Kumori lifted the container, holding it up to the dim light and swirling its contents around, mixing the dark brown liquid thoroughly before placing it back on the table. She removed three smaller vials from a holster that lay opened on the table, pouring an equal amount into each one before resealing them, labeling it and replacing it in alphebetical order.
She tossed the larger container into a small fire in the fireplace, along with a few other things, before quickly cleaning her other tools and replacing them in the holster as well. She had a mission today with her team, the first in a few weeks and an A ranked mission. She had selected the poison herself, it killed quickly, in a matter of minutes, and the ingredients needed for the antidote were hard to find.
She opened a drawer on the table, pulling out a pair of nekotes and placing them on the table. Selecting a vial of pale yellow liquid, she carefully poured it into a shallow dish, dipping the tips of the weapons into it. She moved over to the fire and lit a small candle, bringing it back to the table and heating the nekotes over it, sealing the poison onto them. It was a slow working animal based poison that could take anywhere from half an hour to three days to kill, but it was deadly none the less.
It had been a full year since she had become a Leaf gennin, and her and her team had grown closer, finally being able to work together properly. She packed the holster together and strapped it shut before moving over to the sink and washing her hands and arms. It was very early in the morning, and she was tired, but she had to meet Hikari and Tsuno soon.
Her apartment was small and poorly lit, she didn't have alot of money and usually kept the heat and lights off to save it. Moving into the bathroom, she got ready to leave. She pulled her hair out of its usual bun, brushing it quickly before retying it and looking in the mirror.
Her skin was fairly pale, but smooth and not sickly. Her features were sharp and small, adding to her beauty along with her striking green eyes. Her hair had grown out longer, reaching halfway down her back, but she kept in a bun constantly, out of the way, although a few strands always hung messily in her eyes.
She sighed, rubbing her eyes and stepping out of the bathroom, dressing quickly. She slipped on a pair of short, black pants along with a plain black tank top. The top was quite revealing, showing much of her back, shoulders and stomach, but it was required for her dances and for fighting properly. She bandaged the exposed parts of her legs, from her ankles halfway up to her knees, and slipped on her sandals. As she headed out the door, she grabbed her jacket, slipping it over her shoulders but not bothering to place her arms through the respective holes, instead simply pulling it around her.
The outside air was cold and stung her skin as she glanced around for a few moments. It was winter in Konoha, and although it never snowed here, the temperature still dropped at this time of year. And the fact that the sun had not yet risin added to the freezing cold. She shivered, pulling her jacket around her closely before trotting down the street towards the ramen stand. Ramen was not nearly her favourite food, but it was the cheapest and she often ended up eating it anyways.
By the time she finished her ramen, the sun had risen slightly, allowing her to better see the town. She paid for her ramen and left the stand, heading to the training field. Their mission didn't start until just before lunch, and her team decided to use their time training.
Kumori foud her two team mates taking a break in the grass, laying back and speaking quietly. Hikari had grown alot more friendly and Tsuno had become more serious. Kumori had only become quieter and more sarcastic towards them, but they still regarded her as a friend. Hikari still wore his plain white t-shirt and dark brown shorts, which always bothered Kumori seeing as he never seemed to get cold in them. Tsuno wore brown pants and a black long-sleevved t-shirt. He had a black dog collar around his neck that he said was for 'good luck' although it just seemed to get in the way. His dog, Shouri, had also grown, his coat thicker and a darker brown.
She walked slowly up to them, in her usual quiet manner, and they didn't seem to notice until she was standing directly over them. Tsuno jumped and his dag barked loudly, scaring her and causing her to jump as well.
"Geez, don't sneak up on me like that," he said, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.
"It's not my fault your senses suck," she retorted, flopping down next to him.
"I thought you guys were gonna train for the entire morning. Nice training."
"At least we got up early to train in the first place," said Hikari.
"Yeah, why do you always sleep in?"
"Unlike you, I work in the mornings. It takes a long time to make a poison or an antidote, and it requires precision work. Sometimes I have to stay up all night just watching a vial of poison to see if it changes colour," she explained, pulling her jacket closer around her.
"You excited about today's mission?" asked Tsuno, rolling back onto the grass.
"Not really... There's five people we need to assasinate, you guys both get one to kill along with Genma, and I'm stuck with the last two, the two brothers. And I can't believe what the Hokage is asking me to do... 'Get close to them'?"
"Well, if we do this properly, we are automatically promoted to Chuunin, so it's worth it. And anyways, with your looks it should be easy," said Tsuno. She supposed it was a compliment, but it didn't convince her.
"Still doesn't make my job easy. Why do I have to do it this way? Why can't I just jump in like you two and cut off their heads or something?"
"Because, this is the first mission you're going on as a kunoichi. Kunoichi are alot different from ninjas, They rely on mind-control techniques, poisons and their bodies to kill or get information," said Hikari, sitting up. The sun had fully risen now.
"Let's get something to eat before we go," said Hikari, standing.
"I'm not hungry, but I'll just go with you guys," she said, standing as well. They trotted back into town, and Tsuno and Hikari got some ramen. Unlike her, they actually loved ramen, and it made her sick to see them wolf down bowl after bowl, even though they probably weren't even that hungry.
When they finished their last bowl, Kumori pulled them towards her apartment. "I need to get my stuff," she said. "Then we can go meet Genma."
Hikari and Tsuno already had their bags packed and shouldered, so they followed her into her apartment, climbing up the stairs and through the door. She didn't bother turning on the lights for them.
This was the first time either of them had seen her house, and they were stunned. The table and kitchen counters were covered in scrolls, listing ingredients for various poisons, and the sink had empty vials soaking in it. The floor had even more scrolls scattered across it, and they had blots of ink and other liquids staining them.
They followed her to the closet, only to be more stunned at what their eyes met. Shelf after shelf of neatly organized poisons and antidotes, each labelled clearly with a small tag. In the very back hung some clothing, that she quickly pulled out and threw on her bed.
"Pass me that holster on the table," she ordered. Hikari brought it carefully over to her.
"How much poison do you have?" asked Tsuno, looking around in awe.
"Enough to kill the population of Konoha," she replied, taking the holster from Hikari and crouching on the wooden floor, opening it. She pulled out a few vials and set them back in their appropriate places on the shelves, instead grabbing different ones and replacing them in the holster before folding it back up.
"Why'd you put them back?" asked Tsuno.
"Those were just a few simple poisons and an antidote. I don't think I'll be needing that antidote, it comes from the venom of a foreign species of snake. Although its poison is deadly and hard to counter, I don't think anyone will posess it aside from myself."
She pulled out a backpack from under a pile of clothing and stuffed the holster into it, before heading out of the closet and putting her clothes in as well. Moving over to the messy table, she carefully picked up her poisoned nekotes and placed them in her nearly empty weapons pouch before attaching it around her thin waist. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and left, followed by Tsuno and Hikari.
They found Genma waiting patiently by the village gates, his ever present toothpick bobbing up and down. He turned as they approached, smiling faintly.
"Ready?"
They nodded, following him out of Konoha, heading for the Hidden Waterfall, Takigakure. It was a days trip if they travelled quickly, but at their current pace they would reach it by tomorrow evening or night.
As they travelled through the forest, Kumori went over what she had learned in the last year here. She had mastered five of the seven dances, and almost mastered the sixth. When learning it became to hard for her, she turned to her poisons and began making many, labeling and organizing them for her own uses.
It had encouraged her more when Genma had informed her that Konoha had no professional poison specialists, although the hospital did contain a number of antidotes. She had spent countless hours researching poisons and their ingredients, making her own antidotes and testing them on herself. A few times she had nearly died when she took a wrong turn in making the antidote, but she always got out of it with her life.
She had even started to get paid for making antidotes and antivenoms for the hospital, but money didn't matter to her that much. The only reasin she did anything in life was so that one day she might get a mission to the Hidden Cloud so she could rejoin Akame. But recently, she had had doubts about abandoning Konoha. Perhaps she could get Akame to join her at the Hidden Leaf instead of her going back to Kumogakure.
Recently, thoughts of her previous village had started to bother her, causing her to fall in to long periods of silence. She would remember how she had left Akame and feel guilty. What if he wasn't still alive? What if someone had found where he had been chained and killed him? What if she was too late?
She felt like sharing her thoughts with Hikari and Tsuno, but she wasn't sure if she should. She had never mentioned Akame to them before, and didn't know what they say. She decided against it though, preferring to keep her feelings bottled up inside along with everything else. She knew it wasn't good for her, but she could see no other way around things like this.
The sun set and the group decided to set up camp in the forest, starting up a small fire and relaxing around it. Genma looked around in his backpack for a few moments before standing.
"I'll be right back. Maybe you should teach those two about poisons, it might be useful someday," said Genma, tuning and vanishing.
Kumori paused for a moment, thinking for a few seconds before opening her backpack and pulling out her holster and opening it. Hikari and Tsuno sat down beside her and watched as she told them about her poisons. This was only the second mission she had been required to have her poisons with her.
"Uhh... I'm not good at teaching, so I'll just explain the basics to you."
She pointed to one section of the holster. "These are plant based poisons and their antidotes, these are animal based with their antidotes, and these are chemical based. Plant based usually act the fastest, animal based and chemical based are about the same.
"Most animal based poisons affect the nervous system, attacking the brain, lungs, or heart and causing great pain. They always need to be injected or enter through the bloodstream in another way. Plant based usually attack other organs, especially the heart, but rarely the lungs. They usually need to be eaten to take affect. The chemiacal based are the most difficult to understand because of their unnatural componenets. Depending on the chemicals used, they might need to be eaten, sent in through the bloodstream, inhaled, placed in the eyes or ears, or, for some of them, even just touched to your skin.
"The poisons act in various ways. Some of them cause diseases like tetanus by entering the bloodstream, some erode the layers of tissue on your organs causing internal bleeding, some stop muscle movement so you'll die from lack of blood or oxygen, and others cause blindness, paralysis or deafness."
She moved her hands to each respective poison as she gave examples of what it did, before her hands moved to the metal instuments on the other side.
"These are actually weapons used to poison people. Poisoned senbon, syringes, string, cloth... All can be utilized as a deadly weapon. But they can also be used to save lives. Senbon can be used as acupuncture needles, slowing the flow of poison or nullifying pain, syringes can inject antidotes, string can be used to cut off bloodflow to an area and cloth can be used to staunch bloodflow."
She pulled out a small syringe, holding it up for them to see cleary. "The last thing I wanted to show you is how to use this. When filling it with an antivenom, hold it like this to make sure you don't get any air in it, and once filled squirt the first centimeter out to get rid of any oxygen. One small oxygen bubble in a syringe will kill you in seconds, once it reches the brain. You then have to clean the area you are injecting it into, usually the arm, and carefully slide it in on around a thirty to forty-five degree angle. Make sure you inject all of the antidote before pulling it out and covering the hole to make sure none of it escapes."
She replaced the needle in her case, carefully sliding it back into a side puch beside a number of other syringes, all different sizes.
"How did you make all the antidotes? How do you know if they work or not?" asked Tsuno, eyeing the poisons with a new respect.
"I test each poison and antidote on my own body," she replied simply, folding up her holster.
"What happens if something goes wrong?"
"I either die, rush to the hospital or quickly fix whatever went wrong."
"So you haven't made a mistake before?"
"I've made hundreds of mistakes," she said, slipping her arm out from withing her jacket. She turned it over, showing him a small crater, about the size of a dime, just below her elbow.
"That time I came the closest to death. I injected venom from a spider right there and forgot about it becaus I was sleep deprived. I fell asleep with the venom still working inside of my body, and woke in the middle of the night unable to breathe. Luckily, I had made a working antidote that time. I injected it quickly before passing out on the floor, but I still pulled through."
"How can you do that to your own body?"
She didn't reply to this because the answer was 'So I can become stronger and find Akame again.' She replaced her holster in her backpack, suddenly silent, deep in thought about Akame. She pulled out her small bedroll and rolled it out a few feet away from the fire. She sat up, staring into the fire in silence as she thought. When she looked up she saw Hikari staring at her. He quickly turned away, and she lay back, rolling over and facing away before closing her eyes.
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They reached Takigakure at dusk, stopping and looking up at the village. It was one of the few Hidden Villages that was fairly well hidden, the majority of it being hidden behind a giant waterfall. It didn't take much work to get into the village, a simple henge and some sneaking behind the roaring waterfall. The village itself was not in the cave behind the waterfall, but in the mountains behind it. The cave acted as a tunnel through the mountains and into the town, which was exceedingly busy even at night.
They strolled the streets casually in their disguise until they found a small, inconspicuous hotel. They had been given five days to complete the mission and a week to return to Konoha. Genma booked two rooms, one for himself and the other for the three gennin, for five days, although they would probably switch hotels tomorrow or the day after.
Kumori lugged her backpack up the stairs, following her sensei to the room she, Hikari and Tsuno would be sharing. She chose the bed on the far end of the room, placing her back beside it and moving to the bathroom. Tomorrow they would begin their mission, each goig their separate ways. She pulled off her jacket and hung it on the back of the door before pulling out her bun, letting her hair fall over her shoulders.
She said nothing to the other two as she stepped out and flopped back on her bed, curling up under the covers. She fell asleep in a matter of minutes, tomorrow was going to be a tough day.
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She woke early the next morning, moving into the bathroom quietly to avoid waking the other two and quickly showing. She tied her hair up in its usual bun, this time securing it with two, poison-tipped chopsticks, just in case. She moved back out of the bathroom, rummaging through her bag and pulling out two vials, one a deadly venom and the other its antidote. She probably wouldn't use it today, but she pocketed it just in case. Today she had to find her targets in this town and 'get to know them.'
Her targets were Saigo and Kurome, two young missing-nin from the Hidden Leaf and part of an organization here in Takigakure. They renowned for their good looks and mind games, able to get anything they wanted out of anyone. They specialized in Kin and Genjutsu, and were highly intelligent, having hundreds of original Jutsus made up by themselves. She had been warned over and over not to underestimate them or fall in love with them for real, as it was quite possible. But she didn't think she could fall in love with them by any means, no matter how handsome they were.
She had memorized their faces, and set out of the apartment to go look for them. She had to get this done quickly in order to finish the mission in the time they had been givin, and not to take longer than that. She was suprised at the time it took her to find them, but then again, you couldn't miss them.
They stood together in the middle of a crowd of girls all around her age. They were hounding them, following them everywhere. Saigo looked pissed off as he did in his picture, but Kurome was happily speaking to the girls, waving and smiling. Kumori gagged in disgust at his behaviour before moving over to a small sushi bar and sitting down, watching them. They would notice her eventually.
It appeared this happened every morning, because the girls eventually began disappating, going back to their daily business. Saigo and Kurome came to the sushi bar and sat down, Kurome beside her, but didn't seem to notice her.
"Nice tatoo," said Kurome. Apperently she had been noticed. She looked up into his handsome face, studying him silently. Perhaps this would be harder than she thought, they were both good looking. She noticed his arms were covered in tatoos, pictures of demons, demon foxes, dragons, griffins, snakes and others. He was wearing a loose white t-shirt and black shorts. Saigo was still silent, although he was looking at her with intrest, his dark eyes flicking across her body. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and black pants, his Waterfall head protector tied around his head bandana style and his black hair covering half of his face.
"You gonna order something?" asked Kurome.
"I don't have any money," she said in a her normal, bored voice. This seemed to catch Kurome's attention further.
"My treat then," he said, placing a large order. A moment later, there was a large platter of sushi placed in front of the three. There was a wide variety of sushi, sashimi and other seafood, even some sauce-covered yakitori. Kurome began wolfing it down and she and Saigo watched in disgust. Saigo noticed her looking at him with the same expression and smiled, picking up his own chopsticks. She decided she liked Saigo alot more than Kurome, but both would need to be killed sooner or later.
She picked up the chopsticks before her, quickly breaking them and choosing a piece of sushi from the platter. She ate slowly, her eyes darting towards her two targets every now and then.
"So, what's your name?" asked Kurome, placing his chopsticks on the platter and sitting back, stretching.
"Shiranui Kiri," she lied, eating another piece of sushi.
"Haven't seen you around here before," he said, eyeing her again.
"I'm here with my father on a business trip until saturday. We came from a small village just outside the Hidden Mist."
"Oh? Only until saturday? What's your father do?"
"He's a doctor," she replied casually.
"Do you know who I am?"
"I heard all of those people calling you Kurome, right?"
He laughed, stretching and closing his eyes again. "Yeah... we get alot of that. It's not like I enjoy it though, those girls are all loud and annoying."
Yeah right, she thought. I know you like it. She ate the last piece of sushi, placing her chopsticks back on the platter and sitting back as well.
"So... do you want a tour of the village?" asked Kurome. "It's a great place when you know where to go."
She looked up at him. Was it really this easy, to just sit here and act shy and quiet? She smiled faintly.
"Sure," she said quietly.
"Great! Let's go!"
Kurome grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the sushi bar, leaving Saigo to pay up and running her down the street. She stumbled after him, smiling as he rushed to another building.