sunshineverse | It's a pretty sword at least.

Resting in Tanzaku had been nice. Even if they had a couple of issues with travel papers at first, getting through rain and into a small village at the edge of Stone's border was relatively simple as well. It had mostly been a quiet journey, and she hadn't really talked with Sasuke much -- they were both too focused on making good time, and she wasn't paying too much attention to Sasuke then. It was when they were heading out of the village that things seemed off though...

Adela glanced to her partner then, hushing her voice as she spoke about her concern, "Doesn't it seem quiet to you, Senpai? There should still be some animals active around here, shouldn't there?"

If it was that quiet, it could mean a lot of things -- that she was wrong about the time of year, or that the local wildlife just didn't deem this area to be a suitable place to live. But, the side of her erred with caution and made her force-relax to get ready to react to anything. With that question, the kunoichi was implying that they were about to be ambushed. Who or why, she didn't know, but it was better to be ready for whatever attack came their way.

To claim that he hadn't been apprehensive about ending up assigned to a mission with Adela would have been a lie: for all that they'd apparently hashed things out in front of Obito's office, Sasuke's default mode of engagement on missions over the past year had become something akin to disaster control. Still, he'd hoped that the possibility that the good luck that had struck with inexplicable frequency on his last mentoring mission would somehow hold over to this one.

It had seemed to stick at first, too; they'd been bothered only by the usual civilian-level bandits in the region, easily swatted out of the way. They'd barely needed to really rest in the designated stopping-point, but with the weather unpredictable as it tended to be this time of year and their schedule working out fine, there hadn't been any reason not to take advantage of the town.

That had, evidently, been a mistake. Whoever had been tailing them for the past half-hour was far more skilled than the bandits had been. Sasuke had been hoping it was merely a patrol keeping an eye on territory, but to be followed for this long was well out of the norm, something he assumed Adela had already noticed from her question.

"I'll keep the decoy," he said, low out of the side of his mouth as they kept walking and referring to the imitation case they'd created. It had been meant only as a precaution, but apparently they were going to need it. "If needed, we can split up and you can hide the real one somewhere until they're handled."

"Got it. Be careful, Senpai," Her words were low and side-spoken as well, absently hitching her bag higher on her shoulder -- making sure to protect her heart and lungs from a back attack with the move. There was no point in drawing weapons yet -- it'd be better to act oblivious and look for a give-away in position, though at the same instant she was ready to draw and fight. They needed to be ready, and Sasuke was right -- whoever was coming was definitely more skilled than the bandits they had fended off.

Was it really just a border patrol? The kunoichi wanted to think so, but somehow she just didn't think they'd be that lucky. Things were never that easy.

Pretending they hadn't noticed their tail was a double-edged sword; it left them some element of surprise to use, but it also meant that their would-be attackers had the option to pick the ground. Sasuke's jaw tightened slightly as they rounded a curve in the road and it became clear exactly why they hadn't been ambushed until now: rising from between the trees was a high spur of rock, several times again the average person's height. The road had been cut through the centre of the formation, comfortably wide but unpleasantly claustrophobic for their purposes.

... yeah, Sasuke decided, that was not where he wanted to deal with an ambush.

"Hold on," he said out loud, keeping his senses carefully attuned for sound in the silence around them, and knelt on the pretext of adjusting something with his shoe. There were in fact stones all over Stone, so he made a show of trying to knock one loose, buying them time. "Maybe we should just take a break."

That seemed to be the signal needed. With a sudden rush of chakra, a quintet of shinobi appeared in front of them, ringed in a half-circle just out of sword's reach. Their forehead protectors marked them out as Kiri-nin, something that made Sasuke's eyes narrow as he straightened back up. Most of their landings had been less than impressive, but at least one -- startlingly red-headed, oddly enough -- moved with real stealth.

That one stepped forward now, expression cool: "We want something you're carrying. Don't resist, and we won't hurt you."

"We're not infringing on anyone's territory," Sasuke replied, moving the decoy package behind him in a signal to Adela -- follow the plan.

Adela didn't move. Couldn't move.

She had managed to deflect the stray kunai that had been flung at her, but with her sword still in hand she was caught, frozen and staring at the red head before her. The familiar red hair, the kiri headband, it was too much. There was no way. This was worse than running into Shark-san*...

As if zoning in on her, one of the other shinobi -- a woman in her early 20s -- scoffed and grinned, shaking her head, "Look at that one, she's so scared she's gonna piss herself. Why don't I take care of this one now?"

Her movements weren't a master's steps, but she was still quick to pull her wakizashi in order to try and make a killer blow on Adela. Thankfully, it seemed like she was at least aware enough to jump back and dodge, but Adela was still off -- her eyes unnaturally wide and her breathing becoming faster as she looked around at them all, even if her focus was clearly on the red head in front. This wasn't happening. They might have been there for the sword, but if they were Kiri nin... This wasn't happening.

Something was definitely off about Adela, and at the moment she wasn't able to vocalize it. This wasn't a fight they could win, of that much she was becoming more and more certain. What the hell were they gonna do...?

Edited (Realized I never added an explanation for * but referring to the November test drive.) 2014-11-23 08:38 (UTC)

It didn't take long for Sasuke to realise that the plan was definitely not being followed. Reluctant as he was to take his eyes off the enemy nin in front of them, he still glanced behind him to figure out what was going on -- only to see Adela, sword in hand, apparently unable to move. There was no disturbance in chakra that Sasuke could sense, but he still activated the Sharingan, just in case.

No -- there was no jutsu at work that could be seen through chakra. His gaze snapped to the woman who moved, his own sword drawn in a flash to block the blow even as Adela managed to get out of the way. Just barely.

Was it fear? This was hardly her first mission out of the village, and these shinobi weren't even that skilled, given how the woman he blocked stumbled back easily when he pushed back on her weapon. The black tomoe of his Sharingan spun slowly as he narrowed his eyes at all of them, still seeing no jutsu that could explain what was happening with Adela, which meant that he was stuck with both a decoy and a real sword package that would rapidly make it obvious one of them was a fake.

"Adela," he hissed, edging back enough that he could grind the heel of his foot into her toes.

"You can give it up easy," the redheaded leader called out, almost casually. "Or you can resist us and we'll just kill you both."

She winced and hissed a quick breath at the stomp, glancing to Sasuke briefly before her eyes immediately returned on the leader. With the way her heart raced it was almost impossible to think straight though, and Sasuke being right there with her didn't help with the fact that she was faced with a demon from her past.

Would the woman recognize her as traitor? Who knew. But she didn't want to risk it, swallowing thickly as she tried as hard as she could to get focused again. Was this person really after the sword? Were they even of the Milani clan? She didn't know, she didn't want to know, but maybe the fear was unfounded... Maybe...

It took what felt like an eternity to her, but she finally trusted her voice to speak, calling out to the ninja, "Just what do you want with us?"

It seemed like the enemy was being slightly warier now that they'd struck back at least a little, the four subordinates fanning out now to form a semicircle around them. At last, it sounded like Adela had managed to get some of her wits back together, but the timbre of her voice was less than confidence-inspiring, which meant Sasuke had to deal with somehow getting a teammate with the goods they were carrying out of the way.

The leader, apparently having grown tired of talking, ignored her question, swiping a hand out in a clear signal. Two of the nin swung around to try for his sides, the other two looking to pin him down from the front -- clearly, they thought that the decoy he had was the real thing.

That would have been great if Adela had stuck to the plan and taken off with the real thing, but as it was he only had seconds to react. Lightning chakra sparked up around him with its characteristic cacophony, stunning the first two to make contact with him, and making a lightshow unusual enough that the other two slowed. It was enough time for Sasuke to yank the decoy off his back and throw it to the ground, slamming a foot on the case and threatening: "Stand down or I'll light this on fire -- we can replace it, unlike you."

Not that Sasuke had a clue if that was true, but it was the only option with an unpredictable teammate holding the goods besides cut-and-run. And the Milani forge could produce another sword to specification. Probably.

His first clue that things weren't as they seemed arrived when the leader laughed outright, putting a hand on his sword with a sneer: "You really think the fancy box you're carrying is what we want?" He swept his hand through another signal, the two men that weren't paralyzed leaping into motion as if to punctuate his words and -- Sasuke had to shove Adela back so he could leap out of the way himself as the first crushed the decoy box with an earth jutsu, the wood splintering with an ugly noise.

What -- the moment's surprise was his loss.

"Get the other one out of the way," one of the attackers snapped at the other, and suddenly Sasuke was crossing swords with a kunoichi and hoping Adela would get out of the path of the other nin aiming a fist for her solar plexus. If the other two recovered from paralysis in the next minute they were going to be in serious trouble.

It seemed like Adela at least was aware enough to get out of the way, and at last she drew her sword to fight back. She was doing all right, injuring and hopefully trying to discourage the attacker. Why wasn't the leader doing anything though? This was striking her as off -- she had purposely given her opponent a chance to steal the decorated sword, but they weren't going for it. Not even to use as a weapon against her. So why...

At last she ended it, grunting as she pinned down the other and stabbed downward right into that person's throat. That was before she focused her attention on the leader. That... Milani clan member. It had to be, didn't it? There was only one way to find out, and that was if he recognized the craftsmanship of the weapons she used.

"Senpai, change of plans! We need to finish this now!" Maybe it was foolish of her, but if she just left Sasuke there he'd likely get hurt or worse. That, and it would give these jokers an opportunity to either follow them further or call for re-enforcements. Taking out the leader while the other two were paralyzed seemed smart, leaving Sasuke to the others -- he could use Chidori more than once, she knew that was true. And these goons looked like they'd be hopeless without their leader.

"Just what the hell do you want then!?" Not that Adela expected an answer, but who knew -- maybe the question would throw the leader off enough for her to immobilize him and pin him down for questioning.

The leader tsked in irritation when Adela failed to be immobilized, though Sasuke huffed out a short exhale of relief before shoving the kunoichi in front of him back, Sharingan spinning through a quick sequence of movements around her counter before he'd slammed the blade of his own sword into her gut. It wasn't quite a stomach-wound, not a quick death, but it would be fatal if she were left to bleed out.

That coupled with the one now gurgling last breaths through a damaged windpipe -- excessive for mere robbers like this, Sasuke thought privately, but better than not defending herself at all -- hopefully meant that their attackers would feel outclassed enough to --

"Not whatever pretty toy you're carrying," the leader said from where he'd flickered across the distance to appear directly behind Adela. Sasuke lunged, halfway across the distance before he was suddenly tackled from the side by one of the men he'd paralyzed. It was a clumsy move, remnants of Chidori still holding strong, but it was enough time for the leader to turn almost casually into a spinning kick at the base of Adela's spine.

"Something better," he commented as he moved. "A bloodline."

It was too late by the time she reacte, and Adela cried out at the hit to her spine as she was sent flying. When she hit the ground she was stunned, wheezing a little and shaking as she tried to get the world to look normal again. Had she hit her head? She didn't know, but Sasuke was held by one of the ninja now...

"Bloodline...?" Her voice was hoarse as she just tried to get her breath, failing to get up straight away for all that she tried. Just what... Were they after her after all...?

Edited 2014-12-16 00:38 (UTC)

Bloodline carried its own weight for Sasuke, his body freezing for a second before he was struggling in earnest. Adela's distraction had distracted him in turn, the complete lack of fluid teamwork making both of them easily separated. And she was down again, though he couldn't tell that she'd been struck hard enough to damage the spine -- frozen once more? She'd seemed to get her fighting spirit back earlier, but now --

The man trying to drag him down tightened his grip as much as he could through the paralysis and Sasuke gathered chakra again, twisting to try and get a bead on the other ninja he'd paralyzed earlier. It was just in time to gather chakra to his feet and shove away as the kunoichi leapt for him as well, freeing one arm and arcing it backward to counter her blow. They were at standstill for a moment, just long enough for him to glance over at Adela again to confirm she was still down.

And a moment was all he needed to notice that the redheaded leader was no longer next to her. It happened in rapid succession: the man flickering in front of him with a lazy smile, Sasuke's chakra still only starting to spark noisily, and then a crunch that didn't register at first.

He blinked, trying to work out why he wasn't pushing out of the enemy's grips, and then the pain hit hard enough that it whited out his vision for a breath-stealing second, lightning chakra dissipating with an audible hiss. An unavoidable glance down confirmed it when his sight cleared, his left leg snapped cleanly from the front, a shard of bone spearing out from the side of his thigh at an ugly angle and blood bubbling messily around the exit wound -- stunned with pain, his brain observed with a weird dispassion: no arterial bleeding, but close. Very close, and any movement would --

The ninja on either side shoved him down and a strangled scream tore from his throat, entirely against his will. Through spotting vision (shock, the medic-nin's voice inside him said, clinical, your body is entering shock) he could see Adela still prone before his chin was grabbed and forced upward, eyes landing on the satisfied grin of the leader. Only deeply-ingrained lessons prevented him from letting the Sharingan rise on instinct, forcing his eyes to stay black through sheer will.

Seals, he thought, still distant even as gravity ground his weight down onto his leg with enough pressure to make him have to bite back another noise of pain. The blinding seals, the seals to --

"There they are," the man said, and reached toward his face.

They weren't after hers. They were after his.

Adela's eyes widened and the pupil of her good eye dilated as she, in an instant, took in what was happening. A flash of what had happened to her own eye came through, and she tensed. They were after Sasuke's eyes. That was what they were after the whole time. But, as it all processed, it would appear that their enemy had made one fatal mistake.

They left her alive.

The balls of metal at her side were whipped out in a flash, chakra strings attached as she jumped to her feet. Her legs didn't want to stay straight under her and that resulted in a slight stumble, but she didn't care -- right then and there Adela had to stop what had happened to her from happening to Sasuke. There was no way she was going to let it happen again, not in front of her eyes, not while she could stop it!

"Get the hell away from him!" In those instants, Adela wasn't thinking of her own terror of Kirigakure or of how much stronger her opponents could potentially be. The metal she was using morphed into spikes and swiftly extended out to stab through the hands of all of the remaining ninja, hooking and making to pull them back so she could slam them into the ground. It was almost like puppet mastery, and it didn't take long for her to morph the metal into a rather large fuuma shuriken as she got into a battle stance.

"You want his eyes? You're gonna get cut down by me before you even get the chance, assholes!"

It didn't register at first to Sasuke what had happened -- just that one second there were fingers digging his fingers into the delicate flesh of his eye socket, deep enough that he could feel nails marking into skin as he tried desperately to drag his hands together for the right seals, and then in another second he was falling to the ground, barely stifling a shout as his injured leg impacted dirt yet again. He managed to shove himself up onto his arms in time to realise that Adela was standing -- had she pulled herself together after all --

"You," the leader was hissing, staring wide-eyed despite the bleeding wound in his hand. "You're Milani bloodline?!"

Sasuke stared, brain blanking again on what was happening.

"Ha," the man said, expression hardening. "This is perfect -- forget the eyes, all I need is your head --"

And he lunged at Adela, moving at full speed and drawing his sword. The other two staggered up more slowly, and three on one was more dangerous than Sasuke had any confidence in Adela managing at the moment, for all that she seemed to have pulled together. Chakra was painful to gather, blood still flowing freely from his leg, but he managed to push unsteady fingers together into a seal and exhaled the easiest ranged jutsu in his arsenal, fire pluming just far enough to distract the closest lackey into turning in surprise.

Hopefully Adela could handle herself against two and one short on attention, because Sasuke was positive that he wasn't going to be able to move anywhere anytime soon.

"Like hell I'm letting you do that!" Wasting no time, she threw the fuuma shuriken purposely curved -- right before the spikes extended to slice and dig into the other Milani's side with the intent of fatally injuring him. Even if it didn't work her sword was already in hand, and she was rushing to engage the three coming at her in combat --

Two, as Sasuke had gotten the other one distracted long enough for the extended points of the fuuma to make a killing blow on him in its spin. It was yanked in the air back to her side and used as a shield for the most part as Adela engaged the other two, entirely focused on dispatching the adversaries in front of her. Even if they weren't after Sasuke anymore from the sounds of it, she couldn't afford to let her guard down for even a second.

The remaining lackey seemed stunned by the fact that her companions had been mostly killed, movements faltering. There was no room to falter in high-stakes combat: the Milani clansman's eyes widened at the movement of the shuriken, ducking out of the way with a curse. The kunoichi wasn't as lucky, stumbling away from the spray of blood from her left and directly into the intended path of the blades.

She doubled over with a choked cry of pain, clutching at a wound bubbling blood just over her shoulder. Even from where he was still trying to yank his body into an alignment that would allow him to at least jam his broken bone back into place, Sasuke could tell it was an arterial injury; she'd bleed out in a minute if no one gave her treatment.

And she was unlikely to get any assistance from the Milani. He'd surged back up after the shuriken shifted into a shield, fury colouring his expression now -- a frontal attack blocked, he slammed his hands together into seals instead, earth spurting out from below Adela's feet in the next moment, trying to grasp at her legs to keep her still.

Part of her wanted to laugh at the feeble (to her) attempt, but she was too pissed to allow that bit of amusement shine through. With one-handed seals she dispelled the earth into crumbling dirt, her sword aiming to take his arm while the shuriken was used to knock his sword flying away from the two of them. He'd have to try a hell of a lot harder than that if he wanted to knock her off her footing!

And now it was one on one. Maybe she was underestimating the former Milani clansman before her, but... It felt like she severely out-classed him in almost every way, by then. It felt like she was just completely overpowering the other, like it almost wasn't a real fight at all.

Edited (holy crap mix-ups left and right I am so sorry) 2014-12-18 01:25 (UTC)

The man's eyes finally widened at the appearance of the one-handed seals, realising late that his opponent's level of control over the clan's hereditary powers was far superior to his own -- a true member of the bloodline. It meant he was fully aware that retreat was no option here, something that made his face split suddenly into a half-crazed grin.

The loss of his sword made him laugh outright, giving up on weaponry (too vulnerable to manipulation) and lunging at her with his hands stretched out for her neck, an attack he knew would fail. But his laughter continued, hysterical:

"You can never leave the clan you belong to!" He shouted, voice harsh, obviously fully prepared to die at her hands. "We traitors know where your blood belongs!"

Distantly, through blood loss and the focus required to keep his chakra steady enough to heal, Sasuke made note: he really needed to talk to Adela about her relatives if this was going to become a problem.

"I don't belong to Kiri anymore!" Adela outright shouted as she sliced his arms off, ducking under the much taller form so his charge would result in his flipping over to the ground behind her. It didn't take long for her foot to land on his chest, and she glanced over the bloody stumps that were once his arms before she looked him dead in the eye.

"And I'm not afraid of you."

She didn't let the man suffer. Her fuuma shuriken reverted to the metal balls they were originally as she stabbed the man straight through the throat, aiming to kill him instantly.

Once she took a few breaths and realized that all of her opponents were dead, Adela rushed over to Sasuke and checked over his injuries, strictly professional even as she pulled out bandages, "Can your chakra heal it through clothes and bandages? We should probably put some pressure on it to help reduce the bleeding while you're doing that if you can."

Sasuke was going to be hearing the gurgling end of that hysterical laughter in his head for days, but at least his memory wasn't hearing-based; the visual was messy enough without wishing for Sharingan-for-ears upon himself. There was no doubt that their opponents were thoroughly out for the count, though, so Sasuke's attention was already turned to his leg by the time Adela dropped down by his side, gritting his teeth as he gingerly manipulated the bone still jutting out of his calf.

"I tied off a tourniquet already," he said, once he trusted his voice to be steady through the deep breaths he was still taking to maintain oxygen flow to the brain and work through the body's shock reaction. "But it needs to be set before I can do more than lessen the pain."

Which would be an unpleasant endeavour that would require steady hands -- more hands than his own. He levelled a scrutinizing stare at Adela, gauging whether or not he trusted her with bone when she'd been unable to use a blade properly mere minutes ago.

Sasuke would probably notice that Adela was perspiring quite heavily then -- more than what would have been normal for that level of combat. It was true that part of it was from her fear reaction, and even she could admit to herself that her skin felt cold and clammy, but also hot and feverish.

Whether or not she realized it, she'd probably be exhausted entirely by the time her adrenaline ran out. At that time Adela had pushed herself too hard, harder than she had in a very long time, and although it didn't seem to have any negative effects she was probably going to be feeling it for at least a couple of days.

But, that wasn't what was important. Her mind was still focused on the task at hand, hanging on a little longer as she looked him in the eye, "Tell me what to do. My field medicine knowledge is pretty limited, so you'll have to guide me step by step Sasuke."

Edited 2014-12-23 05:55 (UTC)

Oh thank the gods...

For the past few hours Adela had been dragging herself and Sasuke forward on their path, hoping and praying that a village would be just on the horizen, before the setting sun. Even if they couldn't reach a proper hospital, getting to a place where they could less suspiciously rest than an open camp would be ideal. It was then that she checked them into the inn for two days, requesting two beds. It wasn't a stop that was originally planned, but this was sort of an emergency.

Silently she glanced with her good eye to Sasuke, clearly worried about how he was doing and murmuring about how she'd put him down once they were in the room. It had to look strange, someone as short as her hauling a boy about six inches taller than her. It wasn't for much longer however, and she sat him on a comfortable elevated area and made sure his leg was all right.

"We made it," Adela's smile was almost delirious then, and she wobbled as she wandered over to where her mat was. Or what she was going to make her mat, Sasuke could take the other one and to hell with him if he complained about it. Was he saying something? She really wasn't paying attention, or rather was unable to. Her things were dropped to one side, the ornamental sword set on the other before she fell on top of the covers. It didn't even take a minute for her to fall asleep entirely, her body finally giving her the signals to just rest before any other words could be spoken.

It wouldn't be until noon the next day when she'd wake up again, groggy and disoriented as she tried to blink awake. At the moment she was having trouble recalling everything, only sitting up to glance around the room as she tried to get her bearings once more. Wait, where were they again...?

Edited 2014-12-23 06:12 (UTC)

Trying to convince Adela that the obvious chakra exhaustion she was feeling meant that Sasuke's using her as a crutch was only going to slow both of them down had turned out to exhaust nearly all of Sasuke's patience, limited as it was already. They'd ended up staggering more than walking, at a pace that was nearly infuriatingly slow, and Sasuke had very nearly given into the temptation to knock her unconscious and drag her.

The only reason he hadn't had been because of the continued pain in his leg, a good sign that he was stressing it too much immediately after knitting muscle and bone back together, and the fact that Adela's chakra reserves were low enough that it was difficult to sum up the required energy to be properly angry with her stubbornness. It was a blessing for them both that she passed out as quickly as she had, Sasuke rolling his eyes now that there was no one else around to see and throwing the covers from his own bed over her.

There was no alternative to setting a watch given what had just happened, something that made him wish rather strongly that he'd gotten around to training his nest of goshawks to be summoned more quickly. By the time Adela woke again, Sasuke was on his third soldier pill to stay awake, doggedly draining another pitcher of water. A plate of food sat, covered, on the nightstand next to her; his own had been emptied long before.

He gave her a look askance as she sat up, not moving from where he was carefully cycling chakra through his leg. Given the disorientation obvious in her expression, there was no guarantee she wouldn't pass right back out.

"... Sasuke?" It was a soft murmur as she pushed the blanket off of her, blinking at the plate of food -- it smelled nice, whatever it was, and she looked around. Right, they had made it to the inn...

Oh! Suddenly she shook her head, blinking more awake before she looked him over, sitting up more acutely and looking over her partner a bit more, "Uh, hey... How's your leg doing?"

He made a noncommittal noise in answer, still not entirely convinced that she was likely to stay awake, but it looked like she was at least conscious for the moment. Hopefully long enough to eat the food that Sasuke had begun eyeing with a hungry jealousy barely half an hour after he'd cleaned his own plate. Iron was what he desperately needed now -- and Adela, mostly minerals and liquids to help replenish chakra as well -- and apparently his body wanted it in quantities greater than his stomach could actually fit.

"It'll hold," he answered, releasing the chakra he'd gathered: the pathways were moving, albeit sluggishly, and that was as much as he focus as he could work at the moment. "Eat before the food gets cold; I had it brought up a while ago."

"... Yeah. And you rest, you look like you could use it," She nodded before uncovering her plate, sighing as her stomach reacted a bit and she began to eat. It was tasty, really, but she was so hungry that she didn't bother to savour it. It was only through sheer force of will that she wasn't eating quickly enough to make herself sick, seeing as her stomach was half-way welcoming and half-way protesting the sudden fill.

At last she sighed, having cleared the plate before she made to get to her feet. Which... Admittedly, she was a little clumsy, but she was quick enough to regain her balance and just stretch. She was still sore all over, probably from chakra exertion, but god it felt like she slept forever... What time even was it anyway?

"I can't," he admitted, though he did push himself to standing from where he'd been looming in the window skill, stretching out the accumulated kinks out of his muscles. "I took a soldier pill maybe two hours ago; it won't wear off for a few more."

He glanced over when she stood in turn, assessing the near-stumble with a medic-trained jaundiced eye. It seemed like she wasn't too weak to stand, just not entirely recovered from a night and half a day's worth of sleep, which was probably to be expected after the exertion yesterday. Speaking of which --

"Since we're both awake, we should talk."

"You should still be resting," Adela started with a huff, but his request got her to stop and blink at him, not stretching out the kinks of her own muscles anymore as she approached.

"What about?"

He shrugged one shoulder, dismissive: he'd bypassed should a long time ago and was firmly in the realm of over-caffeinated and under-patient, which was perhaps not the best time to approach this conversation. He was, however, reasonably certain that he wouldn't get a better opportunity to figure out exactly what was going on here, which meant he folded his arms and levelled an expectant look at Adela as she neared.

"You froze yesterday," he said bluntly. "And I know it's not because it was your first time in a life-or-death situation. Explain."

It happened in an instant. She looked away, clearly tense as she was finding it difficult to breathe or face what had happened. It felt... Childish, and Sasuke had nearly gotten killed because of her failure to act. She finally just took a seat next to him, her gaze on the ground as she spoke at long last.

"They were from Kiri. That's why."

He could recognized the response -- how many times had he been through it himself, on the receiving end of a criticism and too ashamed not to look away -- and had he been less tired it might have eased him off. As it was, he merely waited for her to settle and give an explanation that ...

Left something to be desired. He didn't raise an eyebrow, exactly, but his tone was flat: "Kiri, where your cousin is."

Unspoken: whom you defended despite fearing his village beyond reason. The man who led the attack called you traitor to a clan. What was he talking about?"

"... When I showed proficiency with the clan's dota and the elders found out... My parents decided that they didn't want me to be a Kiri nin, more than anything, but if I stayed then I'd be forced to. They... Did something to try and prevent that."

She took a breath, her eyes closing -- it was still kind of hard for her to talk about, considering what it meant, "They had my uncle smuggle me out of village and staged my murder there when I turned eight. I didn't know what was going on at the time, only that I wasn't allowed to see my parents anymore or go home ever again. It wasn't until last year that I found out that the clan executed them for it. And that they were fully willing to die so I could have free choice with my life."

She was curling up then, pulling her knees to her chest even as she kept looking away from him, "So to them, I'm officially a traitor because I left, and I didn't come back. I still don't know if they'll try and take me back or just kill me as a threat to the clan. I don't want anything to do with them anymore. I don't want to be recognized as one of them when they'd force my family into a situation like that."

It wasn't as if Sasuke had heard about the practices of the Hidden Mist, how the shinobi were put through brutal training and an even more brutal final exam in an effort to produce the most unquestioning killers. The Kiri-nin he'd encountered over his time as an active Konoha-nin had both lent credence to and questions about those rumours -- the ones they'd run across just now seemed unlikely to have killed a roomful of rabbits, let alone their own classmates.

But whether Kiri was a constant bloodbath or a petting zoo, it didn't mean that Adela's parents hadn't performed an act of treason in smuggling her out of the village. And if they were clanned, with a bloodline and a child who showed evidence of that bloodline ...

"I see," he said finally, tone troubled. "That explains why they turned on you so quickly. They must not have recognised you at first."

Which begged the question of just how many people knew who Adela was and what price Kiri or her clan might be willing to put on her head. Sasuke knew well enough the price of a pair of Uchiha eyes, especially ones that had activated the Sharingan, and he'd heard whispers before of the money that a bloodline clan was willing to lay out for the return of one of their own gone rogue.

Dead or alive. His expression darkened, lips thinning: just what had Obito been thinking? Adela's presence in Konoha was bad enough, but as an active-duty Konoha-nin ... it was as good as a slap in the face to Kirigakure, unless some other deal had been worked out to allow it.

For a long time Adela was quiet, just sitting next to him and waiting for if he said anything else. When no words came, she just sighed and made to lean on him, light and careful of his injuries.

"I'm sorry, Senpai. I was... Afraid. And that almost cost you your eyes, and your life. I'm sorry."

It was inevitable, after the injuries and the information that he'd just learned; Sasuke tensed at the press of her body against his side and didn't fully relax, gaze trained on the gleam of his own forehead protector where he'd left it on his bed.

"You shouldn't have frozen up, but I shouldn't have been distracted either," he said, automatic, trying to chase through the thoughts of -- of what constituted loyalty, as he'd been taught from birth. There was no doubt that Adela had saved his life earlier, and if she was being hunted for her bloodline, it was at the expense of possibly exposing her identity and location if any of the enemy had survived.

It was easier to say, shrugging off the apology with words if not physically: "I should have realised faster what they were after once they'd made it clear that the sword wasn't it."

"You were distracted trying to protect me. No one can fault you for that," The contact she felt she needed more than ever, glancing to him briefly before her eyes rested on his leg. He was hurt because of her. Nearly died because of her. All because she was afraid.

"I'm sorry," Once more she said it, resting her head on his shoulder as she closed her eye against the tears that wanted to come out. Not then. She couldn't feel sorry for herself then.

"I'll try harder, and be stronger. I'm not going to let anything like that happen to you again... Not to you, or to anyone else from Konoha. That's my promise to you, Senpai."

"I was the ranking nin on the mission," Sasuke said, a certain amount of impatience colouring his tone. "Blame and credit on this mission fall on me unless I specify otherwise. I know what the failures were, and we both screwed it up."

Of course, as the ranking nin, his screwups counted somewhat more than Adela's. That was, he assumed, not something that would likely go over well with her, so he let the silence after her declaration drag before he came up with a response that seemed to work.

"How are you going to become stronger if you're paralysed by Kiri-nin?" It made sense, of course, to be afraid of the affiliation most likely to try to take her back to the village and clan in which she'd been born. But the terror Sasuke had seen yesterday had been something stronger and less rational.

"I dunno how I'm going to, yet. But I know I have to try. I owe it to everyone there, to my uncle, to my parents... To you. I have to keep going."

She was still quiet, leaning on him, pleaing silently for support. She didn't want to explain that, maybe, it was because she thought she'd never be stronger than anyone from Kiri. Not from anyone that was sent after her, or even just happened to cross her path. Like Sephiroth. Like that Hoshigaki guy. Or anyone. The bloody mist still terrified her.

Maybe it shouldn't have.

When her eyes opened again it was to a frown, both her clouded and clear eyes looking down on the metal balls she pulled out of the pouch and absently started to play with.

"... But... I can't run. Not anymore. Not from my blood, can I?"

There was a part of Sasuke, clan-born and unable to really conceive of a situation where he would need to turn on his own kin, that wanted to wonder out loud whether anyone should have run from their own blood. The issue of village loyalty, too ... perhaps it was less Adela's choice than it had been her family's, but even at eight Sasuke had known without the shadow of a doubt that his purpose in life was to protect his brother, his clan, his home.

Perhaps the bigger question was exactly how bad Kiri was, that it could inspire outright treason in an effort to free a child. And beyond that, inevitably, wondering what terrors could make someone want to betray home and clan.

Tired as he was, Sasuke knew that those were likely not questions to be posed to Adela, for all that she seemed settled firmly into Konoha. Obito, perhaps ... what made Obito confident that the wearing of a Konoha forehead protector spelled loyalty?

"Blood will always be a part of you," he said finally, because that much was invariably true. "Sooner or later your clan and the village you should have belonged to will know that you exist, assuming they don't already know. If it's not your intent to return, then you can't be an easy target."

"They've known since the chuunin exams in summer of last year. I used my dota then, and that's when they found out."

She clenched at the balls then, her teeth gritted before she took a breath.

"... I've been kind of afraid to use it since, because that caused such a political uproar. I didn't want to cause any trouble like that again, not to the people who worked so hard to keep me safe and free. So... I guess for a long time, even though I trained in it, I just plain didn't want to use it. But if I want to be the best I can be for the village, I have to. I can't hide from who I am."

That would have explained the attack on her earlier in the year, Sasuke realised, news of a valuable bloodline in Konoha filtered through strange gossip magazines becoming deadly. There were plenty of unaffiliated and missing-nin in the world who might even have thought that returning her to village or clan would have merited a reward even without one officially posted -- he would have to find out if there were.

Kiri wasn't commissioning missions to retrieve her, at the very least, but once the ability was developed to a greater extent ...

"The mere fact of your presence in Konoha is going to cause trouble," he said, blunt without quite letting the lingering discomfort over the story itself filter into his voice. "It would have been one thing if you were a regular shinobi and fled as a child, but someone from a clan and an active bloodline wearing the Leaf is a political mess. If your loyalty lies with Konoha, you should be using every power at your disposal to make whatever sacrifice the Hokage has laid out to keep you here worthwhile."

Which was, perhaps, harsher than entirely necessary, but Sasuke was short on patience at the moment.

"... You're right. I do. M'sorry, Senpai -- it's because I Was holding back and too scared to act that you got hurt. Rank... Rank's got nothing to do with it this time," She sighed, leaning on him a bit more. She knew he was right. She didn't mind that he was being so honest about it -- part of her admired that about him, that he just was so honest. It meant a lot to her, even if he didn't realize it.

"And... Thanks. If I was alone I probably would have died. I... Needed you there. Thank you."

"It wasn't just that you were scared," he said, trying but unable to entirely hide the impatience. "Our complete failure to work as a team is what made it easy for them to separate us."

Which was his fault, having failed to accurately assess the level of fear Adela had been experiencing. Full disclosure would have helped -- perhaps it was something he needed to remember to request with every mission where he outranked his teammates, given that it had been useful on his trial jounin missions thus far -- but he could understand reluctance on Obito's part to make Adela's history readily available. Adela's, too, given how she'd frozen up despite having prior in-field experience at the mere sight of the Kiri symbol.

That said reluctance meant Sasuke would be wearing a bruise around his eye was an irritation for a variety of reasons, not least the embarrassment of having been locked up in shock from the injury for too long himself.

But he was too exhausted to begin sussing everything out in detail, and beyond that -- whatever Adela's status as an asset, they had agreed to be friends. In the end he sighed, folding his arms without quite dislodging her.

"What matters now is that we still have the sword to deliver and can complete the mission," he said. Not before the soldier pill wore off and he passed out for several hours, but that much was probably obvious.

"... Yeah. We'll get it there," Once more Adela nodded before Sasuke ended up passing out. It was with a sigh and a gentle smile that she moved him over to his bed, making sure not to disturb his injury too much and covering him with the blanket he'd thrown on her. She kept some water nearby for him too, in case he needed that drink once he woke up.

And by the time he did, the sun had started setting and Adela was sitting nearby, her back against the wall as she was absently humming a tune Sasuke likely never would have heard before. It was soft, pleasant, and for her something that reminded her of home. It seemed like she hadn't noticed Sasuke waking up just yet and just continued, calmed and lulled by the song she remembered.

It's a pretty sword at least.

11/21

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... Derp I didn't realize you had made the leader male.

DURR IT'S OK I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU MADE HER FEMALE MAYBE THEY'RE JUST ambiguous

Nah I'm cool with the leader being male lmao

orz sorry

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11/22, A small town's inn

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