Strolling Amongst Stalactites

Tickled Red

Last Time:

Kimimaro took the chance to return to his room and prepare a message about the lab to send to Cave. Once he shut his door and pulled out his beetle he felt a tickle in his chest. A couple of seemingly innocent coughs followed only for him to find blood in the hand that he used to cover his mouth ...

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A woman with short blue hair looked up and frowned, "Kurama. We have a message." She said her lip twitched in amusement as Naruko bolted over and immediately offered her arm for the bird to land on. Nothing got Naruko's attention faster than a message from Kimimaro. Unfortunately, the blue haired woman's pink eyes noticed that the fake beetle had one wing up and one antenna missing. "It's not just a love note this time!" She said as the bird handed the note over to the blonde for some food.

"What?" Naruko gasped and noticed the problem.

No changes in the beetle meant it was a message for Cave. One wing up was a message for the middle man team, which also involved little love notes. One antenna missing was a signal for help and Naruko instantly opened the beetle. The news made her worry.

"He added coordinates for a lab, but he says he's coughing up blood!" Naruko exclaimed. "This has to be a reason to remove him, right? How should I respond, Alice?"

Alice tapped her chin in thought, "If Orochimaru thinks he's training then we might have a while before he realizes we took Kimimaro. Tell Kimimaro to go to the east training area he was at one week ago. We'll meet him there, but make sure he knows not to let anyone see him cough up blood. Put a little bottle of cough suppressant in the bug. It should suppress his cough until he's safe." She ordered as she gathered their gear and removed every trace of their campsite.

After unsealing the medical kit and putting a small bottle of a purple liquid in the beetle Naruko started writing. Once the letter was done and after making sure the bottle was secured for the flight, the beetle was given back to the bird. With a simple word the bird flew back towards Kimimaro.

"We should hurry." Naruko said once the bird disappeared into the sky. She sealed the medical kit into her arm.

Sara nodded, "Remember not to go too fast. It will take him less than a day to get there and we need to maintain a civilian appearance when in range of Orochimaru."

"Yeah ...I know." Naruko said softly. She didn't like it, but they had to be careful.

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A few hours passed and Kimimaro casually walked outside of the hidden lab. It was only to pick something up and turn back around. With great care he returned to his room, which unfortunately didn't have a window at this lab. That was the only reason he had to risk going through halls of the lab not once but many times to send and receive the bug. However, it was worth the risk.

When a disturbing tickle started in his chest again he took off and covered his mouth. He did whatever he could to hold back the coughing spell off until he returned to his room. Kimimaro just barely managed to get to his room without being seen. Once slammed the door shut he fell back against it coughing violently.

It took several moments, but once the coughing fit stopped he could finally breathe normally. Without looking at the blood coating his shaking hand he grabbed the bug that fell to the floor during his coughing fit. However, it was a pain to open. Not only did he have trouble because of his shaking hands, but the blood he coughed up made his fingers extra slippery.

Eventually, Kimimaro did manage to pry open the fake bug. As carefully as he could with his unsteady hands, Kimimaro tipped the fake bug upside down allowing the contents to spill into his lap. For a moment he was surprised to see a small bottle fall out along with the note, but he figured the note would explain. Those shaky fingers unfolded the note and read the coded message.