Home at last [requesting reentry]

[Shinrya Kahako]

Kahako yawned as she shifted her teacher’s weapons on her back once more. It had been a long exhausting trip and nothing sounded better than a bowl of ramen and a nap. Somehow through attempted theft, Kahako encountered her current companion who was also returning from his own mission. She peep her eyes to catch a glance at Ayumu. She was thankful that he didn’t turn her in, or worse, gut her like a fish. She sort of had it coming though.

Walking up to the gates, Kahako smiled. She was finally home. Pulling her mission passport from her side satchel, Kahako looked to Ayumu. “Guess it’s time I get an actual passport so I don’t have to keep filling out the paperwork for these, huh?” She said simply. While listening to her friend’s response, Kahako wasn’t paying much attention to the person who accepted her passport.

[Edit: exited mission]

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu appraoched the gates alongside Kahako, producing his passport from his cloak in advance. He had been through this procedure enough times to know the drill well. Somehow he had met Kahako on the trip back from Kelmura. It had been a crazy trip back, but they had made it. For some reason, Kahako had seemed down the entire trip. Ayumu could tell that something was weighing heavily upon her, but whatever it was she couldn't talk about it. He wished that there was something he could do, but without knowing there was nothing.

He glanced in her direction as she spoke up, referring to her passport. "Oh, right. Yeah, I do a lot of coming and going so I needed to have the real thing," he said, holding up his passport which looked solid and sturdy. He kept it in his hand, waiting for whoever was on gate duty to approach and check it so the two of them could head home. Despite Kahako's somber mood, Ayumu had plenty to celebrate. He was to be promoted to a full fledged ANBU upon return. Unfortunately, he didn't know what news was really waiting for him.

[Ayumu/Kahako Requesting Entrance]

 

[Takaki Saeko]

“Hey hubby!” said Haruka cheerfully, waving to Ayumu and Kahako as she came to greet them. Trailing behind her, like a constant shadow, was the eyepatch-clad Eru, who merely sniffed at the sight of Ayumu. “Oh, come off of it, Eru-chan, the marriage was annulled! You can stop being so pissy toward him now,” chided Haruka, messing Eru’s hair up slightly.

What was different about the pair was that instead of their normal clothing (or in Haruka’s case, lack of clothing), the two women were dressed in their finest beige ANBU dress uniforms, complete with stupid hats that made them look like some sort of misplaced naval officers. And what Ayumu would notice was that both of their rank insignias on the lapels of their dress beiges had changed. Instead of the silver winged skull that signaled a buntaichou, Haruka’s was now the golden paulownia leaf of a Division Taichou, and Eru’s crossed swords were now replaced with the silver-winged-skull.

“Oh yeah! You guys missed your own promotions. Check it out, I’m the new head of the SOD! And all I got for it was this stupid leaf!” chuckled Haruka. “Anyway, look, once Moro-kun gets back we’re heading to Squint’s to get wasted! Whoever doesn’t get demoted by the end of the night is a rotten egg!”

“Hands to yourself, hentai!” snarled Eru, hiding behind Haruka. Haruka rolled her eyes at her new buntaichou.

“Look, Eru-chan, get over it already! That was then, this is now! Look, Ayumu-kun even has a cute new girlfriend with him!” she said, gesturing to Kahako. “And she really IS cute, too! Aah!! Like a little red riding hood!! Ayumu-kun, if you do perverted things to her…” she shook her finger at him in warning. “Anyway, I was told to give you this on your return to the village,” she said, producing a small velvet box. Inside it, were the silver crossed-swords indicating the rank of mempo. "See you at Squint's! Bring the cute girl!"

[Entry granted to both.]

 

[Junan]

Oi! A voice called out as a Shinobi with green hair and covered in snow jogged to the village.

Kushin had made his way back to Cloud, but his senses must have been off. He'd been waiting overnight under a ledge in the freezing cold. Something he thought would pay off. Yet he had been wrong, none had attempted to go missing. Better safe than sorry though.

He caught up to the group.

Pulled out his passport for inspection.

And waited to be let in silently without word of greeting.

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Haruka's boisterous voice caught Ayumu off guard as he waited for his passport to be taken. He had separated from them after Kelmura after all. Paritally because he was tired of getting the stink eye from Eru as he currently was. "Ugh, don't call me that. I thought we agreed to never talk about that mission again!" he exclaimed, his face turning slightly red as he was embarrassed to have Kahako hear about that unfortunate event. "Look, I'm pretty sure I was drugged, I would never have gotten married willingly," he protested, trying to explain to Kahako. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to explain himself.

Ayumu did take note of their uniforms, both of them were looking quite professional which was especially unusually for Haruka. Taking a closer look he noticed the insignias that had changed for both of them. 'So the mission was also an examination for them!' he thought, coming to the realization that they had both been promoted. Apparently they had held the promotion ceremony as soon as the two of them got back, according to Haruka. "Wait, so does that mean I'm a full fledged-" he started, but stopped short as an uncomfortable realization washed over him. He turned his head to Kahako whom was no doubt taking all of this information in. 'SHIT! DAMMIT, HARUKA-TAICHOU!' he thought in annoyance.

Ayumu rolled his eyes, mirroring Haruka, as Eru made another silly demand. Haruka's next comments had him cursing Haruka out in his head. First she revealed Ayumu's position in the ANBU, now she was calling Kahako his girlfriend? "Haruka-taichou, please!" he started. 'Shut your mouth!' he finished in his mind. "We are just friends," he insisted, though there was a part of him that wasn't entirely sure he meant it. The shiny insignia immediately distracted him, drawing his gaze to it. He held out his hand, taking the box and admiring the small insignia. It was small, but it meant something big. He wanted to cheer, but he restrained himself. He closed the box and gently slipped it in to a belt pouch for later as Eru and Haruka said goodbye. He turned to Kahako, who was no doubt confused.

"Uhh, look Kahako I know you've probably got some questions, but I really need to go file this report. Just... do me a favor and don't repeat anything you heard here, okay?" he said, making an excuse to get out of there and avoid the questions for now. He really did need to go file a report, anyway. "We can talk about it another time, alright? It's been... interesting! See you later!" he said, giving a small wave as he dashed off through the gates without giving her a chance to stop him. He felt bad about running off, but he needed to think about how to handle the fact that she knew now. Technically it wasn't illegal to disclose his identity as an ANBU... just strongly discouraged. Fortunately, he didn't think Kahako was the type he had to worry about using it against him. He was getting to know and trust her better. Feeling better about the accidental disclosure, he allowed himself to feel elated about his promotion. He had worked hard and earned it. The feeling would only last the night, unfortunately.

[Village Entered / Topic Left - Sorry, I'm needed inside!]

 

[Takaki Saeko]

“Allo! Bienvenue, Docteur Isaki!” said Sei as she quickly processed Kushin’s paperwork after the two people ahead of him in line had been let in by the two female ANBU. “May I ask pourquoi you were waiting in ze freezing cold rain all night? We are open vignt-et-quatre heures par jour, sept jours par semain. I wanted to get you a blanket or zome food, but ze other women, they said ‘non! His wife will kill you!’ I did not want to be like, a…how you say, homewrecker. Alors, you are free to go!”

[Entry granted to Kushin to expedite things.]

 

[Junan]

He nodded silently, not responding to the things said by the woman with the funny accent. There was sure to be lots of work built up for him that he needed to do and that was where he'd go.

Not the family that was mentioned or to see his wife to reassure her he was okay after his mission. Work.

This was the life he led, and this was the way it had to be.

[topic left, entered the village]

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

‘H-h-h-h-HUBBY?!’ Kahako thought with eyes wide. Ayumu was married?! Kahako looked down, suddenly disappointed with the entire situation. Well, it was an overall nice guy. It wouldn’t be surprising to find that he would find a pretty bride. Kahako looked up at the two in uniform in front of her. They were both cute in their own regards.

"Ugh, don't call me that. I thought we agreed to never talk about that mission again! Look, I'm pretty sure I was drugged, I would never have gotten married willingly.”

Kahako looked to Ayumu. “Oh, okay…” Kahako said while feeling better. It didn’t last long however as Haruka made mention of Kahako as Ayumu’s girlfriend. She turned as red as her cloak, before she could protest, however, Ayumu spoke up.

"Haruka-taichou, please!" he started. "We are just friends."

“Yeah, I am his doctor and we… ran into each other on the way back to the village.” Her eyes fell to the ground. Usually Kahako wasn’t one to stay quiet in front of strangers, she would at least greet them kindly. Normal ‘Kahako’ reactions were nonexistent when Ayumu was around it seemed. Kahako looked back at the girls as Ayumu received his badge of office from Haruka. “Wait… you’re ANBU?!” Kahako said startled. Out of all the braches she expected the happy-go-lucky boy to be in ANBU was definitely the last one. However, she couldn’t get much further into the conversation as he cut her off.

"Uhh, look Kahako I know you've probably got some questions, but I really need to go file this report. Just... do me a favor and don't repeat anything you heard here, okay?" "We can talk about it another time, alright? It's been... interesting! See you later!"

Kahako frowned. Well, she couldn’t blame him for wanting the end the day. Kahako had a report to file of her own accord. Out of the corner of her eye, Kahako saw a flash of green pass by her. She never met the Sennin in person, but everyone around the hospital knew what Kushin looked like. Already he was a good distance away from her. “Kushin-sama! Wait! Kushin-sama!!” Kahako yelled as loud as she possibly could to catch his attention. She figured it would be a VERY good idea to alert the man that the Main Branch Sennin and one of his underlings were currently in the hands of Hoshigakure.

Kahako ran with the utmost speed. Hopefully she could catch him before he disappeared into the crowds.

[Topic Left/entered village Edit to MFT: 250+]

 

[Junan]

His attention was grabbed as he heard his name called behind him.

Turning around his frown firmly placed on his face he wondered what could be the matter. For the tone certainly gave away that something was wrong.

Kushin looked at the young girl running straight at him What is the matter? He was assuming that it was likely the matter was someone had suffered some injury or something. Little did he know the truth of the situation.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

Kahako quickly stopped in front of the Sennin and stood straight. Sure she made a full sprint at him, but shinobi were trained to be able to withstand extended moments of running. Taking a glance to see if anyone was paying attention and not seeing any, Kahako’s voice grew softer so only Kushin could hear.

“Kushin-sama, I am Higa Kahako, mednin in training under Shinrya Kitsune-sensei. Yesterday, she, Masao-sama, Daisuke-sama, spymaster Do Natsu, and I went on a mission.” Kahako looked down at the ground in sadness. “The mission went south and the king of Bear country is dead. A genjutsu on one of our operatives by the kingslayers was the cause. However, because there is no proof Masao-sama and Kitsune-sensei have taken the blame for the king and are now in the custody of hoshigakure.” Kahako looked back up at Kushin. “The acting sennin for main branch is Do Natsu, and we are at the brink of war, Sennin-sama.”


Kahako handed Kushin her full report. Sure she summed up the situation, but even eye witness accounts left out important details.

[Sorry for poofing, was suddenly without internet over the weekend. I figure that's enough and I'll leave next post.]

 

[Junan]

Damn, so he'd have to head back out again soon.

Yet he had things he needed to drop off and pick up. Especially if he was going to be going out to hunt shinobi.

He took a deep breath, this annoyed him on many levels.

Thank you for this information.

Now he'd head to the hospital, he'd need to be prepared for this mission. Star shinobi were not to be taken lightly by all accounts.

Perhaps if he was lucky he'd get to fight against a unique bloodline and take it home with him.

[topic left]