Village Infection [B-Rank/Itami/Oba]

[Honma Kotone]

They had been walking for several hours, in the dead of night, due to how urgent this mission was; the Sennin and her med-nin had no time to waste till morning. Such was the seriousness of this mission, although little did the two know that their lives would be in peril as they approached a village completely shaded in mystery. The Sennin's own arranged group of med-nin had failed to report in and thus raised alarm bells within the Medical department. The woman took it upon herself to deal with the mission personally, although, as stated before, she was going to be assisted by a promising young med-nin called: Itami.

The almost dark brown sands, dark due to the vague moonlight, were quite the unpleasant experience as their grainy claws filled the gaps between the Sennin's toes. She really detested the feeling of sand beneath her nail and, well guess what, she had sand beneath her toe nails. Kinnaku would trail on, holding her arms crossed to keep the grey duffle coat closed over, instead of using the buttons as, to her, holding herself felt warmer than just buttoning up. The tail of her coat flapped cautiously against the mid-night wind, but every so often one would be able to pick up the scent of blood being carried along with the air.

Kinnaku, walking beside Itami, would turn to her and smile, "Are you feeling okay about this mission? wondering if her comrade was going to be okay, wondering freely into the unknown.


[Small post is small]

 

[Kokomo]

Shady. Dark. Artificial Moonlight. Silence. Night.

It was like a horror film. Itami dressed in a black leggings with knee high running boots and a long-sleeved white shirt with a medical vest over it. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, and her emerald eyes reflected in the moonlight as they stood in the sand before the hollow village. Oba, the new medical Sennin, spoke to Itami, and her head turned slowly from the ghostly village towards the woman, "Yes, of course." Itami was trying to stay professional, but the little girl inside of her was freaking out. "What are we going to be doing, exactly? Investigating?" Itami would ask as they made their way forward towards the village. The sand making a horrible squeaking sound under her boots.

Why was her heart beating so fast? Maybe it was the fact that no one had came back from the mission. Maybe it was the eerie silence. Maybe, just made, she could feel the darkness surrounding her. Something terrible was happening, and her motherly intuition was bugging out on her. Lest she back away--of course not--but in fact, made her way with Oba with confident stride. Itami had always been pretty good at pretending not to be afraid--especially as a child. They were on a mission after-all. A life saving one, no doubt.

 

[Honma Kotone]

Oba would give the young woman a confident smile, perhaps teetering on the edge of becoming too comforting for one's own good - at least by ranking standards. "Well, I had sent over a medical team to this village just two days ago." She would wet her lips as the wind battered against her face, softening for a moment or two, and then howling once more, "They were to investigate a sickness that some of the native residence were suffering from, but after the first day we didn't received work back from them." The Sennin applied more pressure to her self-hug, winching at the cold breeze that found its way up her thigh.

"I didn't want to let another team wonder perilously into the unknown, so I decided to come myself and investigate as to their disappearance and the village itself. However, I was advised, that it may be more safer for me to have someone join me." Kinnaku turned her head to Itami, smiling softly even if she looked uncomfortable due to the wind, but retaining an aura of pleasantness about her none-the-less. In truth, Oba believed that those members of her branch were already dead and that was the reason why they were unable to contact back in with her. She didn't want to believe that, but with these events, there was always a certain foul odor that really hit him: a sort of wake up call to one's mind. Anyway, as the two approached from a high, sandy, dune; their eyes would set upon a small village, which had been closed off by a stone wall that encompassed it.

Kinnaku would hold her position and look at the younger woman, "Don't you notice anything?" She would keep her gaze firmly onto the village, which adorned no lights, no sounds and only one smell: the sickening smell of rotting flesh. Although the smell seemed to be fresh, which didn't help anyone's senses if they stood close by. The village looked fairly large, opted in with stone houses made out of bricks and roofed with tiles; a true, crafting village if there ever was one.

It held no signs of attack, which was odd.

 

[Kokomo]

It was ironic how the woman before her could speak so confidently and yet talk of things so deep and dark. It was as though her words were the ocean--large, deep, and endless to Itami--and yet, she played the part of God. She was totally unfazed by anything as simple and small as an ocean to her large and experienced eyes. They were looking through different worlds. So, what had happened to the young medics that she had sent out? Did they get lost on their way? Were they injured? What happened on that starry starry night? Would they ever find out? Or, perhaps, the two would venture in, do the research, and hurry out without a worry or care what happened in the violent haze on those bloody nights.

The darkness before them in the village changed colored hues from the blackest of blacks to the darkest of grays. It was plagued by a sickness of some sort that Kinnaku, herself, did not specify because...well...frankly she didn't know either. Itami found herself wondering if the medics that were sent in ended up harmed by the unknown illness as well. Was she at risk? A dark worry began to whelm over her if she should have brought a mask of some sort to protect herself from any halogens floating around in the air. They didn't know if it was airborne, touch, taste, ingestion--they knew nothing, because no one came back with any information!

As they moved even closer to the village, Itami scowled, stopping along side Oba with the same confused look on her face. There was no light, sound, movement--nothing. It was a total ghost town. "Are we at the right place?" Itami would ask, confused by the death surrounding the village. "There is literally...nothing over there." Itami turned to look at the woman before her--who, oddly enough, looked incredibly similar to herself--"Augh!" She exclaimed, scowling and rubbing her nose that began to burn and ache. "What is that....that...smell?" Itami would take a quick step forward as she leaned forward as though she was trying to scowl into the darkness and see into the village. "How many people have died from this plagued?" It was a rhetorical question--Itami knew Oba didn't know. "It reeks of at least a thousand...oh my..." She hissed through her teeth and shook her head. "I think we've got our hands full here, Sennin-Dono."

 

[Honma Kotone]

"We are..." Kinnaku would keep her sights set on the silent village, addressing her subordinate with a stern tone. The Sennin could smell the foulness that danced from the quiet streets, the veins of the village, and was unshaped by its utter stench. She had smelt eroded flesh this like before, but there was something odd about the smell and that was, perhaps, the freshness of it. It was a weird thing to say that the smell of rotting flesh smelled fresh? The whole point of calling it 'rotten' is identifying the material as degraded, moldy, smelly and off. "Let's get a little closer." She would turn to Itami, lightly touching her polish purple nails against the woman's shoulder; reassuring her with a half-formed smile.

As the two approached the southern gate, a large monument to expert craftsmanship, but really it was just a large, well constructed, gate. Oba would narrow her eyes at the closed green barrier, its walls were sealed off and that unsettling the Sennin somewhat. "Were they trying to prevent the spread of infection?" Kinnaku would add, placing one hand on her hip with that narrowed eye'd expression.

The Sennin lowered her arms, no longer holding her duffle coat against her breasts, and placed those nippy fingers inside of said coat's pockets. Those deep grooves gave the woman comfort in the chilly midnight breeze. "Well, you're in charge, Itami." She would turn, arching her body forward ever-so-slightly and giving the woman a playful smile. "What would you do, in this situation?" The Sennin reformed her body and crumpled up her shoulders, this expression of her physical body showing her uncomfortableness at the cold air.

Even in this situation, the Sennin was a breath of fresh air - a warmth in the night - as she wanted to test Itami on her abilities to command a situation. it was risky but maybe, just maybe, worth it?

 

[Kokomo]

The pair moved closer, there steps squeaking with that sickening echo in the sand. The sound was vile and continuos as Itami's rubber boots squished into the sand, her fingers twitching as the sound began to bother her highly sensitive ears. Kinnaku's hand propelling her gently forward with a sense of motherly calamity. She was trying to reassure Itami with that gentle touch, warm exterior, and pleasant smile--and it was working. As they moved forward, Itami gawked at the sight of the piece of artwork that was...disappointedly enough...nothing but an over-achieved gate. Who would spend so much time on making a gate?

Oba spoke, the logic in her voice not as reassuring as her gentle encouragement. Itami turning to look at her with almost a worried expression on her face. "If we sent people here, then certainly this wouldn't be blocked up anyone--wouldn't they have opened it?" Itami's eyes rose up to the towering height of the gate, not finding anyone who seemed to be ready and willing to welcome the medics into the city. Oh no, they were not welcome. "So...where are our members?" Itami asked. turning around as though to symbolize their MIA positioning. There was nothing out here. It was totally deserted in the desert.

"Can't go around it, can't go under it, can't go through it--I guess we have to go over it." Itami smiled wryly. There was no doubt in her mind that she was concerned about what was on the other side of that gate--or what happened to their medical troops. "Quietly." She confirmed as though to help herself get through the moment. Moving towards the wall, Itami ran her hand quietly across it, as though silently hoping it'd just fall open, before focusing her chakra into her feet, lifting a leg and sticking it to the side of the wall, the other one following until she was standing vertical, her ponytail falling behind her as she moved silently and swiftly up to the top of the wall, sitting at the top and waiting for Kinnaku to join her.

 

[Honma Kotone]

Oba listened to Itami's words, words that attempted to analysis the situation and commute them into an understanding of her own. However, it was quite clear to the Sennin that the med-nin she had sent to the village were dead; a gut feeling that every mother had. And yes, she really did look to those within her branch as family, whether they be cousins, brothers or sisters. It pained her, so deeply, to know (to speculate) that the people she had sent to the village had died - even though they were only there on her orders and there do help the sick people. And now, what had become of their kindness? Kinnaku would remain silent as Itami spoke, questioning the situation and the location of the branch members. The Sennin's silence was enough of an answer for the med-nin.

The woman watched as Itami scaled the wall with a skud of her boot. Oba smiled, tilted her head and then approached the wall with a moderate speed. She jumped softly from the surface of the grainy sand, making contact with the face of the wall; which caused the sole of her feet to stick, like glue, against the surface of the wall. Kinnaku would then apply her other foot gently against the face of the wall with a satisfying smile on her face. It really didn't take long for the clanking woman to reach Itami, whom would now have a rather grim, eerie visual of the village that stood before them.

Small spire buildings held their own against the blackness of the night, as other small buildings accumulated around other larger structures. Land wires criss-crossed from rooftop to rooftop, water tanks sat distributed across the span of the village. "I think my nose has gotten use to that smell, Itami." Kinnaku would comment, wiping her hand against her nostrils and then lowering it back into the deep pocket of her duffle coat.

Suddenly, the two women would hear a frail noise, a noise that resembled the lazy sound of someone dragging their feet along the worn streets. Kinnaku's eyes would stiffen at the sound, her body becoming attentive to every sound and motion around her. But as the two stood on the top of that wall, they would have the perfect view of the clearance that the large gate would open up too. And in the short distance, a little girl, whom's skin was grey as paste, could be seen scudding lazily forward holding a ruined teddy with one hand - one finger looped in the label on its ear. "A child?" Kinnaku would hold her position, finding it odd that a child, in the dead of night, would be so freely moving across the streets of the village: alone.

"Her skin..." Oba would say with a concerned tone, despite speaking in a low voice Itami would obviously be able to hear her words.