chapter 2 repost
chapter 2, a work still in progress. will get better after I have a better plot planned out.
*hitae-ate: a forehead protector. works for a ninja like a badge works for a cop
The door crept open without a sound and a sand-blonde head poked descretely in. Deep greens eyes searched then lit upon two beds against the far end of the room. Only one of these beds was occupied. The other appeared freshly made; its charge now stood looking down at the occupant of the other. Both figures were equally still. A frown creasing his fair skinned face, as the newcomer closed the door behind him before approaching with quiet steps. He stopped at a careful distance from the standing figure, watching her for any signs of acknowledgement. His frown deepened. Bathed the insipid articifical light of the hospital room, her usually garnet hair seemed just as dull as the light. It hid her face and fell around her shoulders like dark, wilted petals and, against the pale of her hospital clothes, gave her the semblance of a ghost.
A minute stretched by, silent and strained, until he finally took a breath and spoke with a voice he tried to make as warm but unobtrusive as possible, "J..Jisun-chan? Are you ready?"
A slight swaying of the dark hair signified her turning in his direction, "Jeido-kun." Another swaying of hair; her gaze had reverted, "Yes... I'm ready." But she didn't move. Jeido's gaze follows the path of Jisun's. On the bed, as pallid as a corpse, lay Alice; wires, tubes, and screens coaxing and monitering every second of her feeble grasp on life.
They both watch her as the steady "beep.. beep"'s keep time. Finally, "Some kunoichi I turned out to be." The silence had been so thick before the whisper, that Jeido wasn't sure he had heard it. He looked up to face Jisun, who was stiffly folding and opening the fingers of her sling-bound right arm.
Jeido mustered a reassuring tone, "Hey, what ninja accomplishes every single mission?" He moved closer to her, "It wasn't your fault. You went against an Akatsuki, alone. And everyone got out alive, right?" He put a hand on Jisun's shoulder and smiled as he would in humor, "Besides, what doesn't kill you only -"
"Get's you fired."
Jeido drew his hand back in surprise, "What?"
"I recieved a message from Hokage-sama. I'm to see her this evening."
Jeido recollected his light tone, "Aw, come on. She probably just wants to hear your report of the mission herself. You're a great kunoichi, why would she ever-"
"Jeido." He fell back a step when Jisun finally turned to him, her hair swept away from her face. Though her eyes were dulled by fatigue and grief, they still shone with unspent frustatration and anger, "Just take me home."
. * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . *
Jisun drew closed the closet door, leaving her green konoha vest behind it, and tossed a clean pair of black pants onto her bed next to her wet towel. After carefully rebandaging her right arm, she guided it into a long sleeve before pulling the rest of the blue shirt over her head. Once dressed, she secured her arm in its sling and was ready. Jeido had offered to come by and walk her; she left early. Besides her shinobi vest, Jisun also left behind her kunai holster and hitae-ate. The only signs that she was a shinobi at all were the red designs curled on the upper arms of the dark shirt sleeves. Jisun avoided the main road at the center of Konoha, opting for hidden backroads and alleys instead. She did not want to see anyone she knew today.
(transitiion much?)
When she saw Jisun come in, Shizune rose from her desk and came up beside her, "This way, the Hokage has been expecting you." She ushered the tall kunoichi in.
(something like this: Tsunade is sitting at her desk on which her elbows and shuffled piles of paper rest. Her hands are folded just below her frowning lips. Tsunade motions Jisun to a chair and when she sits, she feels as if the room suddenly centered on her. converstation insues during which Jisun tells her versoin of the mission and the battle)
Jisun sat straight despite having just retold of her embarassing defeat. She continued in a lowered but clear voice, "I realize the gravity of the situation... and what I have done. I will accept all consequences for failing the mission and losing the scroll to the Akatsuki." She cast her eyes down, ready for whatever scolding or punishment the Hokage might have ready.
But the Hokage, chin still leaning into her bridged hands, only closed her own eyes and let out a short sigh through her nose before slowly pronouncing, "The Akatsuki never obtained their target." With this, she earned a startled look from Jisun.
"But Uchiha, he-"
"Yes, he took your scroll and Alice's, but neither was what he wanted."
Jisun's startled eyes widened even more, "Then I put the others in danger when I sent for help! He could have returned for the other two-"
Tsunade put up a hand to stop her, "Jisun, listen to me. There is something that the Uchiha was after but it was not one of the scrolls you were carrying. Do you understand?"
"I'm afraid I don't."
Tsunade sighed again, clearly not liking the information she was about to divulge, "The truth is that the purpose of your mission was not to transport a scroll. Those were only to provide a diversion while the real target (is there a word that means “the object of a transport mission”?) was transported otherwise (what's a better word for "via another method?"). I don’t know how or why, but it seems Uchiha found out and left after he did."
Jisun sat still, staring at her Hokage for a moment while this revelation ran through her mind then through her face and down her arms, making her cheeks grow hot and fingers dig into the leg of her pants, "But, Hokage-sama, that means they tricked us! Lied to us!"
Tsunade kept her voice even. Though she too was unhappy with the truth, she'd already had her time to settle with it, "They did not technically lie to us. The mission request stated that (insert selected other village here) had an item that must get to us immediatly and asked for an ANBU team to assist in the trasportation of it. They never specifically declared that it was a scroll that one of ours would be carrying.
The regret and turmoil that had been smoldering inside Jisun since she had reawakened in the hospital raged forth with new fervor, demolishing any shred of control and formality. She stood up, causing the chair the clatter loudly, almost off its legs. "Then it was for Nothing?!" Her body trembled with barely restrained anger, "Everything! She could have died, Could die! Just to be dangled like bait?!"
Tsunade also stood, slamming her palms onto the desk, making it and the stacks of paper quake, "That Is Enough! Don't you realize how fortunate you all are? What if it had been any other Akatsuki? One more inclined to return and attack out of spite after figuring out that you were just a decoy? You would be lucky to be lying in coffins right now." Jisun opened her mouth for another firey reply but Tsunade slamed her desk again, this time with a fist, "A shinobi does what is asked of her. For the good of her village and its allies regardless of what it is and for what reason!"
Under the glare of the Hokage, Jisun bit back her burning ire and averted her eyes again. "I am sorry, Hokage-sama. I ask for your forgiveness"
"Apology accepted," Tsunade fell back into her chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose tiredly. When she opened her eyes again, Jisun remained with her face cast down and fists clenched. There seemed to be no end to the Hokage's weary sighs today. "I know this is of little consolation, but your part in the mission was an essential one and did provide us with valuable information. If the Akatsuki are after this, it seems that we’re dealing with something much bigger than I previously believed. I'll leave it at that for now,” she motioned to Jisun’s sling, “Come back tomorrow at 9 for your next treatment. You are dismissed." The Hokage returned to her stacks of papers. The discussion was over.
But as Jisun stepped out of the Hokage's office and past the smiling Shizune, a undeniable feeling still ate at her: the Hokage was hiding something.
*hitae-ate: a forehead protector. works for a ninja like a badge works for a cop
The door crept open without a sound and a sand-blonde head poked descretely in. Deep greens eyes searched then lit upon two beds against the far end of the room. Only one of these beds was occupied. The other appeared freshly made; its charge now stood looking down at the occupant of the other. Both figures were equally still. A frown creasing his fair skinned face, as the newcomer closed the door behind him before approaching with quiet steps. He stopped at a careful distance from the standing figure, watching her for any signs of acknowledgement. His frown deepened. Bathed the insipid articifical light of the hospital room, her usually garnet hair seemed just as dull as the light. It hid her face and fell around her shoulders like dark, wilted petals and, against the pale of her hospital clothes, gave her the semblance of a ghost.
A minute stretched by, silent and strained, until he finally took a breath and spoke with a voice he tried to make as warm but unobtrusive as possible, "J..Jisun-chan? Are you ready?"
A slight swaying of the dark hair signified her turning in his direction, "Jeido-kun." Another swaying of hair; her gaze had reverted, "Yes... I'm ready." But she didn't move. Jeido's gaze follows the path of Jisun's. On the bed, as pallid as a corpse, lay Alice; wires, tubes, and screens coaxing and monitering every second of her feeble grasp on life.
They both watch her as the steady "beep.. beep"'s keep time. Finally, "Some kunoichi I turned out to be." The silence had been so thick before the whisper, that Jeido wasn't sure he had heard it. He looked up to face Jisun, who was stiffly folding and opening the fingers of her sling-bound right arm.
Jeido mustered a reassuring tone, "Hey, what ninja accomplishes every single mission?" He moved closer to her, "It wasn't your fault. You went against an Akatsuki, alone. And everyone got out alive, right?" He put a hand on Jisun's shoulder and smiled as he would in humor, "Besides, what doesn't kill you only -"
"Get's you fired."
Jeido drew his hand back in surprise, "What?"
"I recieved a message from Hokage-sama. I'm to see her this evening."
Jeido recollected his light tone, "Aw, come on. She probably just wants to hear your report of the mission herself. You're a great kunoichi, why would she ever-"
"Jeido." He fell back a step when Jisun finally turned to him, her hair swept away from her face. Though her eyes were dulled by fatigue and grief, they still shone with unspent frustatration and anger, "Just take me home."
. * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . *
Jisun drew closed the closet door, leaving her green konoha vest behind it, and tossed a clean pair of black pants onto her bed next to her wet towel. After carefully rebandaging her right arm, she guided it into a long sleeve before pulling the rest of the blue shirt over her head. Once dressed, she secured her arm in its sling and was ready. Jeido had offered to come by and walk her; she left early. Besides her shinobi vest, Jisun also left behind her kunai holster and hitae-ate. The only signs that she was a shinobi at all were the red designs curled on the upper arms of the dark shirt sleeves. Jisun avoided the main road at the center of Konoha, opting for hidden backroads and alleys instead. She did not want to see anyone she knew today.
(transitiion much?)
When she saw Jisun come in, Shizune rose from her desk and came up beside her, "This way, the Hokage has been expecting you." She ushered the tall kunoichi in.
(something like this: Tsunade is sitting at her desk on which her elbows and shuffled piles of paper rest. Her hands are folded just below her frowning lips. Tsunade motions Jisun to a chair and when she sits, she feels as if the room suddenly centered on her. converstation insues during which Jisun tells her versoin of the mission and the battle)
Jisun sat straight despite having just retold of her embarassing defeat. She continued in a lowered but clear voice, "I realize the gravity of the situation... and what I have done. I will accept all consequences for failing the mission and losing the scroll to the Akatsuki." She cast her eyes down, ready for whatever scolding or punishment the Hokage might have ready.
But the Hokage, chin still leaning into her bridged hands, only closed her own eyes and let out a short sigh through her nose before slowly pronouncing, "The Akatsuki never obtained their target." With this, she earned a startled look from Jisun.
"But Uchiha, he-"
"Yes, he took your scroll and Alice's, but neither was what he wanted."
Jisun's startled eyes widened even more, "Then I put the others in danger when I sent for help! He could have returned for the other two-"
Tsunade put up a hand to stop her, "Jisun, listen to me. There is something that the Uchiha was after but it was not one of the scrolls you were carrying. Do you understand?"
"I'm afraid I don't."
Tsunade sighed again, clearly not liking the information she was about to divulge, "The truth is that the purpose of your mission was not to transport a scroll. Those were only to provide a diversion while the real target (is there a word that means “the object of a transport mission”?) was transported otherwise (what's a better word for "via another method?"). I don’t know how or why, but it seems Uchiha found out and left after he did."
Jisun sat still, staring at her Hokage for a moment while this revelation ran through her mind then through her face and down her arms, making her cheeks grow hot and fingers dig into the leg of her pants, "But, Hokage-sama, that means they tricked us! Lied to us!"
Tsunade kept her voice even. Though she too was unhappy with the truth, she'd already had her time to settle with it, "They did not technically lie to us. The mission request stated that (insert selected other village here) had an item that must get to us immediatly and asked for an ANBU team to assist in the trasportation of it. They never specifically declared that it was a scroll that one of ours would be carrying.
The regret and turmoil that had been smoldering inside Jisun since she had reawakened in the hospital raged forth with new fervor, demolishing any shred of control and formality. She stood up, causing the chair the clatter loudly, almost off its legs. "Then it was for Nothing?!" Her body trembled with barely restrained anger, "Everything! She could have died, Could die! Just to be dangled like bait?!"
Tsunade also stood, slamming her palms onto the desk, making it and the stacks of paper quake, "That Is Enough! Don't you realize how fortunate you all are? What if it had been any other Akatsuki? One more inclined to return and attack out of spite after figuring out that you were just a decoy? You would be lucky to be lying in coffins right now." Jisun opened her mouth for another firey reply but Tsunade slamed her desk again, this time with a fist, "A shinobi does what is asked of her. For the good of her village and its allies regardless of what it is and for what reason!"
Under the glare of the Hokage, Jisun bit back her burning ire and averted her eyes again. "I am sorry, Hokage-sama. I ask for your forgiveness"
"Apology accepted," Tsunade fell back into her chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose tiredly. When she opened her eyes again, Jisun remained with her face cast down and fists clenched. There seemed to be no end to the Hokage's weary sighs today. "I know this is of little consolation, but your part in the mission was an essential one and did provide us with valuable information. If the Akatsuki are after this, it seems that we’re dealing with something much bigger than I previously believed. I'll leave it at that for now,” she motioned to Jisun’s sling, “Come back tomorrow at 9 for your next treatment. You are dismissed." The Hokage returned to her stacks of papers. The discussion was over.
But as Jisun stepped out of the Hokage's office and past the smiling Shizune, a undeniable feeling still ate at her: the Hokage was hiding something.