Chapter 23

Akebino Kenjiro. Age 23, chuunin-level kenjutsu specialist with secondary focus on taijutsu. Cousin of late Shinobi Swordsman Akebino Jinin, formerly aspired to take his place in the group, but failed due to generally low ambition and drive.

Current Status: Defected from Kiri, missing-nin for four days and counting.

Sute's breaths softly bounced off the inside of her mask as she hid in the trees, her eyes narrow. Below her the bulky twenty-three-year-old walked along the path at a brisk pace, eyes darting around warily. In the tree across from her she could see another ANBU subtly incline his head towards her, the small gesture all the message she needed. Go.

A flick of the wrist and her senbon descended upon him in a shimmering rain of silver. Kenjiro jolted as they fell, moving to dodge but unable to evade them all. Several of them hit him along various points, both vital and non-vital, and he staggered to the side with a loud gasp. The muscle around each senbon began to rapidly change color, tinting purple with a black vein-like pattern quickly spreading from the impact sites.

In a flicker of movement the other ANBU was behind him, slicing his short tanto across the man's neck and jumping back to avoid the spray of blood. Kenjiro collapsed to the ground with a strangled gasp, his body violently spasming for a moment before finally going still.

Brief silence.

Then, "Well that was easy."

"Not all rogues are tough. Some just manage to get lucky when they sneak out."

"Hmm. Yeah, sounds about right." Sute hummed as she lightly touched down on the ground, striding over and slapping a seal on Kenjiro's body. Fire instantly consumed the corpse, reducing it to ashes within seconds. A quick hand seal from her fellow ANBU Amano had a gust of wind blowing past them, scattering it to the winds and erasing any traces of their presence. All in all, a smooth job.

Nearly three months had passed since that semi-disastrous first outing as official Kiri ANBU on that emergency patrol with the Cloud ninja. As the seasons turned from summer to autumn Sute had decided to push her defection until late winter, when spring would be near and she wouldn't have to worry for quite as long about finding shelter or food. In the meantime she had thrown herself into ANBU work, determined to learn as much as she could in the short time she'd be there.

Getting information on Hunter-nin tactics was slow-going. Since ANBU needed combat medics in general, she didn't get accepted directly into the Hunter-nin unit like she'd hoped, but she still got to go on missions with them sometimes. Some of her colleagues seemed to think she wanted the position in order to finish the job and eliminate Juzo, which, cute, and also a much safer story than the truth.

So far she spent more time on general ANBU missions than Hunter-nin stuff, in part because surprisingly, most of the Hunter-nin jobs tended to be simple. Not every rogue was some powerful and dangerous genius shinobi after all. Quite a few had been actually quite weak, and escaped more on luck and good timing than skill. From what they gathered, Akebino Kenjiro had just ditched his team during a mission onto the mainland. They'd had to track him down into Fire Country, which... huh.

Knowing she currently stood in the main country of the fictional series this world derived from gave Sute mixed feelings. On the one hand, she'd never actually set foot here before, at least as far as she knew. Maybe as a toddler wandering battlefields, but most of her platoon's travels in the war took place in smaller countries for some reason. This was the closest she'd knowingly gotten to the fabled Leaf Village in this life.

On the other hand, she was currently a Mist ninja. A distinctly unfriendly village as far as Konoha (and literally any other village) was concerned.

They hadn't ventured too far into it, just a few kilometers past the borders with the Land of Hot Water. Konoha would be days away from here, even running at top speeds. Still, that didn't ease the tension that consumed both Sute and her comrade. If a Leaf ninja patrol came across them—or even a farmer or wandering merchant who could report their presence—they'd definitely be in trouble.

With that in mind they both turned and began rushing back towards the borders in silence, neither of them needing to communicate the need to get the hell out of dodge. Only when they safely crossed the border into Hot Water did they finally slow, Amano stopping to remove his mask while pulling out a flask of water. "Damn, even autumn is hot out here," he grumbled as he took a long gulp.

"I'm more irritated by the humidity than the heat," Sute grumbled, stripping off her own mask and greedily exposing her face to fresh air. The mask's wood felt sticky and claustrophobic against her face in the high humidity, making her every individual breath far too noticeable for her liking. "The heat's probably from all the hot water deposits around here. Doesn't help the humidity, either."

"Yeah, yeah," Amano huffed, capping his flask and stowing it back in his pouch. "Anyways, we managed to catch that guy two days ahead of schedule. What do you want to do now?" His question earned arched eyebrows from Sute, her eyes glittering curiously.

"Are you suggesting we don't go straight back to the nearest outpost?"

"We've been on-call for the past three weeks with no breaks, and the second we go back they'll just assign us more work. I think we can afford at least one night of rest and relaxation. Or should I say, information gathering."

Her lips quirked into a wry smile at that. "Yes, it is quite hard to find these people sometimes, isn't it?" she mused lightly. "Especially when they like to bang prostitutes all night long."

"It's generally not a good idea to kill in front of witnesses anyway," he chuckled in agreement. "Too messy to cleanup. On that note, think anyone would buy you seducing him into leaving the bar to an ambush?"

"Yes, because I'm obviously a supermodel," Sute deadpanned, and he laughed heartily as she cracked an amused smirk. Amano was one of her more regular partners for ANBU missions, around six years older than her, and they had a good chemistry going. They had bonded over an in-depth knowledge of human anatomy, and spent hours discussing how to most efficiently take someone down with minimal injury. While generally he took his work seriously, he tended to be among the more laidback members of their unit once they finished their assigned tasks.

...Also, he tended to ask her to help with his hangovers. A lot. "You just want to go to a bar, right?" she guessed, and he smirked.

"You got me. I hear the sake made in this region has a special tang to the flavor thanks to all the hot springs around here." She hummed, faintly amused by how openly he admitted it.

"Right. So what, split up and rendezvous in the woods tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds like a plan," Amano agreed. "Should we establish a specific point?"

"Would you be able to find it again?" she countered wryly, earning another chuckle.

"Fair. I'll just keep the tracker and leave it to you to track me then."

"Alright. Later." With a nod the two split off, Sute vanishing deeper into the woods. Once she reached a safe distance she ducked into a closely-bunched outcropping of pine trees and quickly stripped out of her ANBU gear until only her underwear remained, shivering in the autumn chill. A quick application of chakra on her arm activated the storage seal she'd tattooed there, clothing her almost instantly in a dark green yukata and civilian-grade sandals.

She quickly retrieved her balled-up knapsack from the pocket of her ANBU vest before stowing her gear into another storage seal on her left wrist, shifting it onto her back. She tied up her hair with a wide band of fabric as she strolled out of the trees, struggling to gather it into a bunched-up ponytail. Like this Sute looked a bit more mature than her now-fifteen years of age, more like a young woman than a pimple-faced teenager. Far less suspicious that she'd be traveling around a country alone.

She wandered to a small civilian town they had passed earlier, quietly noting it should be late afternoon by now. Like many towns in this country it housed a small inn with a sign advertising hot springs, though it had a much more subdued and quaint quality to it than some of the resorts Hot Water was known for. This town served more as a point of transit than a full destination, just a place for travelers to stay the night while heading to larger cities.

Sute played with the idea of renting a room but decided against it, not wanting to deal with explaining what she had used her ryo on should one of her commanders decide to check everyone's current holdings. It was a routine precaution to prevent people from defecting; a noticeable dip or rise in personal funds tended to be a decent giveaway of intent to meet someone or defect.

She could, however, treat herself to a nice meal, and maybe a new book.

With that in mind, she headed towards a small café near the town's entrance with a sign advertising a nice variety of takoyaki flavors among other things. A few people were scattered around when she entered, and Sute claimed an empty table near the back window. Most of the customers seemed to be locals, some chatting quietly as they ate while others read the region's local newspaper. Soon enough a waitress came to take her order, and before long she had a cup of steaming tea to warm her hands as she waited for her food.

Knowing it would be at least a few minutes Sute opened her knapsack to pull out a mystery novel she had purchased a while back. She had found a series with a recurring youkai motif, which had been enough to pique her interest. Even as she began reading she kept her senses loosely attuned to the café though, not willing to let her guard down. She doubted many shinobi would cause a scene in a public setting like this, but it would be better to notice trouble early before leaving for somewhere more isolated.

So when the door opened a few minutes later her gaze flitted towards it briefly, her expression bored as she noted a young teen with brown hair and large black eyes before turning back to her book. In that brief span of time she had recognized his black pants and sandals to be a bit too neat for a civilian, the brown sweater worn over his black turtleneck top almost comically out of place to the trained eye.

Then she felt him approach the table, and her gaze rose once more. The boy stood next to her, his face smooth as stone but his dark eyes betraying a hint of nervousness. Yep, definitely shinobi. "May I sit here, ma'am?" he asked politely.

Sute arched her eyebrows at the query, letting her gaze slowly rove the room at all the other, empty tables around them. Her eyes returned to the boy, who looked even more tense than before.

"You do realize there's a lot of civilians here, right?" she asked dryly, pitching her voice low to avoid being overheard. He stiffened further, his face pinching in slight apprehension as he recognized the subtle threat. Before he could respond though she lazily waved a hand at the opposite seat. "Go ahead. Just making sure we're on the same page."

Swallowing, he slowly slid into the chair across from her, keeping wary eyes on her the whole time. The waitress scurried over to take his order and he asked for just water, denying any particular hunger pangs. Once she left he turned back to Sute, who had returned to reading her book. "What are you doing here?"

"Reading," she deadpanned, not bothering to look up at him.

"That's... not what I meant." His voice took on a slightly helpless note, almost like a whine if it wasn't so flat. Sute just hummed, idly flipping a page.

"I'm also waiting for my lunch," she offered up lazily. When he didn't respond to that she sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "What about you, kid? What are you doing here?"

"That's classified information," he responded almost automatically.

"And you think my reasons for being here aren't?" she retorted. Once more he remained silent, and she glanced up to see him looking at her with an interesting mix of confusion, apprehension and dawning epiphany. Deciding to take pity on him, she shrugged her shoulders and closed her book, reaching for her tea to take a sip. "For what it's worth, my mission's done. I'm just killing time before heading back."

"Shouldn't you report back immediately?" he pressed, frowning at her intently.

"Should. But Kiri's a bit of a totalitarian society, and I don't get to enjoy the scenery too much. Besides, nice to have something other than seafood for a change." As if on cue the waitress appeared with a plate of steaming mushroom tempura, placing it in front of her. She licked her lips as she pulled it closer, snapping apart the chopsticks to begin eating.

Her companion just watched with a slightly befuddled look on his face, looking more lost than ever. Sute found his obvious distress at her behavior highly amusing.

Eventually though his face settled into a frown, looking more flustered. "Look, you're incredibly close to the border with Fire. If your mission has anything to do with it or Konoha—"

"It didn't," she cut in, swallowing a bite of tempura. Setting down her chopsticks, she raised her head to meet his gaze squarely, her face cold and stony. He stiffened immediately, clearly on edge as her vivid green eyes bore into him. "I have no knowledge of any ongoing missions that may involve Konoha in any shape or form, nor any recent or past ones. My present mission is complete, I am currently in neutral territory, and I wish to enjoy a meal before reporting back. Is that a problem?"

He visibly shivered under her cool gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing gently as he swallowed. "I... N-no, it shouldn't be, I think?" he finally said, still sounding uncertain.

"Good." With that Sute smiled, sweet and innocent and dropping all of the silent threat her earlier expression had held as she picked up her chopsticks to finish off the food. "In that case, why don't you order something too? Unless you need to get back to your jounin sensei."

"Jounin sensei?" He actually looked offended at that, frowning at her deeply. "I'm not—I don't need—!"

"Let me guess, another child prodigy?" she drawled, and he immediately went silent. "Join the club, kid. It totally sucks, doesn't it?"

"Kid?" he whispered, looking even more flustered now. "I'm only a couple years younger than you!"

Sute snorted at that, rolling her eyes as she just chewed on some mushrooms. "Sure, sure." A lot of people felt like kids compared to her at this point; she was originally in her late twenties when she died, so now her mental age was in her forties. Most of the active shinobi she'd met were in their twenties or thirties at oldest, still her chronological junior in terms of mind. By shinobi standards, she was old.

The boy obviously didn't know that of course, and looked at her with clear offense. "Don't just write me off because I'm younger—"

"Never mind, I'm done now." Sute rose and pulled out a sufficient amount of ryo to cover her meal, tossing it on the table next to her mostly empty plate. "Nice chatting with you, but I need to get going. I'd say 'see you later,' but let's be real here, we never want that to happen in this line of work." With that cheery take at a farewell she turned and strolled away, leaving him staring after her dumbfounded. Soon enough she heard him scramble to his feet to chase after her, but by that point she'd already reached the door.

As soon as she stepped outside she flashed through the hand seals Kisame had shown her, dropping into the ground and zooming away from the café. Once she had cleared a sufficient distance from the town she popped out inside the forest and pressed a hand to a tree trunk, quickly pulsing her chakra into it to try to use the root system to sense everyone's whereabouts. Sensing no one in her immediate vicinity, she quickly turned and took off at a run, glancing down at the strings of seals decorating her right wrist.

After the emergency patrol that marked her entry to ANBU she'd found the diamond-shaped sensory seal to be very practical, and had opted to create a modified version for her fellow ANBU. Once she'd explained the idea a few had agreed to let her temporarily ink them with the accompanying tracking seals, Amano included. A flare of chakra caused a small light to appear in the left corner of his seal, and she adjusted her course accordingly.

It took her a little under an hour of running through the woods, cautious of any potential pursuit, until she finally reached the border of another small town. Approaching it at a brisk pace, she consulted the seal a couple more times while mingling with the sparse crowds until the light finally led her to a small bar. Of course he's here, she thought sarcastically as she stepped inside, hoping no one would try to bounce her or check her age.

Amano had horrible taste in bars. The acrid stench of smoke assaulted her the moment she stepped in, making her nose wrinkle in disgust. Her inner medic and doctor hissed in dismay at all the people here propagating lung cancer, and she stalked towards the counter where she spied Amano with a bit more agitation than usual. The man hadn't noticed her yet, just sipping away at a drink while bantering with the other bar patrons there.

Deciding not to give him a warning, Sute grabbed him by the ponytail and yanked him off his stool, the man yelping and nearly dropping his cup. "The hell!?" he sputtered. Sute didn't bother explaining, just continued to drag him away while he hurriedly staggered after her, trying to wrench free. "Hey, what's the big idea!? I wasn't done there!"

His complaints continued until they reached outside, at which point she finally released his hair and readily sucked in a nice gulp of fresh, clean air. "Leaf ninja are hanging around," she told him in a low voice. "Chances are there's some operation in the area we don't know about. I got made at a café in the other town. We need to report back ASAP."

Almost instantly Amano's demeanor changed, his irritated-looking scowl still in place but his eyes growing serious as he stood up straighter. "Shit. Alright, let's go." Nodding, the pair turned and casually sauntered towards the entrance to town, Amano still rubbing at his head where her grip had tugged harshly at his roots.

Once the buildings disappeared from sight they broke into a run, moving swiftly through the forest while keeping their guards up. After a while they briefly stopped at a cave and took turns changing while the other stood guard, Sute finishing considerably faster than Amano thanks to her storage seals. After that, they only had to run for another hour until a cabin came into sight.

Expertly hopping along some large stones and logs that had been carefully arranged to avoid stepping on the ever-fragile leaves littering the ground, they both breathed a sigh of relief as they reached a clear area and slunk towards the door. The cabin looked largely dim from the outside, but when Amano knocked and the door opened warm light bathed them from behind an old man's silhouette. "Can I help you?" he asked, squinting at them suspiciously.

"We're looking for shelter from the steam," Amano replied flatly. The man's face crinkled with recognition of the secret code phrase and he nodded, stepping aside to let them in. As he closed the door behind them his features shifted, the wrinkles smoothing out and his white hair growing fuller and darker as the transformation faded. A burly-looking man wearing the Kiri ANBU uniform occupied his place now, his mask strapped to his hip.

"Mission status?" he questioned while Amano removed his mask.

"Success," he reported dully. "Target was located and eliminated approximately four hours ago."

"Why the delay in returning?" the other ANBU questioned. Sute answered this time, removing her own mask as she slid into the dull monotone of mission debriefings.

"Due to completing the mission objectives earlier than planned, we decided to stop at local restaurants to procure dinner in interest of preserving the limited rations at base. We chose to split apart to avoid drawing attention. While waiting for my meal I was approached by a boy, a few years younger than myself and clearly shinobi based on his dress and stature. Conversation confirmed he's aligned with Konoha. He inquired about my purpose and I proceeded to deflect his questioning before leaving and alerting my partner. We then proceeded to return to the base, but had to delay our return to minimize leaving any trails."

The partial lie rolled easily off her tongue. The outpost couldn't be formally restocked on a regular basis without potentially drawing attention, so it was common enough for ANBU to go to local restaurants to avoid digging into their reserves when returning from missions. In any event their commander seemed to accept their explanation, nodding to himself in understanding. "Very well. They must have noticed then."

"Noticed?" Amano repeated, his gray eyes sharp as they followed him. "Is there an operation involving Konoha?"

"Not particularly. Two other agents reported finding the remains of a Leaf team while en route from their own mission about two hours ago." Sute and Amano's gazes sharpened at that, looking at him with renewed interest.

"Where?"

"About two kilometers southwest. Some kind of nasty battle happened down there, said they could barely identify the corpses as Leaf." Their commander paused then, sparing a glance over his shoulder at Sute with a spark of inspiration in his eyes. "Ringo, you like performing autopsies, don't you?"

"I do," Sute agreed, already seeing where this was going. "You want me to investigate?"

"We don't know who killed them. Better to figure out what we're up against in case their opponent takes an interest in us."

Sute nodded, feeling a small smile spread across her face. Looks like her evening just got a lot more interesting.

And I am back! Thank you for your patience, I have finally graduated.

I apologize for the wait, and thank you all so much for your patience! Being able to focus on my final semester was great. I didn't end up making a full video game with graphics (that was a bit ambitious of me in retrospect), but I DID make an interactive story called "Memories of Laika", complete with its own website and a comic! I can't give the URL here obviously, but the link is literally the title without any spaces, so if you want to check it out, please do! Searching it on Google won't work too well unless you include quotation marks. It's pretty tonally different from Bloody Oracle, but I'm pretty happy with it and plan to expand on it in the future.

With the self-plug out of the way, we return and skip straight to action. Not much to say about this. I've actually finished writing this entire arc for the most part, just have some tweaking to do with the last couple of chapters to be satisfied with them, so I'm planning to try to get back to posting once a week since I have a decent buffer now! Get ready to see an old face, and a glimpse at Sute's skills. Of course we can't focus on a normal mission, now can we?

ALSO! There's some awesome/adorable fan art of Sute on DeviantArt by MissNanamiChan! I never thought I could fully envision Sute as cute, but I was proven wrong. And over on Tumblr, unpleasantpink made a GREAT drawing of Sute, Utakata and Mushi-Mushi from Chapter 12! That one was actually done last year in August, but I forgot to mention it in the last chapter. It's totally on-point for how I imagined the scene, Sute looks so smug and Mushi-Mushi is so cute~ You can find both of these drawings if you search "Bloody Oracle of Kiri" in Google images.

Thanks again for being so patient with the break! I'll see you guys later this week!