Standing at the Gates [open]

Kurai leaned against the north gate, watching the people go in and out of her village. She was wearing a long black cloak with the hood drawn over her face so the people wouldn't recognise her. Even when some of the elders did, she just dipped her head in respect and smiled beneath her hood. They often returned the smile and, respecting her wish to be unseen, continued about their business.

Sakura walked through the Snow Village wearing a white cloak to keep herself warm. She stared up at the large gates before she headed over to get permission to go in for her mission.

She was told by Tsunade to go to the Snow Village's hospital because they were in desperate need of more medical-nin and needed some extra help.

Rikimaru was silently trailing after a D-Ranked Missing-nin from the Grass Village in the crowds. His pitch black Hunter-nin mask hid his face but the Rain symbol on the upper part of the mask indicated he was a Rain Hunter-nin. Being quick, he took out his dagger and slit the Missing-nin's throat, executing the Silent Homicide Technique and before his body even hit the ground, Rikimaru grabbed the Missing-nin's body and disappeared into one of the civilian's shadows before anyone could notice what happened.

Name: Silent Homicide
Rank: A
Element: None
Description: As the name suggests, this technique is simply a very quiet method of killing an opponent, usually from behind with a blade. Additionally,
because the user is very silent, it cannot be defended against. The
user will often slit their opponent's throat, preventing any cry that
might give them away. Zabuza was a master of this technique, and was
even good enough to track and kill opponents through sound alone.
The Hidden Mist Technique was used by Zabuza in conjunction with this technique.

Kurai saw the pink haired kunoichi and approached her, knowing who she was since Tsunade had informed her ahead of time. "You must be Sakura, i presume? I'm Kurai, the current Yukikage here. I thank you for your help," She said as she pulled her hood back down, showing her face. She wasn't much older than Sakura, about a year or so. She had jet black hair and misty green eyes, with pale skin which was to be expected from the lack of sun. She noticed the presence of the Hunter-Nin, but didnt see the assassination. She waited for them to reveal themselves to her, she wasn't going to run around in search of them.

She nodded before she bowed politely. "Yes, it's a pleasure...could you please show me to your Hosptial, I'd like to get to work right away if that's alright with you." she said.

She had sensed another chakra presence nearby, but she didn't want to linger on the thought, she wanted to focus on treating the sick patients she was asked to take care of.

Rikimaru later appeared in a nearby, shadowed out alley. He then sealed up the body of the dead Missing-nin inside a sealing scroll and placed it in his kunai pouch. He then removed his Hunter-nin mask and strapped it to his side. He then calmly walked out of the alley and proceeded to go about his business, as if he didn't just kill someone.

She waved her hand in a dismissive manner, smiling pleasantly. "There isn't any need for you to bow to me, you know? I should be the one showing YOU respect for taking time out of your day to help me," She said to the girl, turning and beginning to walk down the snow-covered street, beckoning for Sakura to follow. "I'll take you to the hospital now, I'll help out as much as i can. I know a good bit of medical jutsu too. I wouldnt leave you to do it all yourself," She smiled again, glancing at Rikimaru as she passed, more carefully than suspiciously. She saw he was from the Rain, another minor village. She had no quarrel with them, so they couldnt have been here as a spy. Hunter-nin, eh? Then his intentions must be decent enough.

She smiled a little before she followed after Kurai. "Thanks, I promise to do whatever I can." she said with a nod. She hadn't said anything, but the presence was bothering her a little still. When she noticed a mysterious looking figure standing in the alleyway and she inwardly sighed in relief when she realized it was Rikimaru, whom she had met recently.

Rikimaru started walking in their direction but he looked like he was a vicious predator hunting after his prey. However, he wasn't looking at them. He was looking at a pair of figures behind the girls with narrowed eyes. He disappeared into the shadows and reappeared behind the two figures that were talking to each other. He took out two kunais and quickly slit their throats via Silent Homicide Technique and grabbed them, shortly after appearing back into the nearby alley. Those two men he killed were, unknown to the girls, were actually part of a group of bandits that have been troubling settlements in the Rain Country.

Kurai swiftly spun around, whipping out a kunai to see that the man had already successfully exterminated the men that were tailing Sakura and herself. She relaxed her stance slightly, nodding to him in thanks. She knew he wouldnt respond but it was just being polite. She kept her kunai in her hand, doing a 360 to look for any people that she observed to be similar to the two men Rikimaru had killed. When she found none, she completely relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

Sakura had aimed her fist, now surged with blue chakra to aim for any opponent. She sighed a bit before she let her chakra dissipate when she realized Rikimaru had taken care of the enemys that were following her and Kurai. She smiled weakly in his direction and nodded as thanks.

He looked back at the two and gave them a slight tilt of his head as he sealed the bandits in sealing scrolls and placed the scrolls in his kunai pouch. He then appeared behind the two silently, using his Shadow Travel Technique to get to them.

She looked at Sakura, she seemed to know the man. That was good enough for her. She bowed slightly to him. "Thank you for your help, even if it was merely a mission," She held out a hand, not entirely sure if he would shake it. "Kurai Niwa," She introduced herself, a smile flickering across her face for the briefest of moments.

Sakura nodded in agreement and decided to wait and see how he would respond before she said anything.

"...Rikimaru Nara" he said in an empty, lifeless tone.

She took her hand back, not expecting any less. Most hunter-nin she'd met were pretty emotionless. To top it off, he was a Rain ninja, they werent the most sociable people she'd met. "A pleasure, i'm sure," She replied as she turned back to Sakura. "We better get to the hospital, lately we've been getting more patients since winters coming around. The temperatures dropping even lower than usual," She explained as she set off for the hospital again.

"Right," she quickly nodded before she followed after Kurai. "Not sure how severe the patients wounds or sicknesses are so it's best we get there quick to save time." she replied.

Rikimaru gave them a nod of goodbye and disappeared via Shadow Travel, most likely to report to the Amekage of Rain.

"There's nothing life-threatening, but theres probably been some new admissions since i last checked this afternoon. We're running out of beds," she admitted with a grim nod as they arrived. It looked presentable on the outside. The walls were pristeen and white, with spotless windows and doors. However, when they got inside it was different. There was nurses and doctors rushing every which way in an attempt to treat all the patients. "We'll start at the Casualty ward then work our way down to the less serious cases," She told Sakura.

"Well it's good that there are no life threatning illnesses. Show me to your first patient and I'll get right to work Kurai." she replied with a serious look.

She nodded and led her down the corridor to the Casualty ward and pushed the door open gently. There was far too many patients for a ward of this size. Some of them had battle wounds, others had unfortunate accidents. A few had caught pneumonia in the bitter cold just outside. She pointed at one man, who'd had surgery just this morning. "The stitches are still fresh, we were using them as a temporary solution until someone could close the wound. Thats your first job. Close up that guy with your medical jutsu instead of some surgical stitches. At least that way there's no danger of him splitting open," She sighed then walked to the bed next to him with a young girl in it, about 8 years old. She had a very wide gash along her arm and multiple burns and gouge marks on her head. "I'll be treating this one,"

"I'm on it!" She said before she rushed over to the man's side and gave him a soft smile. "Try not to move too much okay, I promise this won't take long." she told the man. She put out both her hands in front of his wound before her hands began to turn a light shade of green, slowly patching up his wound to keep it from opening up.

She smiled to herself at Sakura's efficiency and started treating the girl she was standing next to. She wet one of the cloths that were by the bed and cleaned the dry blood off of the wounds before using the medical jutsu to close them. The arm was hard word. The wound was so deep and wide that it was difficult to stop the blood from flowing long enough to even close it. It took a while, but she eventually got it done. The girls face twisted into a smile of relief as she felt the huge pain go away.

After several more minutes of using her medical jutsu, she had finally patched up the man's wound properly. "There, all better." she giggled, wiping her forehead with the back of her palm.

She held her palm over the girls forehead, effectively sealing all of the wounds there apart from a tiny scar. That would disappear after a couple of days. "There you go, that wasn't so bad, right? Your mom will be here to pick you up later, Ayame, kay?" She told the girl as she ruffled Ayame's hair before inspecting Sakura's work. "Good..Very good, you have quite a talent for this," She smiled.