Bruises and Blood? [Karukaya, or Invite]

Okay, so training hadn't gone well. It had happened before: injuries that is, not her ex-father showing up to try and stir up trouble. His very presence arriving had been enough to distract Artemis - something she knew better than to allow to happen since she was a Jounin for goodness sake - which had resulted in her being injured. She had had worse, of course, but that didn't stop the blood that was gushing from her nose and the gash on the side of her cheek which was staining and drenching her white band t-shirt she had been using to train in.

By the time her opponent had realized that her focus was elsewhere the hits had already landed and it had simply been too late to take them back. Her nose was likely broken at this point, and if she had to tend to the gash in her cheek herself it was likely going to require stitches: she didn't do hospitals, though having several medics living in the same compound was a thing and came in handy. However, she wasn't quite sure if anyone would be home, nor did she want to bother them - yet. So, she simply slipped into her bathroom while leaving a trail of blood behind that she was going to have to clean up latter, not bothering to close the door behind herself.

Standing in front of the mirror Art finally got a good look at the damage: her nose was crooked and the gash on her right cheek was split wide open and at least an inch and a half long. Not the worst injuries she had ever sustained during a spar but certainly ones that were going to be a bitch to deal with: she liked sleeping on her face after all because it kept her from snoring and driving all of those nearby with sensitive hearing up a wall. "Well fuck. This is going to suck...", Artemis spoke out loud to herself as she turned her head from side to side to get a better look at both the gash and the odd angle her nose was currently at. With her right hand she reached up, attempting to touch her nose, only to wince at the painful pressure that the slightest touch of her fingertips caused. The wince of course only led to more pain which had Artemis shouting out a resounding "Fuck!" before finishing the rest of the colorful language coming out of her mouth in silence: there was a young child who lived nearby likely wandering around somewhere after all and the last thing she wanted to do was to be blamed for said child picking up on language that would make a sailor blush.

With tears in her eyes now, and her swearing ritual over, Artemis stared at her reflection in the mirror and then sighed: she was going to have to get help with her nose at least. There was no way she was going to set the damned thing herself. Not because of the pain, mind you, but because of the fact that it was so badly off center it was going to take someone with medical knowledge to fix it or else it was going to heal wrong.

"Why did that bastard have to show up in the first place? I was winning before he had to come stirring up a pot of trouble.", Artemis growled at her reflection.

"Arty Art. Who did that to your face? I should get sensei, or someone. You're bleeding all over the place.", came the voice of Fa Mulan, Artemis' simian companion who had upon seeing the trail of blood Artemis had left had followed it. The monkey was standing in the door way looking up at her with concern and anger; which meant the monkey was likely going to want the full story as well as revenge. Jooooy.

"It was an accident..."

"Doesn't look like one. You're a taijutsu fighter, you get hurt, but this looks like you either stood there and took a beating or someone was really trying to hurt you."

Word Count: 685

"I'd vote the former, all thing considered." Blood, not uncommon in his house, but this was not the blood of himself, his boys, his daughter, or his wives... which meant it was Art. He was no animal, but he did have pretty sharp senses after all these years of being a tracker, fighter, vet, medic, and a million other things that required his eyes, ears, and nose to be strong. He'd followed the trail same as Fa Mulan had, adbet a few moments behind; when he saw where it lead his conclusion about whom was bleeding was verified. Wonderful. "You look like you got clocked by a bear. The hell happened?"

He slipped into the room and reached for her face, aiming to gently cup her chin so he could hold her still and get a better look. He was a medical ninja after all, and a damn good one. He could easily fix what was wrong; and faster than finding Jayr or going anywhere else. The broken nose would be simple enough, he could reset it and heal up the damage in less than a minute; so long as the lacerations weren't infected they'd seal up without a scar pretty quickly too. "Find something to bite down on, no amount of medical ninjutsu can set broken cartilage without some level of pain; not without knocking you out. I'd rather not, while you're bleeding like a stuck pig."

Artemis kept still, allowing Karukaya to check her face and see what sort of damage had been done. Fa Mulan instantly scurried off to go be helpful: it was something the monkey had never grown out of since her and Art had first met. However, while the monkey searched she kept nearby so that she too could hear what Artemis was about to say about what exactly had happened to her.

"Dai and I were sparring. We were doing pretty good, actually; his huge size compared to my speed was making for an interesting session. Then my father showed up. He got told by a few others to bugger off and leave us alone but he just wouldn't shut up and listen. He ended up stepping into the ring despite how pissed off he was making everyone and it distracted me. Dai landed two hits before he realized what was going on and stopped. Had to hold him back from beating my father to death; he was pissed off to say the least because he even said I wouldn't have been hit like that had my father not been screwing around. Told him Temaki wouldn't like the extra paperwork though, and it was enough to change his mind."

By the time she was done with her explanation Fa Mulan rushed back into the bathroom and handed over what was a clean rolled up cloth. The cloth was rolled in such a way to easily fit into Art's mouth while ensuring that when she bit down on it she wouldn't harm herself. "Dai should have beaten your father up.", Fa Mulan said angerily: she was no fan of Art's father. Fa Mulan handed the cloth over then, "Here you go. This should work. I tried to make it slightly smaller than your mouth so it was comfortable."

Art took it, stuck it carefully into her mouth, and then instantly winced: yeah, broken noses hurt like a bitch, but she was ready to get this over with and stop bleeding all over the place.

He gave her the time to get ready, while she did that he was fetching things from the medic kit he kept on him at all times. He had two of them; well, four, rather; but he only kept two on his person at all times. These where his short hand kits, they had the bare basics of what he'd always need, and fit perfectly in a single pouch on his belt; in a pinch they did what he needed them to do, in conjunction with his medical ninjutsu. His larger, full field kits where in the other room, but he wouldn't need them. He was fetching a special topical analgesic of his own making; rubbing it into his hands so that the moment he touched her skin it would go numb, and help her deal with the pain. He was also charging chakra to his hands; beyond just the broken cartilage, there was massive damage to the circulatory system within her nasal cavity; and he needed to heal that or she risked permanent damage. He was extremely talented with the Mystical Palm Technique, and it was perfect to use at the same time. Even while he was moving her nose back into position he could stop the bleeding. He placed his hand on the side of her neck for the moment, using a burst of chakra and strong jab to activate pressure points to reduce the ability of her brain to receive pain signals from her face, then moved to holding her nose. It was a split second from when his hand moved to her nose, his other hand braced her skull, and he snapped the cartilage back into place so perfectly that if not for the bruising you would have never known she'd broken it.

By the time what pain signal could reach her brain did, he was already done healing the damage and the swelling, and moving onto the gashes, which where a simple case of just hovering his palm over them while the jutsu did it's work. They weren't infected yet, thankfully, so it only took a few second to close them up and be done with it. Now she was just covered in drying blood, but perfectly intact once more. "Done. Anything else get hurt?" He was going to make sure she was physically alright before touching on the crap her father had pulled, he'd make sure she was healed, then let her vent, then step in and deal with the assfuck if he had to.

Chakra and Jutsu:

Fa Mulan had been thoughtful in ensuring that the rolled up cloth was small enough to fit into her mouth without her having to stretch it too wide: the slightest bit of pressure in and around her nose area hurt like a bitch. It was bad enough that her eyes were watering up simply due to the location, the last thing she wanted was to be sprouting tears simply because it was her natural bodily reaction. Once she was ready Karu sensei went to work, his method of helping to fix her nose effective and efficient in keeping her from experiencing much pain, if any at all.

When he was finished she glanced in the mirror to see her nose once more in place and the gash on her cheek no longer an issue. The blood on her shirt would likely stain, but it was a shirt meant to get bloody, torn, and dirty to begin with so she hardly cared about that.

With her attention shifting back to Karu she shook her head no to his question. "Nah, that was it. Dai didn't land any other hits. Thanks."

"What did you father want that he refused to listen to everyone telling him to bugger off?", Fa Mulan asked curiously. The monkey was more willing to delve deeper into the subject now that Artemis was no longer in pain, nor bleeding. The monkey still looked angry though, which didn't bode well considering how she got when she was grouchy: something that was exceptionally rare thankfully.

"He said I owed him money for something. I wasn't paying much attention after Dai's hammer of a fist hit me." In response Fa Mulan let out a very angry screech and began to jump up and down in frustration.

"He endangered your life over money?!" Cue the unhappy monkey.

"...." Seriously. This guy stepped in during an active spar to raise shit about money? He could do what any normal person does and send a note? She's a ranking Jounin, she had a mailbox for this specific reasons; personal notes of 'importance' that where only given to certain people so that priority messages could be checked and dealt with quicker. "So this psychopath stepped into the ring of an active fight. Over money. Does he not realize that what he did is blatantly illegal, as he is a civilian, and outright moronic?"

He had stepped back so that he was leaning against the door frame, out of the way and positioned to swing around and give her space to pass when she was ready to move rooms. "I could have him arrested on a word for that. Hell, you could too; and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. No civilian lawyer would challenge that law, it's suicide to step into a ring where Jounin are sparring if you're not a Jounin yourself. The hell does he think you owe him money for?"

Tsume had been taking a nice little nap curled up among Blast and Cana who were for once both home instead of following Jayr and Temaki around: babysitters, who needed them? However, at the sound of voices the young child stretched and sat up, quite curious as to what was going on. Just as Tsume freed herself from the pile of fur and sleeping wolves she heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it~" Yawning she stepped over and opened it only to see herself standing face to face with Artemis' father.

Instead of speaking she simply looked up at him and blinked; she didn't like speaking out loud and she wasn't about to speak telepathically with a stranger - her parents had warned her about that after all. So, instead, she kept quiet and simply blinked up at the man. Behind herself she sensed more than saw Fa Mulan come up behind her protectively; something that Artemis' father quickly saw and which caused him to wince as if he smelled something nasty - which clearly wasn't the very clean monkey. "Eww, keep that filthy creature away from me!"

Cue the angry child. Tsume reacted more than thought; a kick - skillfully at that since she had been watching her mother's playfully spar just the other day with each other - was sent straight towards Artemis' dad's knee which he didn't notice. As her foot hit a soft pop filled the air and the man dropped to the ground, cradling his knee and hollering in pain. Even though Tsume was shaking like a leaf because of what she had just done she stood her ground with her hands clenched into fists at her side - all while Fa Mulan instantly jumped protectively in front of her in case he got back up. "DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY FRIEND LIKE THAT YOU, YOU... BUTT FACE!", the child vocalized loudly.

Artemis heard a knock on the door but didn't think anything of it as Tsume chimed out mentally that she would get it - something that Artemis was all too familiar with now and which didn't bother her at all and never had.

"I'm not entirely sure, honestly. Something about owing him for him raising me or some garbage. I really didn't stick around to find----", Artemis was caught off by the sound of someone falling, a holler, and then what was clearly Tsume yelling verbally at someone. It was then that Artemis noticed Fa Mulan had slipped out of the bathroom; the monkey adding her own screeches of anger into the equation as she stood protectively in front of the child who was pretty much the same exact size as her.

Artemis was out the bathroom in a flash and through the door in time to see her father cradling his knee and rolling from side to side on the ground. "That brat attacked me! SHE ATTACKED ME! Someone better do something about her!", her father yelled out. Clearly, he didn't understand that Tsume had simply reacted in response to his insult to Fa Mulan.

Ahah. Ahahahaha. Hahahahahahaha no. No no no. Not happening. No one calls Tsume a brat and gets away with it. With his speed, Art racing past him was slow motion by comparison, and he was already past her and at the door before she was. He reached down and lifted Fa Mulan out of the way before stepping in front of Tsume himself; his posture such so that he was rising up beyond his normal height and nearly lighting the air around them on fire. They would be fine, but Art's father? Not so much.

"So. You want to tell me why you're calling my daughter a brat? You want to explain to me why you broke one of the highest laws of the land earlier today? You want to explain to me why you think Artemis owes you money? Cause I gotta say, I've got two teenagers and a young daughter, as you well know, and the absolute last thing I would ever think was that they owed me for raising them. For giving them a loving home. For being a parent. Yet, you risk getting yourself destroyed just to interrupt a spar between ranking Jounin just to cause shit. Now you have the audacity to show up at my house, insult my friend, insult MY daughter, and you wonder why you where attacked? Yeah, see, even at 16 when I took her in, I could see that Art was better off living with me. Now? Oh yeah, I'm still 1000% sure I was right to offer her a place to live. Now, I give you two options. Continue being a fucktard, or leave."

Oh, he was actually hoping he was an idiot and pushed the issue. He did. Because he'd love to just strangle the fuck out of this guy. However, he was also a ranking Jounin, and he had morals. He would give him a chance, and if he pissed it away? Well, that just made it so that he could do whatever he wanted without getting his hands dirty; as the law was clearly on his side for this.

Suddenly a blur; or well, he was a blur to her anyway. Tsume's father practically appeared in front of her, scooping up Fa Mulan out of the way and taking her place, thus blocking her view of the man who had been on the ground clutching his knee and rolling from side to side in pain. Tsume had never actually attacked anyone before, and so far had been unable to bring herself to feel bad about it. The man had insulted Fa Mulan who even as a monkey and technically not a human was a better person all around than the jerk on the ground. Considering that her brother's weren't either? Well, it touched a bad cord within her which was exactly why she had reacted as she had.

Tsume was a bit confused though about the rest of what her father was saying; she knew enough to guess that this was Artemis' father, but something was mentioned about him expecting Artemis to pay him back? Even to her young mind that didn't make any sense. Parents were supposed to protect and provide for their children, that was just what being a parent was all about. So, why would he expect to be paid back?

As her thoughts raced she noticed herself being nudged gently by a cold nose, which a glance behind her told her was Blast. The wolf seemed uninterested in interferring - if anything he looked quite amused, and prepared to watch what happened to Artemis' dad - and instead simply stood right behind Tsume. Given Blast's height of course that meant that his head was higher than hers; which of course meant the last wolf rested his chin right on Tsume's head as if she were a leaning post: which of course made Tsume giggle despite the circumstances. Blast was rather calm despite everything going on, and seemingly unaffected by the sudden flare of tempers and the like that went along with pissing someone in their family off.

Tsume for now kept quiet, simply watching to see what would happen: would the man up and leave or would he continue to press her father's buttons?

"....." God, had her father just seriously fucked up. Artemis was used to his insults and nasty looks, used to him acting like she didn't exist unless he expected something from her. But, she had never expected him to go so far as to insult Tsume. Okay, so he hadn't called her some super foul name, or cursed at her, but he had still called her a brat which she was far from. Tsume had simply been defending Fa Mulan's honor becuase her father was treating the monkey as he always did: as if she were scum on the bottom of his well polished fancy shoes.

Fa Mulan of course didn't mind being moved: she had simply been standing in the way until someone else had shown up; ensuring that Artemis' father didn't try something stupid. That kick that Tsume had hit him with had hurt, yes, but Tsume was still exceptionally little and at least in Fa Mulan's opinion very breakable.

It took her father a moment to gather himself up before he got to his feet; wincing and babying the leg that Tsume had kicked him in. His face showed anger, disgust, and hatred, none of which he tried at all to hide. "I called your daughter a brat because she assaulted me. As far as Artemis goes: I raised her to be a proper young lady. I paid for the best of everything up until she decided to throw her life away doing something stupid and utterly dangerous. Since all of that money is nothing more than wasted talent I expect her to pay me back. And I do expect to be paid back...", the last sentence clearly aimed towards Artemis who he looked at for the very first time since she had came outside.

Artemis simply looked back to him with a very calm and nuteral expression minus a lifting of her left eyebrow in a 'what kind of dope have you been getting into' sort of way. This eyebrow raised higher when her father looked back towards Karu and pointed in what was clearly supposed to be Tsume's direction. "When I come back to collect my money from Artemis I fully expect that little animal to have been taught some manners or I'll raise a fuss until someone listens and does something about it..."

"Oh fuck...", was all Artemis said. Her father never did learn, did he?

"...." Check please. This guy was done. "Yeahno. You might as well just quit that line of thought." He spoke, then he was gone. And then he wasn't. He was in front of the older male, his hand around his throat and lifting upward with the impressive strength that his body held. He wasn't built like the average heavy lifter; he was a boxer, and he was built like one, thinner and muscled differently, but still supremely strong. Art's 'father' was a feather to him, and he lifted him with the same amount of effort it would take for one. "Now then. You seem to pride yourself on being prim and proper, high class and all that jazz. I'm a solider, but I am not a simple man. I am far, far more professional than you are, by the very metric you hold so dear to. I hold more degrees than you do, I am far more intelligent. I've made far more of a mark on this world, and for the better, than you have. Compared to me, you are a pissant; yet, until today, on the rare occasions I have interacted with you, I've treated you with respect, and not been a haughty asshole. You however, have a very, very serious attitude issue."

He squeezed the male's neck, causing a moderate choking effect. Oh, he could breath enough to be safe, but it would cause a psychosomatic reaction of panic. Karu held fast a moment, allowing that panic to set in, to give the world that tint of 'oh shit, this is serious' before he continued. "You say she has thrown her life away, yet you come to her for money. You come to her, the one you call wasted talent; who makes more in a day than you do in a year, and has done and seen more in a week that you have in your entire life. You debase yourself while attempting to pretend that you are better than we are. Listen well, old man. She owes you nothing. She will give you, nothing. You will not contact her again. She has long been of legal age, you have no hold on her. The moment she left your household, you severed all ties with her. You've treated her like shit for years, and if anything, you should be thanking me for taking her off your hands."

Grunting for the sake of the show, he lifted the male even higher, until his arm was stretching to the longest it could; before he flung him until arced high and landed flat on his back in a large pile of leaves and such that had been raked up recently, yet not composted yet. Laziness, which was this man's saving grace; as the pile would break the fall and keep him from being hurt. "If you ever come near my family again, I will burn you from the inside out using solar fires you cannot even begin to understand." From his right arm, chakra like pitch black starlight began leaking through the bandages; another show of power for the shits and giggles, he was completely and totally in control of his Nova chakra at the moment, and it wasn't dangerous unless he wanted it to be. "If you ever even think to consider Artemis your family again, I will kill you. She is my family, she has been for years. You have no purpose here. Leave, and live. Feel free to go bitch to the civilian police, they'll just tell you to talk to me again." He smiled devilishly, then moved back toward Tsume so that he could pick her up and place her on his shoulders. "Shall we go to the park, dearest?"

Well, that escalated quickly. Thankfully, Tsume wasn't a child who easily got her feelings hurt - being called an animal didn't exactly bother her considering she was in some way at least part fox. However, she also had a feeling that that comment might have made something differently as well, especially given her father's reaction. In complete calmness she simply watched as her father lifted the man into the air and spoke to him.

As she watched she even reached up and scratched at the underside of Blast's chin who was also watching, though the wolf looked far more amused than Tsume did. Tsume was simply calmly waiting for the drama to pass while Blast was waiting to see Karukaya cook Artemis' dad alive.

When her father was done dealing with the old man who had landed in a pile of leaves she was scooped up which caused her to giggle happily. At the mention of a park she nodded her head several times and then grinned from ear to ear. "Can we get something to drink first? I'm thirsty.", she asked curiously as she absently reached up and played with a bit of her father's hair.

Hahaha. This was fun. Artemis didn't exaclty have the nerve to man-handle her own father though she certainly had the strength and more than enough reason to. So, seeing someone else do it and knowing her father couldn't do anything about it? That was a bit appealing, she wasn't going to lie. Artemis watched as her sensei - and yup, she still considered him that all things considered - lifted her father into the air as if to drive a point home while speaking to him: something which caused her father to nearly piss on himself in fear.

Most people allowed her father to get away with far too much, so the fact that someone was finally standing up to him certainly shocked him into paying attention. Artemis kept quiet while Karukaya talked, feeling a bit of a warm feeling in her chest when he commented that Artemis was now his family, and not her father's. After her father was thrown and landed in a pile of leaves it took him a moment to gather his senses, turn over, and get onto his feet shakily. He threw a backward glance towards them as a whole, opening his mouth as if he were going to say something before shutting it and leaving.

As he was about out of sight he found himself face to chest with Dai; who given his nearly seven foot height was very much taller than her father. Dai was dressed in a suit as he often was while off duty and carrying a buquet of flowers. Dai had had a rather passive expression on his face until he realized the person who was in front of him was Artemis' father. Very clearly Dai leaned in, his large size causing her father to flinch, as he became level with Artemis' father's ear. In a clear tone Dai spoke to the man in a voice that easily carried "If it wouldn't give the Rakuenkage more work I'd break both of your legs and your arms for what you pulled earlier. If you ever put your daughter in harm like that again I'll make sure I have a momentary lapse in judgement and follow through." With that said, and giving Art's father a chance to decide if he was going to piss on himself or not, he stepped around the man and approached. When he reached a polite distance Dai would bow and then hold out the flowers to Art who was definitely speechless at this point. "I know this is short notice, and I see that you're still covered in blood, but I was wondering if you would come have dinner with me? I was going to ask you after our spar but I never had the chance."

Artemis, figuring she had to say something nodded before hugging Karu suddenly. "Thank you." She then looked back to Dai and took the flowers from him. "Give me a second to get cleaned up, I'll be right back!" Artemis then rushed inside, clearly to do just that.

Dai, meanwhile, gave a glance back in the direction Art's father went, clearly thinking about following through with what he had threatened to do to him.

Well, if she was going to go have a good night, then he'd leave her be. He was fine with how things had turned out, and his attention was fixating on Tsume now. "Of course, dearest. I'll make you a juice, then get your play bag. We'll bring Roku, you can play on the swings." He carried her inside, and busied himself getting her ready for the impromptu play date.

- exit -