Better Wisdom than Gold [Kaoru]

[Santaru Rin]

The innumerable hidden passages around Kumogakure no Sato had their advantages and drawbacks. Rin's favorite quality about the labyrinth was how the right tunnel at the right time could permit a dramatic and unexpected appearance; that was also her least favorite quality when it worked against her. Today, it permitted Rin to whisk Kaoru away from the Torre Celeste and into the bowels of the cold earth without wasting time in the ice and snow.

The black tunnels were plagued with disorienting genjutsu and clever devices designed to baffle intruders, but even those glamours and parlor tricks had nothing on the skin-crawling genjutsu wards layered into the fabric of the ANBU's subterranean headquarters. The Sennin and trainee emerged into the light of the Sileo and passed through the ward. Proximity to Rin protected Kaoru from all but the cobweb-touch of the protective enchantments graven into the place.

"You get used to it," she said, and steered Kaoru into a lift that took them up out of forbidden territory and onto the holy ground of logistics. They passed into a great bullpen-style office, cluttered with desks, papers, and weapons, but empty of nearly anyone. One exception was a grizzled, mostly bald man whose face and scalp were a lattice of angry, livid scarring. Despite his frightful appearance, he smiled at Kaoru.

"Hooked a new one, eh, Santaru-sama?" he asked. "Ojii-san will take care of it. What's your name, kid?" he asked.

Rin patted Kaoru on the shoulder. "He will give you the seal which allows you access to the upper levels of the Sileo, and he can answer some of your questions. I am going to fetch the quartermaster that we might give you your gear." With that, the Sennin left the girl alone with the middle-aged veteran and his desk full of tattooing implements of various levels of sophistication.

 

[Kaoru]

Kaoru couldn't see a thing as Santaru sama led her through a passgeway, her hand was cold yet comforting as it covered her eyes. Kaoru felt a tinling on her skin, it shot a chill down her spine. Where are we going? she thought as they tredded through the dark corridor.

"You get used to it," the words gave Kaoru comfort as they turned and were lifted by some kind of contraption. Santaru sama uncovered Kaoru's eyes. They arrived in an office like room, cluttered with desks with mountain high piles of paper. There was only one person in the room, a big man, who had numerous scars, his appearance at first glance made Kaoru freeze, but she relaxed when she saw the man show a kind smile. She smiled in return.

"Hooked a new one, eh, Santaru-sama?" He faced Santaru sama, then turning his attention to Kaoru he said "Ojii-san will take care of it. What's your name, kid?" Kaoru straightened up in front of the man "My name is Kaoru" she said with a bow.

Santaru sama patted her on the shoulder "He will give you the seal which allows you access to the upper levels of the Sileo, and he can answer some of your questions. I am going to fetch the quartermaster that we might give you your gear." she explained, Kaoru replied with a nod as the Sennin left the room, leaving Kaoru with the stranger and his desk full of tattooing utensils. Kaoru took in a deep breath. "Please take care of me" she said shyly performing another bow with a kind smile on her face.

 

[Santaru Rin]

"Don't worry," he replied. "It only stings a bit, Kaoru-chan. So you'll be the newest trainee, then that means you must be in Training Squad 1. TS-1 has all of the trainees technically, and is led by the Commander. It is part of the School of Special Circumstances." He pulled on a pair of disposable latex gloves. "Please take a seat on that stool, kid, and bare your arm. First I'm going to swab your skin, and then I'm going to apply this stencil. The lotus seal is the seal for initiates, trainees. It lets you access the uppermost levels of the Sileo, including this one and the barracks. You know about the barracks? You're entitled to living space here. Most choose to stay with their families at least for a while, but almost everyone winds up here. Even the Commander is down here more often than not."

Once Kaoru had complied, the seal artist would begin his work by wiping her thin bicep with rubbing alcohol. With careful strokes he applied the outline of the seal, and then, removing his tools from the autoclave, began the surprisingly short process of indelibly sealing Kaoru with chakra-contaminated inks. By the time the quartermaster came 'round, Kaoru had already experienced the third part of her rebirth as an ANBU trainee.

 

[Kaoru]

"Don't worry," he replied. "It only stings a bit, Kaoru-chan. So you'll be the newest trainee, then that means you must be in Training Squad 1. TS-1 has all of the trainees technically, and is led by the Commander. It is part of the School of Special Circumstances." therough man said as he put on a pair of gloves. Kaoru's heart went into her throat A tatoo!?! she thought frantically. After the initial shock though Kaoru realized that this was part of her initiation in to the ANBU. She calmed herself down.

The man pointed to a stool adjacent to him and orderd Kaoru to take a seat.He then explained what he was going to do Kaoru nodded. She sat down and pulled up the sleeve from her blouse. As he prepared the man discussed about the barracks and what the seal did. "Maybe I'll move their." Kaoru said absent mindingly, as she thought about the small apartment that she currently lived in. Kaoru stuck her arm out to the man as he prepared to apply the seal. The alchohol was cold and it tickled as he sketched the flower design. Her heart was racing as the man began to put the needle to her skin. Kaoru clenched her fists and teeth as her arm was filled with chakra filled ink. It felt warm and stung as the man continued to inject the design into her flesh. When he was finished Kaoru was relieved it was over as she stared at the design in her arm it made a great contrast against her ivory skin. It was sensitive to the touch. She turned to the man "Thank you" she said with a smile. Just then Kaoru noticed someone standing in the room Who is that? she thought.

 

[Takaki Saeko]

"Ah, all set?" asked the adjutant who had been waiting at the doorway for the seal-master to finish his work on Kaoru. With a nod from the old, scarred man, the adjutant gestured for Kaoru to rise and follow him. "Alright, trainee, we're going to see Anatori, our quartermaster. He doesn't actually come to people - you have to go to him. One of those things about old men. Please follow me," he said, starting a brisk walk down the hall.

As they walked through the corridors of the second level down in relative silence, Kaoru could now see some of the daily activity of the Sileo as well as its overall appearance. Sophisticated-looking passageways lined with metal bulkheads and computer monitor displays alternated with large chambers lined with natural rock formations and illuminated with large, humming overhead fluorescent arrays. Piping, wiring and ventilation ducts seemed to erupt from the walls and ceilings with alarming irregularity, only to disappear into the earth itself.

Periodically, she would see ANBU and Sileo support staff conducting their daily business, whether conducting armed patrols, inspecting machinery and paneling, or simply taking a jog around the place to relieve boredom and burn calories. The adjutant signaled for Kaoru to stop for a moment as a group of sweating ANBU, carrying what seemed like impossibly heavy boxes of ammunition, passed in front. Well, everyone carried a box save for the woman who seemed to be leading them, who was clad only only in her plate carrier vest and a pair of sea-green panties.

"Buntaichou Morishima," said the adjutant, saluting to her.

"Hey there!" said the woman, waving airily to the adjutant as well as Kaoru. She turned to her straining subordinates. "C'mon, pick up the pace already! I already promised you guys something nice for your efforts!"

"So not worth it..." grumbled the three others.

After the group passed, the adjutant and Kaoru started to march again, and before long they stood in front of a large metal door over which was written a simple sign: "Quartermaster"

"Alright, I leave you in his hands. Just come out when you've gotten equipped and someone will come get you," said the ANBU, pressing a button next to the sliding door.

The inside possessed a shabby charm to it, and smelled faintly of sausage, cigar smoke, and bolter oil. Five feet from the entry, access to the rest of the room was immediately cut off by a floor-to-ceiling metal fence with a slot cut into it, behind which was a desk and a dumpy-looking, slightly surly-looking man clad in a greasy tank-top with entirely too much hair on his chest and not enough on his head. He sat in a beaten-up rolling chair, his feet up on the desk as he eyed the new arrival.

"Who are you? Are you here to return armor and weapon of delinquent Himura Shiro?"

 

[Kaoru]

"Ah, all set?" said the man as Kaoru whipped her head around to the man. "Y - Yes sir" she said rising from her seat ."Alright, trainee, we're going to see Anatori, our quartermaster. He doesn't actually come to people - you have to go to him. One of those things about old men. Please follow me," the man began to walk down the hall, with Kaoru following close behind.

As they walked, Kaoru began to wonder what kind of man the quartermaster was. Is he the heroic type? Or more like a businessman? She let many different types of men flood her mind, trying to determine the best possible fit. After a few minutes of this futile thinking, Kaoru began to notice her surroundings. There were evidences of technology within the earth. It looked quite strange to Kaoru too see a television within the rock and wiring snaking throughout the soil. Once in a while, Kaoru saw ANBU going on their daily tasks, she marveled at the sights, only to be stopped by the adjutant signaling her to halt as a squad of people passed in front of them. It was a group of men carrying huge boxes, led by a woman who's outfit made Kaoru flustered. How can any one only wear that in public? she thought as the adjuntant saluted to her. The woman responded and waved to the pair, Kaoru waved back with a weak smile. The buntaichou shouted at the others, while the carriers grumbled under their breaths.

Soon enough, the trainee and adjuntant continued their journey to the quarter master. Within minutes they were standing in front of a huge metal door. Quartermaster was written in plain text on a metal plaque above the doorway. The man pushed a button on the door, he explained that the quartermaster would give Kaoru her gear, then someone will come to retrieve her. Kaoru nodded in affirmation.

As the door slid open, Kaoru was tempted to cover her nose,but refrained from doing so in order to not disrespect her authority. Is this really an office of an ANBU? she thought as she made her way into the room. A few feet from the door there was a wall with a hole in it. Through it Kaoru saw something she did not exactly expect. All of her earlier thoughts were completely vaporized as she saw a man sitting with his feet up on the desk. He looked as if he hadn't gone out in a few days and had a stain on his tank top. To Kaoru he looked like a stereotypical tv junky. The man looked straight at Kaoru through the hole and said
"Who are you? Are you here to return armor and weapon of delinquent Himura Shiro?"

Kaoru was taken a back at the man's statement. She wasn't very familiar with this "Himura Shiro", but she swore she had heard the name before. Kaoru performed a slight bow and said Uhh N - No sir, my name is Kaoru I just became a trainee, and I came to retrieve my gear." she gave the man a polite smile, as he continued to stare at her suspiciously.

 

[Takaki Saeko]

"Oh, you are new trainee? Okay, is good! Anatori will help! I give you gear to smash missing nin testicle under boot of yours, yes?" said the man, rolling around on his chair to pick up various items that were strewn around the nearby workbenches and tables beyond the wire barrier.

The first item he slid through was a matte-white mask that Kaoru had perhaps seen before worn by various ANBU mempo around the village and atop the gates, but never probably up close like this. The inside, rather than being a simple hard surface, was actually well-padded with a dark, unnervingly fleshy-feeling material that seemed to suck one's face into its contours. By turning a dial on one of the outside edges of the mask, the ballistic lenses covering the eyeholes could change between different colored lenses.

"Is M-sixty-seven Mark of Two facemask for protection of face and head. Is better type of mask because when you are shot in face, splinters will not fly into eyes and make you blind. Is good invention, I try myself," said the quartermaster. Contrary to what she might have expected of a piece of armor that could absorb a .308-caliber direct hit, it felt surprisingly light in her hands, and even more surprisingly, a bit flexible. "You must keep blank because you are trainee. When you are mempo, then you will paint."

Next through the slot was a confusing jumble of straps and mesh-netting wrapped around something that felt hard and heavy, but also smelled of blood and smoke.

"Equipment of load-bearing and plate carrier. Basic component is vest and front and back armor plate. Can take impact of seven and six two by fifty-four caliber direct hit. Since you are girl, I give you armor for shape of girl," he said, referencing the fact that the front armor on Kaoru's issued rigging had two curved sections in front that the armor plates for men did not possess. "Is advantage of system that you can add pouches to vest for explosive and weapon and drinking canteen."

With a scraping sound, the next item through was a simple-looking weapon that seemed to be a dagger of some sort, accompanied by a sheath and holster.

"Is Santaru-Taji fighting dirk. Is nice for sticking of enemy like pig and cutting throat," he said, before rolling away to get something else. For a second, he disappeared out of view behind a rack, but reappeared soon afterwards, carrying the most fearsome-looking item yet, which he passed with some difficulty through the slot and into Kaoru's hands.

"ST-15 assault bolter in configuration of standard. Five and five six millimeter by forty-five caliber for piercing of armor and for shredding of insides. Two point two seven kilogram unloaded with bolt track of four-hundred hundred and six millimeters long. Action of direct impingement with muzzle velocity of nine hundred seventy-five meters per second. Effective range five hundred meters. Rate of fire is eight hundred bolts per minute on automatic mode. I give you three magazines of thirty round to begin," he said, also passing three curved-looking metal items to her. Noticeably, they were all loaded to capacity with wickedly sharp-looking quarrels.

"Many trainee ask of Anatori 'oh quartermaster, why can I not have drum magazine of hundred rounds for compensation of small penis?' and I say 'hundred-round drum magazine is piece of shit for edgy teenager hipster only good for jamming in battle, stupid!' Anyway, yes, that is equipment for you. If you want pistol bolter for executing of scum to set example to troops, it will cost you additional," he said, shrugging, before eyeing Kaoru suspiciously. "Hey, have you ever fired bolter in actuality?"

 

[Kaoru]

Kaoru was slightly taken a back by the quartermaster's statement about the goal of the gear. The man had a New York accent, and his grammar wasn't the best. She watched him go around his half of the room with his chair, picking up items here and there. Kaoru nervously played with her fingers as she awaited the man to come to the window.

He rolled up to the window in his chair and slid a mask through the slot. Kaoru quickly grabbed and examined it. It looked like the ANBU masks you usually see, but it had no markings on it. She put it on her face to test it out, and was alarmed to find that it wasn't hard plaster as she had expected. Instead it felt like she was putting on another face as the flesh like material stuck to her face. She felt around the mask after it had a good grip on her face, there was a small knob on the side. She turned it and found the lenses over her eyes change. The man explained the features of the mask and how she couldn't paint it yet. She removed the mask with surprisingly not much difficulty.

The quartermaster next gave Kaoru a bundle of straps and netting. The weight surprised Kaoru as her arms were weighed down at first, but after a moment she had a grip on the package and managed to hold it at chest level. It was body armor, consisting of two body plates, one for the front and one for the back. The quartermaster continued to explain the gear. Kaoru unwrapped the straps and examined the armor she attempted to put it over her head, but it proved more complicated than it looks. How do you put this on? she thought as she continued to experiment with the equipment.

A scraping sound, interrupted Kaoru she quickly pulled off the straps tangled around her arms and set it next to her feet. She received a small dagger with a holster and sheath. Kaoru looked at the small knife, it was simple, with a brown handle. The man looked at the small weapon and said it was good for cutting throats. Kaoru slashed it through the air "Its really light and easy to use." she said as she began to attach the holster to the belt of her skirt.

The man rolled away from the window and seemed to disappear for a moment, he soon returned with a huge weapon. It barely fit through the window. Kaoru held the contraption. Something about was painfully familiar,b ut she couldn't put her finger on it. The man looked to Kaoru and explained it was an assult bolter. Kaoru gasped as she remebered that night at the academy when that beast appeared and the ANBU had used one of these to affirm the animal's death. Kaoru pretty much ignored the rest of what the man said, she picked out something about a magazine and compensation for a part of his body. She was brought back to the present by the quartermaster's queston"Hey, have you ever fired bolter in actuality?" The man continued with his suspicious stare. Kaoru stared back for a moment and said "No sir I have never used one of these, but I have seen one being used." she put the machine in one of her hands as she swiped a piece of hair from her face" How about you sir?"

 

[Takaki Saeko]

Anatori chuckled at the trainee’s question. Ah, of course she would not know about his reputation – few of the ANBU who were not in senior command knew what he had been in the past. After all, the bloody deeds that earned him a place of horrorstruck fame in the annals of village lore had happened over thirty years ago. But unlike what one might expect, he did not mind the shrinking of his fame – some things were best forgotten under the blanket of history.

“Yes, many bolter I have fired in past. Now I just clean and polish for trainees and agent,” he said, petting a gray and black-striped cat that hopped up onto the desk unprompted as cats often do. Turning his gaze back to her, he pointed at the weapon she held. “When I was trainee, I had friend named Zaibu who shot self in head because he looked down barrel of bolter while trying to clean. I scrubbed brains of Zaibu off ceiling for many hours. Bastard Zaibu did not follow four rules of bolter-arm safety!

“All bolter are always loaded! Especially when some idiot says is empty!”

“Never point bolter at object or enemy you are not completely ready for destroying!

“Never put finger on trigger until you have intended target in sights!”

“Always be sure of target and what is behind it!

“You hold in hands not toy for flashing to girls to try to sleep with you, but a tool that can hurt you and friends if you show not proper respect for it. Bolter has no mind of own. It cannot pull own trigger – only you make decision, Kaoru-with-no-family-name. Only you control who is killed,” said Anatori, sighing. “If ammunition you want for practice, come back. I am here all day and all night. Okay, you all set?”

 

[Kaoru]

The man chuckled as Kaoru answered Did I say something funny? she thought as she evaluated her answer in her head, finding no cause for the man's amusement. Her thoughts were interrupted when she she heard the soft sound of a cat landing on the desk. Kaoru was attmepted to pet the cat, but restrained from doing so in order keep a professional front.

Kaoru felt a shiver down her spine as she heard the story of Zaibu, she pictured the promising young man gone in an instant due to his own weapon. She looked down to the bolter in her head I hope that doesn't happen to me she thought. Kaoru looked back to the man andd listened intently to the safety rules associated with the weapon. She nodded in affirmation to every point, making sure to have a mental note of each.

The man ended with notifying Kaoru that if she wasnted to practice and get ammunition she could always go there. She gave him a bow and said "Thank you so much for your help. I am set to go, sir" she straightened up with a smile on her face. Her excitement to start training was rising.

Spoiler

OOC: I am so sorry this post wasn't the best I was kinda swamped with hw and practice DX

 

[Takaki Saeko]

“Alright then, trainee. If you’re all set, then you’re dismissed for the day,” said the adjutant as he came over and laid a hand on Kaoru’s shoulder reassuringly. “Thank you, Quartermaster,” he said, to which Anatori nodded with a grunt. The old man returned his attention to a battered monochrome television set broadcasting the Raiden’s Eye Shoguns versus Kelmura Ainu Warriors game, putting his feet up on the desk again. Another cat leapt onto his lap unbidden, stretching itself out and flopping where it pleased.

“I’ll go ahead and show you out. For now, since you live in your own place, you may return there for tonight to sort out any remaining business you may have up there. You may want to apply for quarters in the Sileo soon, however. The training program is intense and long, and you won’t want to make the trek back to the Cronopolis late at night. All I can say is, good luck! And welcome to the ANBU.”

[Yay! You're free to leave topic - Tama hasn't created a mission thread for us yet, so I'll just let you know when to join in. Good job!]

 

[Kaoru]

Kaoru felt the adjuntant put a hand on her shoulder. She was slightly startled until she heard the familiar voice thank the man and tell that she was dismissed. The quartermaster let out a grunt as he rolled over to enjoy his beaten up television, another cat had lept on his lap. Kaoru then turned back around to the adjuntant, he explained that it may be wise to move into the barracks. Kaoru acknowledged the suggestion with a nod. She gave the man a bow and said "Thank you very much for today." Kaoru's vvoice was chipper, quiet as ever though. She quickly ran out of the Sileo, her gear in tow. Kaoru couldn't wait for the future adventures that awaited her.

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