Recovery [Private]

[Zangywai Katoma]

Katoma entered within the premises of the Scroll Locker; technically still within the area deemed legal for students and citizens. The hood of his cloak was pulled up, though the light of the chakra crystals made his face visible. Truth be told, there was barely any need for secrecy. Katoma was a licensed Med-Nin in Training, and despite talk of rebellion, he was a law-abiding shinobi and was sympathized with for his situation. If he was caught partaking in some sort of crime, he was confident he wouldn’t be severely punished. He wouldn’t take his chances though.

While permitted to enter the Scroll Locker, he was doubtful that the scroll he sought after was hidden within areas deemed legal for a Genin rank. True, it might just be hidden in plain sight, but why risk it? It would be illogical to act recklessly.

He reached near the entrance, waiting for Gurochi to catch up with him. He knew the area wouldn’t be heavily guarded, and if it were, he would most likely not need to fret, but again, no need to be reckless. If Gurochi didn’t get to prove himself here, there would be other times for that.

 

[Noke Gurochi]

Gurochi arrived at the back of the Scroll Locker and looked around for his friend Katoma but wasn’t able to locate him. He took a second to look around the building and spied his little leader standing directly in front of the main entrance with his hood up. Gurochi rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.

”So much for stealth. I hope he doesn’t think he’s invisible just cause he’s got that hood up. But Gurochi had to remember, this was this kid’s organization, not his. If this is how he wanted to do stuff then he better get used to it. He straightened himself up and walked out from the side of the building over to Katoma.

”So at this juncture I guess stealth is out of the question. What’s the plan then? Ask politely?” Gurochi really needed to get this awkward humor under control.

 

[Zangywai Katoma]

”Stealth should be left to those in a situation where failure is a possibility, Gurochi. We are permitted to enter the Scroll Locker, just not the area we need to be in. But that will come later. The time will come for subtlety, I’m sure.”

”Our goal is simple. Get in, get the scroll, and get out; a simple process. I can already narrow down the scroll’s area; I’m sure the vigilantes wouldn’t have hidden it in a place accessible to the common law-abiding shinobi, so we can assume the scroll is within the forbidden section. It should only take about half an hour searching, two hours maximum. Maybe a few more if we happen to come upon something that hints at another scroll we might need.”

”Overall, not a very difficult operation. Again, just simple recovery. Even if we get caught, we can only be tried for intruding. The scroll is technically mine, theoretically.”

Katoma was typically very verbose, which didn’t couple well with the fact that his voice sounded a tad dreary. He was never very good with non-verbal cues either. If unrestricted, the boy could talk for days about nothing.

 

[Noke Gurochi]

”Right… Well I guess you’ve got your story straight.” To Gurochi, it really sounded like this kid knew what he was doing. While his tone was monotonous, Gurochi’s gruff and deep voice wasn’t any more pleasurable to listen too so he couldn’t really complain.

”Well it sounds like you’ve got everything planned out. Except how we’re goint to get into the forbidden section. Not sure their gonna welcome us in with open arms. Probably gonna be locked up tight.” Gurochi walked up the steps to the scroll locker, since that was the only part of the plan that hadn’t been officially accounted for, Gurochi assumed he’d start walking in and let his leader explain on the way inside.

Theres gotta be more to this scroll than what he’s tellin me. Locking it up in the forbidden section? That has to mean these vigilante characters had access to the forbidden section in the first place. Most likely those stinkin’ ANBU. Thinkin they can do whatever they want…

 

[Zangywai Katoma]

”That’s the part of the plan where we blow things up and burn things, Gurochi-kun.”

Katoma batted his slanted eyes and grinned.

”So long as we do this subtly. I can use my radiation to decay the walls and make it all look like improper maintenance.” He lowered his voice. ”I must level with you, I have little knowledge on the building. I only roughly know the location of the forbidden area. Most of our transportation will be through small holes through the flooring we can cover up with bookshelves. I’m assuming the area I’m looking for is near the bottom, so we can go down through holes and go back up with agility. Also, do be careful not to leave any fingerprints. Just use your sleeve before opening or touching anything. Or a pair of gloves, if you have them. This isn't a very difficult thing to do, so I trust I won't have to remind you. It also should be said that you are discouraged from leaving any kind of evidence. Fortunately, your hair probably won't fall out often. This isn't a huge deal, though, the number of short haired Sunans are astonishing. Regardless, be cautious.

Are you prepared?”

Katoma slipped his sleeves over his hands and adjusted his robes, waiting for Gurochi's response. He may have been a bit dramatic about the need for discretion. The consequences wouldn't be too terribly severe. However, it was best to be cautious.

 

[Noke Gurochi]

Gurochi grinned back at his leader, he was really starting to like this kid.

”While Radiation is all well and good, if we’re going underground then you best leave this to an earth specialist.” Gurochi performed the necessary handseals and spoke in a lowered tone. ”Earth Style: Inner Earth Reflection Lure Jutsu.” The earth around Gurochi shifted and moved to swallow him whole, leaving no trace that he had ever been there. But as soon as he disappeared, two hands came back up from the ground and dragged Katoma underneath with him. Both Gurochi and his leader had now reached the bottom first floor of the Scroll Locker, while successfully leaving no trace that they had ever gone through.

”Sorry for being abrupt. I thought it best to show rather than tell. Unfortunately the jutsu doesn’t work on walls. Only on floors and ceilings. You’ll have to melt us through the walls with your radiation.” Gurochi put on a pair of gloves he usually used when practicing with large blades to give him extra grip and started thumbing through the scrolls.

”What does this thing even look like? How’m I supposed to know if I find it exactly?”

 

[Zangywai Katoma]

Katoma scowled as he was dragged down into the Earth and brought into the earth. As they entered the floor, he looked back at the wall, and then at Gurochi with a sneer.

”The goal was to test your cooperation and subtlety, Gurochi.” He sighed and brushed the dirt off of his hair. ”Both of which you have not completed, but I suppose, given the goal in mind, it’s acceptable; nay, proper. Good initiative, I suppose.” Katoma walked forward, examining the area. ”Thrifty though, I’ll give you that. Insubordinate, but thrifty. And while it worked out this time, I urge you not to take any unnecessary risks, nor dragging me underground without my consent.”

”A bit quick on the trigger. Can’t complain, though, he got us in.”

”It should be in here somewhere. Quite honestly...

I have no idea what it looks like. It should have a diagram of Barnyx in it, though, so that might be relevant. We’ll have to search through them by hand, unless you have a ‘find-the-scroll’ jutsu.” That was it. That was the height of Katoma’s humor. Truly, though, there was simply no easier method.

 

[Noke Gurochi]

So that’s how he’s playin this game. Testing me while we’re on a mission. Clever.

Gurochi couldn’t help but smirk at his leader. He liked the reaction he got.

”So you’re not really one for surprises, eh? I’ll keep that in mind.” Gurochi took note of Katoma’s smaller height. If it were him hiding a scroll from Katoma, he’d put it somewhere he couldn’t reach. Gurochi took to searching the top shelves, his gloves making sure that no fingerprints were left behind.

”’find-the-scroll jutsu.’ They outta make something like that. I think everyone would be surprised how often that’d come in handy.” As Gurochi thumbed through the scrolls he couldn’t help but think to himself why some one would want to take this scroll and hide it from him. And also why Katoma wanted it back so badly. It was just a dead snake. Nothing more. There had to be more to this story… or maybe he was just over thinking it…

 

[Zangywai Katoma]

”I enjoy surprises. I enjoy scheduled surprises, that are on task and efficient.” Oh, this was going to be balls of fun. He glanced at Gurochi; efficient, taking to the top. This was gonna take a while, Katoma had no doubt of that. Efficiency was key, though. Any saved time was time they have to leave.

Although, they hadn’t been particularly quick. Nobody had caught them yet, and Katoma knew this plan was foolproof. They weren’t doing too much damage, and Katoma could weasel himself out of the situation if they needed to.

He brushed aside some scrolls, continuing to fumble around. ”I don’t suppose you’ve recovered it yet?” Okay, so he was a little impatient. It had only been five minutes, but it felt like this had gone on for weeks.

((TURTLESPEED RECOVERY NO JUTSU.))

 

[Noke Gurochi]

Gurochi thumbed through the documents with waning interest. ”Snakes, giants, reptiles, large reptiles… sheesh, you think they’d have this alphabetized by now.” This whole situation was getting a bit dreary. There wasn’t even any sunlight outside to brighten up the place. This was the reason he avoided libraries.

”No sir, nothing yet.” Gurochi glanced over at his new leader and then back at the scrolls. ”You know, for the forbidden section this place has pretty poor security… but I guess it’s cause scrolls haven’t been used in quite some time.”

 

[Zangywai Katoma]

"Anbu have a little more to worry about, I'd think. You know, border control, population control. Control seems to be the running theme..."

Out of the corner of his eye, Katoma managed to locate a small disheveled pile of unwound scrolls. He knelt down, brushing them to the side to reveal a small panel peeled back.

"I believe we may have just found it..."

Katoma reached in, rifling around until he felt the tubular shape of a scroll amid dusty papers and stamped documents, stored away for safekeeping. He decided to appropriate some of those too. He pulled his hand out of the opening, lifting up a plain looking scroll with an ivory roller. He opened it up, giving it a quick scan before stuffing it, along with several stamped papers, into his robe.

"We've found what we needed, Gurochi-kun. We should be returning to the surface, unless there's anything you need?"

 

[Noke Gurochi]

Gurochi let out a long sigh of relief and rolled his shoulders. Searching blindly for scrolls on long dead snakes wasn't exactly what he'd call a favorite pass time.

”God, that was boring… But we have the scroll now and that’s all that matters I suppose.” Gurochi squinted his eyes and looked around the darkened scroll lockers. This place seemed to go on forever and he had no idea where they were.

”So… whats the plan for getting out of here? The earth jutsu I used can only go through the floor, not ceilings, and I’m pretty sure we can’t just waltz out the front door. Any ideas?”

 

[Zangywai Katoma]

”It’s a revolution, Gurochi-kun, the fun comes later.” Katoma’s hands flared with radiation. ”As for our escape, I believe a simple method is possible. I’ll decay a hole in the floors and climb up until we reach ground level. And then I can just radiate a hole outwards, and you can seal it back up with Earth. Assuming you’re up to the task.

It’ll be my original plan, only reversed for convenience.”

The pale boy radiated a hole in the ceiling, climbed onto a desk and leapt upwards, grabbing the floor and pulling himself up.

”I’ll make sure to cover our tracks. Make sure you take everything you want for now. If you see a scroll you’d like, just carry it with you.”

 

[Noke Gurochi]

”Whatever you say, boss.” Gurochi jumped out of the hole that his leader had made and sealed it back up with his earth Jutsu. Earth was really Gurochi’s favorite kind of jutsu, nice and sturdy, dependable and always there. As he followed his leader out of the library and sealed up the make-shift doorways behind them.
”So why did we need this scroll anyway? Does it reveal some ancient hidden secret about Barnix or whatever he’s called?”

 

[Zangywai Katoma]

Katoma ascended another floor in the same way, reaching ground level: an area tucked behind a few bookshelves. He could burn his way out the side and leave Gurochi to close it, escaping without leaving a trace.

”Erm...” The young prince’s face shifted a bit. ”Yes and no. Within this scroll are the biological mappings of Barnyx. It should hopefully confirm that Barnyx is being used for crude purposes by the village, and allow me to compare his biology to my own. We may be able to prove that I am a descendant of this mighty beast, as some shinobi descend of the dragons. I trust you believe in such beasts?”

He gave a small smile to Gurochi. ”You seem like the superstitious type, if you don’t mind me saying so. Come, this is our last stop. I’d be appreciative if you’d seal the last hole so we can leave. This place seems rarely visited, but better safe than sorry.”

This man. Boy? Man. Was quite interesting. He was tall, gruff, and not quite as, shall we say, fluid as the Prince of The South’s people. And yet he seemed to align himself with Katoma’s choices. Curious, that two strangers of such different origins would be collaborating.