inbox;

[craters]

❝Hi, you've reached Haruno Sakura. If this is a medical emergency, please leave your name, location, and a brief description of the injuries.❞

𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗧 🌸 𝗔𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗢 🌸 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

（ ooc; if you'd like to handwave her healing/helping your character, feel free to reply and just put HANDWAVED in the subject line. helps me keep track! ）

Comments

text ↪ un: retort

[nagano]

Doctor Zero-One-Two-Six-Zero-One, may we meet at the docks for our unscheduled weekly exchange? I need to top up on my ointment.

[ Kaito doesn't usually get straight to business within the first text. There's always some sort of banter or smalltalk that precedes him announcing his intent to pile food into her arms and pick up more drugs salves.

He's hoping that she picks up on the inconsistency. ]

[craters]

（ it's a deviation from his normal, perhaps, but not so much so that it immediately has her on her guard. there are any number of reasons why someone might be more brusque than usual, and so after a moment — ）

Of course. See you there in ten?

（ presumably he's close, reaching out like that... ）

[nagano]

Ten seconds will do. I'm already here. You don't have any other patients coming in for a few minutes, do you?

[ Well, now he's just laying it on thick. And where is he? There's no sign of the dark-garbed chef around the harbor. ]

[craters]

My schedule is reasonably clear for the afternoon.

（ okay, now she's concerned. is he about to dump a body on a cot or something... ）

[nagano]

Thank you.

[ A particularly loud wave crashes against the harbor. Hm. Odd, considering how still the waters are right now. Yet a glance towards the docks will make things apparent. A rift wrought from glowing blue liquid hovers in the air, and Kaito walks through it looking strapped for...

Well, he's just a few vest pockets and a metal headband away from looking like a cosplayer. A bento box is tucked under his arm, a black cloth hangs around his neck in place of his usual scarf, and there's an eerie blue glow fading from his eyes. ]

Truthfully, I'm in a bit of a predicament and the last thing I need to be doing is talking about it over the Netherwork.

[craters]

（ not exactly beyond the scope of 'oddity' in her world, but... new enough from him specifically that she gives him a wary once-over as he emerges. but though her jaw tightens she doesn't question the show, just asks — ）

Oh?

[nagano]

[ Kaito holds the box out before saying anything else. It's quite heavy today. ]

...Someone I care about has been wrongfully imprisoned by the Hierarchy. They're being implicated for the murders that took place at the end of last month's festival.

I'm going to get them out, so I'd like to trade for a few extra medical supplies this time around.

[craters]

（ her expression doesn't so much as flicker at his words, she takes the box as blithely as if this were any other exchange on any other day. if her fingers happen to crinkle the edge of the box, that's neither here nor there. ）

Who?

[nagano]

[ Ma'am that bento was a family heirloom.

Just kidding; he may or may not have broken a few just trying to keep his lid on while preparing this batch of food. ]

My partner. No interrogation, no due process—just a kidnapping in broad daylight, followed by whatever abuse they've put her through in the Gallows. She's hiding the worst of it by far, but what I've heard is enough to make the decision to break her out.

[craters]

I understand your concern.

（ she exhales, and then: ）

What's your plan so far? Maybe I can do more than just shore up your medkits.

[nagano]

[ Kaito whips out a piece of parchment and holds it out for her to take.

A quick glance will reveal several notes regarding the Gallows, the state of prisoners and their bindings, and the equipment the guards are toting around. Below all that, an underlined reminder: ]

Powers and magic are a no-go inside the prison. Everyone in there is relying on brute force and weapons if a fight breaks out. There is one exception, however—the telepathic and empathic bond between Soulmates remains unhindered.

[ He doesn't elaborate on how he knows that, but she can surely guess the implications that are left out. ]

The general state of the Gallows walls seems pretty poorly-maintained, so I'll be sneaking in and filching some keys to break my partner out. This might be a stretch, but if you have any tools that can be used to make a diversion, I'd be happy to buy them off you.

...I'd ask you to join me, but from what my partner observed, she was hardly the only one accosted. Others might look to infiltrate as I plan to. When we all get out, there'll probably be plenty of wounded folks who will need urgent treatment.

[craters]

（ she gives him a bit of a look, and then turns around and heads back towards the clinic with the box in her arms. ）

Come on. I have a few other things that you may find useful.

（ sooner or later, she's going to have to admit she's more than just a doctor. might as well start with someone who has a proven ability to keep secrets of his own. ）

[nagano]

[ Their eyes lock, and lying in plain sight beneath the calm surface of those golds is a smoldering, wrathful anger, waiting to ignite.

But when Sakura, turns and invites him towards the clinic, Kaito bows his head and cracks a smile. Tight, terse, yet grateful. ]

I feel like I'm about to turn the page of this book and discover a few plot twists, [ he remarks, taking a moment to glance about his surroundings (and more importantly, scout out the auras of any potential eavesdroppers) before falling in step beside her. ]

[craters]

（ the clinic is cleared out for the day, and sakura sets the box down on her little desk in its alcove built into the building beside the small canvas tent. just because no one is directly around doesn't mean she's about to speak loudly, though, and her voice is a playful murmur — ）

Only a few?

（ she says that lightly enough, with a look tossed over her shoulder. but she does take a scroll out of a drawer. she unfurls it on the desk and, with her back to him does something to activate it. a box appears in its center, and she opens it up, turning around to him. ）

I don't have much to spare, you'll have to be a bit discerning.

（ inside are an array of shinobi tools, neatly laid out and perfectly labeled with paper tags in an immaculate hand. ）

Take three of each. The grey ones are smoke bombs, the papers are explosive tags — I'm not entirely certain they'll work, given what you're describing of the power suppression field, but if you light them on fire they can discharge an explosive yield — and the little green cannisters are an injectable paralytic. You have to be close to use them, it will render someone immobile for about two hours depending on their body weight.

[nagano]

Too many twists will put us back where we started, so yes, just a few.

[ There's a moment of levity where Kaito meets her gaze with a wink. Curious eyes long for the rest of his body to sneak around and catch a glimpse of what she's doing, but the box she produces (more specifically, its contents) is enough to placate him. ]

Is that onmyodo? Sealing magic? Looks like something my father would do, hiding things within plain objects...

Mm. Thank you.

[ He doesn't hesitate to reach into the box. Deft fingers gingerly handle the smoke bombs, but he snaps up the explosive tags with a bit more practiced ease. However, he only takes one of the canisters. ]

These look valuable, and I can't imagine they're easy to synthesize. I should only need one, tops. If there are any other problems, I can solve them with these distractions or my fists.

Y'know, Naruto had a little slip on the Netherwork the other week. Said he was a shinobi. Does that also extend to you and your other friend?