medicalpunch | 1st Punch

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1st Punch

[Action: Where the rivers meet in the village]

[Sakura's arrival in Luceti comes with a short, bitten-off yell of surprise and a splash as she drops into the icy water. The white-clad figure vanishes underwater, then reappears, struggling, fighting to surface long enough to catch her breath. It's shockingly cold, iced over in places -- although thankfully not where she fell -- and even if she knows nothing else yet, she knows she must get out of the water.]

[Flailing, gasping, reeling in shock from the sudden cold, it's extremely difficult for her to get atop the water as a ninja would normally go -- but she's too cold to swim properly, she knows that all too well, and with the ice besides, she has no other choice.]

[She's proud of her own strength and control, and she makes herself display it now, pushing up out of the water and working her way until she is balanced by chakra on the surface.]

[Now, though, she's exposed to the bitter air, soaking wet, with nothing but a thin, backless white dress to cover her. And she's freezing.]

[She makes her way toward the shore, where there's a journal waiting for her. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a warm blanket or anything like one. Just the journal, with her name on it, and a biting chill to the air.]

[Video]

[Sakura's hair is is still damp when her face appears on the journals. She's managed to get dry and warmed up -- and much more warmly dressed than when she arrived -- but she looks disoriented, worried, and worn.]

I don't know what this place is, where it is, why it is. I'm not sure I even want to speculate. But if there's anyone... familiar out there, anyone who knows me -- I'm here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mm. If you'd like to put things off that long...

[Quietly, she's itching to have a look at him, to see for herself that everything's been done right, but to ask for it would be an implication about Ino's medical skills, which Sakura's not really keen on doing. If Shikamaru requests her assistance, she'll give it, but otherwise, she'll trust Ino, as well as this other doctor.]

I'll see you when you're out, then.

[And when he's on the way back to his apartment, she'll be waiting for him by the community house door.]

[To his credit, he was assuming the others would fill her on things. She has Ino, who's been here for over a year, and he knows Lee in particular would trip over himself to abswer any of her questions.

Until he makes it back to the building and sees her waiting there that he considers maybe she had very specific questions. And he feels a little bad about making her wait, but at least this way she's at least settled.]

Yo. Sakura.

[If she's being astute, she'll see he's a good two or more inches taller than last he was back home. He's also a little thinner, having lost weight and some muscle mass in the hospital stay.

Still, he stops a few feet away with her with a short grin. It's good to see people from home, even if he wishes not so many would be stuck here.]

[Considering she'd just been seeing him before she was brought here, yes, the difference is notable.]

[And it's a pang to see him; she's been doing her best to act normally around Ino, to think only in the moment, to react to Ino's teasing. Ino's complete lack of curiosity about the war has helped. But she doesn't imagine Shikamaru will be that incurious, and she's going to have to work harder to hide the truth from him...]

Shikamaru.

[A hesitation. And then, quietly,]

You've grown.

Aa...

[He rubs the back of his head awkwardly, smile dropping as he dismisses a more teasing comment. "Maybe you've just shrunk."

She doesn't look like she's in the mood. Most people who first come to Luceti aren't, but there's a more somber mood to her even aside from that.]

It's... been a while.

[He'll hold the door open for her.]

[Yeah, leaving off the cracks about her height is a good plan. She's already tiny!]

That you've been here.

[Not a question, just... a little confirmation, mostly to herself. If Shikamaru, the genius, now the sixteen-year-old strategist for the entire shinobi alliance, hasn't been able to figure out a way out of this...]

[She accepts the open door with a small nod.]

It's an adjustment to make. All of it.

[He's nearing nineteen, biologically. He's been here over two years, and still he can't help but think that Naruto was here longer than that.

But he's gone now too.]

Just think of it as that, no matter how long you're here for. I might be used to this place, but I don't plan to live my life here. It's a temporary residence, until we can carry out that mission.

[That mission, yes. She nods grimly, studying him as he steps in after her.]

It's difficult. [Unspoken, that she understands what he's saying.]

I'll do what I can, though.

That'll be more than enough.

[Sakura's long since grown beyond that girl he and the others left at the gate, when they went after Sasuke. She can accomplish that and then some.]

So where are you staying? We can talk there.

[He's really eager to go to his own apartment - he misses his cat of all things - but he's not sure if Masaomi's there or not, so it's probably best to go with her place.]

I hope so.

[But there are so many times when it isn't.]

I'm staying in the same building as everyone else, apartment 19.

Aa. You'll be across the hall then.

[Same room as before. He makes a beeline towards the elevator.]

[She follows him and peers into the elevator with a raised eyebrow.]

... Did Lee pick the paint?

[It's a freight elevator, so there's tons of room by the way. And also an armchair in the corner that's quite comfy.]

Ha. It just showed up one day, paint and all.

[Says the person who totally picked it.]

[That's a very nice looking armchair 8|a]

Just... showed up? If I look somewhere on it, am I going to find wings?

Heheh, okay not like that. [He smirks and hits the button for the fourth floor.] But building modifications happen sometimes. New stories will be added; that sort of thing. This is the only apartment complex you'll find with an elevator, though.

[Well, that's a relief.]

Lucky for us, then. And for you.

[Because of course the building Shikamaru lives in would get the lazy box. Though she won't mind not climbing three flights of stairs a day.]

Very.

[He

sorta bought it]

[And isn't telling her that. Because reasons?]

[But now she'll shift and look for a new conversation topic.]

Is there any kind of a need for medics here? I'd like to be useful, if I must be stuck.

[He hasn't told a lot of people; he got it by spending mission points, and as always he's not the type of person to talk about accomplishments.]

You kidding? [The elevator reaches their floor, and he steps out.] Medics are worth their weight in gold here. Conflicts within the barrier are rare, but people take missions outside to other locations, and then there's the drafts...

It's one of the most valuable skills here.

Drafts?

[That doesn't sound encouraging. Missions are familiar idea, although she's curious about how they work here, but...]

Well, then it sounds like I'll have plenty to do.

Mm... [And he does somber.] They're not as frequent as they were when I got here, but they get nasty.

[Though he could also say they're nothing like what he would expect of a real war. Then again, his expectations have to be much lower than what Sakura has seen herself by now, no doubt.]

That said, if you're interested I can point you to Law. He runs the Battle Dome clinic I just left. There's also the clinic in town.

I'd be interested to speak with him. Whatever I can do to help out...

[There it is. Even in captivity, she wants to be helping others, wants to be useful above all else.]

You'll probably take to it like water.

[And he will just stand by the apartment door, because he assumes it's locked and/or she has the key.]

I hope so.

[She does, and unlocks the door.]

After you!

[It's still pretty sparsely filled -- after all, she's only been here a few days. But she's managed to dig up enough to at least make it look like someone lives here.]

Can I get you anything?

I'm good.

[He circles the living room a little, noting the Sakura-isms that have been added to accentuate the bare bones each apartment comes with.]

Ino help with this?

A little. But mostly I just did some shopping.

[Although it's weird to call it that when you just go take things!]

1st Punch

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