A Shot to Dull the Pain

The scorching sun was just beginning to fall under the horizon, its light kissing the desert sands, lighting the shifting dunes in a mix of pink, red, and orange, different hues reflected by the grains, casting a sea of vivid colors in the distance. This sea of sand was vast, the Sunrise Desert from the walls of Sunagakure seeming to go on forever. Very few would traverse its harsh conditions...but for the Shinobi of Suna, this was a regular trip. A figure was backlit by the sinking sun, slowly moving towards the village. As this silhouette came from the shifting sands towards the village, some features could be made out. Loosely fitting clothing blew in the wind, a white Yukata had its sleeves tugged at by the air currents, and what could only be described as a shawl or cloak for only the head and upper torso was also ripped at by the gusts as the figure came in from the Desert.

He neared the Village Gates, guards at the gates seemed more relaxed then ever it seemed, they let just about anyone in...but this figure drew not even a second glance, a familiar sight for the Gate's regulars, a nod and 'welcome back' is all that greeted The Desert Rogue upon his return to the village from a mission. He was moving slower then normal, Azuma was a very fast Shinobi--with feats in speed only the best surpassed. But he was sluggish this evening, even limping if slightly. The figure would get into the Village and suddenly found another Shinobi appear before him, knelled and bowed to the Jounin. Azuma would be asked for a mission report by the Chuunin that had appeared before him...the man simply slid a scroll from within his sleeve, handing it to the other Suna nin, before moving on past them without a word. Clearly the man wasn't really in the mood for chitchat--which was odd, Azuma was known for being rather friendly and even social...but not tonight. Not yet.

Azuma made his way into the streets of Sunagakure, passing different twists and turns on his way, weaving his way towards an area of town that had some more upscale hangout joints, a bit to escape the more lowlife types that prowled the slums and village streets ever since the Village had reformed. Mismatched white and amber hues fell on an establishment, a simple Tavern, and he'd sigh. It'd be an alright place to unwind, assuming no one pestered him to much. The man entered the Tavern, the Desert Rogue matching his title as the man surely looked like a strong Shinobi of Sunagakure. He'd find himself a seat near the end of the bar, away from a group enjoying themselves towards the other end.

After sitting his arm reached up, the bandaged limb becoming visible as his sleeve slid down while he would unwrap his shawl, letting his long black locks fall freely over his shoulders as he sat it next to him on the bar counter. Now that his shoulders was revealed, anyone who'd notice would be easily able to see a large cut going through his left sleeve, and the still somewhat fresh blood on the Yukata's arm told the tale it wasn't to long ago. His arm had a pretty nasty cut, about the middle between his shoulder and elbow, likely the same spot that an ANBU would have a tattoo. Guess its good he didn't have one, or it'd be slashed now. The bartender had approached, and cringed just a bit at the sight, but they was used to Shinobi coming in from Missions wanting a drink--just as Azuma did tonight.

"Sake, please..." Azuma said with his clear and smooth but deep tone, letting a sigh pass his lips. The bartender nodded and pulled out a bottle of sake as well as a glass, filling the glass. "Just leave the bottle." Azuma added before the bartender could put it away, The Desert Rogue sliding some Ryo their way to pay for it all. With a shrug, Azuma was left the bottle and alone. The man grabbed the shot that had been poured for him and downed it. Something to dull the pain, he figured...It wasn't but a moment and he was pouring himself another shot.

The day had been a long one, as they all had been since her arrival to Sunagakure. Long, hot, and full of sand. The weather wasn’t doing anything good for her skin, and she’d found that staying hidden from the sun was proving to be quite the challenge. Her pale and unblemished skin was amongst her most prized attributes, however the effort required to keep it that way in this climate was becoming tiresome. As the infernal day star began to sink beneath the horizon she was relieved that she could finally put aside her parasol and walk with both hands free should she choose.

After a quick change into more comfortable attire, tall and heeled black leather boots, a short skirt and loose camisole she made her way towards the market district in desperate need of a cold beverage. The walk was pleasant enough, she still considered that perhaps heels were not appropriate for sandy streets, but fashion was not fashionable if it was comfortable. Due to the cooling temperature she had pulled her flaxen hair out of it’s tightly coiled braid allowing its full length to swing just brushing the waistband of her leather skirt appearing as a metronome for her steps. She nodded politely to those she passed, assuming they appeared clean enough for her eyes to linger on their persons and eventually stopped at the entrance of a nice enough looking tavern. Being a lone woman out at night in a tavern may have concerned some people but she merely smiled to herself as she pushed open the door, she knew it was doubtful that she would run into any rough sort of crowd in this area of town.

Entering the space she was pleased at the clean atmosphere, it was early yet and so there were few patrons. A few tables with one or two people, a small group on one end of the bar seemingly celebrating some small achievement of theirs and a lone man at the other end. Walking straight to the bar, closer to the man who appeared to be drinking away some sorrow or other. Noting the bottle of sake left in front of his cup, she recognized the type; brooding, tough looking. Feeling like some entertainment, she asked for a bottle of sake and a glass from the bartender and walked to the stool beside the stranger. As she moved closer, she spied several injuries that obviously needed tending to along the man's well muscled arm. For now she was content to ignore them, even though every instinct in her was crying out for her to leap into action and repair this man’s wounds, she thought it was probably best to introduce herself first.

She would sit, being careful to not allow her skirt to ride up too high as she did so, and pour herself a glass of sake before turning, glass in hand, to the man beside her. “Pardon the intrusion it looked as though you might enjoy some company, or am I mistaken?” She would slowly drink the delicious liquid as she awaited the man’s reply.

The taste of the rice wine lingered on Azuma's lips before they parted to take in another shot, basically back to back after that first one with only the time to pour the second in between. He set the glass down and shut his eyes. He had no painkillers on him, nor any at home. So using some alcohol to dull the pain, while potentially helping the Shinobi relax after a rough Mission, seemed like the go-to choice. Maybe not the best idea, but did Azuma care in the moment? No.

His ear burned with the sound of someone else walking into the Tavern, but he paid it no mind, he'd be hearing people go in and out the entire time he would sit there. His eyes peered open, those mismatched hues of his, a thoughtful stare off at basically nothing as he sat, hoping the alcohol would kick in. It really wasn't yet. Had drinking that night with Ei raised his tolorance? A sigh passed his lips and he'd again go to pour another drink for himself from the bottle of Sake. From a distance one may have thought him depressed...but he was just tired--sore--maybe a bit frustrated, but mostly alright. He was bringing the drink to his lips when he paused--for only a split second--noticing someone was approaching him from his flank. He'd go ahead and finish taking his shot, eyes peering to his left as he set the glass down.

White and amber eyes took in the features of a young woman, probably roughly his age but compared side by side he looked like a middle aged man compared to her youthful figure. Maybe that was a stretch, Azuma remained rather youthful, but the scars and 'experienced Shinobi attitude' made him look older then he was. Either way she'd gone and taken a seat on the stool next to him, Azuma noting the elegance about this woman. Something about her exuded 'Classy'...despite what some may consider a more revealing outfit--a skirt short enough she had to pay mind to not let it ride up as she sat. Azuma took in visual information quickly...something required when you pushed the limits of whats humanly possible with raw Speed.

Her voice would grace his left ear, her figuring he seemed as though he could use some company. The 'its been a long day' tired part of him whispered to ask her to leave him be, but Azuma was still a kind soul, and was typically always friendly. He wouldn't change that, even if his mood was not the best. "I don't mind." he'd respond as she took a drink of her own glass of Sake, his voice deep but smooth, kind, but with just a hint of fatigue behind it. He'd go back to prepping himself another glass, as he'd continue to speak. "No idea why you'd wanna keep a beat up Shinobi company, but I don't judge..." he'd say before turning more towards her, raising his now freshly filled glass a bit as an introductory thing, an offer to clank glasses instead of say...and hand shake.

"Azuma"--he'd introduce himself--"and whom has come to keep me company tonight?" he'd ask the blonde beauty before him. If he'd been in a more chipper mood, and didn't have thoughts of another woman swirling around in his head, he'd likely have already put down some of his natural flirty charm. He simply didn't have it in him in this moment to do so--exuding a more gentleman-like charm for now.

Kara was surprised as she looked up at the man and noticed his heterochromia. Upon further study though she couldn’t be sure if the man had been born that way, or it was the result of an injury. Without intensely invading his personal space it was merely an educated guess for the moment, and based on the scar she assumed it must be an injury. Regaining her composure she would smile and raise a glass to reciprocate his toast. “Kara, and it’s a pleasure to meet you Azuma.” She would quickly down her glass and refill it again gesturing for him to do the same. “As for the company I keep, you seem interesting and so I’m interested. Choosing to sit over here all alone, it speaks of a story. One I’d thoroughly enjoy listening to if you would be so kind as to indulge me.” In truth her sitting here was less about Azuma and more about her need for distraction, however she was still interested in whatever story was behind the open wounds on his arm. Based on the scarring he had she believed he probably had many an exciting tale to tell and she had a, two shots less than full, bottle of sake to consume.

Before giving the man the opportunity to tell any stories however, she would glance down again at the man's partially bandaged arm she would speak to him in a soft voice. “I also couldn’t help but notice that you seem to be in need of some medical attention, which as it happens I am most skilled in the arts of medicine. Perhaps you could let me examine your wounds, not immediately mind you, I fully recognize the need for relaxation after what appears to be a rough couple of days.” Kara was aware that her morals were not typically aligned with what most average people considered to be ‘good’ however as a doctor she could not sit idly by when there was someone in need of her expertise.

She would then down another drink and refill her glass, turning her body so that she faced the man to the right of her more squarely. “However we can deal with that later.” She would raise yet another glass to the man as she spoke, this time in a more cheery tone. She had no plans this evening other than to thoroughly enjoy herself, and the sake wasn’t going to drink itself. “Please tell me of your adventures I am quite literally on the edge of my seat to hear the stories of the shinobi of Suna.”

The two would tap the glasses of sake together, and she'd introduce herself. Kara, huh? An interesting name, likely short for something else--but what, Azuma had no clue. Still he would go ahead and down the drink, and notice her gesture for him to pour another. For now he waited, he'd taken a few shots back to back now, and he intended on still being sober enough to get home without making a fool of himself stumbling in the streets--potentially falling and irritating his wound. He'd turn facing back to the bar, but kept his eye on her so she knew he was paying attention as she spoke. She first showed interest in a story, if he'd oblige her with one, but was fairly quick to continue on, the battle hardened--and current battle worn--Shinobi listening as she made note of his arm, a glance to even the less obvious bandaged right arm...he had been banged up a bit over the last week's of missions, that was for sure.

Hearing she was a doctor, or at least some sort of practitioner of medicine, was what piqued his interest, even if briefly. But one wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him, The Desert Rogue simply after waiting some time to let the previous shots settle begun prepping another for himself. At least it wasn't lost on her that he'd like to relax for a minute before dealing with it. But he did appreciate the offer, and would take her up on it when the time comes. He frankly was just going to clean it with some rubbing alcohol and toss a bandage around it This was sort of his attitude towards most injuries. He was still healing from the explosive tags he narrowly evaded a number of days prior, having gotten some burns on his right arm, currently wrapped up in bandages. Then the obvious, a fresh cut only hours old on his upper right arm. What she couldn't see was his right shoulder also had a wound, older then the rest but still fresh enough that the stitches had just came out. Maybehaving a doctor friend would be helpful...

By now he was already taking another shot he had prepared while she chatted, looping back around to the story. He let out an audible sigh. He wasn't really one to tell tales of his adventures. His gaze shifted to in front of him before he shut his eyes. "Most my missions I'm sworn to secrecy to never release any details of..." he'd say, almost as if he wasn't gong to continue on, and leave it at just that. Until. "Most..."

The man would pull his right arm up into view, letting his sleeve slide down. It was wrapped knuckles to almost his shoulder in bandages. At this point they didn't look too grand, they wasn't as clean as the rest of him. Well, as clean as a man with dried blood on one arm can be. The rest of his outfit was clean at least. Visibly this was older then his more current wound. He was meaning to draw attention to it, even though she already noticed it--noted by her glance--his eyes...they caught almost everything.

"...This wasn't a mission, so I guess I can tell you what happened." he'd start before lowering his arm, returning to pour himself another shot. Yeah...the alcohol was kicking in. Otherwise he'd likely have declined to tell her any story...Azuma was a social type sure--but his duty as a Shinobi and himself as a person...two separate lives. Every Shinobi would have to deal with this polarity at some point in their career. "I invited my friend out to try to show her something worthy of her artistic skills...I must've failed cause she didn't paint anything. But as we was out there in the dunes just outside the village, we saw a group of 20 men running towards the village...they wasn't coming to say hello to their grandmothers..." he'd speak somewhat quietly, eyes finally opening as he'd glance down to his now half empty bottle of Sake. He remained rather emotionless in tone--still the silky deep voice he was known for, but it remained flat, and his features told no hint of emotion. "...I guess I dragged her into it, was stupid of me...but we went ahead and confronted the group of bandits. A fight broke out...cut some of them down, I had them handled, she took care of a few for me and cast a Genjutsu to force the rest to sleep...their leader was able to release himself from her Genjutsu but I knocked him out...at least I thought I did."

He took a breath and sighed it out. While he was telling her the story--he poured himself another shot. Slow down dude. He'd raise the glass but stop before taking it. "He grabbed my leg and tried to hold me there...used himself as a suicide bomber with 5 or 6 Explosive tags. I escaped but my arm got kind of torched by the flames..." he'd finish, taking his shot afterwards and setting the glass down. His eyes shifted again, they hinted to tales much more interesting then this one just by looking into them...but one could likely never pull out of Azuma. He was looking back to Kara, seeing if she had a response. He didn't like telling people things thats happened to him, it either feels like bragging or just sharing personal demons--such as this case--but...half a bottle of Sake in, he was maybe more chatty then when he had arrived.

Honest truth was it was shocking he even remembered that. His night that night got way more interesting after that all happened, frankly.

Kara’s honey colored eyes would widen as he mentioned being sworn to secrecy. While information was not something she normally dealt in, she recognized the value in what was about to be handed to her and gave Azuma her rapt attention. He spoke about his dealings with bandits so casually, without the usual arrogance associated with a story in which not much of note was actually accomplished. She poured and swallowed two more drinks as she listened, it truly was an exciting story. To think that mere days ago the gates of Sunagakure were beset with twenty people intent on violence. It occurred to her as she listened that this man might be a good fit for a personal security detail for herself. Assuming that what he was telling her was accurate, which she did assume it was based on the burns and lacerations covering him.

“That’s an amazing story, I admit I probably don’t understand the nuances but I can certainly appreciate the tale. It seems as though I am sharing drinks with a local hero. So here’s to you Azuma.” She would raise another glass to him as she spoke, knowing that giving someone who had that many cuts a good amount of alcohol was an absolutely stupid idea. However she didn’t currently have any anesthetics and she knew that what she’d end up having to do to repair him was going to hurt. A lot. She would also have to remember to make some anesthetic, she still wasn’t used to the idea of having to stock her own pharmacy. Being mindful that she may soon have to perform some minor surgery she would slow her own drinking, she was currently pleasantly buzzed, but not inebriated which was just perfect.

When he arrived at the part of his story where he described being literally blown up, she nearly choked on her sip of sake. It wasn’t the fact that it happened, or even that he survived that surprised her; it was his nonchalant way of describing it. She had never had anything even remotely violent happen to her, but she imagined that if she had she would sound a tiny bit more concerned about it. Once he seemed to be finished telling her all he was going to she would rise from her seat and gingerly place her hand on the man's left arm, being careful not to hurt him. She spoke gently as she examined the wound, ready to back off should he be less than enthused about her encroachment into his personal space. “This is quite a deep cut you have here, and you’ve lost a decent amount of blood from the look of it. I’m going to have to stitch this which will be mildly unpleasant for you, but if we clean it up properly there shouldn’t be any infection.” She didn’t yet have her field supplies, so she would have to bring him to her home. She hoped that wouldn’t cause a problem but she didn’t see any good way around it. “I don’t have any supplies with me, so you’ll have to come with me if that’s alright. Once we finish our sake of course.” Kara sat back down next to Azuma and offered a comforting smile while refilling both their glasses from her bottle of sake.

It was when he finished his story that he'd notice her nearly choke on the drink she was in the process of sipping, the casual mention of nearly being blown up seemed to shock the girl. She was a Civilian, a life kept protected from harm by men and woman like Azuma in the village's Military. She likely couldn't imagine being so casual about a life threatening event such as that. It'd seem what the Jounin had to say would surprise her, but she'd go on to praise his actions, claims of Azuma being a 'local hero'. This only made him sink a little, head lowering an inch or so...He was an honestly humble man, he didn't do these things for recognition--he did them cause it was the right thing to do. Being called a hero...it felt...odd. Even if in all honesty he was a hero, many times over.

But even superman has failed, and as has Azuma. He's failed to be able to protect people, he's watched as a village he'd sworn to protect during 'The Desert Rogue' era burn before his eyes, all because he was to late to do anything to stop it. To be called a hero...it felt lost on Azuma. Still, the woman would come to stand, compared to the woman he'd been around as of late, she was actually fairly tall. Azuma was a tall man, he wasn't standing but even now he was eye level with her while sitting...but considering he only had about 8 inches on her if he was standing, and usually he'd tower about a foot over other girls like Ei, Inari, and Kurenai, this girl was just a bit taller then them. Granted of the three listed off only Ei was a full grown woman, and the tallest of the three. He turned to look at her before her hand even made contact with him. A split second his muscles tensed up...but just as quickly relaxed.

He let her examine his arm with no fuss, using the arm she didn't occupy to grab the sake bottle and take a swing directly from it. Yeah, drinking was gonna thin his blood...probably not the best idea with an injury like his, but Azuma wasn't one to care for his own well being. He listened to her state what he already knew, he had been ignoring it but really the cut was bad enough he should have gave it more attention. He took another swig, finishing off his bottle of Sake as she said she didn't have her supplies with her and sat back down. He'd set the bottle down just as he'd notice her smiling, and filling up his glass from her own Sake. He gave a half smile back in return, taking the glass and once more offering a toast. "I'd planned to go home after this but I see no harm in going with you to get this fixed up. Although I hope I wouldn't be intruding?" he'd say to her, taking a drink from his glass of Sake rather she has obliged his toast offer or not.

Azuma's eyes shifted as he downed the drink, looking basically behind Kara. It'd be about then the blonde bombshell felt a hand land on her shoulder, and a man who's breath smelled of a mixture of every liquor in the bar leaned over the woman's other shoulder, very much in her space. "Hey, you look like a classy lady...why don't you ditch this half dead snorefest before he keels over, and come drink with a real man?" the guy said to Kara, giving her a liquid courage smirk. He was tan, fairly fall and muscular, and had clothes that could only be best described as hand-me-downs or rags. This drunken patron also had a Sunagakure headband, half-ass tied around his belt, hanging upside down like an afterthought. Azuma simply set his glass down...eyes narrowing slightly at the rude drunk. Clearly someone who couldn't behave around an attractive woman...

Kara was happy that Azuma didn’t seem to mind her investigating his arm, it meant suturing it would probably be easier than she had first suspected. One thing she had learned in her career was that people were always unpredictable when it came to pain. It was why she’d had so much training, at her father’s insistence, in her bedside manner. Putting patients at ease was the best way to ensure an easy time when treating them. There was nothing worse than having a patient jump at a sudden sting, only to cause further damage and make her work all the more difficult.

He was most definitely in a happily tipsy state, she saw his bottle was nearing empty and when they left she would make sure to purchase another for him to take along. He was also seeming much more talkative and sociable, something she didn’t mind much at all. Overall she found his company surprisingly enjoyable. Surprising because she did not often spend time with fighters, she found they had little in common. When he asked if he would be intruding she let out a small laugh. “You’re not intruding at all, I invited you, remember? It’s no trouble, I could hardly call myself a doctor if I only examined patients and didn’t treat them.” She attempted to match his toasts, but rather than downing her whole drink as she had at first she would now just take a sip each time. The respect was there, but she needed a moderately clear head for her work. She fully intended to make up for lost drinking time when her skills were no longer required.

The next few moments felt to her as though they happened out of order. There was suddenly a weight land on her right shoulder followed by the realization that Azuma was looking behind her while the smell of stale liquor wafted in her direction carried by venomous words. A look of shocked confusion would form on Kara’s face. She pieced together that a man’s hand was the weight she felt, but what she could not understand was why he was touching her. No one touched her. Not ever. She’d always had people at her side, or at least not too far off, to ensure that this sort of disrespect never occurred. So with slightly narrowed eyes she peered up at the disgusting man who was now invading her personal space and cocked her head to one side as she spoke in a disinterested tone. “I’m going to have you remove your hand, and yourself from my presence.” She had no time for this type of distraction, she was currently otherwise occupied and did not appreciate his overstepping.

It unfortunately appeared that the intruder did not understand the common tongue. As he would merely smirk all the wider and tighten his grip on her in an effort to bodily move her from her seat. Kara was ill equipped to resist being physically moved, she had strong hands, but that did not at all equate to physical strength. And she found that her resistance to his pull only resulted in her looking less than graceful as she was being forced to stand. “Come on now lady, don’t be like that. You don’t want anyone to think you’re a stuck up bitch do you? I just want to have some fun.” The man’s words stung somehow worse than his fingers did against her delicate skin. No one had ever called her a bitch before, not to her face at least. And as his smell of fermented grains punctuated every syllable she was both angry and the smallest bit afraid. In the end though fury won out and her words were just barely audible above the noise in the tavern as she spoke slowly and through bared teeth. “Let me go, this instant. You fucking disgusting piece of trash.”

Luckily she too seen no harm in having him over to treat the wound. Maybe she could do something for his burns as well, but he'd have to wait and see. For now, another event was unfolding. The drunken 'Shinobi' had approached and was quick to put his hand on Kara--Azuma setting his glass down and casting a glare in the bar patron's direction. Clearly, Kara felt the disrespect Azuma was seeing out the guy, maybe even more so as she was the victim of this guy's harassment. Maybe Azuma should've already stepped in before it went any further, blame the drinking for his slight pause in taking action. Maybe part of him hoped her rejection would be enough to ward off this lowlife, but sadly, they only prompted the drunk to press further.

Azuma's eyes went sharp as he focused, his kind demeanor had dropped, and now the highly experienced Shinobi would come to stand once this guy had literally pulled Kara from her seat. The young Jounin stood to a full height of 6'2", maybe not towering over the average height female in heels, nor the man harassing her. Still, he was taller then them both. His focus has unlocked mental blocks on his muscles, increasing his overall coordination--enough to compensate for his inebriated state after having a full bottle and extra shot of Sake. This was his simple Lightning Reflex technique, or Kaminari Hansha.

Without hesitation Azuma stepped forward, and sent an open palm straight into the gut of the one attacking, forcing him away from Kara as he let go of her and backed off a couple steps, clutching his stomach. "The hell...oh what, snorefest is turning into a White Knight? Come on you look like you have your foot in the grave. Maybe I'll help you the rest of the way there..." said the lowlife, pulling a kunai from a leg holster on their thigh. Azuma showed zero fear as he stepped forward again, closing the distance. The man took a downward swing with the blade at Azuma, but with a spin on his heels, Azuma spun right around this move and now was positioned to the man's side. Another palm thrust was sent their way, striking the man who'd harassed the blonde beauty again. This time chakra burst from Azuma's hand, it was invisible in that moment, but what would be visible is the sudden shock that would stun the drunk, freezing him in place as Raiton chakra flowed through their system, attacking the muscles and preventing all control, leaving them completely frozen in place.

This gave Azuma enough time to very casually slip a scroll from his left sleeve--just a bit of dried blood on the scroll from proximity to the fairly fresh wound. Sliding it open he slid his right hand over it, passing over the 2nd seal among the 5 possible in the scroll. This was his Chokuto, a straight blade single edge hiltless sword, which appeared in a poof of smoke. By now the entire bar was watching, but not a soul felt bad for the drunk who'd gotten himself in this mess, knowing he deserved some punishment for harassing the woman and causing a scene.

Just as the shock from Azuma's Kizetsu Shogeki ('Stun Shock') has worn off, the loud chirp of 1000 birds cried and echoed throughout the tavern, the Azure glow lighting up the faces of all three involved in this strife as the Lightning of Chidori Katana pulsed and arced across the straight blade, it drawn up to aim straight for the man's neck. Quickly the drunk threw up his hands in surrender, eyes wide as they stared certain death in the face. "Ok ok I'll go!" he cried. Azuma's eyes narrowed in further anger, inching the blade closer to the man's neck, lightning leaping from the blade and surely making every hair on the enemy's neck stand up.

"You'll apologize to Kara for your disrespect." Azuma demanded. A sudden swift movement saw his blade slide down, then swing back upwards as the Lightning from Chidori Katana faded...the cut has removed the Sunagakure headband from the man's belt, and tossed it up. With his free hand, the one with the fresh-ish wound, he'd catch the headband as it fell back down. "Consider yourself no longer a Shinobi of the Sand. After you apologize, skip town." the Jounin spoke with clear authority and venom in his deep tone. Scared shitless and now sober, the drunk shakily bowed to Kara, apologizing profusely. Once he turned to try to run, a delayed reaction from Azuma's earlier slice happened. He'd cut the man's belt, leaving only just enough thread to hold on until he moved. As soon as he turned tale and ran, the man's pants hit his ankles, followed by the sound as his chin smacked the floor soon after. The tavern erupted in laughter at the drunk, humiliated completely by the Jounin. Picking themselves up, they made way for the door, and was gone--for good. Meanwhile...Azuma had already returned to his seat...and was asking for another drink from the bartender, waving a few Ryo...

Drip...

The sound of subtle dripping could be heard...over and over, like a sink that would never stop no matter how hard you tried to shut it off. Drip...drip...drip. Azuma had re-opened his wound in the moment of action...and blood now dripped from his arm once more. He deeply sighed as he realized this...taking the final shot he'd been given by the bartender.

"...Shall we go, Kara-san? I hope he didn't harm you..."

((923 out of 175 word count required, half of 350 due to Training Reductions UA...not that it matters when I more then quad the requirement. Learned 'Stun Shock'.))

The moment she uttered her complaint her drinking partner rose in a flash and with single palm removed the ignorant drunk from her person. Kara moved back closer to the bar and away from the two men, it was only a foot or two of space but it felt safer to her to do so. The sting in her shoulder was all but forgotten as she watched her harasser pull out a sharp looking knife, now she was genuinely concerned. What had been an inconvenience was now a truly terrible situation. She remembered what Kensai had said to her days prior, about how the one’s doing the protecting and how their lives were considered forfeit. A knot formed in her stomach as she watched, utterly unable to help, and sincerely wishing that she could. She liked this man, Azuma, and she didn’t consider his life forfeit. But she was only a doctor, a chemist, a lady of high society. If the intruder would have been kind enough to lay still and wait for her to return with her medicinal kit, maybe she could have contributed, but as it was she felt helpless.

She watched on with that knot of fear in her center, and quickly realized that Azuma had the situation in hand. His movements were fast and precise, and seemingly effortless. He easily disarmed the man, his knife falling to the floor, though she didn’t see how that had happened. She wrote it off as her simply not understanding combat, so not recognizing when the disarming had occurred.  Feeling slightly less afraid she would circle around a bit closer so she could observe better and was surprised as she saw her dark haired defender take a small scroll out of his sleeve. She was not used to seeing shinobi in action and could not fathom what he intended to do with it, her right eyebrow raising slightly as he ran his other hand across it and then things got more confusing for her. Out of thin air, or rather a small puff of smoke, a weapon appeared. Some sort of small sword perhaps? She made a mental note to make shinobi an area of study. She did not know the limits of their abilities, but based on this interaction it appeared they had none.

She wasn’t sure which started first, the azure light from the blade, or near deafening sound of birds. She would raise her hands to her ears, unused to this kind of noise, but watched on as Azuma seemed to be almost considering not letting the man live. She felt that a blade to a throat was not an empty gesture, not when the blade was held by the stoic guardian she saw in front of her. She was relieved when the drunk threw his hands up in surrender, and as he blubbered his apology she merely looked down on him with stern disapproval and said nothing.

As the bar erupted into laughter at the sight of the pantsless, apparently former, drunk shinobi she bit her tongue. It was funny, undeniably so, but riotous laughter was not something she typically engaged in. At least not publicly, that sort of loss of control had been taught to be improper. So instead she would reach down and collect the man’s blade, tucking it into the top of her leather boot. Kara was not in the habit of picking up refuse, but the blade of a shinobi, that deserved some study. As she turned back towards Azuma, who was now back at the bar ready for round thirty-seven or whatever he was on, her eyes grew a bit wide. The wound she had intended to stitch up this evening had now pulled apart and the fairly inebriated man was quickly losing blood.

Kara would move quickly over to Azuma taking the man's robe sleeve and apply pressure to the wound as she barked an order to the bartender. “Bring me clean linens, quickly.” She spoke calmly to the man who was in serious danger of bleeding out, seeking to soothe him and have him not panic. Adrenaline robbed a doctor of precious time, and she could see that she didn’t have much before her set up at her home wouldn’t be enough. “Don’t worry Azuma, we’ll get you fixed up right away. We have to go now though and I need you to help me, hold these on your shoulder.” She would take the linens from the bartender and press them firmly onto his wound, blood spilled onto her hands as she did so, but this was not something that bothered the well dressed woman, this was her artform. “I also would like to thank you, I sense you don’t like the title, but today you truly are my hero. I have a proposition for you, you can answer me later; would you consider working for me?” She spoke kindly as she attempted to direct the large man out of the bar and towards her home.

Azuma seemed to not mind that he was loosing blood, it hurt sure but not really any more then it had before he reopened it--and well...in his rather drunk state at this point, he didn't care. Who knew if the dizziness was from drinking, or from blood loss. Laughter from the bar had died down and by now Azuma just wanted to get out of there. It'd seem someone else didn't share his casual approach to his injuries though, the woman he'd just protected would request for some linens after basically rushing to his side. Her attempt to calm the already very calm man only earned a raised eyebrow from Azuma.

"I'm fine Kara-san, you're the one who shouldn't worry so much." he'd tell her, giving the woman a half smile as he did so. Still the bartender brought what she had asked for and Azuma felt her press the cloth against his wound, an attempt to stop the bleeding. Maybe Azuma made a little to light of it, but Kara maybe made a bit much of it. The difference of a man who went through injuries nearly on a weekly basis, who was also a full bottle of Sake into his night, versus a doctor concerned for the well being of the Shinobi. Still, Azuma couldn't justify just bleeding all over the Tavern--someone would have to clean it up--so he'd go ahead and stand back up, about the time she spoke to him again, saying he was her hero tonight, and following it up with a proposition to work for her.

Azuma reached up and would take her hand's place in holding the cloth to his wound, maybe even a moment his hand coming to rest on her's before she removed it--him turning about to face towards the Tavern's door as he kept pressure on his wound to prevent any more blood from getting on the floor. He'd leave her proposition left unanswered for now, a simple "We can discuss things when I'm not making a mess of the bar" was all she got as he begun stepping forward, making his way to the door and out of the Tavern, semi expecting she'd likely follow. He'd await for her, as she would have to lead the way if she was to take him where she needed to patch him up--his mismatched hues falling back on the door he just exited and gaze at her if/when she walked out the bar.

Kara would huff in mild annoyance as Azuma insisted he was fine, this was the third time in as many days that someone had questioned her judgement and expertise. One of these days that questioning was going to cost someone their life. Fortunately it appeared that despite his bravado he was at least willing to go along with her plan to not lose his arm, and even held the linens on as she instructed. The brief moment that their hands touched as they traded the responsibility of applying pressure to his wound caused a bit of a jolt. Not a physical one, it was more like a slight shock that she imagined she felt throughout her whole body, originating from her hand. She mused briefly about why she had that reaction, perhaps she was still filled with adrenaline from her recent encounter. There was no way that she found herself attracted to the tall, dark haired man in front of her. No way at all. she justified to herself.

Once she had set out a course of action, Azuma was surprisingly quick to get moving. Shinobi seemed to bounce back easily it seemed. Most other civilians that she knew would have been content to be led by her, but not him, he was out the door before she even realized that was his intention. She chuckled quietly and shook her head as she turned to the bartender and requested another bottle of sake to take with her. She took out a decent amount of ryo and slid them across the bar as she spoke in a soft voice. “For the mess. Thank you for your help this evening.” There was blood still on her hands, but as she was unwilling to wipe them on her own clothing that was just how it would have to be for now. Taking the unopened bottle of sake in hand she made her way through the bar and out the door.

Azuma was waiting for her, which was good, she imagined he didn’t know where he was supposed to be going. She hoped that was true, though it didn’t seem too far fetched that the shinobi might know things like that. Where everyone lived, what they did and so on. She would do her best to hurry along the sandy street to catch up with him, as much as her footwear would allow in the dim light. As she came to stand beside the man she would smile up at him, and give a brief check of his arm. The bleeding had slowed, or at least was being absorbed by the linens, which would do for now. She didn’t have any idea how she might move him should he become unable to do it himself. “You waited for me.” She would laugh as she spoke, realizing the absurdity of her statement. Of course he waited, what other choice did he really have? “My home isn’t too far from here, we’ll be there in no time. Though I think if you actually knew the way you’d probably arrive much faster than I could. You’ll have to tell me how you do that sometime, I’ve never seen anyone move that quickly before.” She would keep chatting as she walked along the streets, only pausing as she arrived in front of a door to a comfortable looking home.  

She would produce a key from the inside of her skirts waistband, and once she’d unlocked the door would gesture for Azuma to come inside. The interior was dark, but the light from the evening outside was enough to allow movement without bumping into anything. She would move ahead of the man and begin lighting candles that led to the kitchen where she intended to do her work.[/i]

His gaze was rather focused for a man who'd decided it was a good idea to drink an entire bottle of sake in such a short time, the only tell was a slight glaze over the mismatched hues. It'd take longer then he may have expected, but she was soon to come through the door. Now under the moonlight, instead of a dark--albeit decent--Tavern, the man took in his first true good look at her. He must be lucky, getting to spend time around such pretty girls. If he wasn't around his former teammate, it'd seem he was coming across beautiful woman and adorable girls as of late. The thought brought a slight smirk to his features--the only hint of emotion in the moment as Kara caught up to him.

It'd be a fleeting moment though, by the time she came to stand beside him, it was already gone, and he was on to doing something more practical as she'd speak to him. The man undid his headband--it was wider and longer then a standard issue, meant to work as a belt, but for now he'd go on to tie it around the cloth over his wound, a tight tug securing it there so he had both hands free. This of course let his Yukata fall open now, showing his entire torso--the lower half wrapped in bandages from starting somewhere under his pants to right about his ribs. These was simply for comfort, and hid no injuries--clean like his outfit. His body was rather toned, he was no muscle head--but he could easily carry another person without even slowing him down. His body was lean and toned, build for fluid movements and speed. True marks of a fine Shinobi.

When she spoke of never having seen someone move so quickly, his gaze turned back to Kara, an eyebrow raised. If only she knew how fast he really was. Sans the 'hidden' Kazekage, Azuma was easily the fastest Shinobi within the walls of Suna. He may not have had speed only rumored by legend, but he kept up with the best around at the very least. But the humble Shinobi neglected to comment, instead remaining silent and letting her lead the way, although he was a bit surprised by the fact she intended to take him to her home to patch him up. He figured maybe a doctors office she ran? Honestly the man had no idea, he didn't know Kara, he didn't know if she ran her own practice or anything really.

He followed her in silence, the man focusing on trying to sober up a little as they walked. But the quiet did bother him. This entire time though, he was thinking over something she said earlier. He was piecing together a few simple ideas to get a bigger picture of what her words meant. They would soon arrive at her home. It was pretty nice, a step above his for sure--the man had a simple single bedroom modest home in a sort of 'working class' area...mostly surrounded by other Shinobi. He'd notice her remove a key from her skirt then open the door. He'd let her enter first of course, as any man should, following in after and shutting the door behind him. It was dark, but he didn't struggle to see to badly. His eyes was sharp, low light conditions wasn't an issue for him.

But she made her way in lighting candles along the way. He was surprised she didn't just turn on a light, such a nice place--she had to have electricity, right? But he shoved that thought aside, his deep voice passing his lips as he watched her move about her home, towards the kitchen. "You said something about working for you...I don't mind the idea of a new source of income--missions only pay so much--but...I'm clearly no medical personal...so I'm only left to assume you want my services in combat." he said at first as he'd slowly follow her trail towards the Kitchen, an easy guess considering she offered him the job just after he dealt with that troublesome drunk. But what came next may have surprised her. She was smarter then him, by far, but--the man wasn't dumb.

"I can't imagine such a beautiful doctor such as yourself requires the services of a Shinobi to look intimidating around a office of patients...so before I can give you my response, I need to know more..."--a small smile crossed his lips--"Don't spare me the details either..." he added, voice as smooth as it was deep,, silky with a layer of charm. What she didn't know was at this point was ever sense they left the bar, he had activated his Sensor Technique--and with her within such proximity of him, he could sense her intent. Essentially, he'd know if she wasn't being 100% honest. Even a Civilian has a chakra signature, and he could detect the slightest change in chakra due to a shift in intent.

As she walked through her home she heard her father’s voice in her head “My little raven, you’re so much smarter than this.” She angrily sighed the warning away as she cleared off a workspace on her table. Yes, she did know better than to invite some stranger back to her home while she was alone. She didn’t think she was bad at gauging the personalities of those she spent time with however. Had he been less kind he would have turned her away when she first asked him for stories. Less of a gentleman and he’d have quietly left her to her own devices with the drunk in the bar, like everyone else had. No, she thought, he’s no danger to me father, you’re just overprotective. After cleaning the table with a detergent she would pull out a leather bag from a cupboard and begin placing its contents on the table, making sure each item was perfectly aligned and easily within reach. She would gesture to a chair near her makeshift workstation, intending for Azuma to sit in it, and continue gathering supplies. She had bottles and jars, small scalpels, needles and a host of bandages, swabs and thread.

The final piece she brought over was a lamp, it had a neck that was flexible and would allow her to put light exactly where she needed it. She preferred this type of directed light in her work, though she was more than used to working by candlelight as she had been forced to do so during her years with the caravan. Moving back to the same cupboard she’d taken the leather bag from, she removed a white coat and buttoned it over her evening attire. Not very attractive by her standards, however she’d ruined enough of her clothing lately, and didn’t wish to ruin any more. After she had everything set up to her liking she would turn to the large man and smile as she answered his questions. “You want to know what you’re getting into. Smart man. Don’t worry, I’m not offended by any distrust you might have. It quite frankly would have shocked me if you didn’t ask for more details. You are right of course, I’m not likely to run into many unruly patients. However for most of what I do I will require protection. I am, as you’ve observed, a beautiful young doctor. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, it’s simply a fact, and one that makes my job all the more difficult at times. Many people believe that being young and beautiful also means that you’re easy to take advantage of.” Her face showed just the slightest hint of a troubled shadow as she would move across to the sink and scrub her hands. Were it not for her father’s guards she likely would have run into some seriously dangerous situations before now. The memories of her less than intelligent choices weighed heavy on her, and with some effort she pushed them down and continued.

“I am an excellent doctor, but I am far better at chemistry. Making medicines, salves, teas, you name it I can make it. I have also been known to make other medical compounds that are not meant to heal. While it is a lucrative business, the art of poisons and such, it does often garner unwanted attention. I understand if that’s not something you were interested in being a part of. However I will pay very well, you have already proven to me that you are more than capable and willing to protect me.” She saw no reason to lie or obscure the truth from someone she intended to trust with her life. She would smile almost sadly as she moved over to the table and prepared to clean and suture his shoulder, hoping she hadn’t said anything that would put him off the idea.

The young Jounin watched as the woman begun prepping for her task of patching him up, the woman cleaning off a table before producing a leather bag of goods, retrieving from it contents meant to aid her with taking care of his wound. It oddly echoed memories of a number of nights ago, when he watched Ei do this exact thing--cleaning off a table, prepping medical supplies for use, even gesturing to a chair beside the table. It was like Deja-vu. Only a few notable differences, Kara's home was much cleaner then Ei's, the artist Azuma had spent half his life working aside as teammates was a bit of a hot mess when it came to taking care of her living conditions. Kara on the other hand exuded class from her, not to say Ei didn't, but unlike Ei, Kara's home reflected this. The other difference being the tools of the trade...simple first aid vs the supplies of a true doctor. One final thing...Azuma was already drunk, where with Ei, he didn't get drunk until after sitting down at the table to be fixed up.

Azuma sighed quietly, the similarities in situation wasn't lost on him. The Desert Rogue would go ahead and take a number of steps closer, before taking a seat in the chair she'd intended for him to sit in. Mismatched hues fell upon Doku Karasu, the man watching her as she pulled out and would slip on a white overcoat. Now she looked more like a doctor...the short skirt and tight top before didn't look the par, but now, the blonde beauty did. He watched her turn to face him, amber and white eyes shifting to look up at her own eyes...maybe in his drunken state he hadn't even realized he had been eyeing her maybe a bit too much when she had her back turned. She was, as she'd say, 'a beautiful doctor'. Though it was highly unlikely the Civilian had even noticed, hell, Azuma didn't even notice himself doing it.

He listened to her as she begun to answer him, ears open for her words as she'd explain herself, and the job position. Her ideas she needed protection with her line of work, being an attractive female made her seem like an easy target. Azuma noticed her shift in the way her eyes looked, hints of something more to it whispered through her body language. Azuma picked up on this, keeping his gaze on her as she washed her hands before continuing on. Now we was more or less to the meat and potatoes of it. Her skills as a chemist, making powerful and potent poisons. Surely something any criminal would want for themselves, or any enemy may want to eliminate. Even with no skills in combat, the woman's work could have a deadly presence in a battlefield. Now it came together, Azuma's head lifting just a small bit as he processed her words. Still...the sound of being paid well, it piqued his interest.

"Well...I am always there to protect those who need it...being paid to do so on a more consistant basis would be much better then not." he'd say after she cast her nearly sad smile his way, seemingly almost ready to start work on his arm. To help her out the man went ahead and slid his arm out of his sleeve, letting his Yukata only cover one side of his body now. With this side of his body revealed, she'd probably quickly see a hastily stitched up wound on his shoulder, although by now it was most of the way healed--about a week old or so. "Guess the next question would be pay...what am I expecting to be looking at here?" he'd ask, eyes shifting to try to look her in the eyes as they spoke.

As Azuma settled himself into the chair she’d provided she would begin her work. Taking two clean metal dishes she half filled one with water and left the other empty and placed both on the table near where she was to work. Lining the lamp up to the wound on Azuma’s shoulder she flicked the switch and a painfully bright light would shine directly on the area of the cut. She worked as the man spoke, hoping the speaking would distract somewhat from the discomfort. Taking a clean bandage in one hand she would gently remove the bit of cloth and armor that Azuma had tied around his arm. As expected, the wound was red and angry after having been disturbed in the bar fight, and only a small amount of blood had congealed onto the linen cloths from the bar. Taking the fresh bandage and dipping it in the pan of water she pressed it firmly onto the soiled bandages, holding it there until it was soft enough to move without tearing the wound anew.

As he spoke of being paid she laughed, casting an amused smirk his way. “So you’re saying you’d do it for free? Well that would be nice wouldn’t it.” She enjoyed teasing him, not in any mean spirited way, it just felt very comfortable to joke with the man. Very familiar in a way. “In all seriousness though, I was thinking that for now I could pay you 2,500 ryo a week, at least until I get my business running and then I would double it. And all the doctoring you could ever want, though I hope you won’t need it.” She would spend a fair amount of time cleaning the wound, trying to be fast while also watching for any signs of distress and being gentler should it look as though she were hurting him. Once the cut was cleaned she would rinse her hands and wipe them with a clean towel, moving on to the actual stitching part. The cut was only especially deep in one spot, it was mostly a flesh wound, the difficult part was only about half an inch long and she could just barely see muscle. It wouldn’t feel the nicest but it would be quick. As she threaded her curved needles she moved to a more comfortable spot, bracing her leg against the table to avoid moving too much. “I need you to hold still please, this won’t take long but it will sting a bit. If you need a break just say so, or tap the table and we can pause. I normally have topical anesthetic for this, I just haven’t made any since my arrival to Suna.” She would wait until she received confirmation that he’d understood her after which she would begin suturing up the wound, as promised pausing whenever he needed a moment. She found there to be no shame associated with needing relief from pain, the human body was a glorious miasma of nerve endings, part of taking care of it meant listening when the nerves spoke. Pain was merely the body's way of telling you there was damage, and there was no benefit to prolonging damage; that only made it all the more difficult to repair. She had seen far too many people die needlessly after attempting to ‘tough it out’, completely senseless deaths that could have been avoided if only those same people saw pain the way she did.

Once she’d sewn up the laceration on his upper arm she would clean it again gently and wrap a clean bandage around it, just tight enough to stay up and not apply any undue pressure to the fresh stitches. “There” she said cheerfully, “practically good as new. If you take care of that, you’ll barely have a scar. Please try not to open it again.” She chuckled as she put down her tools and went to scrub her hands again. “Now let’s look at those burns, I have some salve that should help with that, and you can take some with you.” Once her hands were dry again she would pick up two small brown glass jars, placing one closer to Azuma as the one meant for him to take. She would readjust the lamp so it was now pointed at his burned arm and carefully remove the bandage. The burns were not pretty, but they didn’t seem to look overly uncomfortable, just very dry. She would take another fresh bit of linen and soak it in water going to clean this arm as gently as she had the last. Once it was cleaned and dried she would take the second jar of burn salve and carefully massage it into the burned tissue. “You’ll want to do this once a day until that jar is empty. Just wash it with clean water, rub the salve in and then lightly apply some bandaging to keep the sun and the dust out of it. Once the jar is empty it should be fine, maybe a week? I’m not entirely sure how fast shinobi actually heal.”

Kara would look him over, checking for any other injuries that might need tending to when she noticed an old scar on his ribs, because how could she not with the man in her kitchen partially naked. The scar looked awfully familiar, just as the camaraderie had. Kara felt a sort of push in her mind as she looked at that scar, there was something about it, about him that was just on the edge of her memory. “Have you ever. . .” She would cock her head to one side and peer at the man’s face for a minute or so, she knew it probably seemed rude but this was her process. Holding her hands up in front of his face, though being careful not to touch him, she covered his pale eye from her vision with one hand and shortened his hair to her view with the other. She could see the face of a man, younger and with short hair and two perfectly symmetrical gold eyes. With a sudden gasp she would lower her hands and she would beam the happiest smile in his direction. She remembered now, a young man travelling with a caravan she was on, he’d been injured and she’d stitched that wound on his side herself. “I remember you!” She practically shouted with glee, the euphoria that came with the retrieval of a long buried memory like this was hard to contain. “You helped protect our caravan, it was years ago now, I’ve stitched you up before Azuma.” She would point at the man’s torso as she fought to regain her composure.

The man would sit still while she begun to work, letting her work on getting him fixed up, showing no signs of discomfort or pain as she revealed the injury, probably getting the best look at it she had yet now with her spotlight on it. When she joked about him working for free, she was met with narrowed hues from the side as his head was aimed forward compared to her position beside him. But it wasn't a serious glare, more a 'really' without having to say it. He knew she was playing with him. His false glare shifted back forward as she actually spoke of some payment terms. Not bad, sure, nothing to scoff at. But...he had something else in mind. The man wasn't gonna just take the first offer now was he?

"10,000 a week. Plus matching me up if I need it...I can't sell myself too cheap, may sully my reputation." he said, turning his head to face her a bit more, giving her a charming smile. "Can't hire Sunagakure's top Jounin and expect to pay a tenth what I can make from a single Mission, now could you?" he said, his confidence shining a bit. Even if he said it more as a joke, truth was...it was the truth. Arguably Azuma was indeed Sunagakure's strongest Jounin. Even if she didn't know it, and he didn't wanna believe it, figuring his own words a joke. "I can wait until you've got more settled in the village before accepting payment. Guess you get your wish for free protection...for now." he added, giving her a small wink as he did.

Soon she was on to the fun part. Stitches. He was so used to them at this point he didn't even respond, awaiting for her to get on with it. He'd soon feel the pokes, pulls, and strange feeling of needle and thread going through his skin. This did make him wince, the only sign he was even in pain all night, as the needle weaved in and out of the irritated wound. But not one time would he have her stop, why prolong it. Still, he was in discomfort, but would tough it out.

He let out a small breath when she finished, the odd feeling and pain was almost instantly relieved when she stopped. It'd only need to suffer the gentle cleaning and subtle application of a bandage over it, keeping it protected. He looked back to her as she exclaimed that was all patched up. He'd give her a thankful nod. But following this she asked to look at the burns on his arm, but this would see him recoil a little. He pulled his bandaged up burned arm close to his side, not allowing her to examine it. Maybe it was stupid, but Ei had taken care of the burns for him, and to him her work was good enough. Maybe it had to do with the fact Ei had done it. He simply shook his head. "I been dealing with these burns for almost a week, they are nearly healed--no need to worry about it." he quickly dismissed the burns, and declined her aid.

"I do appreciate you patching me up though, Kara-san...I know its maybe just cause as a doctor you can't leave injuries untreated...but I'd like to think its care you care about people." he said, his tone shifted, now quieter--a more softly spoken tone. His gaze had averted away from her while he said this. "Thank you." he would say just as softly as the last line. Azuma could almost feel her eyes on him, probably just checking his body out for any more injuries, or maybe she was just checking him out. But either way, he'd come ti find her say something with question, causing him to look back at her, curious what she was meaning to say but hadn't yet.

Azuma blinked in confusion as he saw her more intensely focused on him then the blonde bombshell had before, straight staring him in the face. Soon enough she was holding her hand up in front of his face, blocking out some features, as if sizing him up in her mind. He was just lost on it. But the doctor before him had a much better memory then Azuma did, especially for what was to be brought up. She was piecing something together but Azuma remained lost. "...Kara-sa--"--he was cut off by her sudden gasp, and taken back by the bright smile he was given, blinking once more in confusion, almost flustered by the smile of such a beautiful woman. He heard her claim to remember him, and it only caused more questions then answers. But she was quick to expand on it.

He wasn't sure if she was off her rockers on this one, one would think he'd remember being stitched up by her in the past if he had. It wasn't until she gestured to a scar on his chest, a fairly long and what was a deep gash crossing his ribs on the side that his own memory would begin to be jogged. Azuma had looked down the scar, and would piece together when it was from, what it was from...he had enough scars he had think about them, but he would eventually be able to recall every tale behind each scar if he tried. Bringing this sole tale to mind, his feature shifted from confused to a much more serious look, as his eyes shifted back from his scar to her face. There it was...a flash in Azuma's mind.

Memories filled his alcohol foiled mind, barely spoiled by the drunken state though. He thought back to the night he got that scar...and his body language shifted. He sat a bit more forward and averted his gaze from her, looking to the ground in front of him instead as he recalled the memory. Yes...it came to him. A night under a storm, a hard fought battle to protect a caravan from a group of bandits. It was nearly 4 years ago, not to long after he'd left Sunagakure following the plague. Despite her joy in remembering him, it only brought pain to the Shinobi. He was nearly killed in the battle, only surviving thanks to immediate medical attention.

At the end of the fight he had lost consciousness, the cut along with some broken ribs and a collapsed lung... at the time had caused him many problems, and he was unable to remain standing. But thats where Kara came in...it was foggy, but he remembered peeling his eyes open during the surgery to save his life. Thats where he saw her...the image that had flashed before him when he last looked at Kara. The face of a young doctor...he had thought it a dream caused by his near death experience...but he knew better now. There was no mistaking it. Kara was the one he saw through half lidded eyes that night years ago.  Azuma's hands that had been rested on his knees as he sat would tighten into fists--surely she was picking up on every change in her demeanor. He was silent, and remained so almost painfully long, giving her plenty of time to ask what was wrong or say anything she wished. But finally his voice broke the silence...tone more serious, filled with hints of pain the man was experiencing. "...You're right..." is all he could get out.

Those was dark times for Azuma...she had no idea, not knowing the man hardly at all besides their brief meeting in the past--and now their reuniting tonight. But those was the worst years of Azuma's life...he'd already been grieving the death of his old teammate Ko...and then watched as Sunagakure fell ill, and 1000s perished. He'd shut his eyes, images of the dead and dying...of the Kazekage himself falling ill and passing...then the final straw. The image of Yuki, his mother, crossed the back of his eyelids. He shot up suddenly from his seat and turned away from Kara, taking a few steps away as he took in a deep breath, composing himself as he let it out slowly, opening his eyes and finding himself looking out a window.

"...I apologize Kara-san....I...don't mean too be like this" he said in a quiet done, a lump in the man's throat making it much more shaky and less smooth then his words before. By now his hands had been gripped into fists so tight his knuckles had gone white. He was made more vulnerable to this heightened moment of emotion by the drinking, had he been sober, he likely would've kept his composure much better...but it was obvious he was upset now, even if looking into his eyes only told a cold tale, full of steely reserve as they peered out into the night through the window.

Kara was surprised to get a counter offer from the man. She wasn’t used to people haggling with her, especially not so aggressively; she didn’t mind at all and actually respected the man a bit more for it. “I would of course patch you up for free, even make you some poisons and various other goodies to test out in the field. And offer you a sizable discount on any of my more powerful creations. 10,000 ryo a week is quite a lot, and normally I would be inclined to haggle the price down, however I wouldn’t want you to resent the person you’re meant to protect. As long as the payments can be deferred for a short while I find that agreeable. Getting you for free seems to be on the table after all.” She would finish her sentence with a wink and a bit of a laugh. As she continued her work she was surprised that he refused treatment on his burns, but wasn’t especially concerned and just left the jar of burn salve near him should he want to take it.

As she exclaimed her familiarity with perhaps too much excitement she noticed immediately his change in disposition. While he had been slightly drunk, moderately content if somewhat superficially uncomfortable, he now displayed something that was much darker. She couldn’t be entirely sure if it was anger, or something deeper but she instantly recognized that something she had said had triggered a less than happy memory for him. As a doctor she was trained to identify pain in those around her, she felt she had successfully mitigated his physical pain however the pain she saw in his eyes now was far worse than his arm must have been.

She wasn’t sure how to handle this situation, her training was in the physical medical arts, not the mental ones. She’d had a small amount of training when it came to trauma and how to deal with it, but it was always in acute trauma, never the long wearing kind. She would move gracefully out of his way as he rose quickly and crossed the room seemingly staring out one of the kitchen windows. She noted the clenching of his fists and the sharp manner that he moved, she felt it warranted a certain amount of caution around the man. She didn’t feel like he posed a real threat to her, but if she startled him she wasn’t sure she could predict what might happen. He was already apologizing and she didn’t want him to feel as though he needed to apologize for anything else.

She would circle around the kitchen so that she could see Azuma’s face, trying her hardest to move calmly and confidently; she didn’t want to alarm him. Once she was within about three feet of him, just outside of his reach she assumed, she would speak softly to him. “There’s no need to apologize Azuma, I am sorry for upsetting you. If it would help to ease your pain you can speak freely to me, there’s no shame in talking about the things that haunt you. Or, if it would be easier I could talk, perhaps I could act as a distraction?” If he did not react adversely she would move further into his line of vision, trying to gauge his level of anguish. She didn’t want to push him, but she did want to help him.

It wasn't so long, but Azuma would force his emotions back, bottling them back up--his hands releasing loosely from the fists he had made. His ear burned with the sound of Doku moving in a semi-circle around him, about the time she got view of his eyes, they'd drop to the floor--before simply shutting right before she spoke to him. He let out another controlled breath and turned towards her calmly, his mismatched amber and white hues returning to look at her. He understood he had let his emotions get to him for just a moment, and it likely spooked the young woman.

"I have to apologize...I shouldn't have an outburst like that...I'm sorry if I scared you." he'd say, his features had softened and at this point he just looked full of regret for his outburst. They always say one shouldn't bottle up their emotions--this was why. But as a Shinobi, expected to face the horrors of the world without shedding a tear...Azuma had to. His eyes averted down and to the side for a moment, unable to look her in the eyes after he'd aplogized. He'd go ahead and fix his Yukata by putting his arm back into the blood-soaked sleeve. Azuma would slowly shift his position and move back to the table, taking his belt that served as the man's headband and getting his outfit back in order, an almost sad sigh passing his lips as at this point he couldn't even look back to her.

"...I understand if you want me to go...I probably should...thank you for patching me up, I do appreciate it Kara-san." he'd say, voice smooth again, but lacking emotion, all emotion was being forced back. "Heh..." his head dropped, visible even from behind him as it tilted down. "Guess I failed my interview huh..." he said in a shallow attempt to joke off the situation. But the attempt for humor was flat, clearly feeling it was true. His movements was slow, he didn't wish to make her feel any more uncomfortable then he already had, as he turned and would start heading for the door. This would involve walking past Doku, him keeping his gaze to the floor as he did.

She could see the embarrassment, the regret and she hated that she may have caused it. It was hard to sit there for a second time that evening and feel helpless. As she watched Azuma begin to put himself back together, both his clothing and his emotions, she felt a deep sadness. In some way she could understand his apologetic manner and wish to escape the current situation. But when he joked that he’d failed the interview she knew she couldn’t let him leave on that note. She wasn’t sure she could actually stop him though if he was intent on leaving.

She made a snap decision, something she wasn’t used to doing, and would head over to the counter where she had left the unopened bottle of sake she had purchased before leaving the bar. Bottle in hand she would move to stand between Azuma and the door, pleading with her eyes as she tried to smile. “Please don’t go yet Azuma. You haven’t frightened me or offended me in any way. It’s important to me that you feel that you can share with me, and so far I haven’t been especially forthcoming which I don’t think is fair. If you’ll allow me I’d like to share some of my life with you, I trust you and I’d like to prove it to you.” She would wait for his reply, willing to let him go if he insisted but hoping against all hope that he would stay.

Azuma had made progress to the door when the woman had quickly grabbed a bottle of Sake, the one she had bought from the Tavern they had met in just earlier, and would cut Azuma off before he reached the door. Azuma looked up if anything just shocked she would step in front of him after what he'd just done. He found his gaze meeting hers, seeing the pleading look in her yellow hues. She'd quickly ask him not to leave, and expressed he hadn't offended her--before saying she'd like to share a bit about herself with him. That she trust him.

He hesitated, almost frozen as he just looked into her eyes after she spoke...How could she trust him? She barely knew him, they had met each other only twice and the first time...well, he was out cold for the most part. They never spoke--or at least he didn't. Now she meet again tonight and already she'd seen a glimpse into the darker side of Azuma...something no one really sees. Even Ei had never seen Azuma do what he did tonight--she has seen other sides of Azuma, having peered under the metaphorical mask he wears a couple times over the years--but she'd never seen him in any sort of fit of rage...only sorrow or the crushing guilt the man held deep in his heart. Azuma just looked into Doku's eyes, a silence before he finally broke eye contact again, looking to the side.

"...I don't see how you trust me...but if you want me to stay I will..." he said quietly. His eyes shifted from the side back to her, but now the bottle of Sake. He hoped she didn't wish for him to drink any more, at this point he just wanted to sober up. Granted at this point he might as well been, the emotional spike had forced out most of the drunk feeling.

She would smile happily as he agreed to her request. It had been a long shot, but usually when she asked for exactly what she wanted people were quick to acquiesce. Not out of any strange power of manipulation, most times she found people wanted to do what was asked of them, they simply couldn’t read anyones minds. Herself included, rarely did she turn down a direct and sincere request. She would direct him towards the living room, it was a tad more comfortable she thought than her kitchen; especially since she hadn’t yet cleaned up her workspace. Placing the bottle of sake down on an elegant looking dark wood and glass table in the center of the room she would take a long handled match and light several more candles in the plush looking room, gently blow out the wooden match and toss its remains in the unlit fireplace. Crossing over to a cabinet filled with beautiful glass bottles she would take out two small glasses and after settling herself down on a velvet and hardwood chaise lounge she would uncap the bottle and pour two fresh glasses of sake. She would leave his glass on one side of the table, nearest the opposing sofa to her seat and take the other in her hand directing him to sit across from her.

Once he had settled in himself she would raise her glass slightly to him and drink it down quickly, she was in desperate need of liquid courage at this moment. Being vulnerable in her honesty was not something she was good at, selective honesty was more her style. Telling just enough to give the illusion of full transparency. Partly it was her upbringing but more so it was fear of judgment. Kara would pour herself one more glass, down it and then pour another before she felt ready to begin sharing some of her story. Taking a deep breath and raising her honey colored eyes to look at Azuma she would begin speaking, tentatively at first. “First, this is information I try to keep confidential and I would appreciate your discretion. It is why I use a moniker in my dealings Doku, Karasu.  As much as I enjoy being the center of attention, I do highly value my privacy, and my life. Which of course is why I’m hiring you.” She would pause and take another drink of sake, this was not a story she had told anyone, at least not in its entirety and that scared her.

She would raise her eyes from her glass and study Azuma, looking for any sign of malintent, greed or anything else that might indicate to her that this information wouldn’t be safe in his hands. He was shifting his gaze a lot, however she felt that was more out of shame and regret about his reaction than any sort of malice. Once she was satisfied with her appraisal of the man, she would continue. “This was about six years ago. I was managing my parents medical tent while they were in a settlement performing a delicate surgery. It was a pretty common state of affairs, I was young for a doctor but I was more than capable and it gave me some much needed time to work on my own projects, so I really didn’t mind. That particular day my parents had decided to take their security with them, apparently the settlement they were going to was a bit on the rough side. It wasn’t a problem for me, I didn’t care much for that kind of constant guarding anyway, it felt. . . smothering. And of course like any good story, poetic irony stepped in to play its role. A rather brutal looking man came into the tent, he had blood on him so I assumed he needed help. I was half right, he was looking for a doctor but the person that needed treating wasn’t him. Had he simply asked I would have just gone to help, but I suppose he wasn’t used to asking for what he wanted.” Kara would pause abruptly in her story, feeling the emotions of that night creeping in, to steady herself she would pour another glass of alcohol, her hands shaking near imperceptibly. “He had some sort of weapon, a sword thing, I’m honestly not sure what it was. I can tell a sword from a bow, but that’s about it. Anyway, he threatened to use it on me if I didn’t go with him. Go and help fix up his friend. I was terrified of course, I can’t even tell weapons apart let alone defend myself against them. And I agreed, obviously seeing as I’m not dead or covered in scars. I did ask for a moment to gather some supplies since I couldn’t very well ‘fix someone up’ without having the tools to do so. Mercifully he allowed me to gather what I needed, which included some of my poisons. He had no idea, and in retrospect it was rather good that the dumb violent one was sent to fetch a doctor. That could have gone very badly.” She chuckled dryly at her joke, knowing full well it was not funny.

“I was instructed to not make a fuss and nothing bad would happen to me. So I went along with him, he put me on his camel with him and we went off into the desert. I couldn’t have told you where we were, we travelled for quite a while and the desert is notoriously difficult to navigate in; for me at least. We ended up at a camp, bandits I think based on the look of them. When we first arrived there was some discussion as to whether I should have been brought there at all and whether or not that meant I should be killed immediately. Fortunately for my delicate neck it was the leader of this camp who was injured and he was fading fast. His leg had been caught in some sort of trap and was quite badly mangled, not so badly that I thought I couldn’t fix it, but he certainly would have died either from blood loss or the ensuing infection that was sure to come. After both of them threatened to kill me if the bandit leader didn’t survive, my ‘host’ left me to my work. I won’t bore you with the details of that, it was a long process however I did manage to put his leg back together well enough that I’m sure he would have been able to walk perfectly well if he had lived. I had one of my more deadly poisons with me, you wouldn’t even notice it in your system at all, it takes its time to kill you a full week to be exact. It was easy enough, unsupervised as I was, to ensure it made its way into his bloodstream. I would have just healed him, I really would have, but I was young and scared and the only way I knew to fight back was that. I’d heard so many stories of these mysterious blood thirsty bandits; how they steal people and make them their slaves, horribly mistreat anyone they meet. I couldn’t stand by and suffer when I’d had an opportunity to alter my fate.”

Her shaking was much more noticeable now, as she drew a shuddering breath and angrily wiped away the tears that had begun to flow down her pale cheeks. “They kept me there all night, I was given a single thin dirty blanket to keep out the cold. The next morning when they saw that their leader’s leg was healed and he was still alive and well they let me go. They didn’t take me back though, they just pointed me in a direction and warned that they would kill me if I returned or spoke of them. It was only luck that let me live that day, I’m not built for travelling, I had no water, food, I hadn’t slept and all I had was a blanket to protect me from the sun. At some point during the night my parents had arrived back with the caravan and sent everyone they could to look for me.” She was shivering now and would hold her arms around herself as she attempted to meet Azuma’s gaze again, speaking timidly through her tears. “I hope you don’t think less of me, I would understand if you did though. Doctors are supposed to heal people, I know I'm just. . .” Her voice would trail off as she sat waiting for what she assumed would be harsh judgement and an expeditious exit.

Her smile caught him off guard, he hadn't really expected to see her smile at him after his actions moments before, it was written in his own features that it shocked him a little. He watched as she would direct him to the living room, him letting her do so before taking a seat on a couch or chair, somewhere across from the lounge she'd go ahead and perch upon. He remained quiet as the woman begun throwing back a few drinks. On the third one straight he raised an eyebrow, just in time for her to finally speak up, the man looking directly to the young woman's honey shaded eyes with his own mismatched white and amber hues.

Other then the shade difference, the two actually hair fairly similar eye colors...because what was amber but a darker honey? Either way, he felt her gaze upon him as she inspected him, but the man remained stoic--quietly sitting. If she was as smart as she is, she'd easily know he was a secret holder. A shinobi of the Sand always had secrets...Azuma knew of places in this village Kara couldn't even imagine exist, and knew secrets of the village only known by higher ranked Shinobi within. This was nothing for the man to remain quiet about things...sort of his job.

Either way he'd seem to pass her 'inspection', and would go on. He'd shift towards just a bit in his seat, elbows resting on his knees as he did, keeping his focus on her as he would listen to her story. It was a lengthy one, in depth, a tale of bandits kidnapping her, forcing her to heal their leader...and said leader's fate by her hands. The whole time he could see her becoming more and more shaken by it...first a pause followed by another glass--her fourth in minutes it seemed--before returning to her story. By the time she reached the end of it, the woman was shaking...Azuma's eyes softened just a little. Even if he was a cold Shinobi of the Sand, he couldn't help his capacity for compassion. Well...if she was playing up her emotions to get some out of Azuma, it was working.

Once he seen her tears, and inability to even finish her last sentence to explain herself, he shook his head, a sign it was okay--she didn't need to finish. The man stood up and slowly shifted closer to Kara, the much taller man knelling down a bit to meet her at eye level, a bandaged arm coming up slowly. Maybe he was within her personal space but in the moment it felt ok, a gentle finger brushed over her cheek to wipe away one of her tears, before he finally spoke for the first time since agreeing to stay. "You did what you had to...they put you in an unimaginable situation riddled with fear for your own life...poisoning him likely prevented other's deaths down the road. I know its your job to save people...but you have...you probably saved a hundred lives that day by eliminating the leader of some ruthless bandits...thats a hero in my eyes..." he'd say in a quiet tone, the man's voice gentle. His hand fell back to his side but he'd remain at eye-level with her, looking into the blonde's honey hued eyes.

Kara was so caught up in the emotions she was experiencing that she didn’t notice Azuma rise from his seat to kneel in front of her until his hand reached out to wipe away a tear. The gesture felt kind and was the first true bit of kindness anyone had shown her since her arrival to Sunagakure. When she realized that sad fact it only brought more tears to her eyes and she felt in true danger of losing whatever control she had left over her emotions. She was surprised that while kneeling he was eye level with her as she sat curled up on the chaise, somehow now she seemed smaller than she had earlier standing next to him. It was probably just a skewed perception based on how vulnerable she had managed to make herself in that moment.  

As Azuma told of how she was a hero she would shake her head. She was moved by the decency he showed to her by not leaving, or worse scolding her. She could see the numbers, she knew that what he was saying was rational, but it didn’t change how she felt. She had intended to share with him, to show that she could in some small way commiserate, but she had not expected to surrender herself to the flow of the story. She prided herself on being in control, in being a rational intellectual and her current state was far from any of the traits she valued in herself. She would try her best to keep eye contact with Azuma, but eventually failed as thoughts of how few people knew that she even existed. She would lower her head in obvious shame, the movement caused her shoulder to hurt and she would glance at the offending limb in confusion. Against her milky pale skin was the clear outline of dark purple fingertips, the grasp from the drunk at the tavern. She would raise her left hand and carefully touch the bruises, wincing as she did so. “I’m no hero, thank you for saying, but I know my worth. I’m so sorry for my outburst, I only intended to share with you, not burden you with my sadness.” Her voice would break as she caught her breath, seeking to explain her unusual behaviour. “I’ve never been injured before, not even the sun has damaged me; until today. I’ve been practicing medicine since as long as I can remember and I’m sitting here at a loss as to what to do. I know precisely three people in this village, yourself included, and what does that make me? A friendless nobody in a village that were I left to my own devices I probably couldn’t survive in.” Her tears would flow freely at this point, unchecked by any sense of decorum. She had probably drank far too much, and a look of worry would mix with the sorrow evident on her features.

The man frowned a bit as he'd see even more tears flow after he'd wiped away some already, him continuing to look her directly in the eyes. Seeing her shake her head in response to his words only made his frown just that small bit more then before. She couldn't keep holding eye contact with the Jounin, looking away, before she seemed reminded of her shoulder. He sighed quietly and his eyes lowered too, averting away for just a moment, probably not even noticed by her as she went on to speak. When he heard her down herself, his eyes raised back up, and now sharpened just a bit. She was being dishonest with herself, and downing herself. He shook his head in response before again looking at her eyes.

"You seem like an amazing doctor...and you're clearly smarter then me--I can't make medicines or poisons....you are far from anything you just said. You have friends, or at least...I'd hope you consider me one. I know we only met tonight but...you wouldn't tell me such a story about yourself if you didn't consider me a friend at least a little." he'd say, while he was talking he'd slipped the sleeve of his Yukata over his hand a little, and gently would wipe more of her tears, letting the soft silk brush her cheek, soaking up some of them. "You're smarter then this Kara...you know what you're saying is irrational..." he'd continue on, voice still gentle and kind, his hand dropping away from her cheek slowly.

"Don't make the mistakes I do and bottle up your emotions...If you need to cry then let it out...if you need to talk then I'm ears...if you just need a shoulder to lean on, I could be that too...I just hate seeing such a pretty face with tear soaked cheeks over things I know are untrue...you said you know your worth, yet you down yourself like that...you're better then that Kara-san..."