War of the Tiger and Dragon

Kotaro was still hot on his tail, then he leapt at Roku about slash him, Roku sense he was attacking and quickly jumped between two of the buildings, making Kotaro miss completely, Roku used a bit of the shadow magic to blend against the wall, blending with the colours. Kotaro jumped down looking around and growled, ".................This isn't over Dragon and tiger.........if I see you two again...and NEAR the castle...it will NOT be me alone you'll be face!" he spat and he vanished from sight.

Roku waited for a while longer before coming out of hiding with natsuki. He sighed in relief.

Nemo followed the trail of his mistress' blood and found her unconscious in Roku's arms. Her blood covered his arms and torso. The deep slash marks on her back were leaking blood quickly and the color was beginning to drain from her flesh.

Nemo approached Roku once he was sure the enemy was gone. He couldn't communicate with him but Nemo knew that Natsuki needed help. He looked into Roku's eyes wondering what he would do next.

He sighed, "......We have a hidden room in the INN, which is for emergencies." he said to Nemo, guessing he would understand him, "Follow me." he carefully made his way back to the INN.

Arriving back, Roku headed to the store room where the rice was held, he moved a couple sacks and showed a hidden floor board and he showed a hidden spot with some supplies and a bed. He placed Natsuki on the bed, "You'll need to be in small from to be down here." he said looking up.

Nemo followed Roku all the way back to the inn and into the small store room. Unfortunately, his massive size prevented him from going through the small door. Roku could barely fit in with Natsuki in his arms. Realizing this, Nemo stayed behind and kept watch to make sure no one entered.

Roku removed her shredded clothes and he got her in the futon and covered to keep her warm. He slipped up through the door and got some hot water and some spare cloth. He got back to her and got the cloths wet and placed them on her forehead. 'Stay with me.'

He got looking in the medical stash that was hidden in the floor and got tending to her wound, staying close to her.

Natsuki slowly began to awaken. She was lying on her side completely naked from the waist up. She gasped suddenly whwn she felt a stinging sensation in her back. "AHHH!" She screamed out suddenly and tried to move away feom whatever waa causing her pain.

Roku got over and covered her mouth, "Hush...its me! Its Me..." he said calmly. "Lay still Natsuki. You're injured right now." he said.

Natsuki relaxed when she heard Roku's voice and stopped resisting. She couldn't see him, but she felt his gentle touch on her back. The slashes the rival ninja left were pretty deep. She winced every time he touched her wounds. "Mmm...it hurts so bad..." She said and hugged her arms to her bare chest.

"Just lay back and rest, I'm treating the wounds now. Fuuma ninja are know for poisoned blades, but it looked like he didn't used a deadly one. Might be to make the pain more agonising." he sighed. "Nemo is watching the INN as well." he said to assure that her tiger was alright as well.

Roku was right, her body was in so much pain from the apparent poison in her system. She didn't want to move at all. Her back was burning and the rest of her body just felt numb and painful. She turned over onto her back slowly while he treated the rest of her wounds. She turned her head and looked over at Roku, "I...I'm sorry..." She said softly.

"Hm? Sorry? For what?" he asked, "I'm just glad you're alright and that we're safe. DOn't apologise. Alright?" he smiled gently.

His gentle smile warmed her heart, but made her feel even more pained and guilty. "No...I mean I'm sorry I deceived you. I shouldn't have set that trap..." She suddenly winced feeling a stab of pain run from the wound on her back all through her body.

"...Hey, you're doing as you were taught." he said, "I was actually impressed really." he chuckled. "But no, I was able to get through it." he teased a little, "Easy now. Stay still." he said he was making a remody with herbs.

Natsuki winced again feeling another wave of pain take over. "I'm trying...it just hurts so much. The poison is making my wh-whole body burn and sting." She breathed harshly and started to break out on a cold sweat. She pushed the blanket off of her chest, the fabric touching her skin was just too painful to bare.

"Please Natsuki easy." he said, he got her laying on her stomach so he could tend to her back, "Just bare with me for a little longer, I've almost got it all made." he was making the herb mix for her wounds.

Natsuki felt some relief while lying on her stomach. But the pain and burning was still coursing through her body. She squeezed the blankets beneath her moaning in agonizing pain. Nemo could hear this outside and was getting very restless.

"Roku!! Please hurry..." She clenched her entire body which made the pain worse. She had never felt such pain in her entire life. Tears fell down her cheeks and her body was shaking.

"Don't think on the pain Natsuki and relax, I don't want to get all pushy. Think on your SHinobi training....we were trained to tolerate pain." he reminded her as he put some oil into the mix and was doing the final mix through.

'He is right, my child. You must calm down and remember your training.' Nemo said to her in her mind. He could hear everything that was going on from his post outside the trap door. Natsuki knew they were both right, but the pain she was feeling was never anything she had felt in her life. This poison was unique and made every fiber in her being sting and burn.

"Y-yes...you're right..." She said and forced herself to relax her body and laid there on the futon just trying to focus on her breathing techniques. She would wince here and there but it was slowly helping.

Nemo could feel the tension slowly leave her body. Being connected on a high mental level made him able to feel some of her tension and just how badly of a state she was in.

'Excellent my dear. Just relax. I'm right outside...just trust your care to Roku. He will soothe the pain...if he tries anything I will tear his head off and eat it.' Nemo assured her. He wasn't usually prone to unnecessary violence and kept a level head, but when it came to his mistress he would do what was necessary to protect her. She was like his cub.

Roku was done prepping and he got strips of cloth laid out and he got gentling smearing paste he made along in slash , and made sure an deeper parts with fill with it, going as gently and slowly as possible. Once all the wounds were coated or filled, he got laying the strips of cloth over them. They stuck to her due to the mixture, "Slowly sit up and I'll finish wrapping you up." instructed Roku.

Natsuki finally felt some relief when the medicinal paste was applied to her wounds. She felt a cooling sensation begin to overwhelm the pain. Once her wounds were coated and wrapped, Roku told her to sit up carefully.

"O-okay..." She pushed up off the futon with her hands careful not to move her shoulders or back too much. She sat on her knees and covered her chest with her arms. She winced a bit still feeling some burning here and there.

"Is this okay?" She asked too ashamed to look into his face. She knew she was doing her duty as a kunoichi trying to distract him and keep him from infiltrating the castle, but she felt a slight pain in her heart. He could have left her to die, but he didn't. Instead he was here dressing her wounds as if they were comrads.

"Easy now." he said as she sat up, "That will do nicely." he gently got wrapping around her torso to make sure the paste and strips stayed in place on her wounds. "This medicine has been made in my clan for many generations, so I know it will work well."

Natsuki could definitely feel the medicinal paste starting to work. The pain in her body slowly began to ease off and became more manageable. She relaxed her arms and let Roku wrap the bandages around her torso so secure the strips in place.

"It seems like you're always saving me Roku..." she smiled, looking at him sweetly.

He finished tying the bandage and chuckled, "It would be an emptier world if you left so soon." he smiled, checking it over, "Not too tight?" he asked her.

Natsuki smiled, her cheeks turning a pale pink at his compliment. "It's fine. The medicinal paste you applied really helped. It is just a dull pain now." She still winced a bit when she moved.

"It seems that we have a common enemy..." She said referring to the ninja that did this to her.

Nemo was relieved when he felt her hear rate go down and she seemed to be stable. He lowered his guard and laid down to relax near the entrance.

"Its a social mix that my clan had perfected to use it to help with especially bad pain and even numbs the feeling of broken or fractured bones." he said.

"The Fuuma Clan is nothing to laugh about....and Kotaro Fuuma.......he's the head of that clan." he sighed, "So this might need for is to team up to get this done."