Lets talk Blood

[Willoria]

Ren had been doing her research, and not just on Chiton. Though she hadn't dived into it much since she became a Jounin, Ren still had her interests in Fuuinjutsu. Yet unfortunately she had more questions now than ever and only knew of one person that might have answers.

She'd reached out and gotten a message to Hideki once more, this time asking him to meet her at the Bloodriver Bar, seeing as she no longer had access to the Head Hunter's Headquarters and she had a hunch he might be more than a little pissed if she just showed up at his home again.

She hated this place, but she didn't want Hideki at her place either. Her twins would never stop talking about it and she wasn't quite ready for questions from Ryoga. He didn't trust Hideki worth a shit since the Kessenchu and while Ren could understand, she also felt that was her husband's own fault for not getting more answers before putting him in that situation.

As such, the Bloodriver Bar seemed like the best, and really only, option she had, and so she had found a table in the corner where she had a good view of the door and she waited for Hideki to arrive.

[Sanjuro]

Ren hadn't been the only one doing research. In fact, Hideki had done little else but in a very long time. In the past few months he had become almost a complete recluse, leaving his laboratory only for the most urgent of matters. His duties in the Head Hunter Division had fallen to the wayside along with his responsibilities at the hospital. His pale skin had become increasingly gaunt, his cheeks were hollow, and his dark blue hair had grown out a few inches to the point where it was almost lying flat and reaching his shoulders. The state he was in had happened twice before in his lifetime, and both points he had been forced into a bed a fed through tubes for a month before he had been allowed to leave the hospital. It was one of the dangers for a man of his temperament. He had finally found something interesting and he had no intention of letting anyone get in his way until he studied every facet of it.

Anyone except Masami Ren, that was.

She was half the reason he was in his current state. He had been working on body modifications and elemental conversions at her behest after all. Yes, the request was an old one, but he finally had a breakthrough and as a result had devoted himself to it recently. When the message found him, Hideki had been covered almost head to toe in blood and, given his current physical and mental state, had reduced the poor messenger to tears for fear of being eaten by a demon. After getting cleaned up and reading the note, even in his sleep deprived state he couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of the meeting place. Or maybe it was because of his sleep deprivation that he openly laughed. Who really knew? All that was apparent was that he was going to talk about blood with a Chiton user at the Bloodriver bar.

And it was that series of events that led to the doctor, having cleaned up first of course, standing outside the place in the village that he probably hated the most. Which was saying something, considering Hideki didn't really like anywhere outside of his lab. He had already used his Mind's Eye to scan the building, homing in on Ren's increasingly familiar chakra signature. Pushing the door open, he made a beeline for her table, levelling a death glare at anyone who got in his way. Given his almost ghost-like appearance, the white lab coat didn't help; it seemed to only add to his usual levels of intimidation.

Dropping into the seat across from Ren, he offered her a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk. "Hello Masami. Or is it Kazuki now? Either way, long-time no see."

[Willoria]

Ren couldn't help but to chuckle at the statement and nodded in greeting. "It will be soon enough, just waiting on the paperwork. I'm afraid we had a few things that took priority over the change of my surname." she said, motioning to the bartender as she had already ordered something. She'd heard rumors of Hideki not being seen for some time, and though she hadn't looked through his file for some time, she wasn't entirely surprised by the state of him when he arrived. "It has been some time, I'd say you look good but frankly you've looked better." she said with a grin as the bartender stopped by with a bottle of warm sake and two glasses, also setting down a tray of assorted warm appetizers.

"Just don't tell me you're like this all because you wound up delivering the twins." she said with a wink. The entire ordeal had been awkward, and yet humorous, for all parties involved. Despite his training in Iijutsu, Ren knew that delivering a baby had never been on Hideki's list of things to do, much less delivering twins.

Ren withdrew a notebook from a bag she'd brought with her, full of her own notes on the subject they'd actually be discussing, but for the time being she didn't mention the subject itself.

[Sanjuro]

Hideki waved off Ren's comment with a shrug. "Physical appearance matters little when I have found something worthy of my complete attention." When the bartender arrived and laid the alcohol and food on the table for them, Hideki's stomach began to churn at the thought of consuming any of it. He had been surviving off of nothing but his own meal replacement bars for the duration of his research and the idea of actual food at this point made him want to run away. Still, he hadn’t eaten yet that day and knew if he wanted to make it through the meeting he would require some kind of sustenance. So he picked up one of the appetizers and bit off a tiny piece of the corner.

"I assure you, that… incident… has little to do with my current state. I've simply been… busy. Working on… things." The constant pauses in his speech were enough to reveal that Hideki wasn't exactly all there at the moment. Half of his mind was still focused on his lab, running through a number of calculations that he could still easily perform despite the state he had worked himself into. With a minute shake of his head, he refocused his attention on the woman. More accurately, his eyes were drawn to the notebook she had just retrieved. Good, so she was here to discuss business. He would have hated it if he had been interrupted for a social call.

Taking another bite of the appetizer, his stomach slowly settling as it received actual food, Hideki decided to cut to the chase. "I do hope you didn't call me here just to discuss your children. You know I'm a busy man, Masami. Now tell me what you want to really talk about before I decide that running tests on the children of a man with Kessenchu in his bloodstream would be a good idea." Perhaps it wasn't the greatest idea to level a threat towards the woman's children, especially when he was in no state to defend himself, but really… she had brought the infantile creatures into the conversation. Hideki would have been more than happy to forget they ever existed. Somehow, though, he doubted Ren would ever let that happen.

[Willoria]

Ren held up the notebook as a serious look took over the woman's face. "Actually I do have something that would interest you, a step two after Chiton body..." she began, sighing carefully before continuing. "But threaten my children again and the consequences be damned... I'll bleed you dry."

It took everything Ren had within her not to slice the man's head from his shoulders right then and there. This was the Bloodriver bar after all, violence was not unusual. And while she thought perhaps his remark, or at least any attempts, concerning harm to her children might be enough to get the man arrested, fact was she needed him. But if he said it again, she knew this kind of control would not happen again.

Yet at the same time she also knew Hideki had no idea the severity of her own bloodlust and just the kind of damage she could deal out, even if he were to have watched one of her interrogations back in the day... the only person who knew her that well was Ryoga.

[Sanjuro]

"Don't you think it is perhaps a little soon to be considering a step two, considering we have yet to achieve stage one?" Hideki questioned, glossing over her threat. Old habits returned as he ate some more, plucking a scalpel from seemingly nowhere in the hand not holding his food, twirling it between his fingers as he thought. "Although in saying that, my progress on stage one has accelerated exponentially lately, at least on the medical side of things. The intricacies of the fuuinjutsu still escape my grasp for the moment. Not for long though, I've always been a quick study when something intrigues me." Hideki finished off the appetizer and poured out a drink for Masami, though declined to pour one for him. "I assume you ordered this. In my current state I doubt imbibing in alcohol would do me any favours, so I fear you will be enjoying this by your lonesome."

The doctor leaned back in his seat, one hand twirling the scalpel while the other adjusted his glasses. What was Masami planning for a step two? A physical form composed entirely of blood was not enough for the woman? Internally he smirked a little. He liked power hungry people. As long as he gave them a taste of power, just a hint of what he could provide, they were easy enough to keep in line. There was a danger to this line of thought as well though, and Hideki was well aware of it. If he provided too much power without sufficient… precautions, they he was in danger of them seeing him as expendable. Hideki had toed that line ever since becoming a Jounin. The entire reason behind his promotion all those years ago was because he could provide power to the village. This was what he did. Hirohito Hideki wasn't the one who embodied power. He was the one that created it.

"Well then," Hideki began as he came out of his inner musing. "Are you going to explain what this step two is? Or shall I play a guessing game and you can tell me if I am growing warmer or colder?" The sarcasm in his tone was obvious.

[Willoria]

Ren sighed and took the drink Hideki had poured for her. She knew he was right, that he shouldn't drink and ordinarily Ren wouldn't be rude enough to partake when her company could not. However in this case, after her own threat, she needed a moment to relax. As such she carefully sipped the sake, taking a deep breath before picking up the notebook once more and offering it to Hideki. "But knowing stage two can lend better understanding to stage one." she replied. "I had a thought, with the Chiton body I'll still have the elemental weaknesses of Katon and Sankaton, with this, if my thought is right, I'll be able to technically survive."

The first page of the notebook was a sketch what appeared to be a box with a scroll inside, as well as a series of notes on fuuinjutsu. "If there were a way to seal, somehow, the essence of that chiton within it, then by placing several of these around the village, 'dying' would only result in rising from one of these.... though I know it'll be more complicated than that."

[Sanjuro]

The doctor picked up the way Ren was using the drink to relax, either a result of the context of their discussion or the threats they had each thrown out. He simply mentally shrugged and pulled the notepad closer to him, Ren's mental state wasn't his problem. Hideki glanced at the book, his eyes darting from the diagrams to Ren and back again. "With a project as complicated as this one, thinking too many steps ahead can blind us to the task at hand. But you raise a fair point. As to what you intend to achieve with this… stage two. Immortality, correct? To be completely honest I'm not sure how it would work. Creating a body of blood that can be manipulated by chakra is simple enough. Converting your person into said body is a relatively complex matter but not impossible. This however… this is something beyond my current capability of even estimating the chances of success."

Piercing an appetizer with his scalpel, Hideki started to eat off it like it was a regular dining utensil, though in fairness to him it was. "I know of a clan in Konoha, the Yamanaka, which are capable of manipulating their own consciousness and the consciousness of others. Perhaps if I had access to their secret techniques this matter would be trivial. As it stands, I do not. And what you wish to do isn't just sealing a portion of this Chiton body into the scrolls. You need to seal an aspect of your chakra, your consciousness, into each one of these. If, somehow, you achieve that, I imagine there will be some limited aspects. Likely range, you wouldn't be able to… how did you put it? Emerge? Well, you wouldn't be able to emerge from one of these scrolls located on the other side of the continent. Chakra can only be manipulated so far before it gets stretched too thin and simply dissipates."

But if somehow she could manage this, then it would likely make her unstoppable. It wouldn't remove her weaknesses, just give her a chance to learn from mistakes and avoid them later. There was likely to be a limit on how many of these scrolls could be created as well. Hideki took another bite off his food. He knew Ren was ambitious the moment he met the woman, but this… Immortality had never really interested Hideki. Yes, he wanted to understand all he could, and he was fascinated with the limits that chakra could reach, but he had never considered everlasting life. Death was as much a part of life as breathing or eating. To be denied that experience would be to deny being a scientist. Still, creating an immortal was an entirely different story. He was more than happy to take a chance on the procedure; he just didn't know how it would end.

It was a little exciting.

[Willoria]

Ren was quiet as Hideki spoke and she picked up one of the appetizers herself. She knew Hideki had a point and part of that was exactly why she had come to him. "I'm less worried about the distance and more so about whether or not this is even possible. Distance might be able to be solved simply by limiting my own movements or by making sure I have enough of these, or maybe even keep one on me. The part I keep getting truly stuck on is how to keep my mind in tact." she replied, chewing on the dumpling she had picked up.

She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers. "I know you're plenty busy already with what I've already asked of you, maybe this is too much." she remarked, starting to feel like this wasn't possible at all.

[Sanjuro]

Hideki glanced at Ren over the top of his glasses, his dull blue eyes observing the way she expressed herself as she spoke. Pinching or rubbing the bridge of one's nose was a common expression signifying stress, annoyance, or in this case, a sign of giving up. The doctor scowled a little at the motion. "Yes, the task ahead is difficult. Yes, I'm exhausted and have enough on my plate at the moment to take up the schedule of at least three of me. But science demands sacrifice and progress requires experimentation." Hideki steepled his fingers in front of his face, elbows resting on the table, and leant forward slightly. "Nothing is ever too much; it is simply a matter of time and patience. We have to pace ourselves if we want this to work without fault. Right now our focus should be on the stable creation of the original blood body. After that goal has been achieved we can move on to other endeavours, such as remote restoration."

Leaning back again, he ran his long fingers through his hair and scowled deeply. He had let his hair grow out far too long. He would need to go and get it seen to. Perhaps he needed to take his own advice and start pacing himself. He had other responsibilities to attend to and if he wanted to see this experiment through to the end he couldn't very well starve himself to death locked away in his lab, now could he? With a sigh, Hideki refocused his attention on Ren and arched an eyebrow at her. It was time to get this conversation back on track. "How much closer are you to attaining the necessary levels of mastery over your Chiton abilities? That is where things will truly begin."

[Willoria]

Ren pushed the plate of appetizers closer to Hideki as he spoke. She knew he was right, they needed to focus on one step at a time and right now her bringing this to him was more than likely too much. "My husband has been aiding me in my Chiton training, I'm making decent progress learning his infection techniques, and working on notes of my own. If I can work my own techniques, create my own, I should be where I need to be in order to be ready for this."

She sighed and poured herself another cup of sake but did not drink it just yet, instead leaning back in her seat as she thought things over. "I know you've been working day and night, but if I may, what kind of progress have you made? I won't ask you your methods as I probably don't want to know, but how close are you to being ready to enact this body?"

She knew Hideki's cruelties and of his experimentations, and right now the last thing she wanted to know was what kind of 'damage' her desire for this Chiton body was causing. She only wanted to know how close he was to being ready.

[Sanjuro]

The doctor considered his answer carefully as he recalled the last few weeks of experimentation. He had discovered a great many things about the human body and its limits that he hadn't known previously and, while he had made significant progress in the art of surgically modifying pre-existing human bodies, converting and/or creating an entirely new body of blood was proving to be somewhat more… challenging. Folding his arms over his chest and crossing his legs under the table so one knee was resting atop the other, Hideki hummed under his breath. "Progress is steady. There is only so much I can do before you achieve the level of mastery required to manipulate the body, but development is well under way. The question remains though, will I be converting your current body or putting you into a new body? Both options have their pros and cons, but ultimately it will be up to you to determine how the technique will work."

It was true. While Ren had discussed plans for this blood body, her desire for immortality, she had yet to explain just how she wanted this done. Conversion required meticulous and unparalleled levels of surgery but meant he could use the pre-existing chakra network and wouldn't have to worry about transferring it into a new body. One mistake however meant Ren could lose the use of her body or die. The other method, the creation of a new body to transfer the host chakra into, was safer in terms of not killing Ren, but one mistake in the sealing or the transfer meant Ren would wind up a human vegetable.

Pros and Cons.

[Willoria]

Ren listened carefully to what Hideki had to say but did not immediately reply. It was a good question, and one that had not actually occurred to her. She knew so little about how these things work, she couldn't even be sure of just what the pros and cons of either idea really were though she was certain both options had them. She was certain as well that either could just as easily wind up in death, or worse, as the other and so she wasn't entirely sure.

"Which would you recommend?"

She didn't like her own question, it sounded like she was asking Hideki to give advice just like she'd ask a doctor to give advice concerning a wound, and despite the fact that Hideki had delivered her children, she did not trust him in the least. The man had really only done it because he was the only one there and if he had refused, there was no telling just what Ren's husband and herself would do to him, or at least she assumed that was the reasoning behind it. He certainly hadn't done it because he wanted to.

"Both sound equally dangerous." she explained, "and honestly I am not familiar enough with your craft or your research so far to know the pros and cons of either."

[Sanjuro]

Hideki started spinning his scalpel as he fell into his lecture mode. "In either process, your vital organs will have to be removed and preserved inside a unique Fuuinjutsu which will allow it to remain connected to the main body but without the risk of being damaged alongside it. Probably some kind of object would be the best, something more difficult to destroy than say, a scroll." His dark blue eyes seemed to look straight through Ren as his mind ran through the scenarios. "Once that has been successfully achieved, linking your chakra to a new body could prove to be a little more straight forward. Of course, sentimentality might demand you remain in your current body simply modified." His eyes focused and the doctor's trademark smirk returned. "Though I doubt that will be a problem for you. No, I think a new body would be best. Of course, everything relies on your ability to attain mastery over your use of Chiton. Once you have achieved an acceptable level of control, we'll work on having you manipulate a body and getting used to how it works before we perform the… operation."

Just as suddenly as he started spinning the scalpel, it stopped and was slipped back into the doctor's coat. "Well, all of this is merely conjecture at this point. I will continue to create bodies made of chakra-enhanced blood until I have the process perfected and then I will move my focus to creating the Fuuinjutsu. All you have to do is work on your control." Hideki smirked and leant back in his chair some more, gesturing with his hands sarcastically. "It must be nice to have the easy job."

[Willoria]

So he intended for her to manipulate a body before the process was complete? Ren couldn't help the heavy sigh, she never had been very good with collateral damage, especially in a situation such as this. She wasn't a complete idiot, he likely used people off the streets or even slaves for his experimentation, and Ren had never been okay with such things. She tried not to show it but the mention of manipulating another body didn't just make her uneasy, it caused her to silently question not only her motives but whether this was a good idea at all for her to do.

"Well you won't need to worry about my control, I'll have that handled soon enough." Ren replied as she thought things over, ignoring Hideki's quip about her having the 'easy job'. Part of her wanted to talk to Ryoga, to find out if he thought the sacrifice would be worth the result... but she knew full well after his experience with the Kessenchu he would never allow her to move forward with anything so long as Hideki was involved.

[Sanjuro]

Hideki watched and waited to see if Ren was going to say anything more but she was apparently lost in her own thoughts. To be fair, it was a life altering decision she had to make and the closer they came to the day where the operation could be performed successfully, the more she would begin to question herself. It was a common problem among patients that Hideki had noted over the years. When it was just an idea, a theory, it was all well and good. But when it was looming over them they often came to realize they didn't have the stomach to do what needed to be done. Hideki could only hope Ren had a strong enough constitution to go through with this.

Spearing one final appetizer with a scalpel that seemed to simply poof into existence, Hideki carefully rose from the table and tipped his head towards Ren. "Well then, I shall leave you to do… whatever it is that you do. I have some work to return to and I fear I am in desperate need of a visit to the barber." The doctor frowned a little and tugged at one of his long bangs with the hand not holding his food. "I shall consider what you suggested, the reformation at alternate locations, but don't hold your breath. My focus for the time being is the blood body itself. Have a good day, Masami. Oh, and let the Overseer know I'm going to want to perform another check up in a few weeks."

[Willoria]

"Hm?" Ren turned towards Hideki, blinking a moment as her mind slowly came back from its own depths and she registered what she had been told and couldn't resist cracking a smirk at the man. "I'll tell him, but be prepared for him to be in a foul mood. He isn't exactly fond of those things you put in him just yet." she replied, waving idly as Hideki would leave.

Frankly she had her own thoughts to tend to now, but at the same time the Bloodriver Bar was not the place to be so caught up in thought and unaware of one's surroundings. Ren motioned the bartender over and paid for everything that had been on the table before standing and stretching. Her mind finally started moving on to simpler tasks, trying to think of what would need to be cooked that night and what she needed to do around the house.

But eventually, later in the night, her mind would have to return to the warnings of her own conscience, which as usual would require being buried for the time being. Some things were more important than one's own morals.