Starring:
Date: April 30, 2013
Summary:
Yamamoto leads Hiroyasu and Hiei on a C-ranked mission to capture a lemon-bug feeder, a kind of giant wasp found in the Miati Forest.
"Get the Lemon-Bug"
Miati Forest - Dense Forest
Miati Forest - Dense Forest [Land of Fire]
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Hardly any direct sunlight makes its way through the hardwood forest canopy here. The leaf-covered ground is strewn here and there with exposed roots and fallen limbs, some being exposed by the briefly appearing direct sunlight as it sometimes finds its way through the overgrown covering of forest canopy. Occasional flowering vines are seen growing up and down old, and dead tress, and as the path winds on it splits, leading toward a rare opening, and another path now heading toward a slightly more open area and the start of growing grass.
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Hiroyasu
The shinobi you see before you stands at 5'1 with tanned skill and a slim body type. Perhaps the most outstanding thing one might notice upon looking at him is the fact that his head is completely bald. Green eyes peer out behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses upon a boyish face. There is a tattoo of a lotus blossom on his left shoulder, and while he is on the skinny side, he is not to the point of looking sickly.
This youth is dressed simply. On his head is the ever-present forehead protector that displays that he is a ninja of the Land of Lightning. His ears are pierced with a set of small gold hoop earrings. A navy blue sleeveless gi adorns his upper body. The sleeves of the garment have been ripped off giving it a frayed look about his shoulders. On his legs are a pair of baggy cargo pants that are wrapped at the legs just before reaching his shinobi shoes. Around his waist is a utility belt with multiple pouches for holding his ninja tools and gear.
Hiei
Hiei stands at around 5'2 and has a slender athletic physique. His skin is a very dark coffee color but it makes his light blue eyes stand out. His white hair is cut short and is swept back in a spiky manner giving it a wind-blown look. His arms are a little on the skinny side, but they have definition. His legs are toned and muscular, indicating that is probably where the bulk of his physical power lies. His forearms are scarred slightly and there is a vertical scar below his scalp that extends around his eye and ends on his cheek, a former wound that has healed over.
Hiei is dressed in a navy blue outfit. The upper half resembles a robe, part of his bare chest is visible underneath and the robe itself is a navy blue color with the trim in black. It's a sleeveless garment that displays his bare arms. A black cloth belt surrounds his waist and the hem of the upper garment extends down to his thighs with slits on the side for easy movement. On the back of the garment are a series of light blue lightning bolts with the Yotsuki Clan symbol emblazoned in gold color over it. His pants are black in color and are tucked into a pair of dark blue shinobi shoes.
Yamamoto
A young man in his late teens with ochre coloured skin. He is tall and muscular. His eyes are opal. He wears a dark red vest open in the front and dark red pants which are baggy, but brown wrappings cover the shins and calfs of the pants and keep them tight to the skin. Brown tabi cover the feet. Around his waist a thick bright yellow sash is tied to leave a pair of foot long tails hanging, and a matching yellow bandana tied in a skull cap covers his hair and bears an Iwagakure forehead protector. From the edges of his bandana spills thick shoulder-length black hair.
It is dark in the thick of the Miati Forest in the Land of Fire, and it is especially dark just an hour before sunrise. This is the time that the chill wind picks up shortly before dawn, and despite the warmth of the summer, or perhaps because of it, the breeze has a bit of a bite to it. These woods are not known to be safe, especially at night, and so Yamamoto and the two genin he is with decided to bed down rather than travel through the night. About half way up one of the huge trees a blind has been made for sleeping in by Yamamoto. It might be large enough for more people than himself, but only just.
Yamamoto attempts to wake the two genin with a whispered, "Hey, lightning lads, its time to move. We have lemon-bugs to hunt." Yamamoto is already fully dressed, and though he shows no signs of apparent weapons there could easily be such stashed in the sash around his waist, not that many shinobi need such instruments. The morning is heavy with dew and the smell of the peaty earth.
Hiroyasu in his usual, I'm a morning person tone "Hai!" before scratching the back of his head "What is a lemon-bug anyways, Sempai?" he asks with a yawn, looking around for his boulder.
Hiei is lying on the grass on his back. He's used to sleeping in nature and even more used to be awoken before the sun rises. Ogosokamaru is notorious for it, actually. He stands up and stretches before checking his weights to make sure they're good and secure, then he comments while strapping on his sword. "Hai. I've never heard of a lemon bug before."
Yamamoto looks over the Genin, then takes out a tiny journal from an inside pocket of his vest and opens it to look inside. He is talking a bit quieter than his usual boisterous self, and the look on his face is fairly calm with only a slight smile. "Good to see you both keep yourselves ready. My research says they are a lot like wasps, except they are the size of dogs. The smaller ones are workers, the big ones are the feeders, and the mid-sized ones are the warriors. The workers gather fruit to be processed, the warriors respond to threats, and the feeders, which are the ones we are after, carry processed food to the workers." Yamamoto turns a page using his thumb. "We need to get a feeder when its on its way to give the processed stuff to the workers, and we need to be quick about it. Supposedly when the workers or feeders detect danger they let out some kind of smell that attracts a warrior, and if the warrior is defeated it lets out a smell that attracts a lot of warriors."
Yamamoto tucks the tiny journal back into his vest and looks at Hiei and Hiroyasu. "So the key to this mission will be precision. We need to go in and hide while we find a group of workers collecting fruit. When a feeder comes we need to take it down quickly and scoot before too many warriors respond. If we get separated on the hunt meet back here. If we get separated on the return, meet back at the ramen shop where the cook is waiting for the lemon-bug-jelly."
Hiroyasu nods his head and says "Alright, do we have a capture procedure. Do you have a ninjutsu prepared or are we doing to use a net or weighted chain?" he is unusually chipper for it being morning, but is also being uncharacteristically quiet as well. "Meet here, else meet there.. Good. Tactical Stealth Mission profile!" he cheers quietly, fist pumping.
Hiei listens to the parameters of the mission and frowns slightly. "Well, I'm not good at stealth. Perhaps I can be the bait. Round it up when it gets here and then have you guys attack it when it's attention focuses on me." He shrugs. "I'm the guy that hits stuff. This is what I do."
Yamamoto looks at Hiei and says, "Hmm… I suppose if you want to get better you can either talk to me later or talk to your sensei, but I think we can work around it. I am not sure the feeder will attack you, and the more difficult part is the observation while we wait for the feeder to get there. If there is trouble before the target arrives, it might not show up. I'm not really sure what the workers' or feeders' response is to danger."
Yamamoto looks at Hiroyasu, "As far as capture, I was more planning on somebody just knocking its head off. I don't think it needs to be alive, but if you have any suggestions, feel free to make them. As far as striking it is concerned," he nods to Hiei, then continues, "Maybe your striking power can get it down quick." Yamamoto holds up a finger as if to tell the two to wait a moment, then after a few seconds speaks again. "Okay, here is what we will do. Hiroyasu and I will move ahead of Hiei and observe the workers. Hiei can keep his eyes out from a distance. When the feeder comes, I'll hit one of the workers and draw off the warrior. When Hiei hears the battle start he can loop around behind the Feeder. We don't want to take out the warrior until the feeder is down, but I might want some help with that."
Hiroyasu snaps out of his jovial daze, "Yo, Excellent strategy. Draw the vanguard, exploit the weakened flank, execute the attack, and then tactical retreat. Are we to assume any optional parameters or secondary, it seems if we would acquire one, you could farm or domesticate. However that may be a second mission" he says pushing the glasses up on his nose.
Hiei crosses his arms over his chest. "I think we should stick to being simple. Kill the one that he wants, and possibly come back to snatch some if he wants to breed them. I mean, we're talking about insects the size of dogs, here. If they sting, you can bet it'll hurt." He nods to Yamamoto, "Sounds like a good plan, Yamamoto-sama. I'm happy to be a part of it. Now, let's go kill us a lime bug." He draws his sword from it's sheath in the small of his back.
Yamamoto looks between the two, as if to size them up one more time. "The ones we are capturing aren't capable of breeding, just cut the bug's head off and keep away from its stinger. You might want to start with its wings if you don't have something nice and deadly to take off its head right away." He looks to Hiei. "Don't worry about getting too close to start off. I'll point the way to the nest so you can loop around properly and I'm going to be pretty loud when I start things off. Lets move." Yamamoto begins to double-time it deeper into the woods.
As Yamamoto, Hiroyasu, and Hiei move deeper into the forest vines with fruits can be noticed becoming more and more common, and even a few of the trees look like they might have fruits on them high in the canopies. The group comes to an area where some light can be seen up ahead and Yamamoto raises his hand to stop them. He points ahead and says, "The grove is just up ahead where the workers should be. Keep under the higher trees. The nest should be almost directly on the other side, if I've got my directions straight, and I assume that I do since we came across a grove here. Hiroyasu - try to keep so we can see eachother as we approach and toss a kunai towards me if you see the feeder arriving. Hiei - keep safe."
Yamamoto then goes into stealth mode, not waiting for the two genin to respond. He tries to keep Hiroyasu within sight as he moves towards the grove.
When Hiroyasu and Yamamoto approach the grove, they will notice that the trees get significantly shorter than the taller trees of the forest. The drop in the canopy is what causes more light to shine through, and it now becomes evident that the sun would be seen just rising over the distant horizon, if the horizon could be seen. Large wasps the size of backpacks are moving about the grove, each buzzing between the trees and picking what look like orange-yellow lemons. After picking the fruits they manage to peel them with their legs and then eat them. Higher, floating over the grove, is a wasp the size of a labrador.
Hiroyasu nods "I actually only carry a handful of kunai, so I will use one of my seals. Quieter anyways" he says holding up a silver of paper from his sealing pouch. Looking around for a moment, Hiroyasu first looks for anything which might be alerted, when he is sure the coast is clear, he leaps into a mud puddle rolling around like a pig in a wallow before leaping out and flapping on the ground for a moment picking up the natural floor cover of leaves and twigs. He puts his glasses back on having kept them safe and clean, "Mask my smell.. do lemon-bugs smell? " he asks with a curious hush.
It's good that Hiei had been practicing his stealth skills at the hot springs..er..the forest. He begins to move quieter and manages to stay out of sight as he follows Yamamoto and Hiroyasu at a distance. Crouching and sticking to what trees there are, he moves from shadow to shadow, waiting for the opportunity to kill a large wasp. His eyes dart left and right and every so often, he checks behind him, in case one wanted to sneak up on him.
Yamamoto's face is all serious now, no signs of smiles, and he furrows his brow in concern a little bit when he sees Hiroyasu roll around in the mud and leaves, but Yamamoto keeps moving towards the grove.
The mid-sized lemon-bug, the warrior, begins to buzz closer to the part of the grove where Hiroyasu is hiding. It doesn't seem to be attacking, but compared to its previously somewhat erratic flight it seems as though it might have noticed something. Much more movement from Hiroyasu might alarm it to Hiroyasu's location. Meanwhile the smell of citrus becomes more prevalent on the wind for some reason. All of the shinobi can smell the difference, though only Yamamoto spots the plump cow-sized wasp flying into the grove from the far side.
Hiroyasu seeing that his disguise is less than functional, slowly slinks down to the ground in a painfully slow manner before laying on the ground peeking out of a bush looking for his target.
Hiei continues to move forwards at a slower pace. He continues to remain hidden as best he can. He keeps his eyes on Yamamoto, looking for the signal. When he creates the diversion, he would make a beeline towards the lime-bug. In preparation, he removes his arm and leg weights, making him a little lighter on his feet.
The fat Feeder wasp flies into the grove and lands near its center. A worker flies over to it and begins… kissing it, sort of. A thick jelly begins to move from the mouth of the feeder into the mouth of the worker, which uses its legs to help guide the jelly into its mouth. Meanwhile the warrior seems a little less interested in Hiroyasu, but a worker seems to like the bush that Hiroyasu is crouched beneath, despite the fact that there are no fruits on that bush. The worker floats over the bush, as if looking for something that it doesn't see.
Yamamoto takes the arrival of the feeder to be his sign to move, especially now that Hiroyasu is relatively out of danger. He body flickers to the side of the grove furthest from Hiroyasu, and as he comes out of his body flicker he is performing a spinning mid-air kick towards one of the workers. As his foot connects the worker is caught in a large explosion. Hiei is likely too far to see the explosion, but it is easily heard. The broken worker is ejected from the explosion and crashes against a tree, and Yamamoto lands on one foot before slowly lowering his other foot to the ground and yelling, "Lets go!" The warrior begins to fly towards him.
Hiroyasu watching the distraction and gets the signal to do the thing that they came to do. He leaps out of the bush and deftly rolls under the worker hovering near his position, Harming anything but the target could cause an unwarranted military response, Now free of the foliage, he can see the immensely large bug. "Let's so Hiei! Full Speed!" he says pulling out his paper seals, three between his fingers, lighting them up with an aura of blue chakra and releasing them at the lemon bug , if he's lucky perhaps cripple it wing, his attempted surgical strike.
Hiei kept creeping up towards where Yamamoto and Hiroyasu were. However, he was hanging back, waiting on the word to attack. And then it came. Drawing the sword at the small of his back, he leans forwards, holding his arms out to the side and behind him and rockets towards the bug. He kicks up dirt and debris as he moves across the meadow. He leaps into the air, bringing his sword in a downwards arc, then he shifts his hands rapidly to a two-handed grip to aim a horizontal slice along it's thorax.
The cow-sized feeder lets out a strange muted scream as Hiroyasu throws his seals at it. The first and third seal don't seem to do much, but the second one strikes true and severely damages one of its wings. Shortly afterwards the fast-moving Hiei dashes into the grove and leaps upon the lemon-bug. The first strike finds its mark and cuts deep, but the second attack, while still hitting, leaves only a shallow mark in the hairy and chitinous hide. The lemon-bug feeder, its flight ability now disabled, begins to move away from the two Kumogakure genin, but is doing so slowly on its legs while turning to try and face the two of them.
Meanwhile, the warrior lemon-bug zooms in on Yamamoto stinger first and tries to pierce through him. Given the size of the stinger, one can only imagine the severe injury that might result. Yamamoto barely flinches, though, as the stinger somehow bounces off of Yamamoto's abdomen. To keep the insects attention, Yamamoto kicks it once, and then tries again but the bug is too quick for him to connect.
Hiroyasu taking note of Hiei's position attempts to circle the beast throwing the blue aura's seals through the air, their aim is not specific but their purpose is clear. Bring it down without hitting his teammate. "We need to hurry and assist Yamamoto-sempai! Put it down Hiei!" he cheers him on hoping the hype will rush the adrenaline.
Hiei nods to Hiroyasu and grips his sword with two hands once again. When it turns back towards them, he aims a strike towards it's head, then he places a hand behind his back and draws a kunai knife. Spinning in place, he hurls it towards the warrior bug that Yamamoto is fightning. "Go assist Yamamoto-sama. I've got this." He states.
The Feeder seems confused as Hiroyasu circles around it. It tries to fly away, but one of its wings isn't working quite right. Hiroyasu's seals fly in, two of them striking the Feeder, and one of them reaches deep into the bug's neck. Hiei then cuts at the bug with his chakra-coated blade and finishes the cut that Hiroyasu's seal began and cuts through its neck. For a moment, it doesn't seem as though the cut was effective and the feeder backs up more, but then its head drops to the ground with a long gooey mess of jelly running between its head and the place its head used to be.
Hiei's kunai finds purchase in the warrior-bug, but the bug seems frenzied in its attempts to sting Yamamoto. Once, twice, three times it stings at Yamamoto, and all three times the stinger seems to hit him square in the torso. The first two attacks don't even leave a scratch, but the third attack pierces through and leaves a bleeding circle in Yamamoto's sternum.
Yamamoto doesn't react much to the stings except for a widening of his eyes on the third one. He punches at the bug with his left fist, then his right fist, and both strikes hit, though they don't seem to do much damage. He looks over towards the boys and yells, "It looks like you got it. Start moving and I'll grab the body and follow you."
Hiroyasu nods "Let's go! If his information is correct, it's death might trigger a large response." he says to Hiei looking back over his shoulder, Flicking a barrier wall seal to attempt to block their movements of the warrior giving Yamamoto his escape option.
Hiei hefts what's left of the body of the bug onto his shoulder and then retrieves one more kunai knife. "Yamamoto-sama! Go, now!" He fires it off towards the warrior bug to get it's attention. Working in conjunction with Hiro's seal wall, Yamamoto should have an opening to get the hell out of there. Securing the bug on his shoulder, Hiei prepares to vacate the area quickly.
Yamamoto body-flickers past the barrier-wall seal and picks up the back end of the lemon-bug feeder. The warrior bug turns and collides violently with the seal wall, buying Yamamoto and Hiei a precious head-start in their flight. Yamamoto and Hiei have very little trouble moving the corpse, and with Yamamoto's speed and Hiei being so fast for a Genin, they manage to almost outrun the warrior bug. With a little help of Hiroyasu's barrier wall seals they manage to evacuate far enough with the feeder's body that the warrior bug loses interest.
Mission Status: Successfully Completed.
