Starring:
Date: November 18, 2014
Summary:
Michiko, Hisomu, and Kaido are tasked to help out a local farm with a mountain lion problem. Michiko finds herself dragged into house-chores while the latter two take care of the threat.
"Don't Be Lion Around"
The Land of Lightning
The day before, Hisomu would have received a message that requested her for a mission. It was something simple to get her back in the groove: a farmer was having some trouble with mountain lions that dwelled in his area. "They keep eating my livestock!" said the note. She had a Chuunin accompanying her, of course. Two this time, even. Michiko and Kaido were with her. Michiko as the authority figure, and Kaido so he could learn a bit about a Kumogakure Shinobi's skills. If he was going to teach them tracking skills, this would be a good mission.
Michiko had the group meet up at the main gates so no one would get lost. It was a little past noon that they were to meet, as the mountain lion tended to stalk the farm near sunset. She leans casually against the post as she waits for both Konoha and Kumo teammates to show up, not in any particular hurry. The farm was close.
Appearing at the appointed time, Hisomu shows up casually, peering at herself for a moment as she approaches, checking for various things before she looks up and nods to Michiko, "Hello." She states simply enough and then looks around before saying, "Will it simly be you and I or is there more?" She hmms as she looks at the area around her before looking back, "I am not sure what use I will be against a mountain lion but I can certainly give it a try to be helpful." She nods her head and smiles ever so slightly.
A dog speaks up from nearby, saying, "Oh don't worry there girlie, if you get into trouble Kaido and I can deal with it." The person in question walks along on the other side of Hisomu and nods to Michiko, "That might be true Bandit, but I have a feeling she'll do just fine and all we'll be is making sure nothing eats our tails." Bandit looks up at Kaido and snorts, "That's IF you keep your head in the game… Remember that Kirigakure sp…" Kaido rushes to put his hand over Bandit's mouth, "ENOUGH about her! Why do you always bring HER up?" Bandit shakes Kaido's hand off and looks first to Michiko and then Hisomu, "Because you're an idiot around women… you lose focus around them." Kaido waves a hand, "Please, I'm not a lolicon, I do have my limits after all." Bandit just snorts.
Michiko smiles when Hisomu arrives. "Hisomu-san, I'm glad you're here. We should have one other person show up…" she says, glancing around for Kaido and his partner, Bandit. "Once they arrive, we can get going. The farm is only a half hour's worth of travel away at a good pace, so we should be there with plenty of time to create traps and scope out the area." She gives a small nod. "Kaido-san. Bandit-san. I'm glad you could finally make it." She looks to both, then nods again. "Follow me, please. And keep a lookout for anything that might look like a mountain lion. Taking it out earlier than planned will only help."
A look to the dog and the man and she blinks a few times. She then tilts her head at the talking dog before looking up to Kaido, "Loli…con?" She blinks a few times before looking to Michiko in confusion before shrugging and nodding her head in response to her words, "I will do my best to keep my eyes open." She nods her head, "I want to be prepared." She then immediately starts off, peering sideways at Kaido now suspiciously.
Kaido simply says to Hisomu, "Don't worry about it, you don't need to understand…", Bandit snorts and moves over to whisper into Hisomu's ear the definition of the word, to which Kaido facepalms. He sighs and moves on ahead and whistles for Bandit to roam out ahead and sniff around to try and get the scent of the mountain lion. Kaido then reaches into his pouches and pockets and starts to quickly build a few things that will stop a fully grown mountain lion without killing it or harming it too badly, reaching for a tattered and dogeared notebook as he thumbs through it, looking for something.
The journey proves to be empty of any mountain lions, which is to be expected. They're traveling a main road, and animals tend to stay away from humans. Especially ones that are sometimes hunted down by humans… "Good," Michiko says to Hisomu. "And Kaido-san. Bandit-san. Please don't tell Hisomu-san strange things. Or me, for that matter…" She doesn't know the definition of a lolicon, but it doesn't sound like something she'd /like/ to know…
The destination is a small farmhouse in the midst of a field. It houses a rather young couple, though their parents live with them. Both sides. They are gathering some of the autumn crops when the Shinobi finally arrive. The older man, the father of who requested help, is waiting for the team by the main path. He is sitting, looking rather calm despite the fact that his son's animals have slowly been disappearing. It seems he has great faith in the Kumo-nin.
Blinking as she looks over at Kaido more directly, Hisomu stares at him for a moment and then looks at Bandit. She goes wide eyed…and then spends the rest of the trip running on the opposite side of Michiko from Kaido. She moves along, shaking her head and when she looks at Michiko as she speaks, she shudders and shakes her head before they finally arrive at the farm and she comes to a stop, still keeping a close eye on Kaido. Obviously, he is not to be trusted.
Kaido just sighs and glares down at Bandit and says, "Make sure you don't sleep tonight… 'partner', you don't know what I might do to you…" With that said omniously, he smiles then at the man and waits for Michiko to address him as he points to Bandit to continue to try and find the scent of the lion.
Michiko stops when she sees the older man, offering him a polite bow. He looks to be in his thirties, which is rather old given the time. "Ah, it's good to see you Kumo-nin finally," he greets. "There are two mountain lions in the area that seem to want to eat our livestock. They do have kits, so I can understand why they would attack us, but I would rather they didn't, for my son's sake. Could you please frighten them off?"
Michiko offers a nod. "Of course. That's why we're here. Of course, we can help you around the farm while we wait for sunset," she offers. The man seems to brighten at that. "Oh, that would be excellent. Please help us retrieve all the animals. We just have sheep, but they tend to be stubborn. A good push should make them move, though!" He shows them to where the sheep are grazing lazily. There are ten total. "You will likely finish by night falls. Thank you for your help." And he leaves…
Still keeping her distance from Kaido, Hisomu nods to Michiko and then nods to the old man before giving a small salute, "Yes." She states and then starts off, already starting to herd and push a sheep toward the barn, shoving it along carefully before she finally finishes getting one inside and smiling as she does, seeming to feel somewhat accomplished before turning and peering at Michiko, "This is a bit of an odd mission."
Kaido is a bit more intelligent, he has Bandit run up and bark at the sheep and try to herd them towards him and the barn and then starts to shove. He calls out, "Let's let Bandit do most of the work while we try and get them inside… besides, he'll let us know if the lions are nearby while we're involved." He shoves a couple of sheep in and pulls off a half mask covering the horrid burn scars that cover half of his face and wipes the sweat off as he looks over at Hisomu and says, "Oh stop it! I'm not like that, ok? Bandit likes to play practical jokes all the time… I'm serious!" He mutters once again that he's going to do something horrible to Bandit while he sleeps.
Michiko shoos a sheep into the barn as well. "Hmm… We're already almost half-way done with this task… We might as well do a little more before turning in and getting ready… Do you two have any traps you could set up?" she asks the pair, remembering Kaido flipping through his notebook earlier. "If we set up a sort of pitfall around the house, that might work. Somewhere that the residents wouldn't wander to, of course."
Kaido just sighs and shakes his head and then shakes his fist at Bandit who is giving him a doggie grin as he enjoys running the sheep over to them. Kaido shoves another sheep into the barn and says, "Be better if we don't make pit traps, at least not near the farm, I don't think they'd appreciate us digging holes. I have better ways of doing things as this is sort of my bailiwick. If you guys want to come over here, I've already got some ideas we can use." He takes a break from pushing sheep to pull out a piece of paper and starts to sketch. He then shows the two of them what he's drawn, "I'm assuming we don't want to hurt them, so the best way to do this is to figure out where they're likely going to come out of the mountains and set up snares, net traps, tranquilizer darts…" Here he pulls out a bottle of a black liquid, "This should work, I made it today while we were on the road from some plants in the region, it's strong enough to knock out a full grown cat for a couple of hours." He then continues, "Also, I think we ought to try and cover up our scent, Bandit says he can scent us nearly a mile away downwind and any scents that the lions don't recognize might make them wary and more cautious, making it harder for us to capture and subdue them."
Michiko shoves the last of the sheep into the barn with a faint 'phew', then hmm. "I see…" she says to Kaido, nodding her head slowly. "That's a good idea… I'll hold back for a bit, then, while Hisomu-san set up some of the traps." She nods again, this time more definitive. "You two can get working on the traps, and I'll help the farmers with any other tasks that need doing. It shouldn't take so long, and I should be done by the time it's sunset." It's almost time, anyway. The trio likely have an hour before the lions will attempt to descend.
Walking up to watch the plans, Hisomu peers at the various spots that are marked and the areas there before looking over to Michiko as she speaks up after Kaido. She hmms before nodding her head a little, "I know veyr little of traps but I can certainly try." She nods softly before she turns her gaze to Kaido and then looks down at the map, "I will help though I would imagine I will not be so good at setting t hings up without help."
Kaido smiles and says, "It's easy… follow me, I'll show you how to do some simple ones and you can get those started while I deal with the harder ones and then I'll come back and see how you're doing. I'll leave Bandit near you to make sure you don't get jumped while you're working." He whistles over to Bandit, "Bandit? We're going to set up the perimeter now, could you stay next to Hisomu and make sure the lions don't come early and jump her?" Bandit smirks, "Sure partner, I'll make sure she's safe from you." Kaido narrows his eyes, "Ok, THAT'S IT! It's no longer funny Bandit, I am NOT nor have I EVER been a lolicon and you telling tall tales about me stops now. We have a job to do and if she or Michiko doesn't trust me because you're telling them I'm a pervert is going to make us fail this mission. These people are counting on us. Yes, I tend to fall hard for women, especially women who are all wrong for me, but they happen to be ADULTS! Ok?"
Bandit cringes a bit then and says, "Yes Kaido, I'm sorry, you're right… it's just that…" Kaido glares hard at Bandit, "You know what? Not important!" Bandit says quickly and then Kaido nods and says, "Good, now let's get this done…" He moves over to Hisomu and shows her how to make and set up some simple snare traps, how to rig nets, simple pressure plates made out of the rocks, and how to hide traps using the environment around them. He then starts to set up more elaborate traps, ones that use tranquilizers and once he's done his part he heads back to Hisomu to check on her and what she's done so far and help if necessary.
Michiko makes her way to the house, leaving Kaido, Bandit, and Hisomu to their own devices. She does keep an eye on the trio, glancing in their direction every now and then, but her duties of cleaning, feeding animals, and cooking seem to take up most of her attention. … She's starting to see why she wouldn't want to be a housewife at this point…
Bandit, Kaido, and Hisomu would be able to set up the traps with no issue. The problem is whether or not the mountain lions will fall for it. Night falls by the time the trio finish setting things up. Thankfully just in time. Of course, Michiko finds herself stuck watching an apple pie inside… Hopefully the three can take care of themselves while she's unable to help with the traps and such.
A look at the instructions and she then blinks between the dog and the man. She watches each before she tilts her head as she watches him walk away before she slowly shakes her head and follows instructions, starting to work on her traps. Hisomu follows instructions very well, an intelligent girl, she is able to set things up quickly enough. When he returns to check on her work, it isn't too bad for someone who has never done this before. She then looks over at the dog and the man before blnking and looking around, "I wonder what it is that Michiko is working on…"
Kaido then says, "Probably helping the farmers with their chores… We don't just do ninja stuff." He warns, "Remember, we're here to serve our people and help them with whatever that may be. Sometimes even as a Jounin you'll be doing stuff like sitting and talking to an old woman and/or doing laundry, or cooking dinner, or repairing their house. Sometimes doing that sort of thing is even more important than fighting wars or other 'interesting' things…" There is a note of disgust in Kaido's voice, perhaps he's participated in several wars and no longer considers them exciting or good.
The man had mentioned two lions, and that's exactly what came their way. The lions make their way through the woods, though they apparently weren't expecting traps. Rather, they weren't expecting to trigger some of the traps. They though they had avoided them, but they brushed up against the traps just enough to trigger. Some of the tranquilizers strike through their pelts, sending the mixture into their bloodstream and making them really tired. The loud yowling might let Bandit know that they were captured.
"Wow, that was easier said than done," Michiko comments upon hearing the yowling. The pie was put in the oven, so she nods a bit to the couple. "I think we caught your problem. Was there anything else you had trouble with while we're here?" she asks. The farmer who had requested their presence shakes his head. "No, it was just the lions. Make sure they don't come back, and maybe set up a fence? Other than that, I'm good." He gives a small nod. "I don't care how you do it. It's just temporary, though, until we get a real fence." Michiko smiles. "Of course. Thank you very much." She heads outside, then, to check on Hisomu and Kaido.
Watching the man, Hisomu blinks a few times before she shakes her head, "I don't believe I would make good company for an old man." She then looks out as she hears the yowls. She peers in that direction before she blinks a few times and stands up slowly to look in the direction of their traps. She then ponders them before nodding her head, "I believe we have caught our targets."
Kaido gently puts a hand on Hisomu's shoulder, "Hang back a bit… I want Bandit to check it out first, they might not be completely subdued, and if they aren't, I don't want us seperated against a couple of pissed off mountain lions." He whistles for Bandit, "Bandit, go check it out and then let us know… and partner… be careful." Bandit looks at him and nods and bounds off, using the bushes as cover as he tries to sneak up to recon the situation.
Kaido pulls out a net and starts to advance slowly, motioning for the girl to come up slowly behind him. He fits a blowgun in his mouth, loaded with a couple tranquilizer darts, wanting to be ready in case the lions try to rush at them, this dart is a much stronger mixture too.
There was almost no need for the caution. Kaido's mixture had worked well. Almost too well. And Hisomu had done a fine job with the traps on her end as well. The lions are both knocked out cold, and Michiko decides to take care of the fencing with some of her earth jutsu. With a few handseals, the girl sends up several earthen barriers that would keep out the lions on one side for the next few days. They're solid structures that shouldn't fall that easily. Michiko waits for her team atop the fence, leaning against it slightly. When they arrive, she greets them. "I assume you three took care of the lions, judging by the sound I heard." She grins a bit. "The farmer's mom said we could have some pie before we went back to the village, if that sounds nice. Otherwise, we'll make our way back to Kumogakure."
A nod to the man and Hisomu watches as Bandit moves forward. Even as she follows him up to check on them, she hmms softly before saying, "I do believe they are both very much unconcious." She then blinks as Michiko comes walking up and then she nods to her, "Well, I do believe that I will have some of that pie." She then idly ponders something at the back of her mind, blinking a little before nodding her head, "Yes, pie."
Kaido gently pulls the darts from them and puts them back in his pouch and says, "Keep the pie warm for me, Bandit and I will move them somewhere where it'll take them a few days to get back here once they wake up and then we'll have our pie." With that, he hefts both lions up, using chakra to enhance his strength a bit and starts off further into the mountains.
Michiko nods. "Alright, Kaido-san. Bandit-san." She would help, but she's not much in terms of physical strength. It's something she's working on, but the entire process would be slow going. "Hisomu-san, I hope you enjoy apples," she says cheerfully, moving towards the farmhouse. The pie she had baked was apple pie, and the family in general was very warm and welcoming. The team could eat their fill before heading off, though it was likely rather dark by then… In the end, Mission success!
"Very well. Good luck." She states and then looks at Kaido as he walks off. Hisomu ponders him before she shakes her head and starts back toward the house, "I am still not sure about that one." She nods her head before glancing over to Michiko and nodding to her, "I do like apples." She then podners, "Though I really don't care deeply about food. It is not important to me." She nods her head.
Kaido and Bandit walk in about half an hour after Michiko and Hisomu have sat down and says, "All done, the lions are in a spot where it'll take them at least a few days to find their way back here and hopefully by then, they won't be a problem any longer." He then blushes as his stomach growls and says, "So… where's that delicious pie? I'm starved!" Bandit just rolls his eyes before his stomach growls too and also blushes and the two take a seat at the table and eat and chat with the farmers until they leave.
