Starring:
Akiko, Kiji, Kuoroke (emitter), Sei
Date: November 7, 2014
Summary:
Kiji, Akiko, and Sei work together to end a sibling rivalry that's gone a bit too far.
"Know Thine Enemy"
Village in The Land of Wind
An small city in the Land of Wind is being plagued by a sudden rise in criminal activity. Two small groups of criminals are trying to outdo each other. What started with minor rivalry has grown into theft, and now even a case of assault. So, the city officials have called upon Sunagakure to send help, who in turn have called on some help from a visiting Kirigikuran shinobi. Although they technically outrank her, Kiji and Sei have been placed under the command of Hayato Akiko in this task. Their assignment is simple: to apprehend the criminals at any price.
Akiko blinks at the mission-statement, peering at it curiously. She can't help but think it was some kind of joke, as she couldn't believe she was going to work with a Kiri-nin. And to make things even more unbelievable, it's a Chuunin that she has to lead! But it isn't a joke, so the girl makes her way to the village all this trouble has been occurring, telling Sei (through messenger hawk) that they would meet up a few yards from the entrance. The girl waits patiently, her falcon perched on her shoulder much like always. "D'you see him, Kotone?" she asks her companion.
Sei was instructed via his contacts in Suna to show up and assist. The mission said to follow the Suna liaison.. and any means necessary to apprehend the criminals. Sei wasn't sure if that meant living or dead.. He'd have to decide that as he got close. With the Liaison, a Hayoto, saying to meet up there, Sei went ahead. Fast traveling, he'd created a cocoon in the sand and would use it, stirring the sand and silk to draw attention there, while he snuck up behind Akiko. Potentially surprising both, he'd give a light whistle, shifting on his feet in the sand as his brood would start to spread out, preparing for what was to come.
Akiko squeaks, the girl and her falcon not expecting for Sei to show up right behind them! The Hayato jumps a bit, causing Kotone to flutter off her shoulder with a faint screech of irritation. Then she turns to figure out who it was that greeted her. "Oh! Are you Okumo Sei-san?" she wonders. "I'm Hayato Akiko. And this's my partner, Kotone." The girl points to her falcon. "So, I guess you know what to do? Let's try not to kill anyone, I think. Just … disable them…"
Sei would bow formally to Akiko at the greeting, a nod given with another whistle in confirmation. There was a brief look of disappointment that flickered and vanished from his face as he'd motion for Akiko to lead on. He was quiet. Completely mute indeed as the brood would swarm ahead to integrate into the village. He wanted to know what was going on first, before they got there and was more than willing to use his time in Suna's land to adapt to the different climate.
Kiji on the other hand was familiar..ish.. with Suna's climate and she simply moved at a run to catch up with Sei. She knew that she was late, but he'd left a message behind with instructions for when she did return. She'd grabbed a pack and left immediately. The girl's long black hair hung in a thick braid down her back and she wore a black silk tank and black silk skirt that reached to mid-thigh. Her eyes were pearlescent, lacking any real color and had been mistaken for Hyuuga eyes before because of it. She spotted Sei ahead and did not stop until she was beside him, head tilted as he whistled. She moved her hands in a complex dance at Sei then spoke quietly. "Sorry I'm late."
Akiko obviously feels a tad uncomfortable. Not because she has to work with people she doesn't know, though that could be a part of it, but because she's in command of shinobi older than herself. One even outranks her. By habit, she almost wants to defer most decisions to Sei… But since she doesn't want to make a horrible impression (or misrepresent her village), she continues on. The arrival from Kiji causes her to start a bit as well… "It's fine. We were just about to check out the village," she tells the Shimizu. Her falcon, Kotone, flies up to scout the village from above.
While they discuss matters outside the village walls, a pair of figures comes up to them: a bespectacled gentleman with graying hair and a slightly hunched posture, and a heavyset, stern-looking woman. The man speaks first, nervously glancing behind him and starting, "Eh, yes, hello. We were expecting- " his eyes shift to Kiji's and Sei's forehead protectors. "You are the ones Sunagakure sent to help us with our problem?"
Akiko offers a slight bow to the pair. "Yep! We heard that you were in need of some help with the two umm… rival gangs, and we got sent. The Kiri-nin happened to be in the right place at the right time, I think…" She's not /entirely/ sure why they were there, honestly. She's just following orders. "So… What exactly are we dealing with, anyway?" she asks the pair.
Sei flashes some hand signs back to Kiji, fast and short that if known would be a simple 'it's fine, no killing' and would nod lightly to Akiko. Looking to the two people as they'd show up. Black gaze was judgemental, deciding on life or death for one long moment. But Sei was silent, simply allowing Akiko to converse. His brood continued it's exploration of the village itself, innocent enough looking spiders that would be dismissed well enough while seeking to find the leadership of the gangs.
Kiji remained quiet as the pair approached and Akiko took charge. She didn't say anything about her ordering Sei around. They were in Suna it was natural for Suna to lead. And if she did something that would end badly, Sei — or even Kiji herself — could probably stop it. Meanwhile, as Akiko and Sei did their thing, Kiji opened her senses, flooding her surroundings and the small village with her sensor's talents, searching for any serious threats or chakra signatures.
Having really no idea of the appearance, whereabouts, or current activities of either gang or their leadership, the spiders have their work cut out for them. In the meantime, the two explain. "I- Oh. Well." The man seems somewhat surprised by Akiko's direct question. "They were just two groups of teenagers, mostly war orphans, who came into the village every so often for supplies. I think they have a hideout somewhere nearby. They started out with rather innocent things: some painting, a few rather… risque posters and flags hung out things like that… then they moved on to theft and burglary. Now, even attacks on the people of the village. It's like we're some kind of playground for them." He explains.
The woman cuts in. "Their conflict being centered around a display of daring, most of their actions are brazen and out in the open. So, what we'd like you to do is just keep an eye on public areas -the main street and the town square first of all- and… eliminate them. We're not really interested in the -how-" the man shakes his head a bit but seems hesitant to disagree openly, "as long as you minimise collateral damage to the village. Understood? any further questions?"
"Got it!" Akiko replies, giving a few nods. "So we just gotta make it so they're not an issue anymore." She glances skyward to see if Kotone spotted anything yet. "Sounds easy enough, I guess. Especially with this team." Another nod as she glances to the Kiri-Nin. She had heard rumors of Sei's strength, and Kirigakure's in general. It's likely this mission's hardest part will end up being trying to catch the two groups. "Umm… I think we should split up and look. And if we find a group, then try and just… Make 'em stay where they are. Ropes or bindings or something. Then we can deal with all of them together at once. Is that good?"
Sei stares at Akiko for a long moment, then glances to Kiji. He'd flash those hand signs. 'asking an Okumo for ropes.' There was a hint of amusement as he'd look back to Akiko, whistle with a firm nod of agreement. Sei looked towards the village, the update for his brood to know what to search for already changing their search. In different places small webs were being made, spiders taking up nest to start watching over locations. Sei mused a moment and looked up at the roofs. His spiders immediately put to work to start setting up tight ropes from one building to the next. If the gangs were looking for daring.. then why not put out a dare?
Kiji's eyes shaded into adarker tone and hinted at yellow as she listened to what was going on around her. Sei's signs made her grin and shake her head. "Sei is able to capture if it comes to it. But if these are simply teenagers on a dare run, why not Dare them?" She focused her energies and from her wrists sprouted matching coils of crimson, shining in the sun, creeping up her arms like vines. It was visually impressive if nothing else and could easily be mistaken for jewelry if one did not look too close. "This is your home and I heal…quickly. Put me out there, I'll see if they can match me. If The gangs work on a 'might makes right' philosophy I just need to defeat them. Your Hawk could easily watch my back to be sure they didn't gang up on me. and Sei can stop any who try to escape." Not that there would be much incentive for a dare-based commuity to show fear… And perhaps They could naturally and with as little injury as possible, bring the gangs under one leader and thus under control.
While Sei does the heavy lifting in preparing a trap and Akiko mostly supervises and has Kotone circle the neighbourhood, Kiji gets to announcing how she's challenging the two gangs in the area. Soon, Kotone and the spider begin to report people coming closer, both potential gang members -a few particularly onstentatiously-dressed people in their teens catch the animals' attention in particular- but also plenty of other people, made curious by the challenge being laid down so loudly and clearly.
Soon, a bit of a crowd is gathered around the square, and out of it emerge two quite distinct groups: one of five people, one of six, each a motley bunch of kids between approximately twelve and sixteen, with two eldest taking the lead for each group. "So, you think you're tough, right?" One of them asks, her arms crossed and a cocky grin obvious even with a scarf covering the lower half of her face. "Well, we won't be-" The other group's leader, a slightly older girl, cuts in. She's dressed surprisingly tastefully - if it weren't for the fact that her clothing is rather worn and tattered in places. "The Sand Rats really have a reason to worry, Hoshi, but we of the Devils? We just wanted to see you guys get beat by some out-of-town girl with a big mouth." The 'Sand rat' huffs. "Sand -Weasels- thank you very much, and really she's as much a threat to us as she is to you!" The two of them continue bickering more and more, descending into really childish name-calling my the end, to the stunned crowd's silent disapproval.
Akiko considered the plan Kiji proposed. It was a nice one, to be sure. The younger girl nodded, then. "Okay. You can bait them, and Okumo-san can set the traps. And then we'll all work to make sure none escape." She gave another nod, then gives a two-note whistle to tell her falcon the plan. So Kotone continues to circle the village, signaling to Akiko when gang members begin to appear.
When the group gathers completely, Akiko climbs kuo a nearby roof, attempting to avoid all the spiders that may or may not be Sei's. She draws a few arrows, these with spikes to pinning people, and gets ready to fire at any who try to escape.
Sei, having secured himself out of the way as well, would watch the teens who reduced themselves to kids and Kiji in the center. Eyes narrowed in contemplation, Sei put more chakra into his brood, focusing himself to have them start quietly webbing off the lesser used exits. As all the teens were there, the roofs were all connected with webbing too, a slowly gathering noose of silk that would be used to capture the teens quickly if they did indeed try to escape. He just wanted to make sure they were all there before closing the net.
Kiji's eyes remained faintly golden as she'd walked through the streets. But now that the gangs had gathered and the leaders made themselves so plainly visible, her eyes visibly changed to a very dark orange encircled by a bright orange ring around the irises. The two leaders' cockiness simply made Kiji laugh lightly as if she was with the best of friends, belying everything Sei knows abotu the color of her eyes. "You both misunderstand. I don't want to fight one of you… I want to fight /both/ of you… at the same time. If you win, you can take me as hostage or servant. If I win I gain both gangs." Her expression hardened a bit and she looked like a cat about to take a bite of a mouse. "I will show you who /should/ run this town."
When Kiji gets into the 'heated discussion', the two girls are about to start full-out fighting. The two of them stare at Kiji in silence for a few seconds, then one of them speaks out. "-Fight- you? Please. We don't fight every kid on the street just 'cause they want us to!" the other girl, the Weasel leader, seemed a bit more worried but now joins in. "Yeah, you have to prove you're on the same level as us! Show us you've got guts!" In their anger, their chakra levels spiked, and now Kiji can notice a remarkable connection between their chakra, a similarity that slowly hints, and then reveals to her that these two are closely related, perhaps even siblings!
Akiko continues to watch from afar, but she has a feeling that letting Kiji take care of all the fighting might be a bad idea for Suna. Especially judging by what she just heard. But she continues to wait quietly, not attacking quite yet. Kotone continues to fly overheard, keeping an eye on the two and their respective gangs so that Kiji isn't attacked from behind or anything like that.
Sei eyes narrowed at the challenge from Kiji, then facepalmed as the full details were given. Really Kiji? really?? A silent sigh, Sei looked about, the chakra flow continuing to his brood as they'd start closing off the major branches of the plaza. Sure there were others in there, but the main focus was that the teens weren't going to go anywhere. Overhead, starting on the edges and working in, a network of webbing that started thin but would thicken out was created, a cage of buildings and silk, the brood spread out between them.
Kiji narrowed her eyes as she sensed the complexities of their chakras.. the similarities… Interesting.. This could be simpler than she thought. But the way they spoke to her abotu proving herself made her wonder. These two shared such a similar chakra that she felt they might be related, possibly closely. So perhaps this had started out as a single gang. Kii's chakra surged for a moment then she opened her eyes again and they were crimson. The red coils about her wrists fell open like whips in her hands but attached at the wrist. Silently she appologised to Sei for what she was about to do…
But suddenly along her back six more whips burst from her body, waving like tentacles. She stepped forward and seemed to look down on the two. "You should beg for forgiveness for what you have done. You fight petty wars here, terrorizing the people for little reason. What if I was from the Silence? I would simply kill you. I could simply kill you anyway. Perhaps I should…" She stepped forward and lashed out with the whips at her wrists, trying to capture both girls in her coils.
"Am I worth fighting now?"
The whips tie up both girls and they yelp in fear as they're suddenly lifted from the ground, supported by tendrils of blood. In a terror and disgust, both just wriggle and scream, but to no avail. While these two had missed the dome rising above them in their fear and danger, their underlings had, and now, realising they are outmatched, hurriedly try to retreat into the crowd, hoping to get lost in it before something terrible happens to them.
Akiko sees the gangs start fleeing, and she immediately starts firing arrows. It's not like she doesn't believe Sei's webs can't handle them, but she at least would like to feel useful… The arrows are spiked, and she is only aiming for the clothes of a person. This should pin them to their spot, disabling any further movements. "Well… This is almost too easy with the Kiri-shinobi…" she mutters to herself. She definitely has a reason to dislike being put in charge of them…
And that was the beginning of the end of them fleeing. As the teens fled, the webbing had spiders sprout from.. well.. everywhere. There was a reason Sei didn't have his whole brood in him all the time.. there was a LOT more of them than him! No matter where they went, the brood would decend, coccooning teens up and once captured, they'd get dragged into a growing pile of bodies in the center of the square, where the leaders were being dealt with by Kiji. Sei shook his head, then shrugged. It worked.
Kiji took a breath and her chakra calmed enough to allow her eyes to return to gold and carefully set the leaders down on their feet, not harming them in the least. The tendrils retreated into her back and the other coiled about her wrists again. She sighed, waiting until the teens were brought back. "Now, shut up and listen. I don't know what happened between you two and I don't really care. Yoyu live under SWUnagakure, my home's ally, and I don't think you understand the situation. A group called the Silence is out there, trying to take down the entire shinobi world. That means they want to take away your country's fighters. Completely. You don't have the time to be fighting amongst yourselves. It's time you used your talents to protect this village." She looked at the leaders again. "Split the town down the middle if you must but keep a watch don't fight eachother. Find a way to use those talents — and you are talented — to warn the shinobi, set your fastest runners to Sunagakure if you see anyone suspicious." She took a breath and set her jaw. "And if that's not good enough I could just let my friends spike you all full of arrows or feed you to his spiders."
As the nine bodies are gathered and tossed into the centre and Kiji gives them a stern talking-to, the group first protests - out of principle, apparently. Giving in easily just isn't in their nature and hasn't been for a while. It's an advantage, a defense mechanism, but for now Kiji has to browbeat them into submission for a considerable amount of time before they start listening to reason. Eventually, the group concedes defeat and even, reluctantly, agrees to cooperate with the authorities, although it seems like a good idea to leave some sort of liason with them.
Akiko hops down from her perch and leaves most of the scolding to Kiji. She asks Sei to take down the webs that are all around town (assuming he hasn't yet), and then wanders over to the Shimizu. "Nice work! Thanks for the help." She glances to the group of former ruffians and tells them, "If you don't listen to her, we'll definitely be back. Don't screw up the chance we gave you!" She gives a bit of a nod, then says, "Okay! Back home! Umm… Unless you guys are returning to Kiri?" Regardless of the response, she heads back to Suna with Kotone perched on her shoulder.
