Starring:
Itami (emitter), Honosuke, Rikuto
Date: September 26, 2015
Summary:
After receiving a report regarding civilians trapped in a building, an extraction team was sent out to manage the issue. With the guidance of an assigned lead, Honosuke and Rikuto combine their efforts to help a family and ultimately save them from the fate of death.
"First Responders"
Apartment Complex, Village Center Area
A team has been sent out to assist with rescuing people trapped within a building. They've been in here for a
day now, waiting for help to come and having messages sent back and forth to propose needs that had to be met while they
were in this position. So far, the only concern has been water and food as well as minimal medical supplies to help patch
up wounds that had the potential to become infected. The twisting and churning of the ground caused the building itself
to rock and sink a couple of levels and now it stands lopsideded, but somewhat stable.
"Alright, we have a number of people trapped in here that need help. Our plan is to start from the bottom and
work our way up to get the others trapped in here. We won't stop until we get everyone out and safe here. Is this
understood?" The team lead spoke. She was a gruff shinobi with a sharp face and bold eyes, lean of body, but nothing to
snort at.
After hearing of the attack on Sunagakure, a dispatch was sent to a chuunin of Amegakure, one Honosuke Nara, who
happened to be in the area. He was instructed to report to the city and assist in whatever way he could, in an effort to
build relations between the villages. Whether or not they accepted his help, however, was up to them. He would, of
course, eventually make it to the lopsided building and after listening to the team lead, he nods idly, curious as to how
this was going to go. His water ninjutsu might not be of much help in this instance, but his shadow ones certainly could.
'Top down.. not bottom up' is faintly murmured but then Rikuto nods lightly twice. "Yes ma'am" is answered with a
bit of a projected voice. Looking away from the team leader, the young man looks around, trying to count the faces of
those around him before letting his eyes slip closed. Looking down, he fans open a hand and exhales a controlled breath.
'How many strong are still below?' is asked to himself while his fingers shift one after another subtly as he senses for
the strength of their chakra. "Hmm.. Have any began to dig their way out yet?"
"Some have tried to dig themselves out, but they were largely unsuccessful. They're dealing with a mixture of
sand and rock. Every time they dig through the sand, it comes back on them. They don't have the means to get through on
their own and on top of that, sand is loose, so if they dig in the wrong places, they have a chance of shifting the
building. This is very delicate and careful work," she explained.
"I've already took a small survey of the ground and found a section where hard rock meets the building. We'll
tunnel through it and use it as a way to enter into the sunken levels of the building." She gestured for the team to
follow her and pointed out the area. "We'll be going through here." She made some handseals and struck her hand on the
ground to open up a tunnel. "Anyone who is going with me, follow."
The tunnel led into a wall that needed to be cut out. The team lead turned around saying, "I need someone to cut
this out. I'd do it myself, but I…have a tendency to wreck things," she smirked softly. "So, I need a more delicate
hand here."
The Nara looks down into the tunnel as he listens, nodding a bit. "It would be wise for them to hold position as
long as possible until we are able to get at least a bit closer to them." The Ame-nin had discarded his usual rebreather,
but still wore his dark cloak wrapped about him, warding off a few falling pebbles and handfuls of dust. It was slow
going, but he didn't particularly mind. Gave him more time to think.
When the group arrives at the wall that needed to be cut out, Honosuke looks over to a few of the others. "I hope
someone brought something a bit heftier than kunai…"
Humming a single low note to himself as he listened, Rikuto follows along with the group without hesitation. Once
they arrive at a cleared area, he arches a brow until a tunnel way is forced open. "That's convenient." When they team
makes it down towards a location where the light was a shimmer of what it was on the surface, the young man's lips curl
inwards while looking at the wall.
Exposing his gloved hands towards the team leader and slowly shakes his head. "I specialize in leaving building
intact and dealing with 'living' things." Curling a few fingers and pointing towards the wall that needed to be broken
into and says, "I could try a flame jutsu, it isn't an overly powerful one and it isn't 'delicate'. It's the only one
that I think I could help with.. it wouldn't 'cut' so much as act like small bombs." Shrugging his shoulders, Rikuto lets
them slack while his mind began to race for how to actually be helpful.
"Heck, whatever works. Probably will be better than something I can do anyway," the Lead shrugged and backed
away. "Go ahead and do what you must. I'm sure you can handle it. Your skills aren't counted out yet. You'll likely be
able to do something later," she pointed out to the Nara. "Once we're past here, we should be running straight into some
people any moment now. I didn't get the full layout of the area, but I know there are bodies down here. Not dead,
thankfully, but their time is running out."
"Oh, I don't think that my superiors would have sent me along to assist in an official capacity if they didn't
think that I might be able to have some use for Suna. Patience is a virtue I learned long ago." The Nara offers a bit of
a smirk before he steps back and allows Rikuto to perform the fire jutsu that will hopefully open up their access path
into the building. Just in case though, he pulls out a small glass sphere from a pocket, which appears to be filled with
some sort of clear liquid.
Nodding lightly towards the team leader, Rikuto would approach the wall and lift a gloves hand to it. Curling a
few fingers, he would knock them against it, testing how it sounded carefully. Nodding to himself, the young man would
pace backwards, making several meters between himself and the wall before taking in a slow breath. Forming only the seal
of 'Horse', he exhales steadily and rapidly. Flowing from his lips was a series of small orbs, each one the size of a
child's fist. Each one would snake and weave to form a loose circle before surging forward all at once. When the orbs
touch the wall they would explode simultaneously. When his fingers untwist themselves they come up to his face, quickly
trying to quickly cover them from any shrapnel or debris.
The leader walked away from the wall nearby the Nara and Rikuto, obscuring her face from the subsequent
explosion that followed. Once the path was cleared, she walked ahead and took a survey of the hallway they were entering
into prior to giving the signal for them to follow. "Down this way are a couple of rooms. Behind me is a dead end, so we
don't need to check there," she remarked. "I'll take care of one room and you two take care of the other. If there are
any people in there, your job is to lead them to the tunnel so they can get out safely. Be mindful of the current state
of the building. It's still stuck largely in sand, after all and can shift at any time."
After the explosion goes off, the Nara lifts up a hand to shield his face from the exploding pellets, nodding as
the team leader gives out the instructions, following down the hallway. "Seems to be easy enough. I can send a few
lighter clones through the less structurally sound areas in order to scout, if that is preferrably, of course." He does
tread carefully, though, just in case. Better safe than dead, after all.
Waving his hand in front of his eyes for a few moments, Rikuto arches a brow at seeing the wall not only cracked
under the force but was blown out large enough for someone to manage their way through it. "…I'll have to report to the
Kazekage that the building needs to be reinforced after everyone's safe. If I could damage it, I doubt it could survive a
full assault if the other loses control." Pressing his lips thin, Rikuto grumbles softly to himself before shaking his
head.
Nodding towards the team leader, Rikuto's eyes close again before he angles his head downwards for a moment
before then upwards, looking while his eyes were pressed shut. Lifting his right hand close to his brow, the young man
would offer a salute before entering deeper within the complex. "Everyone else, please try to not shout or use fire
release.. Anyone else notice how stale the air tastes?"
"You've got a point. This building is old, but…" The lead smacks her lips lightly. "We've got to work
quickly." She lifts her head up to see the light fixtures in here. They're still working, thankfully, though some are
flickering, indicating their weakness. Down the hall, there's a bit of creaking and cracking taking place, but nothing to
be alarmed about. A light haze hangs in the air from dust entering the building. "Anyone down here?" The lead calls out.
There was a light shuffling as a kid came running out saying, "Here, in here!" In his excitement to hear a
voice, he had bumped into the doorframe and a fixture hanging above came loose, falling where he was standing.
"Perhaps it would be best for me to use my shadow in order to-…" As the fixture began to fall down over the
small child, the Nara instantly makes a single handsign and his shadow stretches out quickly through the darkness,
attaching to the shadow of the fixture and trying to flick it off to the side so that it doesn't crush the poor lad.
Turning his head to nod towards the leader, the shout quickly gains his attention though it would take a moment
before he could notice the object that was jarred free. Widening his eyes, Rikuto hastily forms a tri-set of seals
before.. stopping all together. Furling his brows, he watches as through the dim light the object simply stops in the air
and is then tossed off to the side. Blinking a few times, he could tell something was amiss, only to follow the flowing
chakra back towards the Nara. "W-what was that? You control.. darkness?" Shaking his head lightly, Rikuto begins to move
forwards towards where the child had come from. "I'll ask you later.." is said before he got too far.
The kid covered his head and ducked to the ground, fearful of the fixture that was headed his way, but it didn't
hit him. When he determined he was safe, he peered over his arms and soon looked around to see where the light ended up
at. How the heck did it get over there? Nevermind that! "My family is in here," he states and gestures to them. Inside
his home, it was worse for wear. Some heavy objects toppled over and blocked off the doorway, leaving nothing but a
crawlspace big enough for the child to walk through without issue. Any other family members would have difficulty getting
through. Their home was dark and difficult to see through, but some light came through in the form of a lamp that had
been collected and lit by the young boy for them to use and see with. At this rate, there was only enough oil to last for
half an hour.
"I think you two can handle this. I'm going to go across the hall to investigate the other home and see if the
people are doing alright," the lead spoke, thumb pointing back to the direction she was going to take. I'll meet you guys
at the stairwell to the next level once we have both investigated and extracted whoever was trapped in these places."
"Try to be more careful, hm?" A single bead of sweat formed on the brow of the Ame-nin before he released the
handsign, exhaling. "I should be able to help with that darkness, but we should likely hurry, as I only have so much
chakra before it's going to get hard, especially if I need to use any clones…but I think we can do it." He slowly moves
forward, keeping his steps light as he strides, careful to test the ground before him to make sure there isn't any real
danger. Don't want the whole building coming down on them, after all. No amount of Shadow Manipulation would help, then.
"What talents do you have besides Fire Manipulation?"
"Turning people into husks is a specialty but.." Taking in a shallow breath, Rikuto twists his fingers together
into the seal for 'Bird', and exhaling stiffly. Rather than puff of normal air escaping his lips the air distorts and
some of the debris fractures under the force. "I am skilled with some wind release techniques." Walking close to the
crawl space that they boy had showed them, he began to feel if anything had shifted poorly. "We just need to make this
area larger, but not by much, just enough to drag them threw. As for clones, I could assist with that too or forming a
shield around them.. for a time."
"I see. Wind Release might be useful here…though, I may have another tactic that could work." The Nara makes a
series of handsigns and allows his chakra to surge through his body before dropping a few of the glass spheres filled
with clear liquid from his person, dropping a fairly significant amount of water on the ground, which forms into a copy
of him. "Water may flow more easily through the space. We could, in theory, have them hold their breath and get just
enough water into the room to flush them out."
The kid nodded his head and took off a bit more carefully after the Nara's remarks. These guys were…kinda
weird. What the heck does darkness mean? With the debris fractured to some extend, it should be easier to push out of the
way without causing too much of an issue for getting by. There's still the problem with heavier objects in the way. A
large cabinet, once filled with fine dinnerware was among the debris, its contents scattered about cracked and shattered.
Glass was definitely on the floor, but the light from the lamp revealed some of it in the path.
"They're just through here," the kid says. His family begins to stir knowing that he's returned with some help,
but it comes with some unfortunate consequence of a moan of pain lifting into the air. His father, in a bid to protect
his family from objects falling atop them, utilized his body as an umbrella. The table they gathered under had snapped
and caved in, driving serrated edges into his back. On top of it was a beam that had fallen over. Thankfully, the room
itself wasn't in any condition to collapse. "Please…" He remarked. "Just get my family out of here first. I'll be fine
where I am…" He offered to whoever was present.
The Nara makes a series of handsigns and allows his chakra to surge through his body before dropping a few of the
glass spheres filled with clear liquid from his person, dropping a fairly significant amount of water on the ground,
which forms into a copy of him. "We should be able to get all of you out of here, alright?" He looked around for a moment
before closing his eyes and murmuring something repeatedly to himself, over and over, almost like a mantra. After a bit,
he nods, opening his eyes. "The clone can help you get them out of here, at least until the room is clear." The debris
fallen on the man /could/ shift however, even if it was stable for the time being. "I can use my jutsu to help keep the
debris stable if necessary."
Bringing his hands together, Rikuto began to form seal after seal, though his motions were rather slow compared
to the formation to make the barrage of orbs. Exhaling slowly, the young man motions towards the ground and waves his
hand lightly after weaving a genjutsu. Each one snared within the illusion would begin to see a golden, illuminated mist
along the ground, lighting up a path out, though at some points were stained red as he marked where there was danger from
shrapnel or weak points to avoid. "You can say you're fine in there but you're part of the village, leaving you in there
will be a black mark on my record at the least, can't have that," is jested mildly. "Anyways, enough people died over
these last few days.. no need for more. Just focus.
The kid nodded and made his way through the crawl space over to his family, hoping the clone would follow after
him. Once it did, he'd assist in trying to get his family up and away from the table so they could be carried out and
towards safety. The illuminated path that appeared before them was a welcome sight versus the weakened light of the lamp
that didn't do much to shed much light through the area. The family, with the the boy's help, managed to find their way
out. Everyone except the father who was still pinned under the table. He was going to need a little help prying his way
free. His body was stiff from holding this position for so long and he wasn't certain he could do anything about it on
his own.
"I need some assistance getting out. I'm sorry for the trouble, but…my body can't move like this." He
remarked. While he cared for his home and its condition, he was far more invested in the health and wellbeing of his
family. Once they were all out of here, he hoped he may be able to return for some heirlooms, but he was more than
prepared to let them go given the circumstances. His chances were fairly minimal. "Do whatever it takes. I don't care how
much it hurts." He attempted to move and get his body to react and it did to some degree, but the pressure was still a
problem. His muscles stung as he began to try and get them to function again after being locked for so long.
"We'll get you out, don't worry. Try not to move as much. And this might hurt a bit, but I'll do what I can."
That singular handsign again, and then his shadow stretches out to encompass that of the man. Their chakra linked through
their shadows, the Nara slowly begins to move backwards, forcing the mans body to do his bidding as he does so, sending
over the water clone to keep ahold of the debris. "Watch for anything that might fall…" He noted to Rikuto, face locked
in concentration as he moved the man slowly, extricating him from his current predicament, step by step.
"Do not.. move.." is slowly said as Rikuto lowered down to his knees before sitting onto his heels. Those within
the area near would feel the air begin to dry out more and heat despite being underground. Bringing his fingers together,
he slowly begins to exhale while odd combinations of seals began to form until a pale blue flame appears in front of the
Miira. "Do not touch this, I'm going to turn the table and the broken supports into ash." Unless he some how managed to
touch the clone before hand, he would make the load that the clone would have to try support significantly lighter.
The man would comment on the weird sensation that his body was feeling as it was controlled by a seemingly
unseen force. He didn't link together the idea that his shadow was connected to this shinobi and thus, his mind was only
somewhat distracted by the strange hobbling he was performing as a consequence. It's really unusual not to have control
of your body. Still, this didn't do much to eliminate his pain as his muscles stung with every step he took. Tears ran
down his eyes from it all, but at least in some part, they were joyful. He was going to get out of here and be with his
family again.
"It feels a bit dry in here…" The man spoke, though he had already heard Rikuto's words. He was fascinated
with what these shinobi could do. In similar circumstances, it would take a number of average folk to get this done, but
there were only two here that could handle the bulk of the work. Just looking at that flame make dust out of the table
and support beam was incredible! He was stuck under that for so long and all it took was a flame to do /that/?
As the two were finishing up in this room, the team lead returned to them saying, "I have some good news. There
are other teams headed this way to help out and minimize our workload. You've got everybody out, right?" She wondered
while watching them work. "If so, I can guide them back to the tunnel to exit."
Eventually, the Nara ceased the shadow manipulation once the man was out and the water clone splashed back into
nothingness as the chakra that was maintaining it fades. The strange fire used by the Miira was noted with an intrigued
eyebrow raise, but nothing more was said about it. Certainly an interesting jutsu, even if that was its only application.
"I believe everyone is free, yes. At the very least, everyone that we know about." A long exhale and the chuunin rolls a
shoulder idly, perhaps a bit fatigued. He turns to Rikuto, nodding. "You required about my jutsu earlier? I'm a Nara.
Shadow manipulation is our specialty."
