Starring:
Date: Unknown (log received February 15, 2011)
Summary:
Angry Sekisetsu is angry, injured, and only wanting to be left alone. Nice Touma is trying to be nice, seeing the girl hobble along. Let’s see what happens when Seven Swordswomen Yuri decides to get involved after only arriving a few minutes earlier.
"Burn Up!!"
Outside Kirigakure [Land of Water]
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Towering here is a large stone gate which is closed most of the time, large iron chains are connected to both the inside and outside of the doors. These chains loop up then behind a stone wall which extends as far as the eye can see to the east and west. A perpetual mist seems to linger in the air here, dampening everything that passes through slightly and obscuring vision. The way to the north leads directly into the village and the way south leads back towards the docks and fish market.
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
With the way her days were going lately, Sekisetsu probably been more obedient to her uncle about staying home. After all, the injuries from Kaguya Tsun's rampage, as well as the mental trauma that went along with it, hadn't healed completely. Even now, Seki's manner seemed that of an injured lion, angry, yet paranoid of its own life. Perhaps Niyami needed to understand that a cooped up Seki, was a dangerous one. That lesson was not to be learned to day however. Instead, the girl took it on her own accord, to enjoy a sunny day outside the gates!! Well… at least as sunny as it could get in a misty coastal village like the Hidden Mist, for not as much light was being blocked today.
She limped along with a crutch under each arm, tending to scowl at anyone who gave her a look, sympathetic or not. She was pissed, and even though the Tailed Demon in Tsun had been her enemy, as powerful as the Jinchuriki was, the small girl felt defeated. Even while in the midst of a Jounin, and a Chuunin, who also could not defeat such an entity, the Kurenko's pride, was broken. It wasn't to show in sadness or seclusion this day. All that was hoped for was that Sekisetsu /not/ be provoked. Otherwise, bad leg or not… someone was going to get hurt.
Having arrived in Kirigakure a few days prior and only really spoken with one Kirigakure resident, Touma had set aside today to go out and make some new acquaintances. Making sure Yuuka was busy before heading out on his own, Touma had left the hotel he was in early in the day to leave as much time as possible for potential interactions. Catching breakfast from a stall nearby, Touma headed out to explore.
With a jacket to combat the chilly seasonal air and his token sunglasses covering his eyes, the traveler moved from fishing village to town, and eventually found himself back on the road to Kirigakure, the village he had yet to enter. Looking up ahead along the path with people coming and going, Touma spots a young woman on crutches and frowns. Not sensing her mood, the young wanderer offers her a hand. "Need some help getting somewhere? No sense in limping around when you have faster transportation, right?"
She was away for awhile. 'Missions in foreign lands'. 'High-adventure'. 'Protecting national interests'. All of that. But Suzaku Yuri is back now. She is making her way up the path towards the Village Gates. She has around, alongside, and behind her, a procession of Chuunin that may not have been seen in months. There is only one Jounin aside from herself. They are all a bit weather-beaten, less than clean, and perhaps even a bit weary. But they are in good-spirits. Whatever mission that required the intervention of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, a half-dozen experienced Chuunin, and a Jounin, apparently went well.
Yuri sees some people up ahead, but that's hardly surprising. This is a Hidden Village. It has facilities and businesses that can not be found anywhere else — at least in this section of the Land of Water. Lots of people come here. The fact that one of them is limping and some man is approaching her and seemingly offering help is different though. What happened to the 'winner takes all' or 'only the strong survive' mentality? Is the man a foreigner? She doesn't recognize him. This Hikan is letting things slip.
But Yuri doesn't let anything slip. She just puts on a concerned expression and says to her allies, "You go on ahead and get treated. I'll catch up shortly." There is a brief moment of hesitation. Isn't it protocol to report on the mission before doing anything else?
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. This will only take a moment." Shrugging, the fellow Jounin moves on. With that, the others follow. Yuri then makes her way towards where the little girl and the older male are standing and speaking — even if they are not nearby enough to be considered 'together' and even if the girl has yet to say anything. Chest moving to and fro, seeming to carry on under its own momentum; muscles all over bunching and releasing; eyes squinting half-closed…
Yuri calls out in a friendly-yet-concerned tone, "Is everything alright here?" She intentionally interposes herself into the personal space of the two, looking between them.
GAME: Save complete.
Poor Touma… It wasn't like he was being mean at all. He was merely being considerate. "Buzz off, ya nerd!!!", was said with an intense growl, half besotted by eyes that smoked a purplish-black, and the emittance of a strong and fierce wave of heat. With only that, the girl seemed to keep limping, as if the action hadn't been the slightest bit troubling. It was almost to the point where Touma have an eyebrow or two singed if he weren't careful. Before long, the heat seemed to suddenly dissipate, almost an unnatural coincidence to the feeling of pain that coursed through Seki's body.
Wincing and stumbling some, the girl lost her balance, just before the nearby procession approached. It was rather weird to see from a distance, and may prompt a bit of suspicion. However, when the question was asked by the buxom Swordswoman who now approached, the heat returned more powerfully along with the words, "I'M FINE!!!! WILL PEOPLE JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!" Tears seemed to water a moment, before soon the girl stumbled again, this time, dropping the crutches, and falling flat on her face.
Touma blinks as he scolded for trying to be nice, taking a step back. The young woman's fierce gaze told him that she was not having a good day. Not one to argue a point as the girl loses her balance, Touma just merely steps aside to let her pass. It was this motion that turns Touma's behind him to the approaching swordswoman. Offering a smile to her as the younger one yells in frustration, Touma rubs the back of his neck. "If I had to guess… no. But she seems fairly insistent."
As he turns back to Seki he notices the girl is laying flat on her face. Offering an 'insistent' hand up to her feet, the wandering man won't be taking no for an answer until she is on her feet again before he even retrieves her crutches. "I guess help is a sign of weakness or something." he says quietly to himself, thinking out loud.
Yuri moves backwards as Sekisetsu falls down. Not out of surprise, but just… Staying away. She can tell something is going on here… The temperature in the area is elevated and seems to be centered on the little girl. Injured or not, falling on her face or not, Yuri is not entering into potential attacking range. She doesn't know the girl, she doesn't know the guy, and she's content to leave it that way. But appearances need to be kept up.
"Pretty much. The Mizukage we had before now was very different from the one we have now, and an ideology that young ones like this may have lived with her entire life, even if it was only the past… Four or five years, really… Well, it's hard to shake that." She crosses her arms over her chest but just winds up pressing her forearms >into< her chest. Stupid anatomy.
'I don't think touching her is a good idea,' she wants to say. But she doesn't. She just stands back and smiles cheerfully. 'It would be best if a Medic-Nin was called,' she could say. She doesn't. She'll just pretend to be ignorant. Life is easier when everyone underestimates you. At least all that heat is making walking around without proper pants more tolerable.
Kindness.. Such a thing, especially in Kirigakure, seems fleeting, often associated with ideals like weakness, and deceit. Though Seki was still a bit naive to get the jest of the more deceitful contexts of kind words, and even a help up, it seemed that the girl didn't like being though of as weak. And yet Touma realized this and still went to help the small girl up, ignoring her most distinct command. The condition must have seen so imperative, so powerful, that urge to help out a weakened vessel as she lay sprawled across the ground. What valor!!! What chivalry!!!
What foolishness…
It was sudden. The release of such a jutsu which had been normal to the clan she belonged to, heat, released with chakra, entered the air about the small girl, blasting from her frame in a pulse that caused even the misty air to steam!!! It was quick. It was scalding.. It was also draining… Exhaustion of the natural flow of her own Tenketsu, was one of the conditions this small, burned, and water scalded girl had suffered from. And with a C Rank ninjutsu being suddenly launched from her body, Seki's body had no choice but to shut down…
She'd pass out right after.
Being sensitive to chakra, Touma's eyes narrow at the girls actions after trying to be helped up. Pushing back from the girl, the super heated air around her explodes quickly, a familiar burning sensation washing over him as some of the air enters his mouth, causing him to cough and take a knee. "Sheesh.." he says through coughs, standing back up around the same range from the girl that the older woman is. "You definitely wouldn't need a personal heating unit in your house with her around." he says, beginning to chuckle before coughing again at the irritation in his throat. "Is she ok?" he asks after covering his mouth, focusing his attention back onto his 'chivalrous' code of honor and activating his Byakugan from behind his sunglasses in order to check the girl's condition.
Yuri takes another couple steps back as she feels the heat wave rushing towards her. She was already out of range of the attack, but that is still some intense heat to be hit with after being out in the numbing cold for so long. The boat ride here had not been very comfortable. No electric blankets, no baths, or anything else.
Lowering her arms from where they lie nestled against her bust, right at about the time that Touma activates his Byakugan, Yuri reaches behind her back and pulls out an odd long-sword from its sheath with a metallic, sliding noise that would be hard to miss. The sword is not a normal sword. It has wire wrapped around the hilt, and a hole through with the wire is threaded. It's like a giant sewing needle.
She does not appear to be planning to attack the Hyuuga before her however, should the man turn to face her or otherwise look in her direction… Such as via 360 degree vision! Instead she is looking concerned (or convincingly faking it) and facing the fallen girl on the road. "Probably not. And given what she just did while in an injured state, I am not going to risk getting close enough to find out whether she can do it again or if it gets worse when she's unconscious or any of the rest of it. But we can't leave her here either." 'That might reflect poorly on me. She's clearly a ninja of >some< sort, after all. And leaving a ninja of our Village to die of a fever or some such might be the sort of thing foreigners hear we do all the time, but it would weaken Kirigakure's forces and morale. And so…'
"I can't leave her here to suffer," Yuri says calmly, yet with traces of compassion in her voice. Does she intend to 'put Sekisetsu out of her misery'!? She throws the sword >over< the prone form of the Genin to land point-down in the ground on the other side. A line of wire links Yuri's hand to her blade. She then >yanks< on the wire and it comes flipping end-over-end across the street, unwinding more and more wire, until it 'cartwheels' right over Sekisetsu and practically >leaps< into Yuri's hand like a living thing!
That was some fancy sword trick, I'll tell you what.
And further, it served a purpose. Because now Sekisetsu is all tied up in wire. Somehow it wound itself around her. How? Heck if anyone but Yuri knows! Yuri then proceeds to drag the younger female behind her as she heads for the gates. Better hope the road isn't too bumpy or the Genin will have 'loss of hair due to friction' added to her list of medical problems when they reach the hospital. "Thanks for trying to help, err…" She turns to look back at Touma questioningly. "…My name is Yuri. If you come with I will pay you for your time. I need to hand this girl off to the first Medic we see, but I also have to go report to Nidaime Mizukage-sama. I can't be in two places at once!" She nearly laughs as she says that. If only he knew what she can do! She smiles anyway and beckons with two fingers for Touma to follow… Then she returns to dragging Sekisetsu. Ahh… Kirigakure. No place like home.
