Starring:
Amiko, Hikari, Suzume, Taiki, Madarobi
Date: February 12, 2013
Summary:
A mission goes awry when the Konoha team steps into an ambush
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"A Baited Trap"
Land of Fire
Night was starting to fall over Konoha later in the day, a sure sign
that Spring is upon the Land of Fire. The purplish haze of twilight blankets
the sky, and the first stars begin to show their faces overhead. Konohagakure's
many undercover agents had reported movement in the criminal world - something
was going down, but no one had been able to ascertain exactly what. That is,
until a message had arrived from Uzushiogakure. When Amiko received the message
she brought it immediately to the Hokage for her approval to undertake a
mission, and sent out messages. Amiko chose the first two members of her team -
Inuzuka Taiki, whose tracking ability and skills could be invaluable on this
mission, and Uzumaki Suzume, whose ability as a healer could be crucial, and
who Amiko believed would have a personal stake in the mission. Hashiramako had
suggested the next two team members - Hikari and Madarobi.
"Alright, we need to be quick about this briefing," Amiko says as the
last of the team members file into the small briefing room, putting her hands
on her hips as she glances around the room, "There have been rumours lately
about increased criminal activity. Its been suggested many times that someone's
up to something big. Two hours ago I received a message from Uzushiogakure.
Uzumaki Tashijou, a Missing-Nin and A-rank criminal has been confirmed as one
of the key people in whatever's going on. Since my long term mission has been
to track and either capture or kill Tashijou, I've been given approval to go
after him, and you are going to be my team." She nods to the members in the
room, looking at each in the eye as she gauges their reactions. "Tashijou is a
Jounin level ninja, so he isn't to be trifled with. His main areas of expertise
are sealing techniques and high speed Taijutsu. His MO usually involves
manipulating other criminals to keep himself out of the spotlight, but he
doesn't work with amateurs, so we can expect him to have surrounded himself
with other highly capable people," she explains, pulling out a map from her
backpack and pointing to a location on it, "His hideout is here, well within
the borders of the Land of Fire and a couple of hours journey from the Village.
I'd like to set out immediately, so if there are any questions please ask them
now."
Crossing his arms with a cheeky grin spread across his face, Madarobi
couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement run down his spine as Amiko
swiftly briefs the group of nin. Although he and Hikari were very close, he had
never run into Inzuka Taiki, or Uzumaki Suzume. Almost missing some very
important details, Madarobi found himself glancing about the room wondering how
powerful his allies truly were. Trying not to look completely distracted, he
would shift his gaze back to Amiko and nod every now and then. After Amiko
finished the full report Madarobi would simply shake his head a few times after
being asked for any questions, and would try to send a smile towards Hikari.
Their recent training may be truly tested tonight.
Standing with her arms crossed next to her friend Madarobi, Hikari
smiles back at him, she then eyes her missions leader with a slight curiosity.
"I have a question," she whispers slightly grinning, "Are you going to wear
those shoes on the mission?" pointing to Amiko's high heels. "Just wondering, I
can't even walk in those things!" Hikari giggled to herself, leaning over to
Amiko slightly, "We should train together sometime and you can teach me how to
walk in those." Taking a step back to her previous position, she speaks up
again, "Other than that, I have no more questions and I am ready when you are!"
Suzume was PUMPED for this mission. For some reason beating up a
renegade baddie was at the top of Suzume's list, and with it being related to
the Land of Whirlpools it only made it even better that she would be apart of
such a mission. Oh the prestige she would get back from home if things went
according to plan. Little did she know she was definitely well in over her
head. " Sounds like an awesome mission, Amiko-chan!" Suzume somewhat teased
flashing her wicked grin, of course she was being incredibly unformal, and
considering their last mission together it went terribly… She was hoping to
melt the ice a little bit even if it was indirect. " You have all my support
and what not… Just make sure I don't die…please?" She hinted at perhaps
needing a bit of protect but other than that she gave a thumbs up, pushing a
few strains of crimson hair out of her eyes. " Looks like we have a pretty nice
time, and these two look absolutely adorable together…" She points to both
Madarobi and Hikari.
Taiki is leaning against a wall, with his two ninken sitting on either
side of him. He personally can't recall what if he's been on missions with
either Madarobi or Hikari before, but he does remember the last mission he went
on with Suzume and Amiko, which wound up with his sensei, Uzumaki Tenken, being
abducted by persons unknown. He wonders whatever happened to the box that was
found in his study, if Amiko had uncovered something about it or not. But right
now they apparently had another job to do, one of which Taiki was at least
slightly familiar with. While he himself was by no means up to Uzumaki
standards, he had experience in Fuinjutsu and was a decent tracker. The
inclusion of the dogs only increased his abilities, so it was easy for him to
see why he was chosen for this. "None about this mission, though I do have some
non-mission-related questions for you for after everything is done." He offers
everyone else a small smile as he waits to get this show on the road. The dogs
seem alert, but rather uncommunicative at the moment.
Happy to have a little levity in the briefing room, Amiko smiles at
Hikari. "Actually, yes, I always wear my heels, even while fighting. It might
seem impractical, but with a bit of practice its just like wearing sandals,
shoes or having bare feet. And if you like, I can help teach you how to walk,
run… whatever in them," she offers with a bemused smile. She nods politely to
Suzume and replies, "Of course, as the company's med-nin, protecting you is our
highest priority. Even higher than capturing the target." Then she looks to
Taiki and grins, "Of course. We can talk about the aftermath of that last
mission once we're done."
With the briefing now finished, Amiko nods her head and commands, "Then
let's move out! We'll regroup a kilometer out from our target, observe and make
a plan of attack." With that she strides to the back of the room, throws open
the door, and takes off. She simply expects the rest of the team to either
follow her or make their own way to the meeting site. Even in those high heeled
boots she's wearing, the girl can run chowed fast. As she makes her way into
the forest outside the village Amiko takes to the trees, leaping between
branches and using the tree walking technique to stabilize herself when
necessary. The hours pass slowly, with thousands of trees flying past on either
side and the kilometers counting down, but eventually she arrives at the
designated meeting point, and Amiko settles in to wait for the others.
The entrance to the bad guys' hideout is nothing but a sloped hole
burrowing into the ground in the middle of a field. There aren't even many
signs of human use, although Amiko's seen similar set ups before. The entrance
was probably booby-trapped to high hell, and the Chuunin wasn't exactly sure
what the best way to infiltrate it would be. "Any ideas?" she asks the group as
she looks around the area, making sure that they aren't being observed.
Trying not to show how much he was panting from their journey; Madarobi
looked around at the group trying to think of anything useful to say. To be
quite honest, he wasn't the most versatile chuunin and had trouble being
forward unless he was in the heat of battle. He would once again shake his head
just in case Amiko would look in his general direction. Wondering if Hikari was
going to speak up, he tried to secretly catch his breath while waiting for the
next orders. Taking a gander at the group, he would double take at Suzume once
again. "She looks very familiar now that I think about it." He ponders to
himself.
Arriving at the hole, Hikari runs up to be standing between the burrow
and Madarobi, blocking his view. Hands on her hips, Hikari bends over slightly
to look in the hole. Tilting her head to the side so that her bright red hair
was dragging in the grass. "Hmm, well I wish my Earth style was more up to par
for getting us in there somehow, but its not yet.," she says with a frown, "And
hopefully there's some light in there so I can be of some use, without a light
source, I won't be able to use my shadows." -HUMPH- Straightening up quickly,
Hikari placed on hand on her hip and the other around her chin as to show she
was trying to think of a game plan. Looking over to the group she then asks,
"Do you know if this is the only opening or do you think there is also an exit
located around here somewhere?"
Surprisingly enough, Suzume was able to keep up with that invisible
vitality brewing up within her. Eventually she sighs as they finally screech to
a halt, she even decides to hug against the trees in order to stay out of
sight. " Don't worry, Inuzuka-san will be able to sniff us out of this one
right? She wasn't joking when she stated that, and also began to remained slip
into the shadows so she wouldn't be targeted at the very least. " I just have
this feeling there are going to be all sorts of traps and explosions if we
decide to go in there so straight forwardly…"
Taiki considers the hole in the ground and begins to contemplate how to
make their way inside. With years of experience combating infiltration experts,
he begins to put that experience to work, slowly trying to unravel how they
would proceed. No doujutsus, so no seeing shakra. Taiki wasn't a sensor type,
but his own abilities with tracking people came into play. "I can see if I can
pick up a trail of how they approached," Taiki says finally. "I would lay even
money on Suzume-san being correct about what we would face if we went straight
in, though it would stand to reason they would have a way to bypass their own
traps and seals. There's not much use for a hideout that they can't get to,"
Taiki says quietly. "Though if you had something that smelled like the criminal
we are after, that might help narrow things down a bit."
"I really don't know if there's another way in, Uzushio's source only
knew of this one," Amiko says, biting her lip as she watches the entrance for
another few long moments. Then she checks the area again for enemies, followed
by checking everything in sight range. Not spotting anything, the Uzumaki says,
"I can't see any lookouts anywhere, which hopefully means they either weren't
expecting anyone to find them, or they're trusting in traps to keep people away
from the entrance." She rubs her cold hands together as she thinks, and then
nods to Taiki. "Oh yes, that would be really helpful, but unfortunately not
available. Let's start making our way down there, -SLOWLY-, and if you catch a
scent that might lead us safely through the traps just let us know, alright
Taiki-san?" she asks, and immediately starts moving forwards. Amiko looks back
over her shoulder and nods to the others, "You all keep your eyes and ears open
too. If we're about to walk into a trap or ambush, every second of forewarning
could be the difference between success and failure."
Looking around thoroughly, Madarobi half expected to be bombarded by
traps like normal unless his allies were able to see them coming. His skills
were lacking to say the least when it came to things like this. When he saw a
pressure plate hidden in the grass a few steps ahead, he almost froze without
knowing how to react. "Ummmm guys. Ummm we might want to stop." He murmurs as
he continues to scan the area to see if there is anything else. "Stop!" He
roars a bit louder since his first warning was even hard for him to hear. "Look
up ahead, there seems to be a trap in the grass." Madarobi finishes as he looks
around trying to make sure that everyone had heard his warning. "Score one for
Madarobi." He thinks to himself as he crosses his arms over his chest. He
couldn't help but have a cheeky grin as he glances over to Hikari hoping for
her approval.
Looking over to Madarobi giving her a cheesy smile, Hikari can't help
but let out a little laugh and smiled back at him. "Good job, I probably
would've stepped on that knowing my luck. And if there is a trap almost right
in front of us, I guess we were lucky to make it this far into the field
without being blown up." Putting her hand over her eyes to block the sun,
Hikari peered deeper into the field and towards the burrow, "We'll guys and
girls, I guess you are my eyes on this one till we get in there." Making sure
not to take a step in any direction, Hikari began to rock back and forth on the
balls of her feet thinking about how they were going to get closer to the
burrow.
An idea just popped into her head out of no where and she let out a
little yelp of excitement, "Oh I know! If Madarobi or anyone else can spot the
traps, I could use my earth spires to fling them up into the air and set them
off so we can have a clear path to the hole!" she said excitedly, then backed
off and her smile turned into a frown. "Or if the traps let them know we were
coming that would be a bad idea then wouldn't it…hmm. That can be a last
resort I guess." The right side of her mouth turned upwards into a slight grin
as she looked down at the ground and began twiddling her thumbs.
Suzume moved closer though didn't move into the hole… It looked like
there were a ton of seals and traps laced upon the entrance making it difficult
for all of them to go in at once. " Becareful… We will definitely need to go
in there one at a time… I nominate someone else to go first," Suzume spoke
honestly, rubbing the side of her head with a slight yawn. She wasn't entirely
too worried about things just yet, but she did keep a look around the area just
in case things got out of hand quickly.
"This is almost as bad as the Hokage Mountain," Taiki says as he sniffs
the air, his ninken spreading out. "Amiko-san was not kidding about this guy
being a pro…" He seems to almost be impressed by this setup, by the way he
and his ninken are acting. A moment later their scan finds the same route
Suzume did, but unlike Suzume he and his ninken seem to be able to map their
way through. It's not easy, but finally Taiki looks back and says, "I can take
front, Shinobu the middle, and Nozomi at the end. Between the three of us, with
aid from Suzume-san, we can get you through this. But walk single file, and in
our footprints, otherwise you may set off something. And so far, setting off
something would mean announcing our presence far earlier than we want to." With
that Taiki takes the lead as continues to run chakra to all his senses,
following the scents and his enhanced vision carefully picking out any
potential hazards.
Amiko looks at the seals around the entrance to the hideout and shrugs
as all the others make it safely through the traps. "Well, there's only one way
in that we know of, and I don't want to spend all night and all day tomorrow
neutralising these seals," she explains, then with a grin she slips into the
cave. None of the seals seem to activate. In fact, nothing special at all seems
to happen, so Amiko moves further into the cave, motioning the others to come
in as well, and she takes up a defensive position a little ways further in,
pushing her body against a sharp curve in the cave and covering the team's
entrance. As they get inside Amiko holds a finger up over her mouth, indicating
that the others should be silent. Voices can be heard from around the corner of
the cave, at least three distinct voices and maybe more. "One of them is
Tashijou," she whispers just loudly enough for the others to hear her,
"Quickly, we get in, get Tashijou, and get out." And with that she springs
around the corner, a kunai already drawn. But she freezes before even throwing
it. Dead ahead are four ninja, all with kunai drawn. Amiko drops her weapon and
starts forming handseals as a wave of kunai fly straight at her. A pillar of
earth thrusts up in front of her, and the kunai slam into it forcefully.
Unfortunately, an instant later they explode, throwing Amiko backwards into the
wall of the cave.
"My my, little Amiko, my princess," one of the voices says, "Bit off
more than you could chew did you?" Tashijou, the man in the middle of the
group, his blonde hair dirty and matted to his head, puts his hands on his hips
and grins as he speaks. The expression on his face speaks of great confidence,
both in his own skills and those of his bodyguards. "Get rid of the others,
Amiko and I need to have a chat," he says, motioning for the others to go after
the rest of the team. Within moments they round the corner, each throwing more
kunai at the team.
Watching as the groups advantage is completely destroyed as they are
caught sneaking in, Madarobi begins to take preemptive measures by finding a
nearby crease in the cave wall to take cover after the explosion. Instantly
forcing his chakra to transform into its fluid and more potent state, he forces
it into the cerebral cortex of his attacking opponent. The thug would see him
instantly become ethereal although he was safely hidden. Not ready for a
counter surprise attack, he would instantly begin to focus to increase his
chakra. Hopefully his allies could hold them off until he is ready.
Perfect time to try out my new move! Hikari thought to herself,
adrenaline surging through her body she creates a few hand seals and stomps her
feet into the ground below her, "Earth Dome!" she yelled as a wall of dirt came
shooting up out of the ground, curving slightly to create a wall in front of
her and also covering her head. Looking up at her structure, she saw it begin
to crack and crumble. "Uh oh…" she whispered as the barrier crumbled to the
ground, letting a single kunai sailing past her cut her upper left leg. Her
hand instinctively going to the wound, Hikari turned to where Madarobi was and
said, "Good first attempt, huh?" Running over to the side of the cave, Hikari
would then begin to focus some chakra so she would be ready for the next move.
"Ahh!" Suzume soon squealed out loud as the kunai barraged in her
direction, rather than leaping out of the way she simply held her arms infront
of her face, ducking into a fetal position as the kunai merely "clunked"
against her flesh. Despite being completely harmless she cringed and screamed
out. "Ow! I think it got me!" She exclaims and finally ducks herself out of
sight so she couldn't be seen, she wasn't going to be able to fight…at least
not yet. "I'm not a fighter darn it…" Suzume cursed under her breath, though
regardless she began to summon some chakra, some for healing and some of
beating down some baddies.
A life spent fighting for one's very life often leaves its mark on a
man, or beast for that matter. The team is rarely surprised, and thus when
kunai start to fly toward Taiki he and the larger of this two ninken appear to
activate some kind of ninjutsu, forming balls of lightning under their feet as
they literally "skate" around the incoming objects with some measure of ease.
Not a one gets anywhere near them. He and his ninken take a different route
from the others though, as instead of simply falling back to prepare, they
defend their teammates. Nozomi falls back slightly to cover Suzume while
leaving herself in a position to aid her two partners. They, on the other hand
counter-attack: Shinobu with regular claws, at least for the moment, while
Taiki pulls out his Kusari-gama and returns their attacks, sending first the
sickle, then the spiked ball out, peppering them with a medium range storm of
blackened metal.
Amiko virtually peels herself off the wall and shakes her head to clear
away the ringing in her ears. That explosion hit her hard. But she grits her
teeth and charges at Tashijou, leaving the team to deal with the rest of the
criminals. She comes at Tashijou first with a kick at his legs, attempting to
knock him off balance, and then raises a hand over her head, channeling a seal
through her fingers. Then with a quick thrust she tries to apply it to
Tashijou's chest.
Meanwhile one of the ninja criminals forms several handseals and a
spout of water fires forth from his mouth, attempting to batter Hikari and
Madarobi. Another ninja goes straight for Suzume, but finds Nozomi in the way.
He kicks once at the dog and then throws a pair of kunai at Suzume. The last
criminal in the group, a giant of a man, goes straight for Taiki. He attempts a
hammerfast at the Chuunin's head, followed by an attempt at grabbing the boy
and throwing him into a nearby wall.
Tashijou simply catches Amiko's kick, the overconfident smile still
marring his face. And then Amiko's hand comes in, and the man disappears in a
puff of smoke. "Using my own technique against me? How crass," he says, his
fingertips glowing light blue as he attempts to place the same seal on Amiko's
back.
Using his newly found chakra, Madarobi projects an image of himself
several feet to the left of his true location. The water burst being exactly
where he planned, Madarobi would look back at HIkari with a grin. Raising his
hands quickly to complete several hand seals, he would push his chakra into the
ninja's head trying to create illusions of spiders, scorpions, and other creepy
crawlers. These bugs would be digging their way in and out of the thug's skin.
Realizing that this fight was getting more serious than she had
anticipated, Hikari began to focus her chakra and call up the shadows around
her. The shadows around her feet slithered up her body and encased her in a
smokey dark cloak. "I'm ready." she whispered out with a menacing grin
appearing on her face. Seeing the jet of water being shot at her, she made
multiple hands seals yelled, "Let's try this again! Earth Dome!" The earth
around her shot up out of the air with such force that the top of the dome
could not be completed, it just shot into the top of the cave instead. Being
sheltered from the oncoming attack, Hikari readies herself for her attack. When
the water was done coming at her, Hikari let the earth retreat back to its
original form. Creating hand seals she whispered, "Earth spire." Stomping her
right foot into the ground three times, she focused her chakra to go surging
down through her feet and into the ground. Three great spires of earth went
shooting out of the ground at all different angles towards the foe who was
trying to attack Madarobi and herself. If one hit with enough force, the spire
could actually skewer the opponent. Thinking about this, Hikari grimaced a bit
hoping that it would just knock him out if one hit him.
If there was any time for Suzume to be awesome, now would have been the
time to do. She found herself attacked yet again, a single kunai clunking
against her flesh however finally one of them managed to slice a clean flesh
wound, causing her to grimance and tear up almost instantly. "Ow…ow that
actually hurts…" Suzume cringed, focusing chakra at her finger tips and
suddenly exploding over, she even leaped over Nozomi so she could get a clear
view of the criminal who had attacked them. "Take this!" Suzume demands, her
fingers then curled into a finge points and she attacks, a single finger into
the side of the criminals neck forcing a torrent of chakra through that
particular pain point in order to completely exhaust him of his energy, she
followed through with another strike along the indention of his shoulder blade
and finally ducking underneath him to slip away, she was too close for comfort.
Now that the others are on the attack, the situation is reversed. It is
time for them to cover him while he starts to prepare for major carnage. But
first he and his ninken must dodge the incoming attacks. Nozomi manages to
dodge her attack with her natural canine grace, though it temporarily leaves
Suzume open. Shinobu is seemingly ignored while the big guy goes toe-to-toe
with Taiki. Taiki manages to dodge the hammerfist to the head, but is caught by
the throw. He tries to land against the wall on all fours to absorb the shock,
but the throw was too hard, and he took damage despite his efforts. He growls
as he feels energy course through his body even has he pulls out a couple of
paper tags, preparing for his next move. In the meantime, both of his ninken
start to circle their respective opponents. The area is too small for
collaborative jutsu at this time, much to their dismay.
The water style criminal takes a pair of hard hits from Hikari's Earth
Spires, and then starts writhing on the ground, believing that he's covered in
hundreds of insects. Looks like he's out of the fight, at least for a while.
The Taijutsuist going after Suzume laughs as his kunai hits the girl, and he
crouches into a combat stance as he growls, "Alright girl, you're going to be
my new pet." He manages to roll out of the way as Suzume attacks him, and comes
back at her with a flurry of punches. Then he takes a step back and charges
straight at her, moving like a bullet as he attacks with a charging headbutt.
The giant man facing Taiki roars with laughter and charges the boy again, one
of his bowling ball sized fists coming straight at the Inuzuka with surprising
speed, and he follows it up by attempting to bite him.
Tashijou's attack hits Amiko square in the back, and the girl instantly
goes limp, dropping to the ground and no longer able to move. The best she can
manage is a slight moan. The Jounin-level missing-nin turns to watch the rest
of the fight unfolding, and when he sees Taiki going head-to-head with the
giant, he laughs. "It looks like there's a fighter among you yet," he says, and
reaches down to pull a kunai out of Amiko's weapon pouch - a kunai with a very
small seal on it. He throws the weapon towards Taiki, aiming for the wall just
next to the boy. Then he bends down and picks up Amiko's limp body, saying,
"Alright my princess, now that you've sprung my trap I get to take my prize.
Don't worry though, Daddy won't hurt you too much." And he starts walking down
into the depths of the cavern, quickly disappearing in the dim light.
Grinning menacingly as Hikari and his opponent falls to the ground, he
scans the area hoping to help his new team mates out. "Good job Hikari!" He
yells as he flashes through several hand seals. "It's time to split up." He
states as he looks towards his next target hoping for Hikari to catch on. They
had been in many battles together, and at this point he probably didn't need to
say anything since she knew his thought process, but he felt it was better safe
than sorry. Projecting an image of himself between Suzume and her attacker, the
behemoth of a man would mistake the phantom illusion of Madarobi as a real
person. The phantom would have so much substance that it is able to withstand
the full barrage of blows before it dissipates.
Going on the offensive, Madarobi would use his recent training to try
out his newly mastered technique. Whispering a few words under his breathe, he
would create a world in the mind of the opponent that he was in slow motion.
This would seemingly last for almost an hour. Not only would be completely
slowed and vulnerable, but he would also be put through a series of electric
shocks for the entire period of time.
Hikari and Madarobi's adversary being down for the count, for now at
least, Hikari's attention was drawn to Taiki and the giant man who had just
embedded Taiki into one of the walls of the cave and was continuing the
onslaught of attacks on Taiki and his companions. Squinting her eyes at the
colossal man, she thought to herself excitedly, "You're mine, big boy." Smiling
her big toothy grin, Hikari ran towards the man, placing herself strategically
in front of one of the few torches that lit the cave, creating just enough of a
shadow for her to use her shadow technique. Flashing through a few hand seals,
she called out, "Shadow Body Bind!" Her shadow which already reached half way
across the tunnel shot a few feet towards the man in front of her, hoping to
catch him in its grasp.
Suzume was knocked directly by the headbutt which more or less stunned
her temporarily until she fell flat out on the ground. Madarobi was able to
help defend against one of his techniques but the last was unluckly, instantly
causing Suzume to bleed out of her nose and rack her head so she could
determine where she was. "Ugh…I don't even know where I am anymore…" Suzume
moaned and growned as she clutched her head, more or less out for the count but
her chakra began to build up, attempting to seal up the hermoraging with
delicate incisions to release the tension and then infused with her own chakra,
she focused the chakra on one hand and more or less began to massage her
brain…
To put it bluntly, Taiki didn't even notice the thrown weapon. He paid
it no mind since it was going to miss him anyway. This was a classic blunder in
his case as he should have known better. He only remembered, too late, that the
criminal was an Uzumaki when he felt the activation of a seal behind him.
'Grub, its the Recluse all over again…' was all he had time to think before
the seal activated. Taiki and Shinobu tried to move, but it was too little too
late as the seal released its feild of shimmering blue chakra, enveloping
Taiki, Shinobu, and probably the guy they were fighting as well. The giant's
attacks, although weakened by the seal's effects, was enough to knock Taiki out
cold, sending him to the floor, twitching in agony. Shinobu manages to stay
conscious, as he was not hit, but he can't capitalize on the big man's dilemma.
Not so for Nozomi, however, as she goes fairly berserk at seeing her partner go
down and out. Due to her training, she pounces on the guy with a single tsuga,
the criminal temporarily forgotten in her efforts to protect her partners.
Unfortunately for her, the seal is still emitting its field, and when she
enters it, she only has time to land the hit before she too is rendered
immobile.
The man who was taken down by the Genjutsu, the first enemy to fall,
manages to climb back to his feet now that the illusion has ended. "Hey,
Tashijou left without us!" he calls to his mates as he starts running down the
tunnel. Along the way he forms several handseals and blows a gush of water at
the giant man, knocking him out of the seal's range and allowing him to get
back up, although slightly more injured than before. The third man follows the
first down the tunnel, disappearing into its dark hallways. The giant gets back
up to his feet with a groan and snarls at the Konoha-nin. "I'll eat your bones
next time we fight," he growls at them, and then takes off further into the
cave after his friends. The three of them escape the underground lair through a
secret passageway, and while they've left tracks which could be followed, they
split up and head in different directions.
A search of the hideout shows that its completely bare - twenty two
rooms of solid rock walls and absolutely nothing else. The whole base appears
to have been a fake, possibly just a trap to draw the ninja in. Well, there is
one more thing. In the room furthest towards the back the group comes upon a
corpse. Amiko, covered in seals, her life force completely drained from her
body. Her skin is pallid and grey, her recent death draining the colour from
her.
Standing near the lifeless Amiko, Madarobi kneels on one knee as the
group discovers the final room. Placing his palm over his face he contemplates
what he could have done differently to prevent this from happening. Several
years of training and missions had been enough to prepare him to handle any
situation he felt, but he was far from wrong. Instead of pushing forward he
stayed passive and tried to defend Suzume when she most likely would have been
ok. Trying to keep his cool in front of the group, he stands to his feet and
tries to keep his composure. He would for the first time, avoid any eye contact
with Hikari.
Falling to her knees after searching the rest of the hollowed out
tunnels, Hikari reached Amiko's lifeless body and fell to her knees up by her
head. Her heart felt as tho it was in her throat and her mind drifting away,
none of this seemed real. Thoughts running through her brain, "I had done so
well defending the man attacking me, why didn't I stop this from happening?"
Bowing her head for a few moments of silence for their fallen leader, Hikari
whispered out to Amiko like she was still able to hear her, "You were supposed
to train me to walk in heels…" Saddened by what she had hoped to been a new
friends sudden death, Hikari stood back up and walked over to Madarobi and
grabbed his arm lightly. Not being able to look up at anyone, for the tears
were now swelling up in her eyes.
Once everything was all said in done, Suzume could't help but to feel
disappointed as she had pushed forward to check out the situation. She did her
best to check to see if Amiko was truly alive or not but there wasn't a pulse
and there was nothing she was going to be able to do to revive Amiko from her
current state. "I'm…sorry I won't be able to help out anymore with this
situation…" Suzume explains with a heavy sigh, she leans and sits back along
the rocks beneath her, there was some tears streaming in her eyes as she
clenched her fists… Was this what failure felt like?
Shortly after the seal broke, Shinobu and Nozomi both tried to revive
Taiki. Finally after a few minutes, they had success, and he struggled to his
feet, slightly wobbly and cursing himself on the inside. Still, he now has a
team to lead, being a Jounin himself. "Okay, let's get moving. We may find her
yet." Thus the group moves into the rooms, which with each consecutive empty
room fills Taiki with more dread. If this guy ever joined the Recluse, Taiki
would not last long. This was a trap, pure and simple.
Then they find the final room, and Amiko's body. He just pauses,
watching the others as they go through their reactions. He closes his eyes and
clenches his fist before turning to Suzume. His voice is pretty much devoid of
emotion, though the normal hoarseness seems to be aggravated due to his
injuries. "As the ranking official member of Konogakure, I offer my condolences
for the loss of your clan-mate, Uzumaki Amiko, Uzumaki-san. As the student of
Uzumaki Tenken, I share your sorrow and pain. We will have to take her back to
Konohagakure, where her remains will be made available to your clan. I'm
sorry…" With this he walks over with Shinobu, who by silent agreement agrees
to carry the corpse once it is checked for final seal traps. If clear of those,
he will fasten Amiko's body to his oldest ninken's back and lead them all back
to Konoha. He won't break down here, he can't. As a leader, he must do what has
to be done…
-DEBRIEFING-
The body was returned to Konoha, and the preparations for the body to be sent
on to Uzushiogakure. However when the Uzushio police investigated the body,
they discovered an odd seal. Upon suppressing it, the body transformed into a
dead civilian from a nearby village… she'd died three days ago and the body
hadn't been found. It must be one incredible seal - it didn't simply make the
villager appear to be Amiko, it completely copied her existence right down to
the length of her hair and her scent. Authorities downgraded Amiko's status
from 'Killed in Action' to 'Missing in Action'.
The three ninja accompanying Tashijou have been identified. The big one
is known only as Cruncher, and is an A-rank Missing-nin from the Village Hidden
in Waterfalls. He has a propensity for chewing on the bones of his kills, hence
the name.
The water user has been identified as Hozuki Mayato, and wasn't
considered a criminal before these events. He is now wanted as a B-rank
Missing-nin.
The final one is Kotoba Shazin, a B-rank missing-nin from the Land of
Grass.
Upon returning to the underground lair, Uzushiogakure forces found
nothing. The lair had been collapsed, and even when they investigated the ruins
there was no sign of Amiko or Tashijou.
