Shukaku
Kurapika shifted his position as two medics came dashing past carrying a Suna shinobi on a cloth stretched. "My arm! M-my arm! Do something!" He screamed in bloody murder as he passed by. His left arm was a tangled mess of gore and his face covered in crimson liquid from the lacerations. He wouldn't be returning to duty anytime soon.
Kurapika grimaced. It wasn't unusual to see shinobi in critical condition being carted to the hospital as teams returned back home from missions. The majority of the missions appeared to be suicide missions, a ten percent chance of survival. The thought made the sights of hopeless battles all the more gruesome. One of the sand siblings, Temari, turned to him with a grim expression.
"You are probably wondering why the majority of our shinobi come back looking like that man. I can see that you have already guessed the recent percentage of mission success rates. Your guess would be correct." Kurapika remained blank and unreadable. The girl had seen through his expression that easily? "It's been like that lately. The wind daimyo outsource all the jobs to Konoha. This leaves us with the jobs Konoha doesn't want to take. If we want to stay competitive against the other Great Nations, we have to take the jobs." Kurapika frowned and shook his head. He didn't know these people well nor was it his place to comment. He wanted to get the job over with then find Gon, Killua, and Leorio. He wasn't in a rush. The others—except maybe Leorio—could handle themselves.
Gyo! Kurapika observed the shifting chakras surrounding Gaara. The boy had felt unstable when the man had passed them by. A darker, red chakra was shifting and medling with Gaara's energy. If he hadn't been convinced by now, Kurapika could ascertain that chakra was a toxic energy. It seemed to bring corruption and strife wherever he went in this world; however, he had never seen it as chaotic as the red chakra surrounding the boy.
"Oh? You are interested?" White hot pain flashed in his mind and his knees buckled beneath him. The world became dark and faded. The sound of water lapping against a shore echoed in the void. Kurapika peeked open his eyes and gasped. Before him stood a beast of unimaginable proportions. A raccoon dog? This is not like any I've seen before! The rumors about magical beasts coming from here must be true then…
The beast spoke with sadistic joy, crouching down so that he was face to face with Kurapika. "You decided to go poking around. You wanted to know, so now you know!" He backed away, tail swishing in curiosity. "It's not every day I meet a human that doesn't possess chakra. I dare say it is similar to nature chakra." Not one to be pushed around by larger opponents, Kurapika didn't back down.
"Nature chakra. Do you mean the strands of energy I keep sensing around all of us?"
"So you can constantly sense nature chakra? And here I though only the Sage of Six Paths could do that!" He let out a round of laughter. "It takes years of meditation to sense the energies of the world, yet you haven't me the requisite age of 'old man.'"
"My people constantly observe the world around us in order to be in sync with our own abilities and our surroundings. It requires constant meditation and controlling of one's own aura." Shukaku remained silent. The moment stretched into awkward silence before it spoke again.
"I see. You're one of them. A nen user. It's been over two hundred years since your kind clashed with our own. They always did say nen users were masters of nature. I see why now." He shooed Kurapika away with his hand. "You no longer interesting. Go away human," Shukaku hissed with contempt.
The background faded back into reality. Rough hands were shaking his shoulders trying to get his attention. It was Kankuro. "Man," he said, "what got into you? You were just frozen staring ahead like a zombie or something." Kurapika shook his head.
"Can you handle Gaara for a while? I have something I want to ask the Kazekage."
"Huh? Um, sure."
"Sorry." Kurapika vanished leaving a confused Kankuro.
"What just happened?"