"This is Gato, right?" asked Naruto, lifting one corpse's head.
"Wha-wha-what?!" squeaked Inari, his prepared speech falling to the wayside.
"He's dead," said Naruto. "I don't think he's gonna be a major problem right now."
"Bu-bu-but..." Inari stared at that body, then began to realize what was littering the front lawn. "You..."
"I'm pulling all the useful weapons and putting them in that pile over there," said Naruto, pointing.
"Hn," indicated Sasuke, sounding pleased as he dropped a body onto the wagon and then started towards the pile of weapons.
Sakura glanced at the weaponry pile, the discard pile, and then at the bodies.
"It's okay, Sakura," said Kakashi. "Really, we're only paid (and inadequately at that) for keeping the client alive while he builds his bridge. Cleaning up isn't something we have to do."
"You sure this is the 'keep' pile?" asked Sasuke, holding up a large and curved single-edge knife.
"Jambiya," said Naruto, glancing at the knife. "Ritual dagger. Steel blade with hilt carved from rhino horn, sheath is wood wrapped with cotton cord. Used most recently as a skinning knife."
Sasuke blinked a couple of times as he digested that bit of information, then held up another weapon from the pile. "This?"
"Monk's Spade or getsugasan, developed from the combat shovel. That one was taken from a wandering priest the bandit killed seven months ago. Prior to that the monk Hanamizuki used it while on his temple-appointed mission to kill zombies."
"Knock it off, Naruto, there's no such thing as zombies!" declared Sakura. "Right, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Hmmm," hmmmed Kakashi.
"Right, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura again, just a little less confidently.
"What about this one?" asked Sasuke, holding up one that he thought he might just keep.
"Kusarigama. Scrounged off of a battlefield eighteen years ago, used by a Kiri ninja before that. High-grade tempered steel except for the weight part - that's iron after the original weight was lost. Fifth link up from the weight needs replaced, it's scored pretty badly."
Sasuke considered that, checked, then put the weapon back down with a nod. He frowned as he picked something else up out of the pile.
"Rubber ducky. Explosive delivery device. Normal blast radius three feet."
Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment, then at the little yellow duck.
"You're kidding," said Sakura.
Sasuke checked the bottom of the duck, found the squeaker section could be removed, and pulled an inactivated explosive tag out.
"Why would you even use something like that?" asked Sakura, aghast at the cute but now strangely sinister device.
"Waterproof," noted Sasuke. "Hidden."
"Well, still," muttered Sakura, deciding she'd check out Gato's pockets to see if he had anything useful. Spoils of war clause after all.
"That can't be Gato, he's too strong!" said Inari as he finally recovered.
"Meh, no actually. If your people had just gathered up weapons, you could have fought him off yourselves," said Kakashi, having returned to reading his book. "The problem is that if I've figured things out, is that only one or two people at most ever tried challenging Gato. Superior numbers are pretty hard for untrained people to overcome."
"You did," pointed out Sakura.
"Ah, but I'm hardly 'untrained' am I?" retorted Kakashi.
"What about this one?" asked Sasuke.
"Shortsword," responded Naruto after a glance. "Spatha type. Made four years ago in Kiri. Carried as a self-defense weapon by a wine merchant until two months ago when it was stolen."
"Hn," indicated Sasuke, considering this one a possible.
"Well, we can sell the ones you don't keep," said Kakashi. "That'll help defray some of the costs here."
"You are gathering medicinal herbs?" asked Haku, looking at the basket.
"Oh, yes," said Rin, pointing. "Blindweed grows especially well around here. It's good for chakra recovery. I see you've been gathering ghost mushrooms and feverfew."
"Why yes," said Haku. "They're quite useful. I take it from the headband that you're one of the 'heroic ninja'?"
"Well, I suppose," allowed Rin. "I'm a medic-nin with Konoha." Rin felt a sudden wave of intent off of the bishonen herb-gatherer. Not so much killing intent as something else.
"I'm sure you're much more up on herbs than myself then, I'm only a dabbler in such things," said Haku.
"Well, I did train pretty extensively," admitted Rin. "You might want to try gathering some of these. Ragveil. Be careful you don't breathe any of the pollen in - if you're at all allergic to the stuff it can really mess you up. If you damp them down first that takes care of it. Then you make a paste of them for dealing with bruising."
"I see," said Haku. "What about that one?"
"Oh, that's sorrowmoss. If used right, it's a good numbing agent. Used wrong, it'll make someone really sick." Rin decided to neglect the use of the term purgative. Really, chew on one of those and you'd think the chewer had activated a water release jutsu from both ends. Nasty.
Haku looked thoughtfully at the herb in question before:
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(Posted Tue, 14 May 2013 16:53)
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