（ the night after the bandit attack, shikamaru gets a rather... brief message. ）
Open your window.
（ the 'why' becomes readily apparent — there is a juvenile crow with feathers still growing in perched just outside shikamaru's room. it cocks its head to one side and will, if allowed, come directly inside. ）
Please keep it close if you intend to do anything dangerous. It can be used for communication purposes should the earpieces fail during a critical moment. It will obey you.
I will also be able to track you as long as it is aware of your location.
（ he used them often for reconnaissance and the like, able to see through their eyes. he's certain shikamaru can guess at their utility, but the fact is — his feelings towards the leaf shinobi are complicated at best. even though the bandits earlier were no match for a jōnin, the altercation had alerted him to a distinct discomfort with standing by while shikamaru fought. he had several contingencies he could have fallen back on if the skirmish had gone poorly, but upon examining his own feelings on the matter, he would have broken his cover in a moment had it seemed like the tide of the fight required it. a dangerous thing for a spy.
all his life has been dedicated to protecting konoha — given that permanent death can occur on missions, he has no desire to deprive his village of one of its greatest minds. he has made peace with the knowledge he would sacrifice almost anything to amend his regret, but he is done having the blood of his comrades on his hands. he would not, he has realized, kill shikamaru to save the uchiha. the man he needs to become to be worthy of that changed fate cannot be one who allows his allies to come to harm. ）
[ he has let the crow enter his room. peering at it, he narrows his eyes slightly. he isn't sure he likes the idea of itachi being able to track him, but he can see the rationale behind it. there would be more advantage to keeping the crow by his side while they're here. ]
Perhaps. It is too early to say, but you may notice that the others are willing to collaborate and share their knowledge.
If it is that the people here are dead and we are seeing their 'imprint', imagined, or under another, stronger compulsion, we may need to divine a way to release them before we are able to communicate with the orb. If the orb itself is responsible, we will need to get its attention.
（ and the last time someone did that, it ended poorly for them. ）
Sabriel-san is capable of sensing death in a way that is unique to her bloodline — the crow has a scroll on its leg with the details of her findings.
（ the information is encoded in several layers of jutsu, but he imagines shikamaru has the skill to break them. ）
In the past, they have responded to people psychically reaching out to them. The results have been mixed, it seems to hinge upon the temperament of the orb itself. They are highly individualistic. The one in Kilnan wished for energy to glut itself upon.
Sabriel believes she may have felt it, and that it sought to drain her energy before she broke off the connection. If so, it is possible this one is even more voracious — the other one at least communicated its intent beforehand.
[ there has to be a better method of obtaining the orb than offering up energy. at this point, that would just be a needless risk since it won't guarantee a desirable result. ]
okay.
[ give him a moment to run this over in his mind first. ]
whether the people here are imprints or under some kind of compulsion, there has to be someone who had sought the orb's help to accomplish this. if we can find them, then we may be able to get to the orb through them.
（ easier to let the others try first, examine their results and try his own tack later. there is no point risking his cover this early in the mission. ）
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text ↪ un: 朱
Open your window.
（ the 'why' becomes readily apparent — there is a juvenile crow with feathers still growing in perched just outside shikamaru's room. it cocks its head to one side and will, if allowed, come directly inside. ）
no subject
what is this?
no subject
Please keep it close if you intend to do anything dangerous. It can be used for communication purposes should the earpieces fail during a critical moment. It will obey you.
I will also be able to track you as long as it is aware of your location.
（ he used them often for reconnaissance and the like, able to see through their eyes. he's certain shikamaru can guess at their utility, but the fact is — his feelings towards the leaf shinobi are complicated at best. even though the bandits earlier were no match for a jōnin, the altercation had alerted him to a distinct discomfort with standing by while shikamaru fought. he had several contingencies he could have fallen back on if the skirmish had gone poorly, but upon examining his own feelings on the matter, he would have broken his cover in a moment had it seemed like the tide of the fight required it. a dangerous thing for a spy.
all his life has been dedicated to protecting konoha — given that permanent death can occur on missions, he has no desire to deprive his village of one of its greatest minds. he has made peace with the knowledge he would sacrifice almost anything to amend his regret, but he is done having the blood of his comrades on his hands. he would not, he has realized, kill shikamaru to save the uchiha. the man he needs to become to be worthy of that changed fate cannot be one who allows his allies to come to harm. ）
no subject
does it have a name?
no subject
（ it seems he may leave the communication at that, which is very nearly customary for them by now. except, in the interest of shared information: ）
Genjutsu doesn't work on any of the townsfolk. They aren't breaking out of it, it simply does not effect them, no matter the level used.
（ which should certainly imply he's tried all the way up to tsukuyomi. ）
It seems that while they appear normal to medical scans conducted by McCoy-sensei, the psionics can't get a read on them either.
no subject
either that or there is nothing to infiltrate.
[ he has seen the network posts, even though he hasn't deigned to comment on them. ]
no subject
If it is that the people here are dead and we are seeing their 'imprint', imagined, or under another, stronger compulsion, we may need to divine a way to release them before we are able to communicate with the orb. If the orb itself is responsible, we will need to get its attention.
（ and the last time someone did that, it ended poorly for them. ）
Sabriel-san is capable of sensing death in a way that is unique to her bloodline — the crow has a scroll on its leg with the details of her findings.
（ the information is encoded in several layers of jutsu, but he imagines shikamaru has the skill to break them. ）
no subject
[ he has already begun examining the scroll. it shouldn't take too long for him to decode it. ]
no subject
Sabriel believes she may have felt it, and that it sought to drain her energy before she broke off the connection. If so, it is possible this one is even more voracious — the other one at least communicated its intent beforehand.
no subject
okay.
[ give him a moment to run this over in his mind first. ]
whether the people here are imprints or under some kind of compulsion, there has to be someone who had sought the orb's help to accomplish this. if we can find them, then we may be able to get to the orb through them.
no subject
The people of interest Viveca-san identifies in the mission files usually have the strongest chance of being connected to the orb.
no subject
no subject
（ easier to let the others try first, examine their results and try his own tack later. there is no point risking his cover this early in the mission. ）
no subject
anyway, thanks for the crow.
no subject
ja mata, etc etc. ）