Since I actually needed to do another personal post I combined it with my mission post requirement, this is really long so strap yourselves in
Post - North
After not sleeping for days due to watch, Keisuke headed right out on a mission without a second thought. He didn't like being alone in his apartment. Nor did he like living at the Estate. Either way, there was too much silence. And it didn't help that he was an insomniac. The only way he'd settle down was if he completely wore himself out. And as much as Mamoru or everyone hated that, it wasn't his choice. So he picked up the mission with heavy heart and left immediately.
Ever since the North Post sent a bird to the village requesting backup four days ago, Keisuke's been bored out of his mind. He arrived at the post hours after the bird came in and there hadn't been a single sign of any threat from any direction since. Meaning he'd have to stay their until the shift changed. So he had spent the past four days doing absolutely nothing. And when it came to the last day before shift change, they were all ready to get back home, and they weren't expecting anyone to ambush them on their last night. Not even the experienced Sarutobi.
Keisuke had finally fallen asleep when he was pierced by four kunai. But he couldn't feel pain so he wasn't even aware of it. He had no idea that he was surrounded by hostiles until he felt the heat of the blood trickling down his torso. His grey eyes opened wide to see that all of his comrades had their throats slit and their killers were lurking over them.
"Looks like there's one left." One snarled. "Hope he can tell us something useful."
'Sorry to disappoint fellas.' Keisuke chuckled to himself as he moved to stand. That's when he noticed that there were three large thick metal rods impaled into his chest and stomach. He couldn't move. The rods had imbedded into the tree he'd been sleeping against. He was stuck.
"Don't struggle, yeah?" Another teased with a sickening grin. "Those'll keep you from bleeding out while we talk to ya."
Keisuke rolled his eyes. "Well thanks."
In any other situation he'd just bust those rods and crush their skulls. But he had to be careful. He wouldn't live long with his injuries if they were to bleed into his abdominal cavity. If he jostled them in a certain way they could rip something open and he wouldn't be conscious long enough too regret the decision.
"You probably know the situation you're in. So here's the deal." The first man smiled as he crouched down in front of Keisuke. "You tell us the Leaf Village's weak points, and we'll let you go."
Even if that was true, Keisuke'd sooner die than compromise his village. To show his new friends his opinion on the matter he spat directly in their face.
"Tch! Insolent shit!"
The shinobi pulled one of the kunai out of Keisuke's arm and started digging it into his ribs. And while he certainly expected him to cry out in pain, Keisuke just smiled at him playfully and taunted, "Is that all you got?"
The kunai was pulled back and his face was struck harshly. A large gash appeared below his eye and across his nose. Keisuke didn't shy away from his attacker, he winked playfully up at him. Not caring how badly he'd be beaten. Then the shinobi raised the kunai and looked directly at Keisuke's throat.
"Sano." A female interjected, putting her hand on "Sano's" arm. "This is pointless. Just let me extract the information."
"Don't tell me what to do, Chiya." He spat back. He shoved her off and sent the kunai towards Keisuke's neck. It nicked his skin and embedded in the tree. Again, he didn't even flinch. And that pissed Sano off severely.
But, Sano stepped away and Chiya raised on hand to her lips, placing her other hand on Keisuke's head. He felt the foreign chakra leaking into him, searching through his head for the information it sought. Keisuke watched as Chiya forced open his memories and began to search through them. He saw himself training with Asuma, then rolling around on the ground holding his head after Kaoru clocked him, then holding Kuri for the first time, and finally... static.
Keisuke's mind wasn't as trained as it was. He blamed Mamoru for that. The defences slipped up a bit. But eventually Chiya was forced into a maze that she'd have a very hard time finding her way out of willingly. Too bad Keisuke didn't have time to play. At every turn some of the most horrific things Keisuke ever felt was transferred into her, the pain of having the skin peeled from her flesh, the agony of every bone breaking in your body only to heal quickly and be broken again, forcing their connection to crack. He purposefully showed her a fake memory of him ripping out her organs, but since he'd felt that as well the pain was also real to her. The longer she held on the harder Keisuke would buck her off.
Eventually the connection was severed. Chiya broke away from him, her eyes wide and full of fear. "I-I-I..."
"You might want to lay her down before she passes out." Keisuke said with a mildly sadistic tone.
The second man came and held onto Chiya. "Damn, he's trained against extraction."
Sano glared back at his comrade. "You think I don't know that, Tatsu? Why don't you say something useful or shut the fuck up!"
Keisuke just continued to chuckle in his position against the tree. That only fueled Sano's rage further. He brandished several shuriken and sent them flying into Keisuke's chest, arms, legs, every piece of visible flesh he could hit. He then stepped forward and kicked the metal rod through his right kidney. Blood pooled from the wound and quickly soaked the grass around him.
"This little shit can sit here and suffer." He growled. "I want him to choke on death for a while while we infiltrate the Hidden Leaf."
They left him bleeding profusely, surrounded by his dead comrades, truly struggling for every breath. Finally alone he coughed up a large amount of blood onto himself. His right lung had collapsed completely. It was then that Keisuke sincerely regretted his smoking habit. He wasn't sure if his left lung could pick up the slack. Though he did start to feel quite light headed. He'd lost a lot of blood. It wouldn't be long until he exsanguinated. But before then, he'd be able to do one last thing for his village.
Keisuke got some blood from his neck and wiped it over a tattoo around his left bicep. When he removed his hand a small sparrow appeared in his palm, tweeting like nothing was wrong. Keisuke smiled and removed the blank message from around its ankle. Then he got some blood on his finger and he wrote a warning to the village with a shaky hand. When he was done he gave the bird its instructions, tied the message, and sent it on its way. Knowing he couldn't possibly do anymore, he closed his eyes and smiled. For he knew he'd never have to open them again.
---
"Whenever the chunin exams happen I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach." The blonde Hokage muttered as he calmly worked on the paperwork in front of him.
Naruto had been completely distracted for most of the morning because an overall ominous feeling. It bothered him so much so that Kurama felt a need to make an appearance. The orange beast sat patiently at Naruto's side, completely at attention. In fact, he was the one who made the distracted Hokage aware to the small bird tapping at his window.
Having it called to his attention, Naruto turned and examined the sparrow. He noticed the note tied around it's leg. So he opened the window and allowed the bird to jump onto his finger. He unraveled the message and found himself glaring at it.
"This is illegible." He grumbled. "This paper is too small to write any significant message on it and hope for it to be read."
"What are you muttering about, dobe." Sasuke Uchiha asked impatiently, appearing alongside Naruto and gesturing for the paper. After glancing at it he rolled his eyes. "It's distress shorthand, you baka."
Naruto peered at it again and shrugged. "Gibberish."
Sasuke smacked his fellow Hokage upside the head and read through the message thoroughly. "The three men who were guarding the Northern Post were all killed by unknown operatives. There is at least three of them and they're heading for the village, two men, one woman. Their intentions are unknown, but infiltration was mentioned." Sasuke paused and looked at Naruto. "Didn't we send Keisuke to provide back-up to the Northern Post."
The brush Naruto was holding fell out of his hand. "Shit." He mumbled as he pulled out the mission assignments list. He scanned it until he came to... "Rin, Miko."
Two ANBU appeared in the Hokage's office. "Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Get me Yukinojo Mamoru." Naruto ordered before turning to Sasuke. "Handle this situation."
Sasuke didn't appreciate being ordered around, and by the dobe no less, but he complied. He vanished, as did the two ANBU, only to have Mamoru appear soon after.
"You summoned me?" He asked politely as he kneeled.
Naruto sighed. "The Northern Post was attacked and the scouts assigned to it were all slain. I need someone to go and assess the scene."
Mamoru nodded and was about to leave when Naruto stopped him. "Mamoru. There's something you should know..." He paused to scratch the back of his head. "The men stationed there requested back-up a few days ago... and... we sent Keisuke."
The younger silverette immediately froze. His mind connected the dots before the words even left Naruto's mouth. Why else would he be so hesitant? Mamoru felt the tears brimming in his eyes. The thought of Keisuke being dead...
"Now... he could be alive." Naruto tried to ease him. "We did receive a bird from one of them. I'm sure it'll lead you back to the site."
Mamoru nodded and as the bird flew off he jumped through the window and followed it back to Keisuke. He just hoped he wasn't too late.
---
When the bird led Mamoru to the clearing, he couldn't believe it. Three bodies, throats cut from ear to ear, their blood soaked the ground beneath them. In a frantic state, Mamoru checked to see if any of them were Keisuke. None of them were. He looked around, completely terrified, 'Where are you...?'
He finally found him. Keisuke's body was bloodied and pinned to a tree by several long metal rods. For all intents and purposes, he looked dead. He wasn't moving, and there was too much blood in the snow around him for him to be alright. The sparrow sat on his shoulder, quietly nestling as if Keisuke were actually part of the tree. Almost in denial Mamoru approached him, fitting between the rods and collapsing in Keisuke's lap.
"No..." He cried into his friends neck, wondering how both of his old teammates could be dead...
Feeling the new warmth of tears, Keisuke tiredly blinked himself awake. There was also something soft brushing up against his cheek and something heavy on his lap. He looked and he saw a familiar head of silver hair, and a pair of shaking shoulders he knew all too well. Wondering how the hell he got there, Keisuke struggled to lift up his arms so he could comfort Mamoru in the slightest way. But when he saw his bloody hands he didn't want to get Mamoru dirty... he still lightly grasped at his clothes anyway.
Surprised by the sudden touch, Mamoru froze. He looked to his left and amidst the blood dripping from his chin, Keisuke was smiling. He fidgeted a bit and realised that it was Keisuke's arms around him. When he came to that conclusion he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"Ugh... Mamoru... I'm covered in blood..." Keisuke laughed in a tired tone. "And there's this gross gash across my nose, I probably look really ugly now-"
"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!" The silverette yelled, slapping Keisuke's chest with a frustrated face. "All you care about is your looks!"
Keisuke chortled quietly until the laughter was reduced to coughing. He pulled a hand up to his mouth and a distinct wet sound was heard. He was coughing up blood again.
"Fuck..." He muttered.
Mamoru quickly started to assess Keisuke's vitals, looking at where he was impaled and checking his pulse. "K-Keisuke..." He stuttered. "You must be in so much pain..."
Keisuke couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Actually, I don't feel anything."
Mamoru had to resist hitting him again. "You don't have to pretend for me. It's okay to show some weakness every now and then."
"That's not it..." Keisuke hesitated, reaching up to pull a shuriken out of his collarbone. "I don't feel pain. So just... get these stupid projectiles out of me so we can address the metal through my kidney and lung."
Despite the doubt Mamoru felt, he started pulling out the shuriken and kunai that were embedded in Keisuke's legs while he took care of the ones in his chest and arms, all the while gauging Keisuke's reaction. He didn't wince once. Then something occurred to him.
"Keisuke...?" Mamoru asked hesitantly.
"Hmm?" Keisuke responded absentmindedly.
As he continued to pull out shuriken Mamoru asked, "You clearly could've done this yourself... why didn't you?"
Smiling sadly, Keisuke looked at Mamoru. "I knew how much longer I had. I wouldn't've been able to get these out before I bled out."
"Then why try now?" Mamoru asked, barely audible.
After dropping a kunai and smiling all the while, Keisuke answered. "I watched Kaoru die. It was probably the most painful thing I ever experienced." He said, still smiling. "I promised myself that I'd never let you see me die. So I can't give up now, can I?"
Mamoru resisted smacking him since he was in such a poor condition, but he settled for a deep seeded glare. "That's right. Now shut up and let's get you removed from this tree."
Once all the miniscule weapons were dislodged, the two concentrated on the bigger obstacles. Keisuke told Mamoru that he'd have to hurry to do his "cure all wounds" trick (opening the Second Gate of the Eight Gates) so he wouldn't bleed out. Those rods were keeping his internal wounds sealed, but they had to go if Keisuke wanted to move.
With his hands around the one in Keisuke's side, Mamoru looked up at his friend hesitantly. "You won't feel this... right?"
"Right." Keisuke smiled before coughing profusely. "Now, just yank it out. The quicker they're out the quicker I can heal."
Mamoru nodded and gave the rod a weak tug, checking Keisuke's reaction. He didn't even blink. Taking that as a "go" he completely yanked it out. Keisuke then yanked the one out of his chest. With the only one being the one through his kidney, they both pulled that one out.
As Keisuke began to bleed profusely from the gaping holes in his torso he sat up and concentrated his chakra. Once he opened the First Gate the Second Gate was pretty easy to open and his wounds started to heal miraculously. He wasn't a master of the Eight Gates so keeping the Second Gate open would be the real challenge. He already felt it trying to close despite the fact that his internal injuries were far from healed.
Still, he stood and brushed himself off. For all intents and purposes he looked perfectly fine. He rolled his right shoulder, cracked his neck, and inspected himself. The tattoo on his ribcage had been obscured by his injury so he'd be needing to redo that... but first things first.
He looked down at Mamoru. "We need to get back to the village."
"Are you sure you're up for it?" Mamoru asked.
Keisuke nodded with a smile. "I'm good as new."
It wasn't exactly a true statement, but after Keisuke put on a new shirt from his pack the two headed off towards the village anyway. They weren't even halfway there when Keisuke felt his lungs filling with blood again. He wasn't planning on letting Mamoru become aware to him being in a less than perfect state so he'd be quite uncomfortable fighting back the need to cough during their trip back.
By the time they'd made it to the village the Second Gate had closed and his internal injuries were just pooling blood into his abdominal cavity. Keisuke just wanted to curl into a ball and die quietly he was so uncomfortable. There was just all this added warmth to his insides and he didn't like the thought of all his injured organs swimming in his blood.
"Keisuke, we need to get you to the hospital!" Mamoru interjected when he saw Keisuke was leading them to his apartment.
'Yes please.' Keisuke plead in his head while saying, "We need to get to the Hokage's office to report on what happened. But I haven't showered in four days, so I'm gonna go do that and get all this crusty blood off me. I'll meet you there later, alright? And then you can drag me off to the hospital so I can get unnecessarily poked and prodded."
The look on Mamoru's face told Keisuke that he did not like that plan on any level, not one bit. Still, he didn't say anything as Keisuke headed off for the bathroom. Keisuke started the shower and listened carefully for the sound of Mamoru leaving. When he heard the click of the door he waited for a few seconds then he leaned over and coughed up an entire lung full of blood. He continued coughing as he staggered and fell against a wall. Wondering how bad the damage was he lifted his shirt and watched has his skin slowly turned purple.
If he didn't hurry he'd pass out there and die before anyone knew otherwise. With blood freely dripping from his mouth he stumbled out of the bathroom and took off towards the hospital. Despite his training to be immune to pain, the pressure in his chest was so intense it was almost painful. He honesty felt like he was going to explode.
Eventually he managed to get to the hospital. He pushed the door open and stumbled in, falling against the nurses station, his elbows barely able to support him, and trying not to spew blood everywhere.
"Son? Are you alright?" A doctor asked as he came up to Keisuke's right.
Too tired/confused/delirious to speak, Keisuke lifted his shirt and coughed up blood onto the floor, hoping that his discoloured body would be enough to raise the concern of the staff. The doctor immediately called for help. Then with the help of several nurses he was put on a stretcher and carted off to surgery. And as they tried hopelessly to sedate him... he thought...
'Did I leave the water running...'
END
This took me a fucking week. But yaaay, hospitals. Since this also personal, responses are allowed (but this isn't a thread, that said, I did throw a lot of shit in here, there's a lot to work off of).
