Starring:
Amiko, Hiroyasu, Yoshomaru, Takara
Date: August 29, 2013
Summary:
A group of ninja foil an attempt to cheat on the Chuunin Exams
"Foolish Cheaters Never Prosper"
Konoha Marketplace
Its coming towards the end of the second round of exams, and there's tension in the air
in Konohagakure. All the remaining participants are still in the Forest of Death, although it
seems like more than half have already been removed. As evening approaches and the sun hangs
just a few inches above the western horizon, Amiko stands on a rooftop in the market district of
Konoha. A cool breeze blows through the country, providing relief from heat of the day. She
watches as the crowds of people flow around the area like currents in the ocean, picking up
dinner or meeting friends or whatever other thing had brought them down to the markets.
Thankfully this year there hadn't been too much drama outside of the Exam areas. Amiko was
particularly glad about it every time she was put on guard duty, like this evening.
Yoshomaru was caught off guard entirely that he was summoned to…guard. He didn't
really feel up to it, and the bags were still under his eyes from earlier. Yosho had taken to a
rooftop himself near Amiko, crouching down in quietness. The tiny genin didn't look worried at
all, more or less he wasn't even looking too aware of what was happening around him. Was he
sleeping sitting up?
Yup.
Takara, Ren, and Mari have been enjoying the prosperous time that is the chuunin exams.
For people like them, traveling performers, with a penchant for genjutsu-enhanced thievery, such
gatherings of people provided an opportune time to make an incredible profit. The three had been
performing day in and day out, audience after audience, and eventually it just started to wear
them down. They were tired; their feet hurt from dancing, their muscles ached from acting, their
throats were sore from singing, and all-in-all, they were still ready to go. But, they were on
break!
The girls were taking some time to explore the marketplace for anything that might
interest them. They were dressed in matching patchwork skirts withmatching shawls and
headdresses made from brown burlap-like patches with thickly woven, bright colored stitches and
trim. Aside from the patchwork, they wore black, skintight, sleeveless tops to cover what their
shawls did not, and boots and dark stockings for comfort. Currently, they were busy chatting
among eachother as they purused trinket stalls, appraising items like the gypsies.
Hiroyasu wanders the streets, mostly just enjoying the freedom of not having to glance
over his shoulder, or into the trees, or in the ground.. His tattered robe still in disrepair
the chainmesh the only thing holding it together as he strolls by some vendor carts looking for
something sweet to eat.
Amiko watches as the triplets move around the crowd. She'd heard some rumours that there
had been some pilfering going on in the marketplace, and travelling performers were often the
culprits. Not that she had any reason to suspect the girls specifically. She leans forward over
the edge of the building to keep an eye on Mari, and just about loses her balance as the earth
shakes underneath her. ~What the heck was that?~ she thinks, as only her tree walking ability
stops her from toppling from the rooftop. A low rumble emits from the ground as it shakes again.
Thankfully Amiko is more prepared for it this time and maintains her balance. It looks like some
people on the ground haven't been so lucky though. With a loud crack a large sheet of corrugated
iron comes loose from a food stall, the wind picking it up and hurling it towards the crowd. Oh
no! That could do some damage. Meanwhile, a man seems to be having problems nearby. He was up a
ladder when the earthquake hit, and it looks like the ladder is about to fall backwards! Someone
save him!
Yoshomaru had actually been knocked off of his perch by the sudden quake. He was awake
and falling feet first while he noticed the old man falling. He grunts and lands hard…enough
to hurt his feet and knees before he takes off dashing towards the ladder in an attempt to grab
it, his hands reaching out to steady it…and if not, then at least catch the man.
He wasn't incapable.
The whole.. whatever was going on earthquake thing had caught the triplets off guard.
While Mari is busy clinging to the stall as if its frail structure might actually save her from
something, Takara and Ren look about, trying to find a source of what was going on. However,
instead of a source, they find that there is a piece of steel ripping from a building and
threatening to fly across the market, potentially hurting people! Takara's quick reaction time
spurs the other two into action, even the horribly frightened Mari, who all run out into the
center of the market and prepare to intercept it. As it approaches them, they move forward,
timing a pivoting kick that spins them backwards so they kick with the bottoms of their feet,
expelling blasts of chakra to hopefully stop it instead of getting rushed.
Oh of course you finally find someone with a sweet treat and the fluffly confection is
knocked out of your hand by the moving of the earth.. which this time was not caused by him..
Hiroyasu looks down at the treat covered in dirt, grime and who knows else but then the sound of
the falling metal he digs around in his robe having found a few seals in his hotel room hurls
one hoping it would reach the the group of people in time, the barrier is set to activate in a
dome should it make it on time.
Yoshomaru's grab at the falling ladder manages to halt its fall, at least for a moment.
The enormous leverage of the ladder, with its dead weight at top, works against him. With huge
strain he manages to lower it to the ground slowly enough that the man dismounts without
injurying himself too severely. Panting, the man from the ladder says to Yoshomaru, "Oh, thank
you young man. I was really lucky you were here!"
On the other side of the market the corrugated iron flies straight towards Takara, Ren
and Mari, its sharp edge looking rather dangerous. Just as the girls attempt to kick it out of
the way, Hiro's seal lands on the ground and creates a dome of power around them. The kick
strikes the inside of the dome, while the corrugated iron slams against the outside, sending
ripples of force over its surface. The iron then drops to the ground, safely brought down for
the moment being.
From atop the building Amiko blinks, watching as people scramble to protect themselves
from falling debris and ladders. "That's awfully… odd," she says to herself with a frown,
"Konoha isn't exactly known for earthquakes." As if summoned by her words, another rumble comes
through the ground, sounding closer to the surface this time. The tremor that comes with it is
even greater. Amiko's perch seems to dissolve underneath her as the rooftop caves in with the
shaking, and she plummets into the building. A large piece of cement rendering falls off another
building, endangering a group of people gathered under it. At the same time, it seems like the
earth in the centre of the marketplace is rising, tilting a couple of food stalls dangerously.
One of them is suddenly tipped, and begins a fall which will clearly endanger the life of the
vendor inside it.
Yoshomaru shakes his hands in pain, nodding at the man's thanks. He barely has enough
time to rest, he is on his side after this next tremor. He flails a moment before bouncing back
up onto his feet and looks around quickly…He stares right at the place where the ground is
rising up and leaps skyward…coming down full force onto the top of the mound in a hard bounce.
He lands beside one of the vendor stalls, his hands grabbing the falling side and pushes upward.
The sisters look to eachother. "Did you do that?" Rin inquires, askign Takara. "You'd
know if I did." She then steps forward and nudges the spent seal tag on the ground. Ren makes a
sort of "Ahh.." sound as she realizes what happened. As the second earthquake picks up and
begins collapsing buildings, the sisters move out of the way, trying to get to safety when they
realize that while there was a chance at stopping the steel plate, they could not stop falling
concrete.
Hiroyasu takes a moment to catch his breath before it happens all over again this time
more powerfully moving of the earth is felt.. it's odd he should feel any unusual jolts in
chakra or the area… but then he spots the chunk of concrete it didn't appear too large which
is good because his higher seals are in short supply having most of them been incerated by the
dragon's breath. He lets loose the seal which flies quickly over the people in harms way and the
sudden swirl of blue chakra in the shape of a flat shield, it concrete slams against it with a
thundering crack; it slowly buckles under the weight and force but it just barely holds itself
while they are allowed to flee.. he sighs wiping his face for a moment..
Amiko blacks out for a few moments after hitting the floor inside the building and being
buried by rubble. That was a really nasty shockwave! She coughs a few times as she feebly tries
to free herself from the cage of debris, pushing chunks of brick and concrete aside with
straining effort. "Ouch… ouch ouch," she says as she manages to extricate herself. She's
covered in dust and debris, and that fall's going to leave a few bruises.
Outside, the portion of ground that had risen up suddenly splits open and a person
climbs out of it. He's a shorty, standing at about 5 feet tall. He has flaming red hair, which
is partly covered by the hood of the fishnet bodysuit he's wearing. As he stands upright more of
his outfit is revealed. Over his chest is a metal breastplate, and he's wearing a pair of red
pants that match the colour of his hair. He frowns as he looks around the area. "This isn't the
Forest of Death!" he growls, scratching his hair. Although he isn't wearing a forehead
protector, he's obviously a shinobi. Probably a pretty bad one, considering the margin by which
he missed his destination.
Yoshomaru catches the falling stall just before it hits the ground. Although the man
inside is only shaken up, Yoshomaru suffers the worst of it. His speed managed to get him there
in time to suffer the worst of the impact. The man manages to climb out of the stall moments
later, rolling on to his back and puffing loudly, which gives Yoshomaru a chance to finally get
out from underneath it. Amiko blacks out for a few moments after hitting the floor inside the
building and being buried by rubble. That was a really nasty shockwave! She coughs a few times
as she feebly tries to free herself from the cage of debris, pushing chunks of brick and
concrete aside with straining effort. "Ouch… ouch ouch," she says as she manages to extricate
herself. She's covered in dust and debris, and that fall's going to leave a few bruises.
Outside, the portion of ground that had risen up suddenly splits open and a person
climbs out of it. He's a shorty, standing at about 5 feet tall. He has flaming red hair, which
is partly covered by the hood of the fishnet bodysuit he's wearing. As he stands upright more of
his outfit is revealed. Over his chest is a metal breastplate, and he's wearing a pair of red
pants that match the colour of his hair. He frowns as he looks around the area. "This isn't the
Forest of Death!" he growls, scratching his hair. Although he isn't wearing a forehead
protector, he's obviously a shinobi. Probably a pretty bad one, considering the margin by which
he missed his destination.
The appearance of the… strange shinobi is more than enough to confuse the Hatsune
sisters. Did he honestly get this far off in trying to find forest of death? He was…
practically miles away…. They shake their heads, wondering if anyone could be that bad… Or
perhaps he was trying to get there, as opposed to trying to stay in it… another thing to
contemplate! They do, however, realize that he has basically threatened the lives of many of the
villagers in the area with his carelessness, and Ren is about to point it out when Takara stops
her, figuring it best to not cause trouble with a shinobi who can create earthquakes.
Yoshomaru would grunt low under the pain of being almost flattened. He pushes himself
free and then looks towards the one who just crawled out of the earth. He frowns immediately,
and takes center stage as he steps up. He looks bruised and battered, and begins to crack his
knuckles and unbuckle his gloves.
"HEY! You could have killed someone!"
Two fingers find themselves to the bridge of his nose, and a sigh escapes his lips.. of
course it would this.. still odd he never detected their approaching chakra signature.. must
have been quickly. Hiroyasu looks around, he could have sworn there was chuunin around here a
moment ago.. of course it figures.. "No it is decidedly not… Who are you, and what business do
you have in the village proper?" he asks being the sacrificial goat in lieu of someone more
qualified.
The red-haired boy frowns at Hiro, his expression like a slightly contained snarl as
says, "Its none of your business! I can subvert the exams however I want!" Suddenly he seems to
realise that he's given away his intent, and slaps himself on the forehead. Its at this moment
that Amiko finally emerges from the front door of the shop she'd fallen into, looking rather the
worse-for-wear. She sighs as she approaches, having heard the boy's confession about trying to
subvert the exams. "Yeah, right, an unskilled shinobi like you could really subvert the exams
with a jutsu like that," she says, shaking her head in disbelief, "I can't decide if you were
trying to just give all the entrants a fright, or do something really stupid like smuggle in
fake scrolls." The boy blushes and turns around for a moment, looking incredibly embarassed,
then he spins back around and points a finger on each hand, one at Hiro and one at Amiko. "You
can't shame me like this! I'm the great and mighty Murasame Iwamaru!" he yells, and cackles
loudly, "And now I'm off to the Forest of Death. Bye!" He turns to jump back into his hole, and
Amiko charges in a blur of speed to block his path.
Yoshomaru's first instinct? Well, he almost used -that- jutsu until he remembered
Kasumi's threat. He growls…and buckles his gloves back on. He catches on immediately to what
he was supposed to do when a clear threat is spotted. He looks back at the others as Amiko has
already dove in.
"I'll get to the Forest of Death and alert the proctors that a possible threat is
incoming! If he gets away from you, at least we can stop him there!"
Yoshomaru immediately blurs and leaps, darting across the rooftops of Konoha in attempt
to just outrun the slacker attacker.
When Amiko rushes in to subdue the estranged shinobi, Takara nods to her sisters who
understand her meaning. They begin spreading out, Ren and Mari moving out to the sides while
Takara rushes up the center to help Amiko. The triplets were not combatants, and they knew it,
but at least they might be able to help out. Never hurt to boost public relations, and a bump or
bruise or two wouldnt hurt in that regards either, if it came to it. "We'll assist" She shouts
to Amiko as she moves up along side her to deter the shinobi.
Hiroyasu closes the distance, as Amiko charges at him.. he digs around in robe looking
for that seal, he knew had one or two left.. ah-ha! He didn't find it.. guess he didn't have any
more capture barriers.. He instead makes several hand seals and the rubble that he passes seems
to send small chunks with swirl around his hands. "Your jurisdiction Amiko, capture and
contain?" he asks with the orbits of debris swirling around his hands.
Landing in front of Iwamaru before he can re-enter the hole, Amiko smiles triumphantly.
Which looks rather comical considering she's all white and grey from the dust covering her. "Yes
please, Hiro-san," she says, and starts forming several handseals. Meanwhile Takara runs up to
support her, and Amiko says, "Thanks for the support! Can't let people damage the good
reputation of the Chuunin Exams!" She draws a small tag from her pouch, powering it with her
chakra and leaps forward in an attempt to place it on the intruding ninja.
Iwamaru looks shocked that someone managed to get in front of him so quickly. "How did
you…?" he asks, then jumps backwards away from Amiko as she tries to place the seal on him,
"Uh oh!" He looks around from side to side, trying to find a way to escape the mess he's got
himself into, and finding absolutely nothing. "You'll never take me alive!" he yells, trying to
form handseals but suddenly finding that his body isn't responding. Looking down, he realises he
wasn't fast enough, and the Northern Heavens Seal is sticking to his leg. "What… the heck?" he
asks out loud, dropping to his knees.
Moving backwards may have been a bad decision, because when he is dropped to his knees
by Amiko's seal, he is basically right there with Ren, who immediatly latches onto his arm and
drives her knee into his kidney, giving her the leverage needed to yank back on his arm and
restrain it, just as Mari moves in and repeates the meneuver, effectively chicken winging him.
Takara then steps forward slightly and looks back to Amiko. "He's all yours." She states with a
flourish of her hand and a slight bow.
Hiroyasu almost felt bad for this, no actually he did but it didn't change the fact that
this guy without some injuries would likely just escape to make more havoc. He has prepared the
jutsu in advanced and gathered more than enough debris for the barrage of bullets he was about
waylay into this the guy.. He holds out both hands extending his two fingers and the debris
begin to form little bullets which fly off his fingers in rapid succession. At a still target
missing was not likely but he took the time to aim for non-vital organs.. they wanted him for
questioning.
Iwamaru grunts in pain as first Ren, and the Mari plants knees into his sides. His
muscles try to wrench out of their grip unsuccessfully as he suddenly starts getting pounded
from behind by a spray of Earth Ninjutsu. Several of them deflect off his armor, but at least a
half dozen small spots of blood start appearing on his pants and fishnet bodysuit as he's
pincushioned by the attack. "Ahh, ok, ok," he grunts, "Maybe you'll take me alive." Amiko nods,
accepting the surrender, then takes a step forwards and punches him square in the nose. "That's
because you endangered lives," she says, looking down at the boy's now-broken nose. And then
whistles loudly, raising a hand and knowing that Konoha security forces can't be far off
considering the situation. Its only a few more seconds before a black-clad Konoha ninja bounces
down from a nearby rooftop and places a pair of sealed handcuffs around Iwamaru's wrists.
"Thanks," Amiko says, nodding to the ninja, then turning to look at the boy a little closer.
Opening his small pouch she finds a trio of fake scrolls and rolls her eyes. "As if that'd ever
have worked," she mutters, shaking her head in disgust, "Even if they hadn't HEARD you enter the
Forest of Death, which they would have, the examiners can tell a fake scroll when they see one."
Then she looks over to the sisters and Hiro, and bows respectfully. "Thank you very much for
your help in apprehending this… fool, and saving the lives of some very grateful citizens" she
says, "I'm going to have to go fill out some paperwork on this, but I owe you one. Any time you
need my help, just let me know. I don't let debts go unpaid."
