Starring:
Atsuro, Fudo, Hiroyasu, Nariko
Date: August 11, 2013
Summary:
While resolving a conflict between a civilian and some ninja, a combined force of Kumo and Konoha nin end up dealing with some personal conflicts as well.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Easing Tensions"
A town in the Land of Fire
There's nothing like ninja from all different villages gathering together in service of one goal! There's no limit to what they can achieve, whether it be ending wars, rescuing towns from bandits, or protecting civilians from a disaster. In this case, several ninja brought to the Land of Fire by the exams are beating a guy up, which is why Konoha has scrambled several ninja to put a stop to the group and ensure the man's safety. Given how quickly the situation unfolded, Konoha's administration was forced to request help from Kumo as well.
So that's what Atsuro, Fudo, Hiroyasu, and Nariko are doing in this small town north of Konoha. As they approach the town square, they can see a small crowd gathered before them. A number of ninja from Kiri, Iwa, and Suna (convenient!) are gathered around a rather average-looking middle aged man in the middle, and are shouting threats and taunts, as well as occasionally shoving the man, who is glaring at them defiantly. On the ground a short way away from the group is a smashed protest sign.
Though he was participating in the exams himself, Fudo saw no reason to cease his duties until he was unable to do anything at all. Thus, when the call for some shinobi to help out on a mission not far form Konoha went out, he would get on board. During the travel to said village, he would note that aside from Atsuro, the others were from Kumogakure. This did not please Fudo, seeing as they betrayed him and almost got him exiled from his village for treason for a reason he cannot even fathom, but he would not protest working with them still. Most disappointing was Hiroyasu, someone he had fought with during the recent civil war, and that he thought he had some sort of bond with. Gritting his teeth, he pushed it from his mind. He should have known better than to trust others in the first place.
As they arrive on the scene, Fudo would look towards Atsuro and ask, "How would you like to handle this?" Fudo had a few options he could try, but he was not in charge of this particular outting. He looked to the crowd, noticing they were all from other villages. He would note that he needed to not say or do anything that can be used against him later due to recent experiences, but he still had a job to do.
As they approach the group, Nariko looks at the group beating up the old man, she shakes her head. "This is uncalled for." She looks to Hiro and Amani before looking at Atsuro and Fudo. She looks to Atsuro and then to her fellow Kumo-nin. She crosses her arms on her chest and looks onto the ongoing scene. She didn't rush into anything being a visitor to the new land.
Hiroyasu rubs the bridge of his nose, "Yeah, it is Yotsuki-san. People can get very peculiar in foreign lands" he looks to Fudo and then to Atsuro, "Inuzuka-sama, We will defer to your authority." he adds ,his eyes taking in the scene. Maybe there was some detail missing from the report or scene.
Atsuro is still assessing the situation as Fudo asks him how he ought to go about handling this. And then Hiroyasu says something about deferring to his authority. Atsuro sighs loudly. "You know, if you don't make any amazing displays of leadership, I can't put it in the debriefing and get you a leg up in the exams." Of course, he really does know that he ought to be the leader here, being the ranking ninja. "But I guess you can learn a couple things from me," he adds as he steps forward, "Just try to look tough for now."
He raises his voice. "Hey!" he yells, "What the torque is going on here?" Most members of the crowd turn to face him. "This guy says alla us ninja should be executed," pipes up one of the ninja, "I say we execute him instead." Atsuro folds his arms. "Well, you can't. Why don't you go to Konoha and watch the games? I'll even buy you a drink." A few members of the crowd seem to consider it, but then another one pipes up, "You should buy us a drink for teaching him a lesson. Aren't /you/ a ninja, guy?" Atsuro takes a step back and murmurs to the team, "They aren't buying it. I'm gonna distract them while you guys get into position. One person grabs the guy and runs, two people rough up anyone who gets in the way. I'll bail you out if you need it."
Given the fact that there were Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure nin. It was a strong possibility that this person was from Konohagakure or Kumogakure. It was also possible that they were entirely unaffiliated, and there was an outside chance they were from another, smaller village. Given his age, it was unlikely that he was a contestant, so this was not about getting rid of a rival. Besides that, them teaming up to do so was an unlikely event to take place even if that was the case. So the question became, why would three villages worth of shinobi be beating on one unarmed man? Looking to the protest sign, Fudo would move over to it to try to figure out what it said. Maybe it would be a clue to this conflict. With a sigh he would look in to this, cursing himself inwardly for being so slow to notice a piece of this puzzle. He was simply too distracted, and he needed to get over it.
As ATsuro makes his move, and the information comes, it seems the older man was protesting the shinobi, likely due to some of the aftermath of the civil war, or at least the thoughts that attributed to it starting in the first place. As far as the plan, since Hiei was not here, Fudo was not sure whom was fastest… but he was sure whom was likely to be able to slip past them more easily than the rest. "I will take care of him." Fudo stated as he'd focus a seal and activate his sharingan. He'd move away from the immediate location, keeping a wide berth away from Atsuro as he waited for a chance to release his jutsu.
Nariko looks to Atsuro and nods. "Sure thing." She smiles and looks to Hiro. "Well, I guess it's up to us to keep people at bay." She winks at him, great, she sucked at that. She lets out a soft sigh and then smiles. When given the word she makes her way towards the crowd.
Hiroyasu clears this throat, "Diplomatic relations require that we act with respect to our host nation. We are not to take action on our own authority unless absolutely needed. Inuzuka-sama. Sorry, no amazing acts of leadership" he frowns. Before join Nariko "Yeah basically, we get to be the one being seen roughing up visiting shinobi.. We need to be sure to restrict collateral damage Yotsuki-san" he reminds her as they make their way to the crowd.
The protest sign says simply, 'END THE EXAMS.' Whether the man has an issue with ninja in general as the ninja told them, or is simply protesting the exams themselves for some reason isn't quite clear yet. But it's pretty clear that his message has tensioned some people off! As the three genin slink away, Atsuro reminds them, "Don't kill anyone. The potenial for a diplomatic incident is already huge."
Then he starts a speech as the three get into place. "Gentlemen, let me tell you something. Since the dawn of civilization, humankind has strived, above all, for one thing…" This keeps the attention of a surprising number of ninja, but there are a few who aren't quite so into the speech, so Taizen starts wandering around the crowd, wagging his tail and woofing softly to attract attention too. Nobody really seems to notice as the genin get into position. Atsuro glances at each one of them as he continues, "…for without these crucial, uh, factors, we have not a society, but an, er, /an/archy…" The speech is getting a bit sweaty, but it only needs to last until the team strikes…
As Atsuro would begin the distraction, Fudo would release his genjutsu through hand seals, ridding himself of the need to catch their eye and allowing for it to be implimented to all of them simultaneously. To them, should they try to look back on the man, he would still be staring back defiantly, standing his ground. In reality however, Fudo would approach the man, who looked at him with disdain. "One of those Uchiha, huh?" he would spit at Fudo's feet. "I don't need your help. These freaks can't do anything more to me than they already have!" As he argued and yelled, the others would still be entirely unaware and take no notice, literally being ignorant of his current circumstances. "So you stay back. I'm warning you… I will take a little momentum like you out easily even without special powers!"
Fudo simply gazed at him more fully, and he would fall to his hands and knees as if he was beggining. He strained against it, but to no avail, his body trembling with resistance that couldn't begin to match such simple jutsu. Fudo would stand over him for a moment, patting him on the head as if he was some crying child. "There is no difference…" Fudo would say, repeating the words he said to Kin upon meeting him and doing much the same to the deer. Bending to toss the now helpless man over his shoulder, Fudo glanced back towards the others to see how they would go about corraling the crowd.
Nariko walks into the crowd, slowly turning around to face Atsuro, trying to blend in with the crowd. She leans over to a girl and whispers, "You know, I think he has point." She hmms and continues walking backwards. She stops at a young boy and smiles. "I heard they're serving half-off ramen in Konoha."
Hiroyasu along with fellow foreigners, when Nariko begins to spread the enticing options. "Ramen? I heard they had buy one, get one Alcohol for the next few hours!" he pipes up trying to give credence to her words, and perhaps thin out the less than interested malcontents.
So far so good. Things seem to be going smoothly. Despite his protesting, the man at the center of all this is incapacitated and Fudo can easily carry him off. And, between all the distractions, he's able to slip away a good distance. Some of the ninja are interested in ramen or booze, some are playing with the cool dog ('reminds me of the one I had when I was a kid!') and some are still listening to Atsuro's speech.
But one has noticed the sudden disappearance of their victim. "Hey!" someone calls suddenly, "Where did that guy go?" Atsuro quickly finishes his speech, "And, er, that's why you shouldn't beat him up. Now go get some cheap ramen and free drinks!" Some of the crowd starts heading off in the direction of Konoha, all concerns of the man forgotten. But three people still remain. "Am I going to have to beat you all up?" Atsuro asks them. From the looks of things, he probably will, unless someone else has a cunning plan. Or they could use the handy distraction to take the guys by surprise.
Making sure the man was more on their side of the line than the current enemy, Fudo would set him down and turn his attention back to the crowd. Since most had dispersed, and now the Kumo nin were likely near the possible aggressors, the first thing that Fudo thought was that he could leave the rest to them. However, he would have a second thought about that. He trusted them once and got stabbed in the back, so now, he was going to handle it on his own and make sure it was done. Stepping forward, Fudo would eye the three remaining shinobi, scanning them all, reading their chakra as well as their stances and equipment. The element of surprise was lost, but there were some tricks up his sleeve still. "Get out of the way." he'd say to the Kumo nin then.
Nariko turns as she hears Fudo's voice. She shrugs and takes two steps back out of the way. She puts her hands on her hips and looks to Atsuro. "All yours hot abs-uro." Sending a wink towards him.
Hiroyasu raises his hands in defense, "Your land, your call" to Fudo before moving back to join Nariko standing at her side, when she busts out a classic Nariko prank tease he chortles into his fist before pretending to clear his throat.. why hadn't he ever thought of calling him abs-suro. He glares at Nariko thinking that she stole some great jewel he was saving for a rainy day before looking back at the scene as it unfolds. "You've never seen the Inuzuka fight have you, Yotsuki-san?" he asks as it occurs to him.
Atsuro gets into a fighting stance, which is to say he closes his hands into fists and puts up them dukes. But then something happens which he definitely was /not/ expecting: Fudo puts down the guy and starts heading back here. "What the — " Can't ask it without drawing attention to the unguarded target. Not much that can be done now other than take these guys down and hope that things work out all right. Well, if he can't get a little help here, at least. He looks at the two Kumo nin, then over to the guy. Then back to the Kumo nin, then over to the guy. Get the message? There's also a message for Nariko in there, which is 'really, now?' Atsuro, Taizen, and Fudo, versus the three ninja. They seem to be in a standoff. Atsuro looks over to Fudo, trying to get some idea of what it is he wants to do. What is this kid thinking?
His land? Was it? Fudo wasn't born here… and he'd barely been here. He was saved from a life on the streets where wits and charm got you everything for a day, and then you had to start all over again. He almost lost this land. This home. This family. It was almost stripped from him, and he was not sure yet how to feel about it. Should he distance himself emotionally, and shrug it off should it actually happen… or should he fight for it? "Atsuro…" Fudo would say, not truly knowing the jounin. He recalled meeting him a year ago when he first joined Konoha. "…Taizen…" His gaze fell upon the people before him, ready to fight over nothing. Ready to cause conflict that may spiral out of control and become something much bigger. He would close his eyes then, turning around and starting to walk away. "Mission complete." he would murmur as he headed back to the person they came here to rescue. The conflict resolved, and the others, while they were still aggressive, now were not part of a mob. They may try to fight… but it was equally likely that they would just give it up now.
Nariko shakes her head at Hiro. "Nope, not once." She moves behind the men as Fudo returns back to the man. "Atsuro, I have your back." She puts her arms on her chest and looks at he men, raising a brow, watching them with a close eye.
Hiroyasu nods in acknowledgement to Atsuro and inclines his head to Nariko cupping his hand towards her, "You really should save that banter for the bar or hot springs, Nariko-chan" he chides her shaking his head, sometimes he had to remember she was a newly minted genin. Then his smile turns into a frown, as he turns on his heel to join the Yotsuki in the support of Atsuro, functionally he may not have needed but it, but it was the right to thing to do. He reaches into his seal pouch pulling out several as he moves in from another angle giving them wedge giving the shinobi a single point to exit should they wish to reconsider their options. He points two fingers at his eyes and slides his hand at Atsuro in acknowledgement.
What just happened? Atsuro isn't aware of Fudo's struggles and right now he's not sure how he's going to describe that incident in the debriefing. 'Uchiha Fudo may be presenting symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.' Well, at least the guy is taken care of. They can take him somewhere safe and revive him, and maybe tell him to quite provoking people who could kill him in the blink of an eye.
As for Atsuro himself, and the two Kumo nin with him, they're still in a standoff with these ninja. For a second, nothing happens. Then suddenly a Kiri nin's hand darts down to his pocket and grabs something. Atsuro's hand is at his Kunai pouch in an instant, but he stops. From his pocket, the man pulls a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He takes a cigarette, puts it in his mouth, and lights up. "You Leaf nin," he mutters, "Such pullies." He blows some smoke at the three of them, then walks off. The other two simply follow. Atsuro gives a huge eye roll, then relaxes his stance and watches them walk away. "Mission complete," he says, echoing Fudo's sentiment. "Let's take care of this guy."
Freeing the ordinary man of his Genjutsu, Fudo wouldn't really look or speak to him aside to say, "Stay out of trouble. Not everyone thinks twice about killing people weaker than them." Of course the man would start, almost wanting to dare Fudo to say it again but… it was reality. It was why he would protest the exams… because what else did he have the power to do? In either case, Fudo wasn't in the mood to listen. "Nariko, Hiroyasu. ….How about some Ramen?" he would ask of them, pausing his walking away.
Nariko nods and sighs, at least they didn't fight and no one died. She smiles and looks to Hiro. "Well, I will try to hold my tongue next time." She looks to Atsuro and smiles. "It was nice seeing you and Taizen, just wish it were under better circumstances." She looks to Fudo and shakes her head. "Sadly I was thinking of going to the zen gardens for some meditation. Thanks though."
Hiroyasu puts the seals back into the pouch casually "You should try, it could be distracting.." he says coy before looking to Atsuro, "Sure thing.". He rubs the back of his head and sighs "Another time, I promised Nariko a Tour of the Zen Gardens and some mild meditation. I hope by the time the others arrive, she can be able to guide them around while I am in the exams. Thank you for the offer Uchiha-san" he says with a nod.
Fudo nodded. "Very well. And call me Fudo… I have never gone by any other name." Escorting the man back, he would look to Atsuro and Taizen. "I am presumptuous. I hope that it did not interfere with your command." He would apologize as they made their way back to Konoha.
Wow. Well, Atsuro might have been confused over Fudo's behaviour, but even he figured there was some significance to the invitation for ramen. "Well," he says, "See you kids later. I gotta go talk to the head office and tell them what happened." He pauses to give Fudo a sympathetic 'people are weird, eh?' look, feeling a little sorry for the poor kid, who's obviously going through something.
"A little," he tells Fudo, "But don't worry about it. It's hard to avoid miscommunication in those situations." He shrugs. "I mean, I didn't think it was a /great/ show of judgement, but it was an honest mistake, right?" He checks the man to make sure he's not seriously injured, then they let him go. "I'll trail him for a bit and make sure he doesn't just walk straight back into trouble," Atsuro says, "But you're free to go. Later."
