Starring:
Date: March 22, 2016
Summary:
Team Tsugumi get hijacked to help with an interrogation, and wind up with something much bigger on their hands…
"A Big Blow Out"
Intel Division, Konohagakure
As the hour of a mission approaches, Suzu is still in the backyard of her house, struggling to shroud an apple in Chakra. Every time she starts to make progress, it just kind of stalls, or she takes two steps back for every step forward. As her frustration mounts, she becomes even slower to advance. She is in full ninja gear, with one hand held palm up, and a crisp red apply sitting on it. She is using her Sharingan this time, to help measure the Chakra she is using visually.
Reime has already completed her training, it seems like, and knows how to create the Fire Chakra Nature, though how good she is at it, Suzu doesn't know. All she knows is she is trying desperately to get this down before the time to leave. But it's already…!
She lets out, "Hooooooohhhh!!!" to help with her concentration, as she tries to draw the Chakra inwards, to engulf the piece of fruit, and only succeeds in making it rattle around violently before flying off. Darn it! Not again! CONTROL, not FORCE! When will she get this right!?
While Suzu works hard at getting through her apple exercises, Reime sits nearby, legs folded beneath herself and seemingly meditating. When Suzu starts to do her Hoooooh! thing, she opens her eyes and looks at her. "You can do it, Suzu-chan!" She cheers.
Tsugumi comes out into the back yard, already prepared for the mission. She sees Suzu is still working on her training, with Reime seated nearby. "Suzu, Reime, it's time to go. You'll have to work on this when we get back."
Then a male voice can be heard from inside the house.
"Ohh? Nani, nani? My cute little Suzu-chan is going on a mission!?" Uchiha Ken then comes into view, brushing his teeth and in his Konoha Police Force attire. "Maybe I'll come with!" he says after rinsing out his mouth with a glass of water.
Tsugumi turns to her husband and says, "That's not necessary, Ken. Don't you have an investigation to perform or something?"
Ken flinches back, mock-hurt on his face as he says, "So cold, Tsu-chan! Besides, I was hoping to recruit you for that investigation. We need help getting information out of a prisoner, and out interrogators skilled with Genjutsu are busy right now on other jobs. He's proving tough to crack as a result."
Tsugumi sighs and says, "We already have a mission to perform, and don't call me Tsu-chan in front of the children right now."
Ken wave-waves the protest away, and says, "Now, now, Tsutsu, it's fine, the girls can come with. They'll get to see a beautiful kunoichi like you doing what she does best!"
"Don't call me Tsutsu, either!"
Making a kissy-face, Ken asks, "How about it, Tsutsu-chaaan~?"
An anger vein twitching on the side of her forehead, Tsugumi clenches her eyes shut and then says, "Fine! We'll help you out quickly, and then return to our own mission!"
Ken wiggles with his hans folded together on one side of his face. "Kyaaaahn~! My lovely Tsugumi-chama is going to team up with me for my work! I'll let them know that we're coming!"
Tsugumi grinds her teeth and mutters, "Air-headed busy body…" as she stomps over to Reime and Suzu.
Ken overhears her and his head tilts to the size as his eye glasses droop on his face, and tears stream down his cheeks. "What happened to our passionate marriage? My wife has become so cold!"
A little while later, Suzu, Reime, Tsugumi, and Ken, are at the Intel Division, heading for a chamber reserved for interrogations. The hallways are surprisingly quiet and empty.
Suzu goes to retrieve the apple, sighing a bit, but re-encouraged by Reime's cheering. Then her mom arrives and says it's time to go. "B-but, I think I almost have it…!" Then dad happens. Before she knows it, the kunoichi have all been hijacked for an interrogation. If that's what's happening, then why are Suzu and Reime coming with? They aren't interrogators! When they arrive at the building, she turns to Reime and says, "Mother is really good with Genjutsu, so probably it's only going to take a few moments, and then we'll be on our way. It's probably faster to just have us come with!"
Reime might be less thinking about that, and more realizing where the goofier side of Suzu comes from. Her dad is kind of silly and light-hearted, isn't he? Though there's also the matter of… Where IS everyone? Hm.
Reime had never met Suzu's father before, so Ken was a bit of a surprise. Most of the Uchiha she had met had been fairly straight-laced about most things and then there is goofy Ken. She just shrugs and hops to her feet. "We'll get you and your stuff figured out later, Suzu. I'll help you." She smiles reassuringly at her friend and makes ready to depart. Reime has no idea where they are going or why they might be assisting, except in the case of Tsugumi, since they were mere genin and not really made for this sort of thing.
"So you're one of Suzu-chan's friends, huh? Nice to meet you!" Ken says to Reime as he holds a hand for the Hyuuga to take. He continues making small talk with the two girls the whole way to the chamber, but his eyes are sharp and alert.
Tsugumi too is looking around as they walk deserted hall after deserted hall, with a chuunin and two genin in tow. Her eyes scan left and then right, not seeing anyone… She's starting to get very tense, and her husband is aware something is up too. If he was actually dumb, he wouldn't have made it as far as he has. Then suddenly, they see someone cleaning the floor up ahead.
"Oi! Where is everybody?" Ken calls out to the janitor.
"E-eh? Me?" the janitor asks as he points at himself, some toussel-haired boy with dark circles under his eyes.
Tsugumi asks sharply, "Do you see anyone else around here we could have been talking to?"
The janitor pauses as though to tlook around, but thinks better of it. "Ahh, well, I'm not really kept informed of that kind of thing, but I think there was some kind of meeting or something that was suddenly called…"
Ken props his hands on his hips with a pout, "Nani? Why wasn't I informed?"
The janitor bows apologetically, as though it were his fault, and says, "I'm sorry! I don't know! It just suddenly came over the intercom system!"
Tsugumi turns to look towards the room that was to be used for the interrogation. The door is partially open. It should be closed when not in use. And when it IS in use, for that matter. She storms towards the door, and tries to squeeze through quickly, but finds the door is jammed, and she can't get through with her proportions. Huffing and puffing, she peers inside while part-way wedged into the opening, and says, "Reime-chan, can you use your Byakugan to see if anyone is inside?"
Ken has a serious face on, his hands folded together over his belly. His glasses are opaque in the overhead lights here in the hallway, hiding his eyes from view. But his eyebrows are definitely down at an angle.
"Don't bother." he says. "I have a different job for her." He tilts his head forward, casting some shadow onto the lenses and revealing his Sharingan. "Reime-san, you're the smallest one here. Please try to slip through the doorway and tell me what you see." His voice is… Very serious. Calm, collected, but very no-nonsense. What is it that he sees in there?
Tsugumi squeezes back out to make room for Reime, still unsure why she can't force the door the rest of the way open. Maybe if she, Ken, and Suzu all work together they can pull it open while Reime determines the state of the interrogation room from within.
Suzu nods happily as Reime promises to help her later. That might be good! Hyuuga are supposed to be really skilled at Chakra control, after all, and Suzu is pretty sure Reime is amazing in many ways! Teaching might be one of them! Then the atmosphere starts to get a bit more tense, for reasons Suzu can't quite explain. There's the thing with the janitor, and a surprise meeting of some kind… "ALL of the Intel Division got called to a meeting…?" Suzu asks in confusion. Then… What about prisoners and such?
Then her mom and dad get SUPER SRS, and her mom can't fit through the door because she's even curvier than Suzu, and… And… WHAT'S going on here!?
"Anoo…" she starts, with upraised finger. But then Reime is being asked to go into the interrogation room, and Suzu is pretty sure she can't squeeze through either, so she just sets about helping her mom and dad, all three of them putting hands to the door and trying to pull it open.
"Ngggghhhhh!" Suzu lets out in effort as she plants her feet into the tiled floor and pullllllllllls!
Sometimes there are perks to being as small as Reime, and then there are times where it backfires. Like right now. Apparently seeing inside was not good enough, so she had to go inside. The young Hyuga looks back at Ken and furrows her brow. "So, uhm… do we at least know who is supposed to be inside in case they attack me or something? I'd like to know what I am getting into." She inquires while moving to take Tsugumi's place.
After waiting for an answer from Ken, whether she gets one or not, Reime moves inside, slipping in without much difficulty to find out exactly what waited for her on the other side of the door.
Ken works with Tsugumi and Suzu to pull on the door, as he answers Reime, "Just go quickly! See what's jamming the door!"
When Reime gets inside, she finds… Red stains. Red pools. With bodies lying in them. Konoha ninja, injured or dead, lying around. They bear the markings and wardrobe of the Interrogation Corps, and it looks like some kind of stone restraining mechanism at the center of the room is lying open. Inside, there's a slab of rock jutting up out of the floor and pressed up against the door frame in a way that prevents it from sliding open all the way. No wonder they're having trouble opening it!
There's also one more worrisome thing:
What looks like a tunnel of some kind, punched through the floor, and heading straight downwards under the building. The opening is a large, charred crater, and the smell of smoke is still in the air. From the look of things, the detonation came from underground, and the explosion may have injured or killed the shinobi on duty… And whoever was supposed to be in those restraints… Is likely now under the Village itself.
Suzu isn't exactly thrilled with the idea of one of her only girl friends and a team member going into a room that's potentially dangerous alone, now that Reime mentions that possibility. She says, "If you see anything weird, just call out! I'll try to come in with you too, okay, Reime!?"
…What's that smell in the air? Kind of smells like smoke…
She redoubles her efforts to pull open the door. "NGGGGHHHHHH! MAYBE WE SHOULD TRY BLASTING IT OPEN!?"
Reime is a little confused about the way that Ken is acting, but she pokes her head inside anyway. She lets out a little squeak of surprise when she sees what is in the room and then slips back out and nearly runs over Suzu. "Uhm… t-they are all dead… whoever was in there escaped!" She peers at Ken and then Tsugumi. "It looked like there was a hole in the floor. Someone went down below the ground."
Ken huffs a bit as their efforts to pull open the door fail. After getting Reime's report, about what he expected in terms of the lack of living people in there, he says, "There's a couple with life signs. Tsugumi, sound the alarm and call for a medic team. Everyone else, stand back!" Once everyone is standing back from the door, Ken forms a string of hand seals. Rat, Horse, Tiger, Rat, Dog, Tiger. Then he inhales and releases a stream of flames in the shape of a hand with a long, flexible 'arm' linking Ken's mouth to the 'hand'. It reaches through the opening once Reime has vacated it, feels around for the obstruction up against the door, and then swells into a huge flaming fist that comes slamming down and smashing the doors open in a flood of burning shrapnel and rock fragments.
While this is going on, Tsugumi is finding an intercom station and reporting the situation. As soon as the Fire Release jutsu is ended, Ken is dashing inside, finding the ones who still have life signs, and saying, "Reime, NOW I can use your eyes. How far can you see with your Byakugan? Can you see anyone underground? Gauge how far away they are? How many of them? Anything like that?" He opens up one man's uniform and uses a spool of wire from his ninja tool pouch as improvised sutures for a gaping wound. He's no medic, but he knows First Aid.
"Suzu, there's another over there, by the Sensor Net table. The thing with all the seals on it. See if they're still breathing."
Reime's report of what's inside makes Suzu panic a bit, but she tries to keep focused on the situation. She leaps back when told to make room, feeling the intense urge to check Reime for damage, as though she'd somehow taken injuries just by being in a place where so many people had just died. "A hole? Could it be…?" She looks to her dad as he performs his crazy-skilled Fire Jutsu, something that Suzu could probably never accomplish in a million years, and once she has shielded her eyes and Reime's as well by trying to guard them both with her back, she turns back and says, "Father, was the prisoner one of those bomber guys that we captured? If so, they might be using Earth Release to—"
But her dad is inside, performing emergency aid on an injured Leaf ninja. So she takes in a deep breath, reluctantly lets go of Reime, and dashes inside to do as she is instructed to. At first she doesn't understand the instructions, but as more detail is given, she finds the crescent-moon-shaped table and runs over behind it, where she finds a lady lying on her side. She looks banged up, and some blood is streaming from her head, but she appears to still be breathing.
She turns and calls out, "She's still alive and breathing!" So there are survivors after all… Two out of how many though? And how did no one hear an explosion!?
Reime is in a tiny bit of shock. She had been prepared for fighting enemies, but not seeing allies blown apart by bombs or whatever had happened, so when Ken asks about her Byakugan she hesitates. "Uhhmm… n-not very far. My byakugan isn't strong enough to really enhance my vision yet. I can only see a little way down and there is nothing in what I see." And then she is being shielded be Suzu to keep her safe from the blast, but she doesn't move from there. She stays. Reime doesn't know what else to do.
Well, seems like Reime's Byakugan won't be able to handle this, and she seems a bit too shaken up by the gruesome damage and injured or dead people lying around. Ken takes a breath and lets it out slowly as he crouches down next to the tunnel opening. He looks out into the hall with Reime, and tries to give her a confident smile. "Don't worry about it. We'll catch the ones responsible and get the injured to a doctor. You just stay back and…" He trails off as his eyes shift to the side, and then widen.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu! «Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!»" comes a voice they just heard recently, though it may not be immediately familiar. A huge blast of water comes roaring into the interrogation room, from the hallway, a swirling vortex of raging liquid that fills the entire area with sound and then fills the interrogation room with water that floods it quickly, and slams Ken up against the far wall.
He seems to slump up against the cracked stone barrier, knocked out or worse, before the waters start to recede. And who is the attacker, standing only a few feet away from Reime?
"Haaah… I wasn't expecting you to get inside so quickly…!" the janitor kid says. "I can't have you finding out too soon what's going on… Thankfully, with the Chuunin out of the way, I just have two brats to silence…!"
The haggard-looking janitor boy who is clearly not really a janitor turns towards Reime next, twisting the top of the handle off his mop, and drawing forth a long, gleaming knife from the hollowed-out pole. "And I'll start with you…!"
The room floods suddenly, washing Suzu away and spinning her around crazily. She inhales some of it, and starts coughing before getting slammed into a wall too. However, unlike her dad, she manages to take the impact feet first, turning herself so that she can use Chakra emission from her soles to retain her grip on the wall and not get thrown around too much. When the water starts to recede, still coughing, she looks over to her dad, who is slumped seemingly unconscious. She calls out, "D-dad! *COUGH* Wake u—*HACK COUGH*"
The revelation that the janitor is EVIL is pretty shocking, but even more so is the fact that Reime is in trouble. Suzu's Sharingan is active, and she is trying to launch a Great Fireball Technique or something at the broomsword guy, but she's coughing too much to produce the air she needs! If only her dad would wake up…!
For now, she turns, afraid but not willing to just cling to her father and hope he can act in time, when her friend is so clearly in danger! She gets up, and starts to charge through the gradually lowering water, using Chakra to gradually move up on top of it and walk on it. But she won't make it in time!
"Rei-me… Chan!" she coughs out as she draws a kunai and throws it at the bad guy as best she can. Maybe she can at least distract him enough for Reime to fight back!
Someone who can use a huge jutsu like that probably isn't weak!
Being outside of the interrogation room had its perks, clearly, as the technique the supposed janitor uses merely sends Reime flopping and rolling to the side as it washes into its primary target of the interrogation room. So, the Hyuga gets to her feet and looks at the janitor. She's not all there, yet, but having someone she can beat up has certainly focused her somewhat. "Don't worry, Suzu-chan, I am okay! But he won't be…"
As Reime activates her Byakugan, the janitor ninja just grins at her, though he's sweating and breathing a bit heavily. That jutsu must have taken a lot out of him. He raises his blade in preparation to strike, but then Suzu calls out and throw a kunai, and turns his head, just enough to spot the incoming blade and move the remainder of the broom into the path of it, to try to block it. The kunai punches all the way through one side and the tip sticks out of the other, splintering the wood. He frowns. That could have been really bad to get hit with.
He realizes he has taken his eyes off of both opponents, but decides to strike at the tiny Hyuuga before him and then deal with Suzu next. While the Uchiha can throw a mean kunai, he is still confident he can deal with two genin!
He slashes at Reime casually, not putting his all into it, because he assumes he doesn't need to. Also, possibly, because he's already tired and needs to conserve energy to actually escape!
The guy blocks the kunai, but it was only really meant as a distraction. Unable to breathe well enough to make a Fire Release, seeing the man raising his blade, and attacking Reime, she can only think of how outclassed she is, how afraid she is for her friend, how worried she is about her father, the injured people who were in that room when it suddenly became filled with water…!
And somehow, in that desperation, she reacts on reflex, projecting Chakra from her feet in a sudden BURST, that has her rushing her target and trying to shoulder ram him in the side. "Get him, Reime…!" she gets out.
She assumes her team mate has some kind of awesome Touch of Death jutsu or something. That's what Hyuuga do, right?
Reime blinks a couple of times as Suzu's kunai shatters the end of the janitor's broom. Well, it also snaps her out of her daze just in time to retaliate at the jerk that is trying to kill her! She ducks low, beneath his swing and then zoom! Reime speeds around him, twirling once and then firing a juuken series up his spine, or at least trying to. Then, without hesitating, she goes into a juuken dance, throwing tap after tap at him until he'd be reeling in pain. At least, if he didn't outclass her like Suzu feared!
Janitor guy dodges backwards as Suzu charges him, seeing how Reime ducked under his blade. This guys is clearly no joke, even if he hasn't exactly hit either of them so far. When Reime darts behind him, he grunts and leaps up into the air to dodge, and when her flurry of rapid stikes comes his way, he plants his feet on the hallway wall and launches himself off of it, barreling back into the interrogation room. He turns in mid-air, spinning around and around, and landing on the still-damp ground, as he skids towards the center of the room.
He tosses his shattered mop aside, and sheathes his knife in his obi, as he takes in a breath and lets it out slowly. He's an experienced shinobi. Whatever annoyance he was experiencing before is put on hold, his emotions deadened, as he looks straight ahead and forms just one hand seal. Tiger.
He releases a stream of water from his mouth that forms into an exact duplicate of himself. The Water Clone rises up and charges straight ahead, engaging the two kunoichi.
But then suddenly, the duplicate who charges forth with his blade gets cut down, and sloshes to the ground. The ninja looks surprised, not seeing who is responsible.
But Suzu and Reime do.
Tsugumi is standing there, completely drenched, her hair hanging down damply around her her face, a kunai in hand. "Reime, Suzu. You did well to stand up to him. However, when I give the word, run."
The enemy ninja is remaining calm despite his surprise. He draws his blade from his belt once more, spins it in his hand before grasping it upside-down, and then plung it into his own side. He winces, at the pain, blood streaming from the wound, as he refocuses his attention straight ahead. Tsugumi wavers into view.
"…I see the kids stalled me too long. You managed to get through the water barrier I set up. Well… The same jutsu that took down your comrade, will take down you as well!" He knows he doesn't have a lot of Chakra to waste anymore, especially on a jutsu of that caliber, but it was enough to take out the other Chuunin. So he starts forming the hand seals again, even as he bleeds out his side. Tiger, Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Ram, Boar, Ox, Horse, Monkey, Tiger, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Tiger, Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Bird.
And to his surprise, Tsugumi is making the same exact hand seals as him at almost the same time. Fan. Another Sharingan user, just like the child…! But it's too late. He prepares to unleash another use torrent of water, his Chakra dropping rapidly as he expends it. If he can break through the wall behind the three kunoichi, maybe he can still make an escape!
Then Tsugumi yells out, "NOW!" Instead of trying to release the same jutsu as her enemy, she just tries to leap aside! Can the other two do the same!?
Suzu charges the guy but goes right past him when he dodges backwards, winding up just ramming the wall and cracking it. Her shoulder is going to be bruised. But maybe she bought time for Reime to act…! When she turns around, wincing, she finds that Reime's attacks were avoided, and the nimble jerk-nin has leapt all the way back into the interrogation room, where he makes a Water Clone. It's just like Arashi's jutsu…!
Suzu seems to be prepared to make a Fire Clone to try to get them some reinforcements, but then her mom zips into view and slashes the enemy clone in half. "M—" she starts, but it seems the older ninja has instructions for them. Suzu shuts up and listens. Then she waits for the right moment, glancing towards Reime worriedly, and then back ahead again. This guy is really strong…!
Her mom's amazing copying movements are interrupted as the huge wave of water comes right at them, and Tsugumi gives the word!
She turns and runs, just as she was told to, using her Sharingan to predict the path of the water and avoid it! But given the volume of water, if it floods the hallway can they outrun it…!?
Reime is impressed at the way the jerk-nin moves out of her reach. But, it doesn't do her any good to be impressed at the enemy, so she gets ready to attack again, but he dodges back and moves into the interrogation room and then comes at them with a water clone. Thankfully, Tsugumi is there to save the day!
So, Reime is wondering what is going to happen. When they are supposed to run, where do they run? She gets only a moment or two to actually think about that before the time comes, then the Hyuga is throwing herself to the side and into another room which gets her out of the way of the water rushing through the hallway. "Whew!"
Tsugumi, Suzu, and Reime all run down the hall and duck into one of the rooms, as water comes rushing after them. Tsugumi slams the door shut and tries to brace it with her body alone, but she isn't the strongest, and water starts to force it open.
Just then, however, the water filling the false tunnel behind the enemy ninja erupts upwards, as a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes surges upwards. In the middle of releasing a huge stream of water that is smashing through the building wall and out into the street beyond, the invader can only turn his eyes to try to see what's back there…
As the Ken that is slumped unconscious against the wall vanishes in a puff of smoke, and Uchiha Ken finishes his hand seals, inhales deeply, his torso expanding enormously, and then he breathes out a HUGE sphere of flames that streaks forward like a comet, carrying the enemy out of the building and into the air, turning water on the ground into steam, and leaving exposed metal in the broken walls white hot.
Ken comes running out into the hallway and calls out, "SUZU! REIME! TSUGUMI! Are you all okay!?"
The water level is decreasing rapidly down to nothing as the jutsu caster is rendered either unconscious or dead. Just then, a medical team comes running down the hallway, along with a whole lot of other people who are responding to all the noise.
"Wh—What happened here!?" someone asks as he looks around at all the destruction.
It's going to take awhile to explain… But once they retrieve the body of the intruder, they'll likely discover that the prisoner that was originally supposed to be in the interrogation room is gone.
Suzu is still pretty frazzled by all of what just happened. She tries to help her mom hold the door closed, until the water stops forcing it open. And she doesn't relax until she hears her father's voice. Then she lets out a shuddering breath, and turns to check on Reime, panting for breath and shaking all over as the adrenaline rush starts to fade. "W-well… Who knew interrogations were so exciting, huh…? Hehe… He…"
Reime is just sort of sitting there on the ground, dazed and confused. She had bonked her head mid-dodge into the room and after a few more minutes she tips over and goes splat. "Owie…"
