"Speaking."
Jutsus
Two hours after the team split up, Genma returned to the little kunoichi's room, moving over to Masaru who was reading a book by the table.
"Have you found anything about the plant?" Masaru put his book aside, clasping his hands on the table.
"The flower was created in a lab. The leaves are coated with these tiny particles that you breathe in; it makes your body produce mucus that your body tries to expel by coughing." He sat down across from the boy and poured himself a glass of water. "I'm waiting on results, but the lowered body temperature is probably also due to the substance and the objective would be to accelerate the breathing problems."
"What about all the blood from the other cases?"
"The substance was probably reaching the stomach if you kept swallowing instead of coughing it out and was causing irritation in the stomach." Genma shrugged, tapping his fingers on the table as he shifted the senbon in his mouth. "The people didn't expect the blood, it's probably what they are trying to change. Don't know what the purpose for it is either."
"Maybe they want it to kill but less blood to make it less obvious? The loss of focus, coughing, irritation in the stomach, I would guess just a bout of sickness, the lower body temperature contradicts that but maybe they plan on changing that too."
"Hm... maybe." The Jōnin thought for a few minutes before shifting his gaze to the girl still asleep. "We were lucky she didn't smell the leaves, she probably got very few of the particles. As soon as I figure out the ingredients I'll work on an antidote. Keep checking her temperature and I'll be in my room if you need anything."
Masaru nodded and watched as the Jōnin left. He glanced over at his sleeping teammate and walked over to check her temperature. Bringing his book with him, he settled with his back to the wall close to where her head was.
Later that night, or rather early the next morning, Kouta-sensei and Kaito returned with new information. Sending Kaito to fetch Genma, Kouta approached his sleeping student to check her temperature.
"Kouta-taichō, I've come up with a sort of antidote." Genma approached the pair and handed over a small tube with liquid. "It'll counter whatever gets into her stomach and blood. The cough will fade on its own when the irritation of her lungs and throat are over."
"Thank you, Genma." Reaching over to his student's shoulder he gave her a gentle shake, holding in a sigh as she seemed to melt further into her blankets. "Shizuka-chan, we need you to get up and drink something."
"What did you find out?" She rubbed at her eyes and drank the offered glass of water and the antidote, as Genma explained what he found from the plant. "And the vendor?"
"He's been drugged and is safely under the watch of one of my clones. I got him to spill on the whole ordeal, but he was only one of the distributors. Apparently one of the cafes sells a tea made from the leaves."
"I've handled the flowers from the cart, and the ones he had stocked. We've also gotten the tea leaves out, so all we need to clear out is the warehouse." Kaito pitched in as he sat on the other side of Shizuka's futon.
"We're heading there now, Kaito you can stay and Masaru you're with Genma and I. Three will make it quicker."
"I don't need a babysitter…" Shizuka grumbled, "Kaito can go, I'll stay awake and do some reading. Say sensei, you don't happen to have a puzzle book with you, do you?" She sent him a bright smile to which the man rolled his eyes and nodded, unsealing one from a scroll along with a pencil.
"Alright, let us move then. The sooner the raid is finished the sooner we can wrap this mission up." He stood from where he was kneeling and gestured for the other three to follow him, "And Shizuka, don't finish all of those puzzles."
"So, they were creating different poisons to sell to shinobi?" Shizuka asked as they jumped through the trees on their first day of travelling. "What were the labs like?"
"Surprisingly well equipped." Genma supplied from the back of the group. "Not as good as the ones back home but not bad considering it was a civilian town."
"What other poisons were they making?" Shizuka dropped back to run beside Genma. "Were any of the other projects complete?"
"Curious little thing, aren't you?" He laughed, causing her team to grunt their agreement.
"'Knowledge is power' as Ibiki-san and Inoichi-Oji-san would say. You can never have too much of it." She grumbled, before resuming her normal position after a pointed look from her sensei.
"Eh, sensei, you're not still mad about the puzzle book, right?" Shizuka asked, a teasing glint in her eyes only to receive another narrowed eyed look. "I'll get you a new one… And in my defence, you guys took longer than what I expected."
"Sensei, we have a little less than a year left to the exams, right? Do you think we should choose one thing to start learning as a trump card?" Masaru asked as they reached the main road leading to the Konoha gates.
"I'm sure we can slot it into our training. Anything you had in mind?" Kouta-sensei glanced back at his students as they exchanged looks between themselves.
"I was thinking of taking my taijutsu a step further with a new style, or maybe some ninjutsu. Kaito was saying he wanted to learn a few new fire jutsus. And Shizuka had been complaining about her 'weak right side' so she wanted to start training to be able to use a tantō with either hand."
"All reasonable requests. Why don't we take tomorrow off to rest and meet back at our usual spot the day after; I'll have some new suitable exercises then."
"Thanks, Sensei!" The three chorused just as the gate came into view, the five shinobi increased their speed just until they were right outside the gates where they slowed to greet the guards and show them their papers.
After a brief meeting with the Hokage and being dragged to the hospital for a checkup, Shizuka made her way home. Just as she got into the compound she sensed someone she hadn't seen in a long while, making her hurry down the path to her house waving at some relatives on the way.
"Tadaima!" She hastily dropped her pack and shoes by the entrance and slid into the kitchen, a bright smile on her face. "Daichi-Oji! You're back!"
Her uncle was a tall man with the traditional Nara looks, with dark hair pulled into a spiky ponytail and dark eyes. He had a scar running along the right side of his jaw and one down from his temple to his eyebrow.
"Zuka!" Daichi pulled her into his right side as he sat at the low table. "How was your mission?"
"It was alright." She coughed and pulled away, handing a small bottle of cough syrup to her mother who narrowed her eyes at the item presented. "Ka-san! I'm supposed to take this for a couple days… You see there was this flower…"
"Why don't you go clean up. I'm sure I'll be hearing about this at dinner." Her mother raised her hand to interrupt her and pointed her to the rooms. "Your father should be home soon. Shika is at Chōji's for the night."
A little over an hour later, the four family members were eating dinner listening to Daichi talk about his past few months. The conversation soon moved to what had happened in the village while he was away and soon to Shizuka and her most recent mission.
"And now I have a sore throat from all the coughing, but the syrup is supposed to sooth that." She shrugged, helping her mother wash and dry the dishes while her father and uncle sat at the table.
"You had to smell the flower." Daichi chuckled while her father just shook his head. "How about the chūnin exams? You're competing in the next ones here in the village, right?"
"Hai! Though sensei promised to help me train with my right hand, and to-san is already helping me with sensing and shadow, I was wondering if there was anything you could teach me too."
"She has the same chakra nature as you." Shikaku raised an eyebrow at his brother who sighed and shook his head.
"Alright. Tomorrow morning, we can train some." Daichi chuckled as she tackled him into a hug from behind, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you, Daichi-Oji!" She thanked her mother for dinner and waved the adults goodbye before going to her room to settle in for the night.
"I often think she has too much energy to be a Nara." Daichi sighed once he heard the door to her room slide shut.
"Whenever she is free she'll find a moment to nap," Yoshino chuckled as she sat back down. "And she's always reluctant to wake up and get out of bed."
"And then you hear her sensei or one of her teammates talking about the massive mind-maps she builds for her missions and you forget all about her random bouts of energy."
"A mind-map?" Daichi looked at his brother and sister-in-law in confusion, who then launched into a conversation about Shizuka's 'maps.'
"You're late!" Kouta-sensei scolded her as she ran into the practice field two hours late for their training.
"Sorry, sensei! Daichi-Oji-San is back in the village and I was spending some time with him!" She stopped in front of her sensei who was only shaking his head.
"Fifty laps and then sparring with Masaru for him to try out a new taijutsu style while I work with Kaito and ninjutsu. If we have time we can work on your right hand, if not we'll start tomorrow."
"But, sensei…" She was interrupted by her sensei pointing to the two boulders with a line dug into the ground which they used as a starting line for laps around the training field.
She grumbled out some complaints and started her laps, ignoring her teammates' chuckles. After her fifty laps, she sat in the shade of the boulders her sensei uses as a seat and took a sip of water, waiting for Masaru to walk over.
"How was training with your uncle? What is it that he's teaching you again?"
"Ninjutsu. To-san has a different nature than I do, so my Daichi-Oji is teaching me wind jutsus. We just started so I can't do much more than infuse my kunai with it to add power."
"It's a good idea to have some elemental jutsus up your sleeve; people won't expect a Nara to use them." Masaru offered her his hand to pull her up, which she gladly took, "Between the three of us we have fire, wind and earth. And I doubt there will be opportunities for your curiosity to get us in trouble."
Shizuka glared and punched his arm causing him to laugh as he set himself across from her, lowering into a defensive stance, waiting for her to do the same. A silent agreement to only use taijutsu passing between them.
Practice went on as usual. In the end, Kouta-sensei didn't have time to train her to use her right hand as it was already getting late in the afternoon. Instead, he gave her some pointers and ideas to start working on her own but promised to practice with her during the next practice.
As the four of them walked through the village, they waved at Kotetsu and Izumo who were returning from guard duty.
"So, tiny, we heard you got into trouble again." Izumo chuckled as they matched their pace to the genin.
"That mission wasn't my fault, and neither was this one." Shizuka huffed and her teammates sent looks to the chūnin that clearly said: 'Totally her fault'.
"She just had to smell the poisonous flower." Masaru teased, pulling the tail of her braid, causing her to throw a punch at his shoulder which he dodged out of the way.
"Whatever." She glared at Masaru who had moved to walk on the other side of Kaito.
"How are your preparations for the exams in six months?" Kotetsu asked once he stopped laughing at their antics.
"We are preparing some trump cards to have just in case." Kaito answered as he gave stern looks to his teammates who were still trying to pinch each other.
"Good idea. From what we remember, you guys can handle yourselves. We look forward to more missions with you three." Kotetsu nodded ruffling Shizuka's hair and patting Kaito's shoulder.
The two Chūnin waved goodbye to the three Genin and made their way to the administration building, while the other three soon split down the streets leading to their own houses.
*Edited 01/2019
Thanks to my beta AmIValid2!
