Starring:
Rockpath (emitter), Kaido
Date: March 21, 2015
Summary:
Kaido has been itching to go on a mission now that he’s allowed out of the village, so he and Masa end up tag-teaming to take down some bandits that decided to try and put a tourist village under siege.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"FUN Blocks"
Land of Fire
Konohagakure, often known as one of the more 'peace-loving' villages filled with 'tree-huggers', is experiencing a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Kaido actually gets to go on a mission! He might actually remember the man he's with, too, as it's completely and totally possible that Kanabe Masakunio was in Kaido's graduating class. Masa is just chilling by the front gates as he waits for the Inuzuka to join. Masa remembers vaguely that Kaido had his ninken, Bandit, taken away for a time, the man always trying to keep up with the latest town gossip. He might be a bit behind, though. And it's likely that Kaido knows of Masa's past. How he couldn't use chakra at all. That he took a long journey to learn kenjutsu. Etc. etc.
Kaido comes in with two nin-ken now, one happens to be a /mostly/ silent and broody Bandit (American Beagle), and a happy-go-lucky and yappy Bolt (Aleutian Malamute). Kaido himself seems to be quite excited at the prospect of a mission, it's been a while since he last left the village (almost 4 IC months to be precise) since his punishment began. He shoulders his pack and glances at Masa and says, "Yo Masa-kun… been a while, what's cooking?" Bolt yips and runs over to quickly sniff Masa and yips at him for attention (and maybe treats) while Bandit just grunts a disinterested, "Yo." as he waits for things to start.
Masa grins and gives a salute to Kaido. "Hey, you tw- three. Dang, Kaido, when'd you get another one?" he asks, looking surprised at Bolt. The man does like dogs, though, so when Bolt comes over for some attention, he kneels down to give the pup a few scratches behind his ear. "Good to see you guys. Anyway, we can catch up while we move. Today, we gotta go help out at a town. Kinda grunt work, but it's worth helping out. I hear they also have a bit of bandit trouble that we might be able to sink our teeth into." He grins a bit, seeming almost too happy at the idea of fighting. "SO! Let's get a move on, dude. And update me on all that goes on with you since we last spoke. It feels like ages ago we were in class together." It was..
Bolt happily wags his tail and licks Masa's hand and follows along beside Masa a bit before trotting back to Kaido's left side. This is in contrast to Bandit, who as you remember from school was even then a super pervert, who now is dour and serious and almost seems… unhinged maybe? Certainly he's not the same dog he once was and you've had heard rumors that the Beta Clan had him neutered and deprogrammed psychologically. He walks on Kaido's right side, glancing at Kaido for a moment balefully, before his expression blanks and resumes looking forwards.
Kaido on the other hand shrugs as they walk along the road towards the town they're going to help out and says, "Eh, I rose, fell, got into a few scraps here and there, compromised the Hokage's fiancee (completely by accident mind you), had to get out of Konoha quick before the Hokage killed me, went to Kumo on an exchange program… fell in love with a girl there, tried to stay when the Silence declared war on the Villages, threatened to defect from the clan to be a Kumo-nin, got recalled and put on trial and punished with a death sentence, had it suspended and was demoted, pay docked and stuck in the village unless it's an approved mission… the usual." He says this all blase-like, and Bandit just snorts, almost disgustedly and flashes Kaido a look of pure disdain. Yep, Bandit sure isn't happy with his partner, but their teamwork still is the same… the dynamic just is quite different.
Masa hmms and nods. "Ah, I see. Yeah, I heard all about that, though only the bits and pieces. Dang, man, you either have some guts or you were just being an idiot when you asked to join Kumo, hahah." He means this all in a good way, honest… The man continues along the path, the journey not taking long enough to warrant horses. Though he does take to jogging so that they're all warmed up by the time they reach their destination. "So, then… You've got a new partner, yeah? How's the training for him going? I know you Inuzuka can be pretty particular about training and partnering and the like." Just some friendly conversation while they move along!
Kaido shrugs and smiles at Bolt, who yips in Inuzuka language that he's going to be a better partner than Bandit! Bandit just glances at Bolt and smirks and says, "Sure pup, not in THIS lifetime…" So at least some of Bandit's humor is still there. Kaido then says, "It's going to take a few years before Bolt and my teamwork is near the same level as Bandit's and I. Once that's accomplished and I've learned as much as I can of the Four Legged Style, then I'm going to work on trio attacks and teamwork." To Masa commenting about whether he had guts or being an idiot, he just let's it drift off in the wind, he knows Masa is just being Masa. He continues, "But Bolt's trained enough that he's not going to be a liability, so right now that's good enough."
Masa feels like he stepped over a line he shouldn't've, so he just nods. "Cool, cool. I remember you were like my complete opposite in terms of skills back then, so I'm gonna look forward to seeing you in action." He offers a grin, but will likely drop conversation unless Kaido continues it. And eventually he would find that silence too awkward and start talking about his own adventures.
Eventually they get to the village, and a few of the villagers even recognize the people making the team up. From their genin years… Especially the village elder. "Oh, Kai-kun! It's good to see you. And Bandit, too," says the village elder, a smaller woman looking to be in her early forties. "That pup is new, though." Man, people can't get over Kaido having two nin-ken, can they? "And Masa-kun, too. You've grown up quite a bit. I can't believe you've managed to get your hands on a broadsword, let along wield it." As a note, Masa used to be tall and scrawny. He's bulked up, though. "I guess you two are going to be helping the village again?" asks the elder, who they would remember is called Misao.
Kaido just raises an eyebrow and grins, "Oh… we'll see alright… can you handle that big lego sword you're carrying around… don't you worry your bald head about me." He jokes and noogies Masa lightly on the head before they end up arriving at the town. Bolt immediately tries to be the center of attention, he's really cute and he uses it to full effect (something that Bandit used to do, but for far more… perverted reasons). Bandit when addressed looks at the Elder and says, "Yo! Long time no see Old Man!" Kaido just chuckles, "Yeah, I decided to take on another partner… If my Clan Elder can handle two, so should I… besides, it gives me lots more options in a fight. How's it going Misao-ojiisan? Masa and I heard you need some help with something?" He glances around, nodding to the villagers with a smile, gauging what the town's like from the expressions on the villagers.
Masa 'owns' when he's noogied, flailing to fix his hair. "I'm not bald!" he grumbles. "I just have… thin hair." Yeah, that's it. There's no bald patch on the back of his head at all. The elder pets Bolt, too, always friendly. "Indeed. There are some bandits on the outskirts of town, I'm afraid, and they're driving away our customers." This town in the Land of Fire is known for its hot springs, after all. No customers means the village doesn't prosper! "And they make these terrible threats about taking over the town. Now, they're hideout is actually very obvious, so they aren't very difficult to beat. Just give them a small scare and everything should be fine."
Masa nods a bit. "Sounds pretty easy, yeah, Kaido? Just point us in the direction you found those guys, and we'll take it from there." Kaido's evaluation of the village would show to him that not too many seem fond of Masa, though they are right now very unhappy that there are so few people using their services. Seriously, how the heck are they going to make a living out of an empty town?
Kaido whistles and Bolt comes back to him and he raises an eyebrow at the fact that the village isn't too fond of Masa. He nods when Masa addresses him, "Yeah, if they're not being subtle at all, they probably aren't that much of a threat. Still, I think we should recon before we charge in, I'd like to make sure we aren't going to be walking into something more than just some dumb bandits." He looks down at his nin-ken, "Bandit, take Bolt and check out the hideout… try not to let yourselves get seen but let us know what we're up against." Bolt manages an approximation of a salute and Bandit just yawns and says, "SOP, aye aye Generalissmo Kaido!" Bandit clicks his paws together and duck walks off and Kaido just shakes his head and mutters, "Something's seriously wrong with that dog…"
Masa may not be popular with some of the villagers, but he's trying to be friendly! The man may have caused some issues when he was younger… Let's just say that trying to train chakra when you have none results in trouble. And trying to train with a real sword on customers is largely frowned upon. "Maybe he'll get over it soon," Masa offers, even as Misao smiles and thanks the ninken, pointing them in the right direction. Then she offers them some tea while they wait, if they don't feel like standing around.
Bandit and Bolt would easily discover the hideout, actually. They had a fire blazing, meat from wild game cooking, and quite a few traps laying about as they waited for more food to come to them. "Boss, you really gotta stop with these sieges. They're /boring/," complains one. "Yes, yes. But we don't have a choice. We're trappers, and the travelers here are easy to rob. We can go terrorize another town when the pickings here get slim." "They /are/ slim!" Four or Five men live there, it seems.
Bolt thinks this is a bit of a lark and so tries to be James Bond (the nin-ken version) as he crawls on his belly, from bush to bush. Bandit just rolls his eyes and facepaws and mutters about pups and their stupidity, as well as humans and their stupidity, judging from how these 5 are. Bandit keeps one eye on Bolt who is trying to act super cool as Bandit with the experience and knowledge tries to mark all the traps and judge how competent the group really is and if they'll pose a threat (if any).
The bandits have strength in numbers and really are meant for things like trapping plain ol' civilians. Two Chuunin-level shinobi should be able to take care of them easy! Bandit, observant as he's being, would notice 10 traps. Some of them were clearly meant for food, but a few were made of wires and had knives or logs attached to the ends. And there may be a pitfall, too… Who knows! Bolt, with his epic spy actions, would find himself heading right towards that pitfall if he's not careful!
Bandit notices this and hisses, "Pup! Use your nose! Don't be nose dead like those stupid humans over there." Bolt would look back at Bandit with an injured look, but then would dutifully put his nose down and discover the pitfall and blink and back away slowly. Bandit would make a mental map of all the traps and then would come over and lead Bolt away so that he doesn't accidentally set any off. Bandit (once the two are out of earshot of the bandits) would say to Bolt, "You're careless! You could have alerted those idiots and gotten yourself hurt or worse!" Bandit would smack Bolt on the back of the head making the pup yelp and whimpers at Bandit, "Oh? You think I'm being mean? I'm trying to keep you alive! Now shape up pup! When we get back it's my special nin-ken boot camp for you." Bolt hangs head and Bandit says, "C'mon… we got to get back and let Kaido and Masa know that these rubes are no trouble."
When they arrive back at the town, Bandit immediately says to Kaido and Masa, "The hideout's in plain sight, they've got a fire going and you can hear them a mile away. They've got traps set up, mostly for food, but with the way they're practically shouting they're gonna be hungry for a loooooong time. They call themselves trappers, but even a child could make a more inventive and practical and effective trap then they could. We can lead you through their picket line and you two should be able to take them down easy. We didn't smell or sense anyone else, and if there are, they're well-hidden."
Kaido nods and looks at Masa, "Ready for a little action Masa-kun?" He grins, checking to make sure all his supplies in the hidden pockets and compartments of his vest are there and at hand.
Masa grins a bit. "Sounds like an easy job. Dunno why they chose us to do this, but… Lead the way, you two." Masa offers a bow to Misao, the woman noting that they shouldn't get carried away as they leave. Masa coughs and just nods, drawing his broadsword to make sure he doesn't have to waste time with the whole darn trying to ready himself. "Right, right. Got it!" he calls over his shoulder.
Bandit nods and Bolt and Bandit lead Kaido and Masa through the traps to where the group is. Kaido stops to take a look around and then hisses under his breath to Masa, "Let's try not and get too crazy… I'll toss one of my knockout gas grenades into their midst and whoever isn't disabled, let's try and not kill them, I call it a win if we can drag them back tied to the town for them to do with as they please." He eyes Masa and his huge lego sword, "If you're anything like you were back in our Academy days, we'll be searching for body parts for days."
Masa follows along after Bandit and Bolt, keeping low and hidden as possible as he takes a look at the people putting the town under siege. "Tch… Taking all the fun out, Kaido," he grumbles good-naturedly. He unstraps his broadsword, though, placing it down once he's sure there's no traps, bringing out a smaller weapon to use against them. "This might work a bit better, yeah? Just toss the grenade when you want and I'll go in."
The bandits themselves are much like how the Ninken found them. Still milling around their camp not expecting any attacks. Oblivious. "Hnn… We should probably do a patrol soon, just to make sure nothing's come up, right boss?" asks one man who is sometimes smart. "Nah… What's the worst that can happen, anyway? They don't have weapons in that town! Hahaha!!"
Kaido just gives Masa a LOOK and then motions for Bandit and Bolt to screen Masa and him and provide cover if necessary (not that Kaido (or the nin-ken for that matter) feels like that's going to be a thing). Kaido reaches into his vest pulls out a poison stun gas grenade and offers a small breathing mask to Masa if he wants it. Kaido's used to his own concotions so he doesn't need it. He waits until the bandits have their attentions fixed away from where he and Masa are and then pulls the pin, waits a couple seconds and then tosses it perfectly right in the middle of them. The second it lands it belches out knockout gas, permeating the area in moments. Kaido waits for 10 seconds and then leaps out quickly covering the distance to where the bandits where, chakram out in case they're needed.
The guys don't expect the grenade to go off… And many of them succumb to the effects of the poison. A bit of yelling before they go down, and then all that's left is some pitiful guy drawing his weapon and looking around the area. Oddly, he wasn't affected at all. Someone must have poisoned him one too many times in the past or something! Or he just has a natural immunity. Regardless, that one guy is just standing there watching his comrades pass out one by one. "Guys? Hey… Wake up!" When the going gets tough, it seems the tough pass out…
Masa takes the gas mask, putting it on quickly to make sure he isn't asleep. Who wants to miss the action? He springs out the moment the grenade hits, sword at the ready for any that are still away. Hearing one, his eyes narrow and he immediately focuses in on the lone figure. What he notices: he's armed, he's looking ready for a fight, and he's a known bad guy. Masa doesn't show much hesitation in giving the man a deep sword cut to the legs, looking ready to slash at the other guy's limbs. Poor bandit didn't even see it coming, since his back was turned.
Kaido makes hand signals to Bandit and Bolt to circle around the area and search for anyone who might have been hidden or have gotten away and pulls out a spool of tripwire. He lets Masa have his fun with the last remaining bandit and makes sure the ones who are asleep are tied up and not able to fight back. He waits for Masa to finish disabling the last bandit and Kaido puts on his scariest expression (and being an Inuzuka with fangs, that's easily done) and roars into the man's face, "Is that all of you? Where's the rest of your men! I'll have my friend here cut off your privates and feed them to you RAW if you don't tell me! Where are the things you stole from the town? TALK!"
Masa drags the man over, plopping him down as he lets out a strangled groan from the pain of having one of his limbs almost cut off. At least, that's what it felt like. Masa is a bit stronger that he thought… "Th-there's no one else!" he manages to squeak out, eyes wide in fear thanks to the scary Inuzuka getting right in his face. "Honest! Just lemme go, please!" he begs.
Masa just lets Kaido do the talking, preferring to wield his smaller sword and look threatening. Two shinobi is… pretty scary… Especially when they're both armed and ready to cut a man's best features off.
Kaido snaps his fingers dramatically and gives a smirk, "I don't believe you… I think you're lying to me!" He puts the edge of his sharp chakram to the man's tummy and says, "Have you ever seen what your intestines look like…. want to feel how warm and slippery they are? Just a nice long cut…" Here he draw the edge over the bandit's skin, drawing blood and says, "And they'll be on the ground… Now… tell me again… WHERE ARE THE REST OF YOUR GANG?!?!" He's fairly sure the bandit is the last, since Bandit and Bolt would have immediately warned Masa and him if he wasn't, but, best to make sure.
"N-n-no!!! There's only me, I sw-AAAAHHH!" Apparently he thought Kaido really was going to cut out his entrails. Phew, just a scratch. His relief doesn't last long as Masa puts his sword point to the man's throat. "So that's all, huh? Guess that means we're done here, man," he says to Kaido, giving him a glance. Should Kaido agree, he would try to kill the bandit by pressing that sword just a little further so it pierced his throat.
Kaido shrugs and says, "Yeah looks like it… ok, let's dispose of him and take the rest of this trash to be disposed of back at the village… we'll let these 3 sleeping 'beauties' have some sort of trial and then hanging…" He pauses and tilts his head and thinks, "Or was it boiled alive in a cauldron? Or burned at the stake?" He shakes his head and clicks his tongue, "I never can remember with some of these places…" He then slowly gets a grin, "Or maybe…" He looks at Masa and says, "I owe my partners some fun too… how about we have a race? You and Bandit and Bolt… whichever gets him first can have the kill, what do you say?"
Well, too late. Masa already killed this guy… "Hmm… Well, we might need to pick out another target for that. But the one guy over there is waking up, by the looks of it," he notes, pointing to one of the four guys who were downed by the poison gas. "Make him run. And have Bolt and Bandit chase him if you really want," Masa says, trying to ignore the bloodlust that's starting to rise up inside him.
Kaido makes a face then, "You weren't supposed to kill him…" he shrugs then and says, "Anyways… Let's get them back to the village, I don't know about you, but this was thirsty work, and I could use a nice bottle of warm sake right about now." He turns and kicks the 3 tied up bandits to wake up, "Get up you miserable excuses for bandits, you're being brought to the town hall for justice. NOW MOVE IT!" With that, he give them all a shove towards the village.
Masa coughs and shrugs. "Well, it was gonna happen, like it or not." He moves over to the fourth bandit that was still alive and unconscious, hefting him up like it was nothing. He also dragged over the dead man's body. "Let's get going," he says. The bandits that were caught scramble to their feet as best they could as they're tied up, heading towards the village quickly. If any of them planned to run away before, they sure as heck aren't going to try now!
When they get back to the village, most of the people are in their houses for one reason or another. Whether that be because it's dinnertime or because they're all asleep is a wonder to probably all, since it was still light enough that it'd be hard to see if the lights are on inside. The village elder looks between the sorry excuse for bandits, then at Kaido and Masa. "Well, well… You two did a fine job," she says dryly, eyes pointedly on Masa, who is somehow able to drag two bodies while still carrying his huge sword. "We'll take care of these four from here… And the body… Your payment will be sent to Konoha," she says with a grim smile. She's not looking forward to dealing with the body…
Kaido says, "Oh, no worries about the body… I'll take care of it… you might however… want to look away for about 2 minutes…" He glances at Masa, "Drop the body and step away." Bandit and Bolt make a face and also turn away, this is something they can't really watch. Kaido pulls out a glass tube of black liquid and carefully, once Masa has dropped the body and stepped away, pours the liquid all over the body, careful not to spill any on himself. Immediately the mixture starts to eat away at the clothes and body of the bandit, dissolving it (it leaves a really nauseating stink in the air, until a couple of minutes later, all that's left is a few bits of metal and scraps of cloth that Kaido buries in the dirt and says, "There… problem solved."
Masa blinks and sets the body down, letting Kaido do what he does. He doesn't turn away, though the village elder certainly does! A low impressed whistle escapes the swordsman as he says, "Man, you really got to know yer stuff, Kaido. I gotta watch out for you, it seems." He laughs a bit. "Hopefully I don't have to go down by your hand." Then he glances to the village elder, who looked back when Kaido gave the 'okay' sign. "Ah… Thank you for your assistance," she tells the two. "You can take them to the jail, then… Far east side of town, mind." Then she shuffles away, leaving the Konoha-nin near the gates.
Kaido shrugs as they lead the prisoners to the jail and says, "It's good when you're out in the field and you don't want a body left for someone to stumble on if you're needing to be stealthy." He admits, "Besides, it's not as practical as it seems, I have to keep it in a special pocket in a vial that's shatterproof or else I'll be dead in seconds if it gets on me." Once the bandits are locked in, he looks at Masa, "Shall we head back to Konoha or shall we hit the sake bar and drink to old times?"
Masa nudges or tosses the guys into the jail, slamming the door once they're all snug as bugs. "Hmm… Sake bar. I could use a bit of fun after that mission," he replies. And it might help him relax and get that will to kill out… "This town's built for relaxing, too, so they probably have some real good stuff where the jail /isn't/ at. Hehe.. Drink to old and catch up on some things. Sounds like a great plan!" The man claps Kaido on the back and leads him off if Kaido doesn't get ahead first.
