To find the Target (Shitai / Open)

Kushino was now in Morigakure, her traveling was a long and tiresome one and now the next phase of her plan was about to begin. Kushino walked through Mori dumbfounded, the village was incredibly beautiful and memories of her childhood here flashed in her mind. She missed the smell of the forest and the beauty of nature around her, she finally felt she was at home once again. It had been years since she had been here and yet things still practically look the same.

Kushino made her way through the Village, her target was the host of the Hachibi, where would he be? who was she to talk to?.

I was walking down the street dressed in my lab coat, dress shirt and slacks, a cigarette lit in my mouth with one hand every now and then removing it for an exhale. The weather was rather pleasant this afternoon and as I was off from hospital duty today I planned to enjoy myself.

Kushino stopped by a small shop, taking a look at the various jewelry until out of the corner of her eye she spotted a strange looking man, dis eye patch and long coat being his most distinctive feature. Kushino scratched her head and decided this man looked smart, he would know something about the Jinchuriki. Perhaps he was the Hachibi she searched for, he looked strong enough to be ''Excuse me sir.. If I may have a word'' she said courteously,

I would stop walking and turn to see a little kid with pink hair, I would hold my cigarette in one hand as I spoke. "Sure I have a minute, whats up?"

Kushino thankfully bowed to the man before speaking ''My Name is Kushino Uzumaki, I am in search of the man named Takeru. I have some personal business with the man'' She said trying not to agitate the man, afterall she hadn't been in Morigakure for many years and she wouldn't know many of the Ninja there. Kushino rubbed the back of her head awaiting the man to reply when suddenly another thought hit her, The Bear boy. Kushino was going to ask if he knew the boy but decided her research was more important.

The girl asked about Takeru, she already had my curiosity but not she had my attention. I would use to fingers to signal her to follow, "Walk with me, no sense discussing such things around stray, curious ears." I would take another drag on my cig to finish it before tossing it down to stamp it out. That out of the way I started walking slowly down the road.

Kushino nodded and followed the man down the street, he seemed pretty legit and so Kushino decided to place her trust in the man. Kushino made sure to keep enough distance between her and the man, just in case anything bad would happen. Kushino trailed along quietly and slightly nervous, her mind going back to her research on the Nanabi.

We were now in an area with no other people in the middle of a park, I took a seat at a picnic table and used my hand to signal her to take a seat at the opposite side. I would calmly light up another death stick and relax, "So then, why are you looking for Takeru?"

Kushino slowly took a seat opposite the man, she felt comfortable to sit alone with him in the wide open space ''Im in search of him because of this'' Kushino said pulling out a large black book from her bag. Nothing seemed special about the book apart from its contents. Kushino placed the book in front of her between herself and the man, she opened it displaying the various information she had collected regarding the Nanabi. Her Research was yet to be completed but on her own at the rank of Genin she had gotten enough to get her most of the way. Kushino stared up at the man confidently ''If you haven't guessed, Im after the Nanabi in the Smoldering Forest'' she said a large smirk across her face Kushino brought her finger to a paragraph in the book and made a circling motion ''This is what I discovered by research and rumors about Takeru, Host of the Hachibi'' She added.

I looked over her notes for a second until she mentioned that last bit of information. My insects flew out of my body quickly and surrounded her, a hostile buzz coming from each one. I gave her a rather serious look now as I said my next line, "And just how did you come across that information on Takeru?" Outside of myself and the kage of the hidden underground who he had done battle with I was unaware of anyone having information on his status as a host and as I had learned myself, the identity of a host is something to be protected.

At first Kushino was filled with shock and fear over the surrounding bugs, she remember about the Aburame Clans prowess with the bugs, an image of a giant spider crawling over her head appeared in her mind as sweat poured down her face. Kushino brought her attention back to the man before continuing her conversation ''Im the best researcher of Aerogakure, Its my job to keep tabs on people, especially specific people who plan to cause harm to this world and I don't mean Bijuu'' She spoke slowly hoping he would catch her hint. The world would now know about The Raksaka after the events one year age so she was hoping she wouldn't need to say it. ''I found out about Takeru by sheer luck or even by accident but either way thats not the point'' She said. Kushino pulled out another small book and dangled it in front of the man ''In this book is a log of Takeru's Research records, it was delivered to the Aerogakure library and fortunately for both him and I it seems I was the only one who has read it'' She added as she whiped the sweat from her face.

My insects held themselves in position as I reached out and took the book, it was in fact the documents that my friend had shown me over a year ago though it seemed to be much more complete than it had been before. I pocketed the book and held out my arm so my sleeve hung loosely, the kickichu all took the signal and flew into it to return inside my body with the exception of a few that crawled to rest on the back of the girl's neck beneath her hair. I rose to my feet and signaled her to do the same. "Get up, you want to see Takeru then you shall. However your fate when your snooping nature is revealed is in his hands now. Let's go..." I waited for her to get up and then started walking to my home, I would collect some things and leave notices at the hospital that I would be away on research to cover my tracks. I needed to talk to my friend about some things and this was the perfect time to do so.

Kushino's face went into shock, this man who's name she still did not know was now eager to take her to Takeru, he made it sound as if it was just as simple as that. Kushino cheered loudly, her research would be soon to an end and her goal to gain the tailed beast was at an arms reach. She wasn't happy he had taken the book with Takeru's Research Logs and that he called her snoopy but either way he was helping her. Getting up Kushino left for the gates of the Village, she decided she would wait for him at the front gates so they could head to their destination.

[EXIT]