Starring:
Date: August 18, 2016
Summary:
A group of friends scout a trail, and they run into something a bit over their heads…
"Fujikujo Bloodlines - Massacre of the Innocents"
Land of Earth - Spike Rock
It was not that Akio, Kaneko(Maybe) and Hotaru were this far from the village without escort, but said escort was far ahead scouting the path they would take towards the Land of Waterfalls for a short business trip involving medicinal herbs found only in that area. Important for hotsprings soaking, something that Hotaru felt would be a lovely start to beginning her own business just as her father started with a mining company. On their trip around the more safe parts of the mountain pathways, Akio and Hotaru have stopped at a national treasure. A place known as Spike Rock. To the Brown House Watanabe, this rock formation has a slight legend behind it. One that Hotaru seems to talk to Akio about.
She herself was sitting cross-legged on a flat rock that holds a great view of the spike rock. Her entire body was currently cloaked with a blue cape she has bundled around her form, with the rusty-red cane, made from Murasame steel, that she often uses to assist her walking. Her golden eyes completely contracted, and looking rather lizard-like. "We call this the Dragon's Claw, Akio. It is a landmark well known to the Hachiman, or the Brown House of our clan. They say that one of the most powerful Watanabe to ever achieve true enlightenment fought here, being a dragon of such immense size that their very claws could rend mountains. They said this is a petrified claw of our ancient ancestor. Fairytales, of course. There are three branches of the Watanabe clan, Akio. The Hachiman, or Brown house like that of my father is dominant throughout the Land of Earth, Claw, Fang, and Wind. The Black House of the Watanabe, or the Fukurokuju is most prominent in the Land of Waterfalls, Iron, Fire, Rice, and Hotsprings. The Dosojin, the Orange House, are most common in the Lands of Lightning, Frost, Water, and Tea." Hotaru was lecturing, in a voice that was almost completely monotone. "The Dosojin are the greatest of traders, and are more sea-worthy." Hotaru leans her head against the top of her cane as she takes a deep breath. "Gomen-nasai. I have chatted your ear off, have I not? To the outside, we are all just 'Watanabe'. I just wanted you to know the complexity, Akio-kun, before we enter the Land of Waterfalls."
Kaneko is present, of course. It is a fact that she is close friends with Akio, girlfriend to Hotaru, and someone who has (self-)appointed herself as guardian of both. The girl is keeping a careful eye out for any dangers along the route they happen to be exploring. As she makes her way down the road, Kaneko would listen silently as Hotaru explains some interesting legend to Akio. It was one that she had heard before, given just how close she and the little dragon were, so she didn't give it her full attention. Also, she wanted to give Akio and Hotaru some time to chat. She felt, personally, that Akio hadn't spent enough time with Hotaru. Maybe it would lessen the jealousy the little lizard felt, too.
Akio was here and listening to Hotaru. The thing is he seemed completely interested in what she was saying surprisingly enough. "Mhmm." He looked at it and nods a bit. "I see." His eyes shifted a bit as he looked at the claw thing.. "So you are officially part of which one then? This always confuses me because yeah I just really know you as a Watanabe." He frowned. "Sorry Hotaru." He chucked lighty. "And I don't mind your talking. I am actually very interested." He smiled towards her. Kaneko was being awfully quiet, but surely she spoke here and there and just let Hotaru say most things.
The Iwa nin were not in the woman's focus at the moment. As Hotaru chattered on and on they might feel the light footsteps several yards away near the small stream that ran past the gathered nin further down closer to the waterfall. Hotaru would sense an agitated and rather odd.. not something she would have sensed before, but it might be chilling or have a scent of danger. And then the stream, usually clear and pristine… began to run red…..
"… I don't know. My mother was Fukurokujo. My father was Hachiman." Poor little mixed up baby. "… … I suppose it's not important. Come, let's go head over to the spire, Akio. Kaneko." She would slowly attempt to stand, slowly. Her body trembled as she struggled to get to her feet, but once she did she could breathe easy. For a few moments, before a strange feeling overcame her. "Odd… What is that? I feel… I feel someone close by." Perhaps nothing familiar, for the last time she met Akane was under a different sort of circumstance. "Someone is nearby, someone who gives me a creepy feeling." The Monotone lizard's eyes look about, but from her current position, she could not get a visual. Perhaps a rock blocked her vision.
Kaneko would continue to look around carefully, and she would notice that the stream was red with blood. It sent a thrill of fear down her spine, and she forced herself to look around for the source despite her unhappy-feeling. she nods a bit to Hotaru's comment, but she doesn't act, really… Kaneko was still pretty quiet about this, too… perhaps it was because she was frozen from the fear? No, that wasn't it. She was just being very serious for once. Perhaps because she couldn't help but wonder if this was the doing of the Murasame… the evil ones. She quickly shooed the thought from her mind, though. If they were going to strike, they wouldn't do it so that she and Akio had their guard up … Right?
Because of where they were Akio also had some attention paid to the vibrations in the earth… Meaning of course that he spotted some slight movements. "Hmm." He gave a quick nod to Hotaru on both subjects before looking over. He started to move towards it because he was of course an idiot at times. When he spotted the stream that was turning red.. Well he just stared wide eyed for a moment. "Uhhh." He stared at the woman there and more chakra was focused just in case. "Hello. You alright?" He asked of her. If this is who Hotaru sense though… Hmmm. "What's going on?" He asked. Had to be sure.
The woman was wearing a grey flak jacket and had brown hair, a wolf mask on her face with a leaf symbol, and a straight tanto on her back. She even bore the tattoo onthe shoulder of the Konoha ANBU… but she had plenty of blood on her as well. Hotaru would not sense the typical emotional trauma associated with injuries so… perhaps it was not all her blood. She stood, swiping her hands off on her black pants and peered at the two. Her voice was low, honey-sweet but dripping with poison at the same time…. Almost a hiss and certainly strange. "Have I come this close to your lands? Keke…. Oopsie."
As Akio becomes more and more sure of what he had stumbled upon, the sounds of Hotaru's cane plinking upon the ground come further and further forward. "Sou. I see. There was someone here after all." Someone whose presence became more and more poisonous as the moments pass. "Someone with terrible intentions?" Hotaru said as she waved her free-hand in a wide ark, slipping the left side of her cape behind her shoulder and letting the right cover her cane-held hand. "Please, make us aware of your purpose… Is that… The Symbol of Konohagakure?" Hotaru said as she prepared her free hand for seals, eyes narrowing slightly. "Why is a Konoha shinobi here?"
COMBAT: Hotaru focuses 3017 stamina to turn it into 4000 usable chakra!
Kaneko would stand up and she had followed Akio for the most part. If need be, she also carried Hotaru until they reached the apparent ANBU person. Kaneko would narrow her eyes a bit at Akane, considering her. "Who are you?" she asks. "And why are you here?" Her tone was calm, the girl trying to keep any note of suspicion from her voice. At her side is a sword. On her back is a coil of metal. But that's all she has on her as weaponry.
Akio frowned a bit and shook his head at Hotaru. "Shut it. If they do have terrible intentions I doubt it will be good to make it known we are thinking of it." His voice went dark quick. What if this was just a spy for the Murasame huh? Even in Konoha clothing what if that was possible? "What happened here if you don't mind us asking? And either way.. You are a long way from home if you are a Konoha shinobi." He said. "Mind telling us why you are so far from home?"
The ANBU turned to face them and shook her head. "I lost track of where I was clearly. Though I did have to chase them into the Land of Earth.. it was most annoying. But everything is fine now." She patted her hip pouch, attached to which was a smallish vial with at least 2 pair of eyes in some kind o green fluid. "Was the stream sacred? I just needed to wash my hands. removing eyes is tedious. And messy."
She turned more square to face them. "Or does Iwa think it can stop Konoha from conducting our business? You three should run along before you get hurt." She grinned and behind the wolf mask was a glowing crimson color in shadow…. She was gathering chakra too, though she had already had some available. She lifted the bottom of the mask for a second long enough to lick the blood off her finger. "Silly people…"
COMBAT: Akane focuses 8142 stamina to turn it into 10000 usable chakra!
Hotaru would glare at Akio. "… Hai. I will… 'Shut it'." Letting Akio get caught off guard because he cannot tell if someone has killing intent or not because she kept it to herself will be his future reward. Then she can save him and feel good about herself. In the meantime, she felt a compelling reason to try to avoid conflict. She could feel a heavy chakra spike. A strange kind of chakra too, unfamiliar to her in any way… "… While it is true that you are conducting your own business, you are conducting it in the Land of Earth." Hotaru looked down the stream a ways, off towards the Land of Claw, likely. "… The border is not far. If you walk, you should make it there in fifteen minutes. Would you like an escort, Konoha-san?" Hotaru was trying to be diplomatic, but of course given her monotonous tone with the Black House air of Superiority it must have come out as pretentious. It was clear they were not going to identify themselves.
Kaneko would frown slightly. "The stream was not sacred. Next time you must enter the Land of Earth, please send warning. We don't want to accidentally harm a potential ally," Kaneko says evenly. She hopes the ANBU person chooses not to attack, but there was something disturbing about her. It wasn't a sense she would normally get from what she was told was a peaceful place. Kaneko glances to Hotaru and would nod. "Hai. If you would like an escort back to the border, we're happy to assist."
COMBAT: Kaneko focuses 1830 stamina to turn it into 2500 usable chakra!
Akio looked at Hotaru first and just nods. By the way he knew what killing intent was and would really frown at Hotaru if she spoke on how he didn't. He grew up literally around killing intent. He has had it plenty of times himself to keep himself alive. "Indeed. You are in the Land of Earth. So it makes us question what buisness led you hear is all. But of course we can't very well keep you here without cause and we don't know of anything that would give us reason to think you hostile to us." He paused. "If you want an escort we will of course lead you onwards. It isn't neccesary though if not." He added.
COMBAT: Akio focuses 4238 stamina to turn it into 5000 usable chakra!
The ANBU tilted her head and chuckled. "Are you threatening me? Over less than five miles? You must be joking." She canted a hip then with a flick of a hand produced a smallish book, paging through it a few moments. "Ah but you see I have another target. Perhaps you can assist in that way?" Her tone shifted slightly as if actually honestly asking for help locating a criminal. She stepped closer and held up the bookfor Akio to see.
The woman pictured had black hair and black eyes, not uncommon, but she wore a pink furusode and bore the facial tattoos like a Kaguya might. her stats were high, her crime sheetapparently long.. last known whereabouts? Pretty close to Iwagakure, though probably out of range of their sensors still. "She calls herself Yakino Hanako. She killed and tortured for the Silence and now we're taking her out before she can help the Storm Brigade."
Hotaru would have to defer. She, like anyone put into this situation, was worried and stressed. Her order meant nothing here, but Kaneko's did. Kaneko was the acting Chuunin, actually. Her call determined what would happen. "… Sou… You are not done in our land. Perhaps it would be a good idea to escort the woman towards her target. I will allow whatever you wish, Kaneko-chan. I made sure we left early enough that we'd get to my destination in time if we were side-tracked." Hotaru raised her cane and tapped it against the ground.
"Just a friendly warning," Kaneko says evenly, having a feeling that this woman was someone she didn't wanna mess with. When Akane pulls out a book and shows it to Akio, the girl would glance at him with a raised brow. Then she would attempt to look at it herself. "… I don't think we can participate in this venture. Your target is… a bit strong for us three… You are free to come to Iwagakure and file a report if you desire backup from our shinobi, though," she would offer.
Akio looked at Hotaru and shook his head. "We are not in the right to choose this for ourselves. Especially if we can get the Kage to direct official and more helpful help. Also… We are officially escorting you so would it make sense for us to do that? If you want to protect our land so much then maybe you should reinstate." He said with a slight smile. "Your legs first though… We really do need to fix those for good." He sighed and seemed a bit sad. Either way he just gave a nod to let Kaneko handle it.
The ANBU turned the book toward Kaneko to let her look too. Then once everyone got their glance, she slid it back into it's pouch. She tited her wolf-masked head a bit "Why would you think I need backup?" Listening to these guys made her slowly shake her head as if she was dealing with the most irrational people. "I don't need an escort but if you want to tag along to watch that's up to you." And she turned and began walking, clearly headed for her target….
Hotaru slowly walked up to Kaneko, placing her free hand upon Kaneko's shoulder. "You and Akio speak wisdom, Kaneko-chan. This sort of work is not what I paid for, and I'd rather not risk either of you. Let's return to Iwagakure quickly so we can get back onto the road and to my destination in time if need be…" Hotaru hissed a little as she stepped back. "Sorry for interrupting you, Konoha-san… Have a nice day…" Hotaru would start walking off… Slowly… in a crippled fashion.
Kaneko was very curious what the Konoha shinobi was doing here. She would have followed her, even, but there were several things to keep in mind. One: two Genin and a newly promoted Chuunin would not do well. Two: Hotaru's condition. And three: … Well, the player can't think of a third one right now, but suffice to say it's a good reason to not follow Akane. Kaneko would glance at Hotaru and nod a bit. "Hai… We should go. And report this to Rune-sama-dono," she says. She would then glance to Akio, looking a bit worried. Was the Konoha ninja a part of the Murasame rebels at all? She wasn't sure… Maybe he'd recognize her if she was though. Regardless, she would gesture for the three to head back to Iwa so they can report this incident.
Akio just nods to both of them before walking over to Hotaru in particular. "You aren't a risk to us. Don't worry. But yeah lets go." He then turned to Kaneko. The worried look had him give her an uncertain shake of the head. "But yeah. Lets go. I am sure not much will come of this though if everything checks out for our own bingo books." He said before poking Hotaru. "I feel sad seeing you slump along.. You want me to carry you?" He offered. He paid no attention now to the 'Konoha' shinobi.
A second later the anbu blinked out of existence, headed inthe general area of where she said she would be hunting. By the time the Iwa-nin would get back, they would be met bya villager who was /extremely/ distraught. he barely managed to be understandable. He claimed that a woman in a wolf mask and glowing red eyes not only attacked a woman in town.. but laid waste to her land with high temperature flames. But he couldn't get the whole story out he just pointed "THAT WAY!!!"
Once upon the scene… it would be plain that the ANBU had been excessive. the house still burned, the cattle slaughtered, the dead woman had no eyes and was basicly burned to death. Then there was 3 of the woman's children, throats slit and eyes gone…. One child seemedto be missing but it was impossible to know what had actually hapened….
