| [Dec. 8th, 2011|08:35 am] |
They made it as far as the door of the Flower of the Mountain Inn, battling their way through snow that was falling so thick it was like a fog, before they realized pie and a rest were probably off the menu. From inside they could hear raised voices. Anxious shouting. A canine-sounding growl. Ibiki was about to suggest it was a bar brawl he and Asuma would be better off avoiding, when he heard someone say “Konoha,” and “...injured, dammit!”
He exchanged a look with his mission partner. “Think they made it here before we did?”
Asuma shrugged.
Ibiki pushed the door open to reveal a warm room with a half-dozen villagers ringing a middle-aged woman tending to what appeared to be an angry, snow-caked little tan dog. The dog, it turned out, was the one shouting. It yelped something high-pitched when it caught sight of two masked ANBU standing shoulder to shoulder in the doorway.
“Hatake’s summons?” Ibiki asked.
"Shida's pup! Thank God," the dog said. It lurched painfully to its feet and limped over to them, heavily winded and leaving bloody tracks on the wooden floor from cracked, frostbitten paws. "Tell me you're here to help. Kakashi an' Sakamoto are trapped, dyin' probably."
Ibiki knelt on one side of the dog, Asuma on the other. Two black-gloved hands reached out to steady the dog. Ibiki pulled his back and let Asuma do the honors. “Not here,” he said, looking at the curious faces staring at them.
The woman he’d noticed first looked up at him. “You need somewhere safe to discuss this,” she said. It wasn’t a question. At her throat, she wore a slender silver chain with a golden leaf charm dangling from it.
“We do,” Ibiki said.
“And Takei Saiyuri-sensei,” Asuma added. “Where do we find her?”
“In front of you,” the woman said. “You can come with me.”
Ibiki nodded and stood. “Takei-sense,” he said, touching his cape-covered arm in a muddy salute. Former Konoha medic, their contact in Hima had told them, who’d left the village with the Council’s blessing to take care of her elderly parents in Snow Country. This woman looked like she could easily tie a hitai-ate over her greying hair and be right back on Konoha’s payroll.
Asuma gave a quiet little sigh. “Figures,” he muttered under his breath.
“Did you say something?” asked the medic. “And I’m not your teacher, you can call me Saiyuri. You.” She pointed a hand at Asuma. “Carry our friend here.” She handed Asuma a towel to wrap the dog in. “We’ll go to my surgery. I need to put some ointment on those paws and get him warmed up.” When the dog made a low, protesting sound, she shook her head. “It will take five minutes. If your friends can’t survive five minutes, then they probably aren’t going to make it no matter what we do.”
Behind his mask, Ibiki’s mouth twitched. This mission looked like it had just deteriorated rather badly, in terms of Sakamoto and Hatake, but he liked Takei Saiyuri. |
|