What's this? New Things in the Village? [Private]

Needless to say, new things in a tourist mecca aren't unusual; what with new shops and stores and traveling merchants and entertainers coming and going with almost alarming frequency. One day, a shop front is empty. The next, a new business moves in. A week later, it changes hands. A month later? Empty again. That was the curse of tourism; it's a fickle mistress that favors only the best, the rest be damned to obscurity. That being said, the exotic and eccentric oftentimes found a bit of a pass from the normal pressures of business life, at least in the short term. The more novel and wild the idea, the longer it would last before collapsing in on itself, or moving on to newer, greener pastures.

The markets and other commercial areas held little attraction for him; his gear was all standard issue, his clothing was custom ordered, and he had a full kitchen in his apartment. He was set in those regards, and as he was alone, the idea of spending the money in his pocket held little appeal. For the moment, he was content with his possessions and his world, so there was no need to expand upon it in the material sense.

This was new in other ways.

A farm, of sorts. That was the closest he could come to describing it. A facility to treat, raise, and study a creature that was extremely rare in the populated areas of his country. Native to the grasslands near the border, the creatures where an oddity not seen anywhere else; unsettling humanoid in stance, but with strikingly large an powerful legs an tails, and a face that for all the world appeared to be that of a deer; but with supremely intelligent gazes and a bad reputation for volatile tempers. Given that the usual interactions between humans and these creatures was in the context of humans encroaching on their lands, hunting their kind for sport or for bush meat, or other not so friendly terms, the temper legend was to be taken with a grain of salt. People far smarter and better learned in the nature of the beasts claimed it was all a misunderstanding, and that they where gentle beings unless threatened. That wasn't enough to stop of the sport hunters and 'progressive' developers that wanted to turn their grassland home into houses and business plots.

The facility was in the midst of final construction; but a visitor center was open, as well as tours of some of the larger open pens where the beasts where living while the fencing around  and the landscaping of the main habitat was completed. A fair walk from the main part of town, it was still a very nice day to go check things out, with good weather and nothing to draw his attention later on allowing him a chance to just go hang out and learn. Admission to the facility was free for the day, a promotion to get as many people to visit as possible; they where catering to children and school groups mostly, but that didn't stop plenty of curious adults and off-duty ninja from coming to investigate. While the kids where herded off to playgrounds and special presentations, the adults where allowed to wander around much as one would a zoo. Paths between the pens where well marked, high fencing and surprisingly wide 'rivers' turning the holding pens into islands within a lake of sorts. Karukaya had been to the local zoo often enough to know what the water was for, it was a classic and rather effective way of keeping the animals safely in their habitats without resorting to cages. The islands where fairly large, larger than any he'd seen at the zoo before. Walking the paths and watching the various animals, he was reminded more and more of the grasslands exhibits there, plenty of the regional flora and fauna peppered the land, but he couldn't see any of the beasts he'd come for.

It wasn't until he'd been walking around for a good half an hour that he realized that the part of the facility he was in was a zoo. A front, of sorts, full of creatures the main zoo had run out of space for. These where the creatures that inhabited the transitional zone between the grasslands and wetlands at the edge of Hinowa's territory; that was why the area was a giant lake of islands, it was exactly like the region they came from at this time of year; flooded with season rain waters and basically a giant inland marsh sea. A few minutes later had him reaching the end of this area and coming across a tram station, transport to the next area, the place emulating the proper grass and scrub-lands that the beasts called home. This place really was huge if they had a working tram system to go between areas, and the chance to sit down for a few minutes appealed to the young male. Finding a spot on the tram, he settled in to listen to the informative tape they had on repeat, giving the visitors something to do while they waiting for the scheduled travel times.

The ride was brief, but a welcome break. Taking only roughly 5 minutes from the point of departure to the point of arrival, the tram was vacated with impressive speed and the few passengers dispersed to wander the new area at will. This area was different, most of the people where lining up at a group of cars that would take them on a driving tour of the large open space where most of the 'wild beasts roamed. This was the second of three main habitat areas in the facility, and while larger than the mini-zoo up front, it was still nothing compared to the largest habitat still under construction. It was still miles across and a dangerous place however, hence the car for tours; they could move faster than even the speediest of beasts, and each had a guard armed with a tranquilizer gun ready in case of emergencies. He could already see that job being contracted out to the local ninja fairly soon; civilian guards where expensive and unpredictable in general; at least with ninja you had a good idea of what you where getting in terms of talent and training.

Beyond the line for the car tour, there was a special area roped off by the trainers and caretakers; orphaned babies ranging across a fairly wide age range hanging out for people to interact with. They where being kept in this area to keep them away from the noisy and boisterous children that would be too loud and upsetting for them. They where being trained to be 'ambassador' animals, the ones that would go to schools and events to raise awareness of the plights of the species and their native region in general. Calmer, more sensible adults would make for good experiences for them, and it was a way to get the older crowd on board with the concept of the facility in general; maybe even gain some financial support, or convince them to bring their children or young family members in general.

"Feel free to come inside, just remember not to touch the animals unless they come to you. Don't feed them anything unless instructed to by one of the handlers! And remember, they're very young and excitable; don't be surprised if they suddenly start acting strange or dart off!"

Wonderful. This still sounded better than some guided car tour. He had a feeling the pour creatures would still be hiding far away from where the tour even went; they'd wanna be alone and away from the excitement as they settled into the habitat. He approached the entrance to the fenced area with a bit of an awestruck look on his face. One of the larger beasts had just decided it wanted to jump up onto a high platform, and watching something the size of a large child jumping nearly 3 meters into the air was NOT something you saw everyday, even as a ninja. "Woooow..."

"Agreed. Always amazing to watch the joey's jump and play. Makes you remember just how strong they actually are." One of the handlers had noticed him staring in that nearly slacked-jawed amazement that teens sometimes fell into, and since it was his job to be informative, he'd come over to answer questions and the like. "You've never seen a kangaroo before, have you?"

"Not this close up, no. Only the ones they had at the zoo a few years back, but they where all napping really far away from the boardwalk, so there wasn't much to see." Right, that's what they where. Kangaroos. The babies where called joeys. He could have smacked himself for forgetting something so simple, but he was too busy fixating on one of the younger joeys sticking it's head out of a cloth pouch to sniff at a bit of fruit on the ground beside it. "So these are all orphans? What happened to the parents?"

"Oh, a mix of things. Some where found abandoned, other where actively neglected. A few where taken away from their herds because they where sick, others where brought in after their parents where killed on the plains. The big one over there was found wandering near town, he was likely someone's illegal pet and they threw him out after he got to big. He was always surprisingly tame, even when starving and sick and in dire need of help."

"How could anyone keep one of these things as pets? The babies are bigger than a human kid, and the adults must be nearly impossible to kept fed and happy..."

"It's not as bad as you'd think. So long as they have room to roam, run, jump, and plenty of appropriate food, they're happy enough in captivity. The joy are traded in the illegal pet trade all the time, people buy them expecting them to stay small and easy to manage if they use restrictive feeding methods to stun their growth; sort of how monks will treat their meditation shrubs and whatnot. Needless to say, it doesn't work. The 'roo will get sick, or turn on the owner that's mistreating it, and they end up thrown out into the forest or killed and dumped into a river or something else totally inappropriate, all because someone made a bad decision and didn't care enough to take the beast to a proper facility to be cared for."

"But the right person, with the right resources, could conceivably care for one?"

"Yes, of course. That's why we're here. We're set up to take in the ones that aren't able to be cared for, or are injured, or lost, or whatever may happen."

"Awesome, awesome... Hey, are you by chance taking volunteers around here? I could use something to keep me occupied between missions... I used to spend my off hours helping take care of animals at the local vet clinics so I have a little experience doing this stuff. I can at least do the menial labor and stuff."

"I'm the wrong person to ask, but I can refer you to the supervisor in charge. You'd need to talk to him about something like that." The handler fished a little notebook out of his pocket and scribbled some information on a page, ripping it out and handing it to Karukaya. "Try contacting Yoshiro next week after all the special events and stuff have ended. He'll be too busy to really talk to you before then." A rather rude sounding huff-grunt echoed out from the other side of the enclosure, drawing the handler's attention instantly. "Excuse me, I need to deal with that..." And then he was gone, half sprinting to break up a fight between two of the larger male joeys before it really got started.

Shoving the paper safely into a pocket, Karu wandered off to watch one of the younger babies being fed by another handler, ideas swirling in his mind for things to do and look up at a later time.

Emergency missions aside, the last few days had gone well enough. He'd planned on making the phone call a few days prior, but this worked too. His schedule was normally fairly set, his team leader was pretty good about having them do team exercises and missions only on certain days; he had to work around his special duties after all; so that left Karu and his teammates with plenty of time to run solo missions or just relax. Given Karu wasn't much of the type to just do nothing, he was going to make the attempt to pick up some shifts volunteering at the new wildlife preserve outside of town. He'd kept the paper with the contact information that the handler had given him, and now that he had the time, he was trying to contact the supervisor in charge.

His first attempt failed, the phone range off the hook for a while before a message service picked up. He left a message and settled in to clean his little apartment for a while; something to pass the time while he waited. Roughly an hour later, his phone went off; the little display showing the number for the preserve office. Scoooore!

It only took twenty minutes of information trading to set up a meeting with the supervisor; apparently the man liked to meet and interview any potential volunteers and workers in person. A smart policy, when you think about it; many, if not all, of the animals in the compound would fetch a small fortune on the black market, so making sure that anyone working there checked out and could be trusted was a high priority. The meeting was set for the next morning. Karukaya was patient. He would wait.

The meeting had gone swimmingly, if he did say so himself. The supervisor loved him, and was all for taking on a few ninja for additional security and man power, even if they couldn't afford to hire any via the normal means at the moment. Taking on volunteers solved that problem, and made his life easier; which in turn made Karukaya instantly popular. Not that Karu wated to be popular or anything, he just wanted to come in and do his job while having a good time working with the interesting beasts they had here.

He'd been told to report in for a late shift; the dinner rush needed more people than the early shifts due to the number of nocturnal creatures who where getting breakfast at the time too. They'd save a huge amount of time having someone with Karu's strength and skills around; he could get into the trees and feeding boxes that where difficult for the normal keepers to reach, and carry far more food at the same time. It saved manpower, and freed the ladders for use in other places. They had him moving through the trees and special constructs to hide treats and toys; supplemental play and mental exercise for the animals; make them hunt and find their food and toys, and they where happier for it. It helped to stave of boredom and kept them sharper; which wasn't a bad thing. Engaged animals were happy animals, and easier to work with.

All the while, the keepers he worked with kept up a fairly constant flow of information about the different beasts; their diets and habits, tricks and tips for the individual animals and where the hidden doors and supply caches where in each area.

It took them a good two hours to work their way across the facility; each exhibit and area was checked, rechecked, and filled with fresh food and toys for the animals to enjoy while they wound down or woke up for the night. The last in line was the one he wanted most; the special area where the kangaroo herds came to sleep most nights. It was a rocky area, full of stunted trees that still provided plenty of shade on a hot day, and a fresh spring fed pool that was cold and deep and gave them plenty of room to swim and cool down. A favorite place for them already; and the easiest place to find them when they new it was time for dinner.

While one group of keepers lured them out with promises of apple slices and play, the others got to work stuffing the rocky outcropping full of various fruits and vegetables and the leafy branches of the trees that they would feed from normally, plus a healthy selection of less native, but still loved produce from other areas of the country. Thankfully, the kangaroo's where able to, and thrived, on just about any leafy plant matter they where given; so they where able to keep them happy and used variance in their diets as a way to keep their minds stimulated; but introducing new grasses, shrubs, and other plants they gave the beasts a new experience and themselves a chance to study how the animals handled them, for future references and information.

A good thirty minutes was spent in the habitat, ever nook and cranny was filled with some sort of food or toy or material that they could interact with. The majority of the keepers cleared out of the area, leaving only a few in special areas that where beyond the reach of the 'roos, but gave them good viewing angles to watch for bad reactions to the new foods that where being introduced. It was rare that any of the beasts had bad reactions, but it had happened, and they didn't want to risk not catching a problem before disaster struck. Karu was safely outside of the habitat, watching through the fence as the beasts entered and began foraging for their treats and dinner.

"Always the best part, watching them hunt and search. They always seem so happy while they're doing it." It was the same keeper from the weekend before, the one that had given him the contact information. He was part of the feeding team, normally; one of the more experienced members that could spot potential problems faster than most.

"You do this every night?"

"Not quiet this intense. Twice a week we introduce new foods and objects, and those days are always busy. Gotta make sure no one gets sick off it; and this way we can gauge what they like, or don't like, and factor that into future dietary plans."

"Oooh. So, what now? Do we stay until they're finished, or do we go somewhere else?"

"Now? Now's the really fun part.... clean up. Hop in the jeep, we're heading back to the main facility to clean up the kitchens and power wash the cage areas. Night shift is the dirty shift, but you've gotta do at least a week of it before you're moved somewhere else, that way you know what to do if you've ever gotta come in for someone."

Wonderfulness. Karu merely sighed and turned to stare at the kangaroos one ast time before making his way to the jeep and loading up with the rest of the staff that was heading back in. The few observers would stay in the area for an hour or two recording data, then join up with the rest to finish clean up and share notes.

Day shift. Finally. The night shift was nice, it gave him plenty of time to study and learn; but he hated the cleaning and the loneliness. There where only a few people around for most of it, and by the time the morning shift showed up, he was too tired and brain dead to be social or really take notice of anything. So after getting a day off to reset, sleep, and stock up on the required gears, he was ready to start a rotation on the day shift.

Reporting early was pointless, the Day shift itself didn't start until nearly noon; as they used four shifts a day to make sure that they had enough people at all times that where fresh and to cover the large areas of the facility properly. There wasn't a massive amount of things to learn for this shift, more so just to polish the stuff he'd studied on the long nights the previous week, as well as the new meals to make for the animals that where fed on this shift.

Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. That was the first few hours. Washing dishes, power washing the cages and sleeping areas of the animals in the zoo front that spent their days in the open areas. Hiding toys and treats and medicines in the special caches and holes and up in places that made the animals work for it. The shift work was basically the same across the board, just with different specifics. Simple work. Good work. Even doing grunt stuff, he felt useful, and that was nice. It was nice to feel useful like this; ninja work was useful and needed and he had to do it to live, but this work he wanted to do and volunteered to do and it just had that feel of fun and awesome and whatever, and he loved it.

"Karukaya. I need a spotter. Let's go."

Spotter? They only needed spotters when they where going into the big pens to tranquilize an animal for a vet visit. Huh. "Alright, lemme just get the power washer put up." A simple enough task given he was basically done. A flip of a foot switch had the water shut off, and the tap of a button had the power off too. He quickly collected and rolled up the various lines and such that went with the washer and stored it away for the night shift to use; racing off to the radio room to check one out and then to the vet station to meet up with the team leader for the trip.

"Alright. You all know the drill. We've got a joey that's showing signs of being sick, and the mother's refusing to come in on her own. Pretty standard problem with the wild herds. I'll be manning the jeep with the sniper, I need Karu, Hisaki, and Megumi on the spotter towers. I need herd movements, tag IDs, and anything else you think is important. Keep a sharp eye out for the big boomers; there's territory overlap with the local herds and they're looking for any chances to steal a new flyer for their own herd."

"Understood."

"Got it."

"Awesome."

"Ready when you are."

"Gear check while the jeep is fueling. We leave in 20 minutes."

Twenty minutes was a flash as they raced through the gear checks. Radios where tweaked, batteries where checked, blank darts loaded and fired to make sure the rifles worked before being loaded with real darts, spares loaded into the cartridges for transport. The special stretcher they used for larger animals was retrieved, checked, rechecked, and stored in the back of the jeep where the sedated 'roo would be loaded. A quick map check so that everyone knew where exactly in the compound they where going, and everyone loaded up. A group of 7 in total: the vet in charge, the driver, the main sniper, and 3 spotters; a pretty common team for these trips.

Spotters rode in the back of the jeep with the gear, the sniper was already in the descended nest waiting for them to reach the rendezvous point. As they approached each spotter position, the assigned spotter leaped out and shimmied up into position; a rocky outcropping, the top of a tree, hanging from a special perch swing attached to the underside of a hanging cliff face. Perfect places to see the entire area; high enough to clear the high brush and grasses, but not so high that they lost detail vision.

"Mic check. Spotter 1 Report."

"Spotter 1, ready."

"Spotter 2, report."

"Spotter 2, ready. Herds in sight."

"Spotter 3. report."

"Spotter 3, not ready. Clearing line of sight, ETA 3 minutes." Of course it was Karukaya that was having problems. Seems no one had checked this nest in a while, and the tree had overgrown a bit. He was busy hacking at the young branches and vines with a kunai, no one had through to issue him a machete or a saw to clear with. It wasn't a huge deal, he was strong enough to cut through the fibrous material with little problem, it was just going to take a minute or two longer than is could have if he'd had proper equipment.

"Spotter 3, report."

Almost.... almost.... done! "Spotter 3, ready."

"Report when herds in sight."

"Spotter 2, locked."

A minute later, "Spotter 3, locked."

"Spotter 1... Unsure if locked. I can't get a clear view of the tags on the herd in my sights. Unsure if it's the correct one or not."

"Report coordinates."

"Spotter 2, reporting Sector F6East, range 300 meters."

"Spotter 3, reporting Sector F5West, range 180 meters."

"Spotter 1, focus Sectors F5East and F6West. Range to target Sectors from your position, 400 meters due North."

A long pause hit the radios while the spotter aligned to the proper target range. "Spotter 1, reporting confirmation of herd. Sector F6West. Range to targets, 412 meters. Confirmation of tag colors. We are locked."

"Confirmed Spotter 1. We're ready to start. Doc, you ready?"

"Ready here. Sniper in position, locked and ready to go."

"Rodger. Take the shot when ready."

In the distance, Karu could almost swear he heard the rifle go off; a solid second before the target kangaroo initially stumbled. A flash of bright pink could just bee seen, the tail end of the dart a color that had no godly reason existing in the natural world and therefore sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Spotter 3, confirm target shot."

"Spotter 2, confirm target shot."

"Spotter 1, confirm target shot."

"Report when she goes down."

"Rodger."
"Rodger."
"Rodger."

They knew it would be a good bit before the tranquilizer set in fully, so they settled in to watch for trouble. The rifle was fired from far enough away that the herd didn't bother scattering, the crack of the shot wasn't loud enough to spook them, even if it did get their attention. Every so often, the radio would crackle with a quick report of changes; a kangaroo coming or going, the approach of one of the other herds, the big boomer of the herd messing with the dart in the flyer's leg. Not that it much mattered, so long as he didn't rip it out and injure her. The medicine was long in her system, and she was starting to show signs of getting sleepy. After a good twenty minutes of drowsily moving around, she wandered off into a shaded area to lay down.

"Spotter 2, target moving away from herd."

"Spotter 3, confirm."

"Spotter 1, confirm. She's laying down now."

"Sniper confirm."

"Rodger. Doc, we waiting a bit longer, or are we moving in?"

"Give it a few more minutes. Spotters, keep your eyes trained."

"Rodger."

Five minutes later.

"All positions. Jeep is on the move. We're heading in for pick up. Converge on appointed pick-up locations."

"Rodger that. All positions, move out. Wait for pick up at assigned locations."

Karu confirmed the order and stored away his binoculars, shifting to climb down from the tree and start the fairly quick jog to meet with the crew. His was the closest position, so he'd meet with them at the jeep before they left to pick up the other two and returned to the main facility.

An hour later and they where back at the facility; gear unpacked and the momma 'roo resting comfortably on the large animal table in the veterinary exam area. Paperwork was a biatch, but it had to be done, and they where letting him do it while he sat by the wall far out of the way but still in a perfect place to watch. Not that there was much to see at the moment, it was a basic check up at the moment, and they weren't touching the pouch until they where sure the mother was healthy. She was safely sedated now that she was inside, the tranquilizer would have worn off by now, but a special mask over her muzzle was feeding her plenty of oxygen and a moderate dose of sedative. Vials of blood, pictures upon pictures, sample of fur and ... other things; the flyer was getting a full work up. They had plenty of time to work on her and the baby, but they had to do things in a proper order, or they risked putting both in danger.

"Karu, you did good." It was the team leader, back from debriefing the pencil pushers in the head office. "Seriously, not bad for your first trip out."

"Thanks. It wasn't that different from a surveillance mission."

"Good. Might have to keep you on the spotter team, then. You staying to watch?"

"Yeah, I'm not off shift for a few hours anyway, so might as well. That, and I'm fascinated by this whole process, which helps keep me in here."

"You sure you didn't wanna be a vet when you grew up?"

"Pffft. I'd go insane being stuck inside all the time. Even working for a place like this wouldn't be enough to scratch that adrenaline junky itch ninja have."

"Fair enough. Well, I've gotta go make sure the feeding crew is caught up, we're running a bit behind 'cause of the emergency extraction."

"Yeeeep." He handed off his finished report and went back to focusing heavily on the group of vet techs working over the flyer. They wouldn't touch the joey until the head vet came in. Better to have the expert there from the get go than to risk someone missing something initially. He was still a good twenty minutes out, fresh out of emergency surgery at the main vet clinic in town; apparently some rich guy's dog got into a drawer and ate a bunch of clothing, so it's intestines where blocked and the owner went apeshit until the vet came in and did the surgery himself.

The wait wasn't that long, but it still felt like forever. The vet came in quietly, asked a few quiet questions, and started checking on the chart and test results. Karu had met the man only once since he started working at the facility; the vet was a mild man, soft spoken and supremely kind in nature, but with a hidden strength that made people listen to him, even when he was being quiet.

"Well, the mother seems to be in excellent health so far. Baring and major surprises from the blood tests, she'll be clear for release in the morning. Are we ready to check on the joey?"

"Table is prepped and ready."

"Perfect.

He moved to the table where the mother was resting and began to shift her around ever so gently, clearing access to her pouch and making it easier to remove the joey. "Ready with the sedative." He slipped a set of soft cloth gloves over his latex surgical gloves and slowly opened the mother kangaroo's pouch. Slipping his hands inside, he gently rotated the sleeping baby so that it would fit through the opening of said pouch before easing it free and onto the table beside it's mother. "Alright, we have a baby..." he shifted the baby so that it was no longer curled tightly around itself, "... a baby boy. Estimated age, 11 months. Age falls in line with observations of mother and the general time frame when she was last observed mating. No apparent physical deformities. Muscle tone appropriate for age." He passed the joey off to a nurse that wrapped it up in a thick, fluffy towel to help him stay warm while they started taking blood samples and the like from it.

"Nurse, take the usual samples. Check for dehydration, run an IV if you have to. Otherwise, let's get him ready for the required quarantine period. Does anyone want to name him, or shall we wait?"

"Er, sir? May I?"

The male turned to where Karukaya was sitting, tilting his head in that 'I know who you are, but I don't have a name' way. After a moment of silence, a light of recognition flashed in his eyes, "Karu... kaya, yes? I'm sorry, we haven't really officially met yet, and I'm terrible with names and faces."

"Yes sir, Karukaya. If it's okay, I'd like to name him..."

"Of course, son. If you have something in mind, feel free to offer it."

"Well, sir; I've been researching the natives out on the plains and their relationship with the kangaroos... and I ran across a name... Coen. It means... Thunder, or Brave; if I remember correctly. They sound like racing thunder when they run... it seemed appropriate."

"That... actually is rather nice for this little guy. A strong name to live up to. Nurse, record that for his name. Good call, son."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're up for rotation soon, right?"

"Tomorrow, sir."

"You'll be rotating to my team, then."

"Thank you, sir."

The door to the room opened and Karu's supervisor stuck his head in, "Karu, need you to come fill out some more paperwork. Let's go."

Booooo. "Coming, sir!"

Rotation wit the vet staff was... definitely interesting. He thought he had a handle on the icky things in life, he could change a babies diaper pretty easily, puke was nothing to him, and blood was the norm for ninja. Animal dropping where part of tracking, and death was sadly common. All that aside... jesus hell, how did vet techs and proper veterinarians handle this? The amount of guts, smelly animal crap, and various body fluids he'd never seen before (holy crap pure bile was NASTY and did NOT wash out) had him actually glad to move back to the surveyor team in a few days. The one thing he would miss the most was access to the quarantine areas. He'd been spending a fairly significant amount of his down time visiting with the new baby 'roo. The poor little guy wasn't handling the isolation well, and it was quickly getting used to having people around for company. By the time it was assigned to a trainer to be hand raised, it would settle in fairly easily.

"Karukaya. You've all but latched yourself to his cage. The first thing you learn in this line of work is to not get terribly attached. Love them, care for them, but never think of them as 'yours'. They're not pets, and never will be."

"I know... I guess I just forget sometimes. More so because I've seen so many of my superiors with summons and pets that are considered wild beasts by the rest of the village. I know they're special exceptions, but that change that I kind of want one myself."

"Maybe in a few years, when you've gained the experience needed, you can be on the home-raise team."

"That's if I'm not too busy with work. In a few years I'll easily be a Chunnin, maybe better than that. Hard to find time to pets and village life when you're a Jounin."

"True, but when you want something enough, you find a way." Wise words, from a wise man. Or so, Karukaya thought. He'd come to find a wisdom that went hand in hand with the intelligence in the old vet. Years of experience and lots of schooling combined to make a great man; if one that was very under spoken overall. Quiet, only talking when he felt his words were needed, something Karukaya tried to be like; but usually failed pretty hard at.  

"I hope so. I really like it here, but I don't see myself giving up my ninja duties anytime soon."

SNEEZE!

....Why did he smell smoke suddenly?

"Do you smell th-.... is Coen's bag smoking?"

"Oh dear." A key was suddenly in the vet's hand, the gate swinging open and shoved without care into the smoking back to pull the joey free before it was injured or choked on the smoke. "Hold him, Karu." The Coen was passed to the boy, who awkwardly held the baby as one would a human child that was too young to hold it's head up, cradled in his arms. The vet examined the bag, turning it inside out and exposing a scorched area that was releasing the smoke and still had glowing edges. ""Strange... it looks like someone dropped embers here, and they caught the fabric." The vet changed his focus to Coen, examining his fur and face for burns or smoke damage. ""He seems fine. His nose is a bit warm thou..-"

SNEEZE!

...Those where embers coming from Coen's nose.

"You saw that, yes."

"I did, sir. He's sneezing embers."

"Right, then." A radio was retrieved from the vet's belt, key'd on and a call to the surveyor team made, "Ryuun. Herd 33E51. They're a normal herd, correct?"

"According to all our records they are. What's up?"

"The baby is... sneezing embers. What information do we have on the father?"

"Sec." The radio went dead for a good thirty seconds before crackling back to life, "Father unknown rouge male. Coloration matched the neighboring herd, but confirmation on linage was never made. Are you thinking he's a cross-breed?"

"I need to run tests, but it's possible. Saito, out." With a soft sigh, the radio was returned to it's holster and he focused on Karu and the joey again, "Give him to me. I need to check him over again, run some different tests. If he's sneezing embers, then it's possible.... no, highly probable that his father was a rouge from one of the fire herds deeper in the plains."

"Fire... herds?"

"A herd of kangaroo with special abilities. A so called 'ninja' herd. They're the type of beasts the ninja's with special pets hunt down."

"...." Oh. Well... this... this might work for him.

"Karu, go wash up, then report to Sanji. He'll need your report since you where here when this happened."

"Yes, sir."

Today was the day. He'd finished his rotations, and it was finally time to find out where they where assigning him long term. He already new he'd be on a few of the specialist teams, his ninja training made him a valuable asset for them, and he worked extremely well with the more experienced members. For the most part, everyone liked him well enough, and he did his best to pull his weight, which was all the team leaders asked.

"Alright Karu. I've got the reports and recommendations from the team leaders here. You've done extremely well in every area, even more so for someone that has basically had to shove years of specialized schooling into their head over the course of a few months. You already know you won't be allowed on the vet staff, due to the special requirements needed there; but otherwise, you'd make a fine addition to any team or department. We have your preferences, and for the most part, you're set to go anywhere. A few of the teams are full, and therefore you can't be placed with them. You understand this, of course."

"Yessir."

"Your main preference is the plains wildlife team?"

"Yessir."

"I know what you've got as your written answer as to why you want to go there, but I'd like to heard what you really think. Off the record."

"Well sir... it's actually kind of... well, not stupid, I can't really come up with a proper word for this... personal? I guess. I've sort of... fallen in love with the kangaroos and wallabies. I love all the animals in the facility... but they've taken up a spot in my heart and I can't see myself working with anything else and being as happy. I totally understand if you need me somewhere else, and I'll gladly do anything you want me too; but I just... really want to work with them."

Was... was he smiling?

"I love your honesty, Karukaya. It's refreshing to know there's still youth out there that can still feel that." The supervisor pulled a specific folder out of the bunch, opening it up and scribbling some notes before grabbing for a stamp sitting on his desk. "Plains wildlife team it is, then. Make me proud, kid."

W-what?! "Really?! Oh man, thank you so much!"

"You've earned this, kid. On a secondary note, Saito submitted a rather... interesting request earlier."

"Sir?"

"You remember the little joey you and he where working with?"

"Yessir, Coen. The little fire sneezer."

"Yes, yes; him. Well, he's out of quarantine, and ready to be taken home for hand raising."

"Okay?"

"Saito wants you[/you] to raise him."

I'm sorry, what? "Sir...?"

"You heard me right, Karu. He thinks the best place for a ninja 'roo baby is with a ninja, and as you're the only one on staff..."

"You're giving me Coen..."

"You'll be given a quick training course on how to hand raise a kangaroo, and you'll have to bring him in everyday for measurements and whatnot until you've learned how to do it yourself."

"You're giving me Coen."

"Yes, son."

"I... I can't even begin to thank you..."

"Raise a healthy boomer and we'll call it even."

"When can I have him?"

"He's being checked over right now, and the special foods and such are being packed. You can take him home within the hour."

"Can I... can I go to him right now?"

"Oh yes, we're done here. You'll report for your first proper duty shift Monday afternoon. Until then... bond with your baby."

Aaaaaand he was gone so fast the supervisor chalked it up to some ninja skill.