted to stay with her from now on. “I should have never gone with Maido. Cros was right.”

[Taiga]

The rainbow tears and dialogue told a different story to Hayate- this Kirari girl was involved with Chiaki and had an even greater disappointment for what had happened. As they talked it became clear to Hayate that if Chiaki was to be trustable at her words, she would have never meant for any of this to happen. Like all villains, the intruder, now confirmed by Chiaki as Maido, likely used the darkness in Chiaki's heart. While he had initially blamed Chiaki if there was any failure... it was his and the empires. Clealry Chiaki's mental issues had gone unnoticed- and even the stress she felt that was clear to Hayate in their initial meetings had gone unchecked for too long.

Scratching his chin the Raikage processed everything in his head.

What he had learned was that his suspicions of Maido being the intruder were correct and that Maido was not killed by Shio as the world thought. He had also learned that this meant the others in possession were her kin and members of Kirigakure. He learned that the village defenses were imperfect. He also learned that the village needed to improve their counseling for their shinobi, for even the best and brightest sometimes had unshakeable mental sickness. As he continued onto the intel he was getting he realized Maido also had been inside of Chiaki at some point.

Was she still in Chiaki now?

There were a platitude of questions to figure out. As the girls finished there discussion and Kirari called out to her Lord Emperor, the Kage cleared his throat.

"I do believe what you have told me, Chiaki, but there are processes that must be followed. You will be charged with the crimes of assault and treason. I am sorry Kirari, but Chiaki will be jailed at least for the interim. We will interrogate all involved parties to get to the bottom of this and once we are confident in our beliefs, we will act. I cannot say Chiaki's future, but should it be favorable, you will see her." the Kage said rattling off coldly, as if he was reading from a book.

This was the worst part of the job. The part he hated most. The part where he had to destroy the warm, kind boy scout he was in favor of following the rules and procedures. In pursuit of what was actually best for the village. He'd bow his head before producing manacles and cuffs of Doton and placing them around Chiaki, turning her over to the police squads that were in the area.

When that was done, he'd address Kirari, if she was still there.

"I know... I know you don't want to hear this from me now, but I can tell you and Chiaki are... closer than most. I'd hate to see the hole that existed in Chiaki and caused this event to create a hole in you- so please seek me out after this." the Raikage would say before bowing once and leaping off to go assist in the crumbling hospital building.

Kamegan, the massive turtle sat quietly for once, his mouth open as people bathed in the healing salivia of his mouth. Just like Hayate to only ever summon him for ambulance duty.

[Kanade]

Chiaki turned around to face Kirari once more as she was led off by the police, she tried to give a brave smile, but it hid a broken heart and it showed in the way that her mouth just couldn’t bring itself up in the right way, in the over eager way that she tried to open her eyes at Kirari, in the pain that was clear in her that she had been shattered by this. She hoped that she would still have a place to return to when all of this was over. She hoped that Kumogakure could still be a home for her. She hoped that Kirari could still be her safe place.

This was all that she thought of while she plodded through the streets. The police didn’t even restrain her as they walked along the blood-spattered streets, which turned to bloodsoaked, which turned to blood-painted. Just what had Maido done?

Chiaki looked around in horror at the waste that was left by Maido and she finally understood that she had done this, that she had brought someone here that could do this much damage to the buildings, the village, to her.

The cold numb sensation stopped her in her tracks. She was gently prodded with a polearm of somesort to continue walking and the police looked anywhere but her eyes. At her hands, certainly, at her feet, yes, at the street ahead of her, absolutely. She felt like just another criminal. Shaking her head, she felt only pity for those who knew her, for those who would know what she had done.

She hoped that Kisayo and Hiyoko were able to make it out alive, were able to make it out safe, and she hoped that Kirari would forgive her, someday, for the mistake that she had made. She hoped that they could rebuild the relationship that Chiaki had, apparently, slashed through with little regard.

/chiaki exit

[Sia]

Kirari's face twisted into an expression that resembled disgust and discomfort, and as tears continued to form in her eyes she turned away from the two of them. When the police took Chiaki away she just stared at them as they walked off in silence. She listened as the Raikage had spoken to her and his message hang heavily in her mind as she too began to walk away. At first, she had thought to go home, but, there was really nothing for her to do there other than sulk in her own misery over the situation. So, instead, she went to one of the forests. A secluded, wonderful little place where Kirari and her moths liked to train from time to time. The trees here were magnificent, and they had been tainted and twisted with many different colors of leafs, in a way, this particular area was somewhat like Kirari. Her mind raced with the thoughts of the day.

She had woken up that day and only intended to take up some small work on the side, delivering packages around the village in a manner that was quite easy for her to do with the assistance of her moths. Just some chump change to help fill her pockets a bit, in truth, she had intended to use the ryo on Chiaki. She liked the idea of having someone she could spoil a little bit, someone to have fun with, someone she could consider a...partner. Now though, Kirari wasn't so sure. She stared upwards at the sky, the sun just barely able to come in through the rainbow forest canopy. The tears came back, and she merely let them. She fell against her favorite tree and her moths scurried about to get out of her way so as not to be crushed. She began sobbing, horribly, horrendously ugly crying and without any hope of stopping. Her rainbow colored tears left rainbow colored spatters along her clothes, that dried into multi colored stains. She wailed, loudly, alone in the forest in desperation and ache. Her heart hurt, a tightness in her chest like she had never really experienced before.

Around Kirari, moths had begun to accumulate, exiting outwards from her body in wild abundance and circling around the area. They covered the trees, the bushes, the ground, the stream. Every surface of the immediate area around her was colored in a rainbow of moth wings, patterns of which were wild and numerous, and almost none of them identical to another. She screamed, violently, and her body surged with chakra as she haphazardly lost control and flames shot outwards from her mouth in the process. She scorched the earth, and she could hear the singed sounds of some of her own moths burning and squealing. She buried her head in her hands and sat there for the longest time, surrounded by her moths against the great tree. "What do I do now?" She asked the moths, but they didn't respond.

Kirari had never felt so alone.