Starring:
Date: April 28, 2012
Summary:
Ikuma given the task for initial surveying of the reason behind the earthquake summoned those he knew to form the investigation team.
"UnNatural Disasters - Kumogakure: Earthquake investigation team"
Gates of Kumogakure with a transition into the Kumogakure marketplace
That request to Hoii, Isshin and Rise was sent out via those message ninja. Ikuma was just outside of the village with an extra pack set up for travel. The request was that they meet Ikuma there for a message from the Raikage. Ikuma was waiting patiently, katana and bokken resting at his side as he would wait for their response. They of course, had their own stuff they had to do, so he wouldn't know if they would actually show up at his request or not.
In what can only be a divine miracle Rise arrived not only on time without brushing off explaining herself BUT ALSO without breaking some poor shinobi in half from landing with a wee bit too much force in what was supposed to be an empty space.
"Ah Ikuma-kun! Try'na start a record of being bright-n'early-san?", Rise called out as she lept down from one last rooftop to land a few feet behind the Reizei. A backpack as well is already strapped on and stuff to the point that seams were in danger of ripping if jostled too much. "Hn… I guess the otha guys ain't gonna be comming with us huh?", She asked, scanning fruitless for the Yamayuki.
Isshin makes his way down the streets of Kumogakure towards the gate. He's packed light, a simple cloth satchel type pack slung diagonally across his back which only lends more to the appearance that he is a samurai instead of a shinobi.
He walks with a normal pace until finally reaching Ikuma and Rise, offering both of them a simple nod in greeting, "Hello." he says simply, shifting his gaze to Ikuma for some explanation to the whole ordeal.
"No Rise-san, just eager for my first important mission, hai?" Ikuma would grin at Rise with a shrug before looking to Isshin. A bow was given to the elder Reizei in gratitude of him coming at the request. A small scroll was drawn from a pouch then, offered to Rise and Isshin. "I've been assigned to investigate the earthquakes. There's enough occurrences that show it to be not natural. We are to look into it and figure out what happen. This is the scroll giving us the mission." If they took the scroll, he'd step back, letting them check the official stamp and such that said it was real.
Soon after Isshin had greeted them Rise whipped her head around to size him up quickly. Her gaze for just a brief few moments grew more intense before relaxing back into a wary sense of the usual 'carefree' demeanor. "… Meh, the must no really care then if that's the case cuz as far as I can see, we're not exactly the 'info' crunching type." She stated, shaking her head dismissively over the whole crazy ordeal they had set up. Even so… Rise couldn't help but wonder if perhaps there was more to it all. "Hnn.. well, maybe not if this guys one of the supers in that thing", She added, jabbing a thumb in Isshin's direction while the other hand was outstretched to accept the scroll.
A scroll she had -no- intention of looking over just yet.
Isshin returns the appraising gaze at Rise before glancing over the scroll, "Looks like a preliminary mission. Gauge the situation so that more specially trained nin can take over and resolve the situation." he says, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking between the two for a moment before settling in on Ikuma, "Did you have a plan starting out?" he asks of his student, appearing to resign himself to let Ikuma try to figure some things out.
"Rise-san, this is Reizei Isshin-sensei. He was assigned by the clan to assist me." Ikuma's attention would turn to Isshin then, a nod of his head given. "Hai. As the disaster did not effect the Reizei compound, I wanted to start there. I know our area is well built, however with the knowledge that it was not natural given, that makes a question of why did it not get effected? After all, a natural earthquake would not be that particular." He'd nod towards the village a moment, before glancing behind him at the road. "My hope is that we can find a path to trace backwards. Find the source and gather information from there."
An elder only 'assisting' the youngling? Now -that- drew an intense but curious stare from Rise upon Ikuma. At least for a few short seconds before she started to feel her mind begin to fry from trying to work out waaay too many angles into a single picture. That didn't mean she didn't start to ease into a more guarded stance around the younger Reizei.
"… h-hai, Shirokiri, Rise and… 'spose I'm glad to meet ya." She emitted nonchalantly with her hand extend soon after. Taken or not, Rise then turned her sight back on Ikuma. "SO let me get this straigth, Masa-sama wants us to investigate you guyz clan?… And they one me, an outsider too……. oh, ooookay. Alright fine. So, I guess this means they wanted you to take point then?" She asked, smiling faintly.
Isshin looks to Rise for a moment, "The best way to learn, is to do." he says simply before looking back at Ikuma, "Though a suggestion would be to find places affected, and see if there are 'gaps' in the areas around them between other incidents. That way, if they are unnatural and purposeful incidents, we have areas of interest to focus our attention." he says calmly.
Being late had its definite disadvantages. This one was probably the most pivotal. Thankfully, Hoii knew how to handle cases like these. He stayed cool, making his approach quickly but not clumsily. He hardly came with footsteps, simply making three once he approached the group. He walks in moments after Isshin, the apparent elder of this group, and the person notifying him of this mission, had stopped speaking. "Aye..", was said with a slight bow. "We be set to roll, or do we tink we need more time?"
"Ahh.. no Rise-san. We aren't looking to investigate the Reizei clan. That was just my idea for where to start." Ikuma would glance towards Isshin and nod lightly. "That is a good idea. We should see what we can find with a survey of the area then." Ikuma would pause as Hoii showed up, a nod given to him with a grin as he'd point at Hoii while looking at Isshin and Rise, "Hoii is good about chakra. I think he should be able to help us pick up a trail a lot faster, once we find a good spot that has some inconsistency."
Rise snorted and mutter something along the sides of "could've fooled me" with a roll of her eyes. Eyes that had inadvertantly landed upon Hoii.
….
"Hoi… baka…" She muttered under her breath with eyes open wide in disbelief. The rest of her senses were equally focused on the monk. Unchanged for the most part since the last time she saw him, and yet… different somehow. Stonger… and better prey.
The last thought immediately prompted a heavy bout of head shaking until she was almost dizzy from the act. "W-well I-I guess th-tha-that settles th-things a bit now!" She exclaimed nervously, pumping her fist. "A wh-whole team n'all that s-so let's g-go aight… with.." She groaned and bowed her head in defeat.
Isshin blinks at Rise and just shakes his head a little bit at the little girl, "Right. Let's go to the market and ask people there then? They leave the village often, and we may be able to get an idea of where things happened." he says, glancing to Ikuma and motioning for him to lead on.
A brief glance is given to Hoii out of curiosity as he studies the young man.
The monk nods, before checking his only packing for the road— a simple knitted bag which is strung across his shoulder. "If dey' be any residual chakra a foot, I tink I can get a good match on who be lookin' for." Rise's eyes met Hoii's in anything but an embrace. Hoiishime's calm gaze was one she had met before. Pure. Innocent. Good. Wholesome. Probably all of the things that drove Rise insane. Her words, muttered or not, met Hoii's own greeting of, "Rise-nee-san.", which was said with a toothy and happy smile. The girl's nervousness was met with a cut off and muffled chuckle. "Right… Taicho.", was said with a wider smile.
Isshin saw before him a monk, light on his step, and sort of, well, unusual to behold. He was dressed in monk sacrament sure, with an overlaying white vest badged with the Kumogakure Medcorps symbol. Hoii himself hardly seem to touch the ground at all, leaving light treaded steps in the sand.
Ok, so wasn't exactly the lead off he was hoping for. A shake of his head given he'd motion to the road before he'd head for the village marketplace. It was a good idea to get information from others to figure out where if any there were spaces in the disaster. "Hai, we start in the market place, get information for spaces where the disaster didn't hit, or a good line for where it did hit, then see if Hoii can track it from there."
He was staring her. Rise did not know exactly how she knew but… he was definitely staring at her even after she turned away. After awhile the feeling grew too much to handle without at least confronting the monk over the matter. However, as soon as she whipped around looking determined to blurt out something the look in his eyes knocked the wind from her sails.
"… *clears throat*… L-let's split up then and, uhmmmmm, oh! And meet meet back up n-near the estates then? Hnn, reizei gate thing and.. mmm… J-just so that t-that way we won't scare off the wrong peeps for goin in all heavy'n stuff… not that I won't in my own way n'ewayz."
Isshin pays little attention to the exchange between Rise and Hoii, but does offer the boy a slight bow before turning towards the marketplace himself, "I'll check teahouses and things like that, first." he says, flashing a faint grin as he departs and makes his way into the first available establishment.
Once inside, he does his usual ritual of ordering tea and a kebab. Business taken care of, he begins scoping the place out for whom to approach first.
"So a bit a clarity then… I be keepin' me senses open fo' what exactly?" Hoii asked the question, sealing a few gestures, before simply pausing, working unseen processes and keeping himself moving along with the crowd.
"The disaster that hit, the earthquake. It's potentially not natural. We are looking for a source, a location that the earthquake started at. From there, we can gather what information is possible and either find the ones responsible or give a good report so that more specialized ninja can find them." Ikuma would nod towards Hoii with that information as he'd walk into the market. A nod of agreement was given to Rise before he'd split off, going in search of what information he can find by asking around.
