Starring:
Naoki, Mizuru, Kizuken, Yaezaki
Date: January 12, 2012
Summary:
A mission to escort an actress named Ichinose whose been targeted by shinobi since her arrival in the Land of Fire. The main purpose of this mission is to show the character of each individual and establish growth and understanding.
"A Team's True Strength"
Village Entrance, Forest Path, then finally Fire Ferry Docks.
There was a wealthy visitor in the village today by the name of Ichinose Namu who is a famous actress adored by many. She was born in the Land of Fire but her work took her everywhere. Recently though there have been several assassination attempts on her since she's arrived in the Land of Fire. Her manager, fearing for her, decided to hire shinobi to escort her to the docks. The mission had the potential of developing into a Crank class mission or above even. Naoki, Mizuru, and Kizuken were selected for this mission under the command of Yaezaki. They were told to meet at the village gates around noon where Ichinose and her manager would be waiting.
Mizuru was prompt and arrived no later than noon. His medic talents were most likely the reason he'd been chosen for this mission. The young genin wasn't tense or feeling any pressure. He was actually quite reserved. He wanders up a duo, one male dressed in rather dark foreign and elegant clothing and the other shrouded in a cloak. Mizuru figured the latter to be Ichinose. "Osu. I'm Nagi Mizuru, one of the genin assigned to the mission. Pleasure to meet you both." He bows at the hip.
Having received the orders and a list of the genin who were to be under his leadership for this mission, Yaezaki slips up behind Mizuru quietly and offers the three a friendly smile. He bows to the woman formally and then smiles at Mizuru before addressing the woman. "I am Kaseiume Yaezaki, a Chuunin. I'll be leading this mission, ma'am. Don't worry. You'll be safe with us. The genin I have requested for this mission are well trained." He had ordered that everyone assemble here so now it was just waiting for the others to arrive.
Third to arrive is Senju Kizuken. His name preceded him. As in- the assumption of ability based on his family name preceded the fact he hadn't much to offer at the moment. He knew his team was on a mission, but maybe it was just his pessimism getting to him. He had not his books today over his face, nor in his cargo pocket. At this point though, he was interested in getting the experience, so that little nagging voice in the back of his mind was quelled at the moment.
When he sees the subject of their mission, Ichinose Namu, he approaches behind his teammate and momentary chuunin-sempai, and introduces himself, "Senju Kizuken," he states simply, expecting the usual 'Oh, a senju? I feel so much better!' and merely stands off to the side with his arms crossed over his torso.
Naoki would be the last to arrived since he just got dress when the messager bird came and dropped his summoning scroll. A slight sigh could be given as he smirked and pulled his hair back into a ponytail as he spoke softly to himself. "Some action at last." Picking up his weights one last time before shaking his head and putting them back down he would sigh and move out. Using a burst of speed in the same manner that the dash step is done as he moved on his way. Landing softly as he arrived leaving a dust trail behind him he would smile and wave to the others "blue-sama, Green-sama…you're both here" shifting towards Yae he would blow slightly and smile "It’s you from the other night weird that I would see you again so soon." Naoki bandages would be fresh and hidden under his cloth but today he would have more bandages this time on his hands and feet. "Hyuuga Naoki reporting in!" is stated with pride as he had his chest poked out.
The manager steps forward after all the shinobi are present and accounted for. "I am Kosaka Shoji." He bows his head to the four of them. The cloaked woman removes her hood revealing a beautiful pair of amber eyes and snow white hair. She smiles sweetly "So nice to meet all of you. I'm sorry to trouble you all like this. Really I don't know why anyone would want to harm me." She says looking a bit worried for the shinobi. Shoji moves over to her and pats her shoulder comforting her. "Relax. These are professionals. Elites. Why we even have members from the Senju and Hyuuga Clans. Quite a bit of prestige there. I'm sure everything will work out." The man assures. He looks back to the shinobi "Well then if there are no questions thoughts or comments, let's get going. We'll be traveling on foot. I've already sent out a caravan with a dummy to throw off our pursuers. Hopefully that buys us some time. Just to the docks and Ichinose-sama will be out of harm's way."
Mizuru turns around to see each of his teammates arrive. He was delighted having gotten to know each of them pretty well. He trusted them completely and couldn't ask for a better team. "Hey guys. Glad to be working with you all again. This is gonna be a cake walk." He chuckles. Mizuru looks to Kizuken and smiles hoping to reassure the young man. He looks back to Shoji and Ichinose as the speak. Mizuru shakes his head "This is what we do. Don't worry about us. We'll guard you with our lives. My teammates are quite capable."
Yaezaki had anticipated each person's talents, but he had not anticipated Naoki's bandages…. He hides a small frown but keeps any comments to himself. "Alright now that we're all here, Naoki-kun i would like your eyes up front." He's also not talking about the other night in front of their 'guests'…. "Kizuken-kun, I would like you to watch our backs." An important position, and entrusted to Kizuken. He remembered that the boy had done well in this position before on that ill-fated mission with the bear… "And Mizuru-kun at center. I will be…." He forms the appropriate hand signs quickly and transforms… into an exact replica of Namu. "Walking upfront by my manager." He…she… walks up to the real Namu and offers a smile. "Please remain at the center of our formation, my lady. Please replace your hood."
Kizuken looks down and away, forehead turning blue with gridline pattern and eyes disappearing under a shadow as he mutters just a bit, and takes up his position in the back of the caravan. And, once more, he would be darting around, hitting all the smart points of interest with stun seals. If anyone tripped one of these, Kizu would at least know, and could alert anyone else of it's activation. And, he even removes his headband and shoves it in a pocket and even skips! Like a child of one of the people in the caravan! So now, anyone trying to get at them might even think they only have three shinobi with them. Sneaky kid. Anyone who looked at him without his forehead protector and ask him why he did that would get a big goofy grin and a wink with a boyish laugh.
Blushed slightly as he saw her soft eyes, "beautiful." is stated under his breath as he gathered himself once more he would clear the sweat from his eyes as he laughed for a moment and tighten his bandages once more. "Hey guys you can stop looking at me like I'm a mummy or something…these are special combat bandages alright." Naoki would tighten his headband around his around tighter and pull his hair back into a tighter ponytail as well as he moved to his spot. "Alright let's do this." Naoki touched his ninja pouch one last time to get a feel of how many ninja tools where left.
Shoji smiles at Mizuru and nods to Ichinose "Couldn't have said it better myself." When Yaezaki approaches and transforms Shoji and Ichinose gasp. "I see. Ingenious. Quick Ichinose-sama, give him your hood." Ichinose nods and removes her hood giving it to Yaezaki so that his henge could be complete. Their eyes then go to Kizuken and a sweatdrop is given at the boy's bizarre behavior. They didn't lose hope in the team but given that Kizuken was a Senju, they were expecting something different. "Fabulous. These Shinobi really know their stuff alright let's go. The sooner we get there the less time we give our enemy to strike." With that they would progress in the formation Yaezaki suggested. Ichinose does smile towards Naoki for his earlier comment. She hoped Yaezaki's idea would endanger him though.
Mizuru nods at Yaezaki's henge "Great idea Zaki-san." He looks to Kizuken as he removes his head band and kind of deadpans as the boy starts skipping. His capture barrier seal was rather impressive. Mizuru figured his plan was to mislead the enemy as to the number of Shinobi on the guard. Mizuru takes up the position given, figuring he'd be responsible for guarding the real Ichinose Namu. Naoki's comment about being a mummy makes Mizuru roll his eyes. "Come on Naoki, let's get going already." When Shoji gives the signal Mizuru is ready to go.
Yaezaki was quite proud of Kizuken's little show and sent him a sweet smile and a wink, still in the persona of Ichinose. He thinks to himself that that boy was quite smart for a genin and handy to have in back. Those seals would hopefully stop an attack from behind from catching them off guard. Naoki's Hyuuga eyes would, hopefully, alert them to anyone coming at them front he front, and if anyone was hurt, Mizuru was there in a supporting position. He'd said to him the other day that he would ask for him on a mission. He'd made good on that promise. The only flaw with his formation thus far, Yaezaki thought to himself, was that he couldn't watch everyone's backs from a frontal position. He felt quite responsible for these Genin as well as the customers and he was not comfortable with the idea that he wouldn't be able to respond with protective jutsu should they be attacked…h e was a decoy after all, and a decoy couldn't use ninjutsu loosely. He accepts the hood and places it over his — her — white hair-ed head… This transformation wasn't too hard of a stretch from his usual appearance evidently. Then he set off beside the manager, eyes flicking back and forth he tries to keep up the soft, kind official persona that Ichinose had become famous for. Thus his attention would be diverted between his henge and keeping a casual conversation with the manager….
As Kizu got some odd looks and one approving wink… from… wait… which one was Yaezaki and which was the real Ichinose…. uh h… He couldn't help but just wave stupidly like the little boy he was portraying at the moment. More skipping around, singing some song that was for little kids, and not acting at all like a ninja at the moment. But rest assured, he knew exactly wht he was doing… and it felt SO much like slacking off. It was tearing him up inside. But, it was for the mission! So, on he skipped, and sang, and kept his eyes out for strangers! He would help the official business of the three- No, TWO ninja with the caravan! He would be such a BIIIIG helper!
Naoki would have his hands in his pocket as he walked and thinking the mission over a bit he would sigh as he flicked his nose, every once and a while he would pour his chakra into his eyes to scan a head to make sure everything was alright so far so good the young man thought. (I'm just like every other Hyuuga out there…I need something that makes me special…something that helps me to stand out." nodding his head he would yawn as he walked once more he coule feel the breeze as he blew his dark brown hair around.
Their trip progressed rather smoothly. Not traps or enemies showed up. They in fact were a little over halfway to the docks. They had just come out the thick of the forest and reached some plains. About 200 meters ahead though there would be tree line leading into a rather deep and dark forest. As the manager converses with Yaezaki, who's playing the role of Ichinose at the moment, the real Ichinose would be snickering at Kizu's act. She was a professional actress so she knew a good act when she saw one. She chatted a bit with Mizuru along the way asking him about the personalities of his teammates. She seemed rather amused with all of them. Her guard was definitely down and she was lax.
Mizuru speaks up to Ichinose "Excuse me but please try to look alert or something. We don't want you giving yourself away." He comments. He glances at Kizuken then Naoki. He knows that it's been smoothing sailings so far but he wouldn't let his guard down for a second and didn't expect either of them to either. With Yaezaki playing decoy they had to depend on their skills and trusts in each other. -I'm counting on you two-
Yaezaki — as Ichinose — can't help but chuckle at the silly wave he gets from Kizuken. This must be a little confusing from their perspective, after all. When Mizuru chides the woman a little he turns as he walks, missing the edge of the forest coming up and smiles at the woman… come to think of it that might be a little freaky for her… oh well. "I can see that your subordinates know what they are doing, Kaseiume-kun." He's giving her a bit of 'character motivation' to help her figure out how to act. He himself was finding this hard as hell, not being so alert…
Kizuken had intuition. Even in his 'drunk on childhood' state. He stops in his place at the back of the caravan, pointing at a tree accusatorially, "Look, it's an enemy!" He starts pointing at normal objects, "No, the bush!" Moving his little finger towards various things, stopping on a rock a little ways away, but moving on to something else a moment later, then back to the rock, "He's behind the rock! I'll get him, Ninja-hyuuga-sama with that special knife you gave to me~! Hyaaaa! Take -that-!" At the end of 'that', he flings the green kunai that Naoki had in fact gifted him at their first meeting. And at the back of such, was a rolled up tag. A capture barrier seal, which when it lands (in a 'bad throw' from the 'little kid helping the awesome ninjas!') next to the rock and missing it entirely, the paper unfurls, revealing the now flaring seal, shooting a barrier around the rock, but whether it holds or not, would soon be seen.
Naoki when activated Byakugan would sigh as he started to speak slightly "there are two men in the forest up about 400 meters away from our current position…one wealds chained scythe the other with a senbon launcher and a liquid at the tip assumed to be poise, waiting to ambush us." Naoki smirked as he was able to pinpoint their location once he got close enough he would dash upward and strike with the Eight Trigrams Thirty Two Palms. Sounds of grunting could be heard below that would only be followed by the man’s body falling to the ground defeated, as Naoki landed softly on his back. "Damn the other one got away sorry guys…as for this guy he's down for the count." Naoki would smile as he looked at the group and ahead again he would have his eyes flowing all around him as he searched for the other one to show up on his byakugan. Once he did he would smirk as he spoke "there!" is stated as he dashed forward once more and attack and again he was able to evade his strike as he landed back with the ground he would speak "tsk, missed again." Naoki would be breathing slightly heavy as he smirked again and this time would use to catch his breath.
Kizuken's attempt to trap the shinobi disguised as a simple rock failed. A behemoth of a man emerges from a cloud of smoke and shouts "They KNOW!" he charges for Ichinose, the fake one, and the ground trembles with each foot step. "Earth Release: Terra Bullet!" a chunk of earth comes up and surrounds the massive man as he charged for Ichinose. Kizuken and Mizuru would be the first to intercept the attack. Luckily for them it's powerful but slow. (15 to dodge 20 to block) Should they both dodge the attack will head for Yaezaki aka Ichinose Fake 2.0. Meanwhile Naoki had gotten the jump on two shinobi. Each strike connected but it turns out that no actual damage was done. They were dummies. The real shinobi emerge attacking from either side. Their target was Naoki. The chain scythe wielder through a tricky slash at the hyuuga, while the senbon launcher guy fired a speeding senbon. (20 and 21, good luck). Shoji got close to Ichinose, Yaezaki, out of fear but he was smart enough not to give away the identity of the real Ichinose.
Mizuru subtly knocks Ichinose, the real one off to the side before he defends from the attacking shinobi. "Heads up Shoji!" he calls out. The young genin dodges using chakra to fuel his actions. He looks back hoping that no one else was in the way of the attack. He noticed that the shinobi's back was open after the attack. "Kizu he's open from the back." He shouts. By the time Mizuru lands he won't be able to mount an attack so he depends on Kizuken.
Yaezaki jumps a little as the barrier flares, as though startled by the sudden movement. In reality his now golden eyes land on the rock sharply, looking for whatever it was that Kizuken had been trying to stop or attack or alert them all to. Naoki's announcement gets grit teeth from Yaezaki but he gasps and grabs hold of the manager's sleeve as a woman might do if scared, still in his act as Ichinose. He does, however, turn to Mizuru and Kizuken quickly while Naoki is attacking and speaks fast and low. "If something happens I want you guys to get her to the port. As fast as you can run. We're over half way there. I'll cover you from behind, just get her to safety. Get all of you to safety." He had experienced losing a target once. He had no intention of losing a comrade let alone one under his command as well.
The large man yelling that they know and then the Terra Bullet catch Yaezaki's attention instantly. Using his grip on Shoji's sleeve he, as Ichinose, lets out a cry of alarm and, seeing as Mizuru had gotten the real Ichinose out of the way, He uses his momentum to not only dodge the bullet, but to push Shoji out of the way as well, directing his fall toward the real Ichinose, and hoping to all the gods that Mizuru and Kizuken had gotten the orders…..
At the time Mizuru would give Kizuken the go-ahead to attack the vey large shinobi from behind, he does. Darn those rocks! Kizuken would trip and fall right at the feet of the big guy, and laying right between his feet wherever he was, grumbling and groaning. "Yep… senju clan… Clan of a thousand failures… I got nine hundred of them covered…" he says into the dirt.
Both of the attacks would hit him as he sighed he would smirk as well, Naoki would fall down onto his knees and then the rest of the way and lay there for a moment as the two turned shifted to look towards the fake and the manager Naoki struck, "Did you think you won?" Naoki would start to build some chakra into this arms and legs as he dashed forward and attack the senbon launcher guy twice as he smirked he would flip and land softly on the tip toes and use the springs in the upper foot to push him forward into his last Juuken strike. Naoki eyes would be taking in every as he moved in front of the manager and the fake Ichinose as well, arms would be in the Juuken stance as well as a slight dust cloud from his using pure speed to get in front of them so fast he his body would start to get use to the strain of moving with such speed. "Rest easy guys, Naoki is here." Naoki would have a tenser look in his eye before could it be poison flowing through his tiny frame?
Kizuken's blunder was about to cost him dearly. "What? I missed?" the large shinobi said. He looks to Ichinose, both the fake and the real one and starts to turn their direction. However Kizu had fallen right between them. The man blinks looking at the kid before smiling. He sees the kunai in his hand "So another shinobi. Ahhh….pointless." He raises his massive foot then brings it down on Kizuken. The massive shinobi then finds a kunai coming his way. He looks to it and deflects it. Tracing the flight path back to Mizuru the man grins "You want some too shrimp?" Meanwhile Naoki was having a bit of luck with two shinobi, well after that is he suffered two wounds. They laugh in unison and move in for the kill until Naoki goes on the offensive. The senbon launcher guy is able to avoid the juuken strikes but the chain scythe wielder is hit with one of the juuken strikes and retreats back a bit to recover. When Naoki heads over to cover Ichinose, the fake, and the manager a needle small and discreet is launched at the real Ichinose, who's not too far from the fake anyway.
Mizuru saw Kizuken's blunder and immediate retaliates to defend his comrade. Though his attack failed he was relieved to see that it did forestall Kizuken getting stepped on. He glances to the real Ichinose and figures she's safe since Yae and Naoki are near her. The situation wasn't looking good, it seems they might have to follow Yaezaki's orders and leave letting the chuunin leader back them up. But Mizuru was against' leaving a comrade behind. He observes the large shinobi and hums softly. He dashes forward and tosses a few shuriken at the man. With the shuriken keeping his eyes busy Mizuru attacked with a descending axe kick right on the dead center of the man's head.
Out of nowhere comes a senbon, aimed for the real Ichinose. Yaezaki acts quickly and without thinking. He simply thrusts his arm out to shield her and the needle sinks into his arm… "R..run!" He says to her, hoping his Genin will obey his previous orders to get her out of danger. To get themselves out of danger. He slowly starts to realize his mistake, however… As the world starts to fade and blur. He hadn't considered poison… Damn. It doesn't take long for him to pass out either, unable to issue further orders /or/ defend from behind. The henge evaporates, but since his hair was silver-white to begin with and since he's wearing that hood, there's not a whole lot of change in his form as he lays there out cold.
Kizu looks up at the foot, attempting to roll out of the way as a foot never comes down at him. Then, in a moment, he reaches to slap a single tag onto the leg of the large guy after Mizuru's shuriken whiz past. "Mizuru, get on sempai! Fix him if you can, if not, help Naoki-san!" I'll deal with the big guy? Crap, what am I saying!?”
Kizu then stands, looking to see how his attack went on the seal. If it hit, he would go for the jugular. If not, still for the jugular! Go for the kill! Quick!
Naoki would watch for the moment as the senbon guy would eye him as he sighed and cracked his neck he would be speaking with Zuru "hey take care of sensei." is stated as he narrowed his eyes as he started to focus more onto the technique side of things, and for the moment he would use his eyes to break down the other two. (it appears that the little one is waiting for the other to recover so while he's distracted I will end this little game.) Naoki would move forward and strike with the eight trigram 32 palms and if he had time and energy he would strike the big guy as well before he had the chance to turn and face him.
The behemoth tanks both of Mizuru's attacks. Naoki would be able to see a layer of chakra over his skin. "Hehe pathetic." Before he could counter attack though he found himself paralyzed. The chakra layer he'd been defending himself with was dropped and he was open. When Kizuken closed in with the kunai his eyes widen and as the blood sprays from his neck his eyes whiten before he falls to the ground dead. Meanwhile after the needle had hit Yaezaki a shadow would swoop out and take him before Mizuru could arrive at his side. As he moves for an escape he sees two of his comrades go down. Naoki had taken out the senbon launcher guy with his thirty two palms. He gave the chain scythe wielder time to recover and when he attacked him next he was able to avoid and retreat following behind whoever took Yaezaki, the fake Ichinose. They both escape thanks to a flash bomb dropped by the chain scythe wielder. When it clears the enemy is gone. There are two dead bodies and Yaezaki is in the hands off the enemy.
Mizuru moves to cover Ichinose and the manager. However when Yaezaki is taken the young medic has to catch himself from yelling out. When the flash clears Mizuru looks to Naoki and Kizuken. He can see that Naoki is injured. The young medic looks to the real Ichinose and Shoji "Are you two alright. It seems like they fell for the decoy however with Yaezaki unconscious they'll find out soon enough." He stands up helping Ichinose to a stand and then Shoji. "What should we do now guys?" Mizuru looks to his teammates "Yaezaki's orders were to head for the docks incase anything like this happened. Chances are though that he'll be killed once they find out he's a decoy."
With the body in front of him, something clicks. Kizuken has learned the price of obedience. An obedience to take the lady fair at a price. The price to defend such a lady. Two men dead to take a decoy. One shinobi lost to protect her. Kizuken looks up from standing literally on top of the body of the large man, and to Naoki, "With me-" and to Mizuru, "You, make sure everyone here is alright." In that moment, he looks at the single shadow trailing off with the body of his sempai. And off he goes. No forehead protector, no identity to prove himself in a moment of notice from any enemy he may be careening into which owns the arms so gently on which he lays down unwitting. A leap here, a dash there. He again questions his own motives and abilities as he follows the body of his mission leader, away from the mission he was given, from both the mission meaning and the one he now follows so adamantly, with or without aide from his fellow teammate.
Naoki just watched as his sempai was taken instead he would move over to the manager and then to the real one as he sigh for a moment he would use this time to think. Naoki would again watch as Kizu would dash off, "damn not this crap." He would shift and started to remove the bandages from his arms and legs as he spoke with Mizuru. "Hey Mizuru-san I was wearing these bandages because they had weight to them…but not seeing that our sempai and Green-sama are in danger that means I can't hold back anymore for the pure thrill of training." Naoki would then remover his headband for his arms placed it onto his forehand and tied it tight. "Hey get these two to the docks once done I need you to come about 800 meters or so in that direction…there are two of them and one I never seen and he is giving off some serious amount of chakra so be on your guard. Tapping his foot onto the ground as he smirked he would speak "alright Mizuru-san I'll be back before you even have to come and save our ass just keep your medical ninjutsu read please. Cause as of now Kizuken head is no longer in the game." Sighing he would jump into the trees using his dash step training to excel himself forward with speed.
The enemy shinobi arrive at a river with a waterfall flowing at the right. "Damnit. This one's a decoy." The shinobi who kidnapped Yaezaki has long black hair. His eyes are green. He has a katana at his side showing that he's proficient in kenjutsu. He looks to the chain scythe wielder "Yamato. We're down two men. This isn't looking good for us." He looks back to Yaezaki "Well at least he's not useless." The shinobi ties Yaezaki up. "Raiga, they're closing in. What do we do?" Raiga the long haired shinobi smiles and draws his katana bracing it along Yaezaki's neck. He takes the young man by his hair and waits for Naoki and Kizuken to emerge. "We know you're out there. Come out or you'll lose your friend here." He laughs. "We're willing to make a trade, you know what we want. Give us the real Ichinose or this guy is gonna lose his head in the excitement." Around this time Yaezaki would be waking up from the tranquilizer. Meanwhile with Mizuru Ichinose was in tears and Shoji was holding her. Mizuru had taken care of her wounds. "This is not the way things should've turned out. But at least Ichinose-sama is safe. We need to go now we can make it if we hurry." Shoji stands trying to pull Ichinose to her feet. She shakes her head. "No!" she remains seated. "That man put himself in danger for me. I won't let anyone die in my place. II won't. I can't. Mizuru-kun please."
Mizuru doesn't have time to speak with Naoki or Kizuken before they take off hastily. He sighs and looks to Ichinose and Shoji. He kneels down and smiles patting Ichinose on the shoulder "You're a kind woman. Don't worry I don't plan on letting anyone die." He looks in the direction that Naoki and Kizuken took off in. "I don't abandon my teammates. I trust them so they should be able to trust me." Mizuru flashes through some handsigns and makes a clone of Ichinose. "So here's what we're gonna do." He grins. The scene would flash back to the dilemma at the waterfall.
Adrenaline helps bring Yaezaki out of his stupor… and into one hell of a bad situation. He groans softly, his head pounding as he tries to make sense of what's going on around him. When he hears the threat, the demand for a trade, and feels the blade at his throat, his arms bound and useless, he sets his jaw and does the only thing he can imagine might scare his subordinates into submission: he gets angry. "I told you to take care of the mission!" he's currently speaking to nothingness, just taking his captors word for it that someone's out there and is trying to make his voice as hard as he can…. "I gave you orders!"
As Kizuken would follow, he clambers in his head on what to do. They demand the real Ichihose. So he'll give it to them. He saw enough of her demeanor in the time they had spent on the mission as far as her real demeanor and the 'suggested' placement of her feelings (in the back of her mind with the fore fronted deliberate propriety), and makes a handseal outside of the visual perception of the enemy, he makes a single handseal for a henge technique, and in the guise of the lady of the mission, he transforms himself into her without her hood, and just a bit of raggedness that would suggest long travel and a recent combat situation conferring her protection (and a bit of rough hiding in case of her revealed identity). "Yes, I am here-" Kizuken states in as best of her voice he can muster in a whisper (easiest to negotiate a proper reproduction of voice), "-and I properly assumed you would request such a trade. It was only for my own safety, but I -cannot- dare see another die in my place." And Kizuken in Ichihose's form steps forward out of the brush, closer and ever nearer to Kizuken's dreadful fate…
Naoki would notice the change in both Mizuru and Kizu as he sighed and shook his head "those idiot." is stated to himself as he moved thought the forest as he dart out into clear he would land in front of the fake again. "Sorry as a leaf shinobi I have no intention of negotiating with the likes of you…but there's what you can do, I will give you this moment to escape with your lives and pretend that none of this even happy but I will not however allow you to kill my sensei and just walk free." Naoki eyes where intense as he stood there his chakra would be spinning around his hands as he his breathing became calm and under control. "Chose your fate now," is stated in a rather firm tone then normal and it was clear that he was starting to before very pissed about the topic.
The shinobi laughs at Naoki and Kizuken, or the now fake Ichinose. He looks to Yaezaki "You should've listened to your sensei. Don't get things twisted kid. We have the complete advantage and if you want to push your luck well then you'll pay for it." He presses the blade harder against Yaezaki's neck and draws blood from the boy. "Oh and don't make me nervous spitfire (Naoki) My hand might slip." He looks to the chain guy and motions him. "See we're not gonna fall for the same trick twice. You're the only one that followed? Really? I don't see that little brat with the seals or the other kid. You caught up pretty quick too. Didn't think the famous Ichinose Namu could move as swiftly as a trained killer. So if you expect us to believe that's the true Ichinose well then." The man takes out a needle. "This is the same needled we used to capture your friend here. Once unconscious the henge jutsu is dispersed." He tosses the needle to Yamato, the chain guy, and the man knows what to do with it. "If you attempt to avoid it at all then we'll know it's a fake and we'll kill him instantly. If it hits and the woman still looks the same then we'll gladly make the trade." He grins wide "Fair enough right? Hehe you brats are playing shinobi. We're the real deal." He gives Yamato the ok and the man tosses the needle at Kizuken, or the fake Ichinose. (20 to defend) They were well prepared for whatever it was that Naoki and Kizuken were planning. Whether the needle hit or miss from the forest emerged three Ichinose. "Wait a second. You want the real Ichinose then here she is." Each of them wore a grin and each of them looked identical. They all look towards the man and charge at him and Yaezaki screaming at the top of their lungs "NAOKI YOU'RE UP" from each of their hands a kunai "What the hell is this?"
The manager emerges next behind Naoki and whispers to him. "The real Ichinose is among those three. The other kid will be providing an opening, he said you'd know what to do when he gave the signal." Sure enough the signal was given. If Naoki observed the kunai he'd see that one of them is blue. The very same kunai he gave to Mizuru in fact. His byakugan could see that two of the Ichinose were clones and the third one was the real deal holding the blue kunai. From behind the two fake Ichinose was a shuriken hurled towards Raiga. They'd force the man to move and in that moment Naoki and Kizuken would be given their window of opportunity. The real Ichinose was putting her life on the line to free Yaezaki. All that determined the success now was how swiftly Naoki and Kizuken acted.
Yaezaki hisses and pulls his head back as blood is drawn at his neck. These guys weren't kidding….. And can't be trusted to keep their words. "Get her out of here! NOW!" He's twisting his wrists, trying to get some kind of give from the ropes… "YOU get out of here!" He lowers his voice just a touch and says something to the man holding him which only he can hear.
From what I understand I'm worth something alive to Kirigakure, Maybe your mission and theirs doesn’t have to be a complete failure
Kizuken would lean ever so slightly out of the way. It took a lot of nerves and a very edgy twitch of the muscles to get out of the way of that senbon. Whelp, the gig is up. Kizuken would lose the henge form no matter what. But it would be on the way from where he was in guise of Ichihose, and on the way to where they had his sempai on the ground, bleeding from the neck where a blade was pressed. Against orders, Kizuken would reach out in his dash and final leap to the blade, grabbing it in both hands, hissing at the cut into both of his palms as he grabbed it and yanked it from Yaezaki's neck. A trickle of blood visibly ebbs from Kizu's hands, looking up at whoever held the blade, "True ninja don't compromise, THEY ACT!!" He would scream, trying to buy someone time to attack, stun, slap… something before he was identified as the legitimate sitting duck with his hands wrapped around a sword.
Eyes would close slowly as he took time to notice any/every thing going on around him as he slowly open then he spoke. "This is just like the exam…hmph and just like in the exam the life of the civilian comes first…however seeing it happen for the first time in person my view is slightly different…I don't want anyone to die for anyone else!" Naoki chakra would be sent directly into his arms as with tear filled eyes took off straight for Raiga. "EIGHT TRIGRAMS THIRTY TWO PALMS!" Naoki would push himself forward right into the chest of Ragai as he lashed out and struck him not even caring about the man behind him.
Raiga is hesitant. He doesn't know what to do confronted with three attacking Ichinose's. "Raiga move I'm gonna attack them all!" Raiga's voice flares out against him "No you idiot! We need her alive!" as he is distracted with that Kizuken's foolish yet courageous act catches him off guard. His Katana was seized. He looks to his side and sees the Ichinose still charging. The shuriken go right threw the clones and they disperse in a cloud of smoke. Raiga didn't see them coming. He leaped back to avoid them but ditched his katana in the process. "Damnit little bastards." He looks back to shout to Yamato but Naoki is there for him. The 32 palms connects and his devastating. His chakra was sapped with each strike and he was on empty in moments. The final strike sends him flying back into the river and with a thundering splash he is defeated. The real Ichinose made it through and set Yaezaki free. "I'm so glad you're ok Yaezaki-kun." she admits tearing at the eyes a bit. Shoji shouts "HELL YEAH!" excited that things worked out. Mizuru appears next to them smiling. "Told ya. My teammates are more than capable. I have the utmost faith in them. That's why it worked. I knew they wouldn’t attack knowing the real Ichinose was among them. They wanted her alive that’s why they used sedatives.” He stated. Yamato being the only one left realized he was out numbered and fled the scene quickly. The danger has passed. Kizuken seems to have passed out in all the excitement though. Mizuru wasn't worried though with Yaezaki right there with him. He moves out along with Shoji "Everyone alright?" he asks. He looks to Naoki and gives him a thumb up. "Nice job Red." Mizuru moves over to Yaezaki and heals his injury. "Sorry Yaezaki-sempai. We deliberately disobeyed. I'll take full responsibility for my actions." He smiles wide. Ichinose giggles at it all and sighs. "I so happy it all worked out."
From then on it was an easy trip. Mizuru took care of any injuries and scrapes. Yaezaki carried Kizuken on his back until he came to. When they arrive at the docks there’s a bit of sadness in the air. Such a trip had made them bond so intensely. They wouldn’t forget Ichinose and she wouldn’t forget them. As a token of her appreciation, which she didn’t feel was a enough for what the team did for her, she gave them each an autographed photo of her. “I can never thank you all enough. Naoki-kun, Mizuru-kun, Kizuken-kun and Yaezaki-kun, thank you really.” She bows deeply to them all. “I hope we meet again, under more casual circumstances of course.” With the goodbyes said Ichinose boarded her ship. Shoji and her wave as they leave the docks. As they disappear over the horizon the team would experience a mission success.
