Starring:
Date: August 4, 2013
Summary:
During the investigation of Konohagakure Lake, a strange mist begins to cause problems for the team as they look in to the bizarre behavior of the local wildlife, as well as the lake itself.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Lake Placid"
Konohagakure Lake
Spring often times was a time of transition and even a bit of chaos as things got rebooted and the cycle of life began again. The day had been quite beautiful actually as spring was in full bloom and nature had taken notice. The Konohagakure Lake however was shut down for reasons not quite explained, aside from the team sent to investigate the issue. The people who maintained the lake, a couple named Tsudashi Kairi and Jungo, had been seeing some abnormal activities from the local wildlife that seemingly all convene late at night around this area for an hour or two before dispersing in an orderly fashion. They say that during this time as well, the lake become very foggy and it is hard to make anything out, but as they are the caretakers of the area, they are more easily able to understand that something is quite wrong.
Thus, Akane was charged with a team consisting of the newly graduated Miyo, Honosuke, and Fudo in order to look in to this instance and try to resolve it. The ecosystem is important to all of Konoha, thus it was considered to be a C rank mission. Fudo would arrive at the lake as requested, finding it humorous that he ended up worknig with Akane as his superior. Still, he kept it to himself, simply gazing at her and likely making her uncomfortable or even more determined to rub it in his face…. probably the latter.
When Miyo recieved word that they were doing investigations down by the lake, and that she was being selected to assist for her very first mission as a Genin, she was estatic. It was her lake! Or so she believed, and it was her duty to make sure that it was safe and sound… and clean… since she spent so much time a student cleaning the area around the lake. Miyo knew about Fudo, and she was not pleased with working with him, but she figured she'd be the bigger person about it and not cause a scene. She had important work to do, and new people to meet, since she was unfamiliar with the other two shinoi, and despite being excited to be out and doing something important, her hands were clearly shaking and she was nervous. She didn't want to let anyone down!
Honosuke was contracted by Konoha to accompany some of their shinobi on this mission to determine what was wrong with the ecosystem. His experience in environments that were filled with water, and the seemingly intensely dense fog, would be invaluable, especially since him homeland was generally in the same conditions all the time. He was dressed in his archetypical 'covert' shinobi uniform, that being a long, obscuring cloak, as well as a mechanical rebreather and a pair of disguising goggles. Every breath was accompanied by a soft hiss and a cloud of cooled water vapor poured from the front of it, giving him an almost eerie effect. He hadn't met these other shinobi before, but that was mostly irrelevant. He was hired to perform a job, so he would perform it…he wouldn't go out of his way to be particularly antagonistic, though. It would help immensely in the future if Konoha and the other villages continued to hire him so that he could assist in the funding of Amegakure…so here he was.
Akane has her crimson hair up in an elaborate weave, six hair sticks keeping it in place. Leather brazier and pants, her abdomen exposed, many throwing knives in convienient places and some seemingly not so convenient.. Her green eyes shine out at the three Genin she'd been placed in charge of, a scar over one of her eyes running vertically. Fudo she knew. The other two she wasn't sure of. She did notice Miyo's shaking and nervousness and she offers the girl a rare soft smile. Honosuke seemed to be on the ball.. or at least he dressed the part. She stepped forward easily to speak. "Alright, I'm Akane, that's all you need to know. I don't like last names much." She glances at Fudo darkly then turns more openly to the other two. "I assume you are all aware of the situation here? If so lets start by checking the bank of the lake for anything out of place… something other than plants, trees, raccoons and Uchihas."
Fudo simply smirked in silence as he'd begin to search around the lake itself. Though, he did take a moment to approach the lake and gaze in to the murky waters of the churned sediment from the river. Night was not too far off, but a day time search prior may just reveal something that would be easily missed at night. So far, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary on the outside of the lake. There weren't many animals around, in fact… none, not even birds today. But beyond that, it wasn't polluted, there wasn't trash or remains about. It looked as it always did.
Miyo followed behind Fudo after returning Akane's reassuring smile, which did help her feel a bit better, smirking the entire way. Miyo was more pleased with the condition of the lake than anything else. She nods contemplatively. Yes… yes, she kept the lake nice and clean, and nothing seemed abnormal to her… "Fudo-san, I don't think there is anything wrong here… it looks… like it normally does, to me." As if Miyo would know! She peers back over her shoulder over at Honosuke, the mysterious non-affiliated Shinobi who looked rather scary and intimidating. Between him and Fudo, she'd pick Fudo.
Honosuke simply continued to stand there, breathing out his clouds of vapor before he gave a small nod. Raising his hands, he performs a handsign or two and splashing can be heard in the water as a trio of Honosuke's stepped out of the mist, giving nods. "Search the banks of the lake. Report anything out of the ordinary." With nods, the group disperses along the riverbank, searching as ordered. "This fog will make things…difficult." The final word is punctuated with a mechanical hiss and vapor.
Akane watched Fudo and Miyo then looked at Honosuke. She could tell by Miyo's body language that she was more comfortable with Fudo. She watches as Fudo and Miyo went about looking at the banks of the lake and then Honosuke summons water clones. His words about the fog bring a nod from her. She pondered for a moment. All things considered…. She turns to Honosuke. "take Fudo and continue searching on this side of the lake." She would then turn and stride to Miyo. "Miyo-chan come with me. We'll cover more ground in less time by splitting up." Then a bit louder so all can hear." Whistle if you find anything… or send a clone." Her eyes landed on Honosuke after that last part then motioned for Miyo to follow her, she spun on her heel and started int he opposite direction from Honosuke's clones, keeping her eyes trained for anything odd…
"Understood." Fudo stated as the new search pattern was divied out. He'd look towards Miyo and nod slightly, "Do your best." he'd say to her before looking out towards the lake itself. "Honosuke was it. Let us look at the fact then, as your clones look around. This lake is not known to produce so much mist in this climate. The lake usually has various animals come and visit it throughout the day, and yet none are around. However, they have been spotted at night, acting very different than animals normally do and congregating at this location. Still, the lake itself, and the surrounding area, appears to be normal other wise." Fudo would rattle off the information that came to mind. "Do you have any ideas as to what we might be looking for?"
When Miyo hears her name called by Akane, she perks up a bit and whirls around, her robes swirling around her. "Hai!" She then peeks back at Fudo and gives him a nod, a thanks for the reassurance, and then skips off to join Akane. When she arrives there with the Chuunin, she gives her a bit of a look. "So, what are we going to do?"
The Nara narrowed his eyes for a moment, seeming to sense something as he feels his clones nearby. "Most perturbatory." Another hiss and he listens to Fudo, considering the options. What would cause animals to rapidly alter their behavior in such a fashion. A shinobi, perhaps, or some other force. Regardless, it bore investigation. The bank would likely have little to do with it, unless the source of the disturbance wished to be easily found. "If I were a being that wished to disrupt things in this fashion, I would not make myself easily available along the edge of the lake…if I was able to potentially use a jutsu of this magnitude, I would put myself /in/ the lake, where I would be much less accessible. It may be pertinent to search there."
Akane offers another of those reassuring smiles to Miyo as they walk. She pats the girl on the shoulder. "Relax. You'll be fine. As for what we're going to do, we're going to scan the bank then meet up with those two again. Hopefully we'll find soemthing before it gets serious. If we run into trouble I want you to run back to Fudo and Honosuke-san. Get backup." She then proceeds to continue canvasing the bank.
Fudo would nod to that. It made the most logical sense to use the lake itself as the means of either effecting this environment, or at least to hide what is effecting it. "And of course, then there is the matter of the mist…" Fudo would state as he'd begin to activate his Sharingan. AFter a brief moment however, he closed his eyes and returned his gaze to normal. "As I suspected… the mist is filled with chakra. But more than that, it seems to inhibit to some degree. It is very subtle though… and i'm not sure how to explain it. I do think it is time to fill in Akane and Miyu however." Fudo would state. "Perhaps your clones can start the initial search?"
Miyo beams a smile back to Akane when she is patted upon the shoulder. "Its my first mission… so, Im a bit nervous. I just don't want to screw up or cause trouble!" She then balls her fists up and shakes her head. "It will be okay, though! I have trained hard for this!" She then looks bac to Akane and nods. "I can run, I can run fast. I should be fine."
"My clones can disperse themselves through the water, but I will lose the ability to maintain their form, as it becomes increasingly difficult to keep them separate from the water around them. If I was to do a search, it would be with one clone and only one with my full concentration on keeping it whole…but I can do it." The Nara gave a nod and he steps back a bit, peering off into the mist, noticing the Sharingan eyes of the Uchiha now and he files that information away for future use. "It sounds like the hidden techniques of Kiri or Ame, if it is chakra-dense mist. We possess similar jutsu in that regard…so, certainly a suiton user, or someone well versed enough to fake it." Kneeling down onto the bank, Honosuke closes his eyes and adopts a strange looking meditative position with his hands held before him, fingertips forming a circle. "Go let them know."
"I see. Prepare, then." Fudo stated as he would leave Honosuke to his preparation for the consolidated water clone jutsu. It did sound like the hidden mist jutsu, which Fudo was familiar with because of Yuzuna. HOwever, there was something off about it. It was not exactly the same. He would arrive at Akane and Miyu's location before he would fill them in on the details.
"…That said… we've decided that the lake itself must have something to do with it, more specifically something in the waters. Perhaps someone, if not something. Honosuke is preparing to send a water clone to look in to it. That is the current report of the situation. We should perhaps also travel out deeper atop the water and see if we can't see anything from the center of the lake. Still… the water is rather murky."
Miyo nods. She has no idea what is going on, and looks from Fudo, to Akane, and then back to Fudo. "Okay!" She chirps and folds her hands into the sleeves of her robes. "Seems like it's a good idea to check there if that's where the fog is coming from. But what would make the animals not come around?"
Akane nods once, accepting Miyo's response and continueing her search. As Fudo arrives she listens to him, all of the teasing from earlier completely absent. She accepts Fudo's words and Miyo's question. "You two go back to Honosuke to help him if he needs it. I'll be right there." And with that she turns and steps out onto the water, intent on water-walking her way across it.
The Nara seems to have finished his focusing and he makes a single handsign before his chakra condenses the water in the area into a single clone, dispering the rest of his clones to recover a bit of chakra. The clone dives into the water, immediately beginning to lose form, but with some chakra reinforcement, it at least slowed slightly, or so he hopes. The clone moves through the murky depths as fast as it can, with beads of sweat appearing on Honosuke's brow. This was difficult work, surely.
As Akane would make her first steps on to the water, she would find that her chakra was unable to stay cohesive beneath her feet, making it very hard to stay on top of the water before sinking in. Honosuke was having similar problems with his water clone, however he was focusing on making sure he had one stable clone that was able to go as far as possible. Beneath the depth of the murky water, there seemed to be a faint glow along the bottom of the lake itself. It was hard to make out in any real detail however.
Fudo would arrive by Honosuke's side with Miyo as he concentrated on the water clone. With a swift consideration, Fudo would stand right behind him as he said, "Miyo, I need for you to watch our backs. I am going to try to disturb this mist, I think i understand what is going on." He stated before forming a seal and closing his eyes. The air about them changed, as the mist within about a ten foot radius would begin to simply drop as water like a light drizzle. Around Fudo, the misty air seemed to be de drawn towards him before it would fall upon both him and Honosuke. Fudo was using the Chakra Absorption Technique in order to clear the air. Honosuke would find it a bit easier for him to reinforce and control his clone due to not being subtly dulled by the mist around them.
"It is a side effect of what ever is occuring to the lake itself…" Fudo would explain to both Miyo and Honosuke as he concentrated. "It inhibits chakra. That is why I could not maintain the Sharingan, and why the clones are having issues and….. Akane! Miyo… warn Akane not to go out too far!"
Miyo nods as Fudo gives her the order and quickly shifts her position to guard them from anything that may come from… anywhere, for all it mattered. She was fully prepared to annihilate, or try to, anything that came near them. However, when Fudo gives her another order, to warn Akane, she realizes that they left Akane all alone. "Got it!" She performs a couple seals and then poofs, flickering over towards Akane's position. "Akane-saaan! Fudo says… not to go on… the water…." But it was too late, since Akane was already out there.
Akane was quite stubborn and at first she doesn't notice much difference in the chakra in her feet. When water seeps into her boots she narrows her eyes and looks down, as she walks further out. It takes incresingly more and more chakra to maintain her buoyancy. After another short distance she would be solely focused on staying afloat. So by the time Miyo manages to catch her attention with her warning, it's just enough to break her concentration. With a yelp she plunges into the water under her. She disappears under the murky water for a few seconds before she comes back up coughing and making a face.. then she looks slightly pissed and swims toward MIyo.
Fudo had opened his eyes once more as he looked out towards the lake to see that even though Akane had fallen, she was ok. He smirked a bit, everything seemed to be working out well enough, though as Honosuke would continue to concentrate on the clone, Fudo would blink once. Everything fell hazy. The second time… he nearly stumbled forward, but he caught himself, some what awkwardly almost dangling above Honosuke. His lips stratched in to a wide grin as he stared down at the Ame Chuunin, his eyes glowing white pure white. He would grasp Honosuke's neck and yank his face up, choking him as the hypnotic suggestion in his eyes commanded that he simply lose all conciousness.
Allowing for Honosuke to fall Fudo would gaze at the other two, his eyes still glowing white as he'd begin to step towards them. His fists would close tightly, cracking the joints in unison as he'd tilt his head slightly their way. Hand seals would begin to form swiftly as as he inhaled. Exhaling, a barrage of darts of flame would leave his lips, chaotically firing in a wide pattern towards Akane and Miu.
When things… go bad… that is when Fudo apparently turns on the scary Ame-nin, Miyo is somewhat confused. Did he not like the guy? She knew Fudo was a bit… weird… but that was too much! She was about to yell at him when he turned towards them. Fudo's eyes weren't white! He had those lame Uchinchilla eyes and stuff… Then he attacked her! And Akane! That was definitely not Fudo's doing. Miyo was about ready to defend herself from the Uchiha's attack when Akane interposes herself between them, absorbing the blow with her body. How coooool! Miyo was about to cheer for her, when she realized the attacks had still damaged her. That was not good! Miyo then moves, quickly, as she was a speedy little bugger, and dashes out from behind Akane, flinging up a bunch of seal-tags towards Fudo before slapping her hands against her chest, causing Benisakura to appear. Things were going to get serious. She then hand seals and body-flickers in next to the mind-controlled Fudo, hoping that whatever was going on would slow him down, and then swings her sword, scabbard and all, for Fudo's head. She almost said sorry, but at the same time, it'd feel good to knock that silly Uchiha senseless!
Akane made it to the shore and was about to start commenting about the odd chakra issue when she spots the white glow and then through the mist she can make out Fudo's familiar form….and a sense that something is vwery very wrong. So when he begins the handseals, she puts on a burst of speed, bringing her left arm up and landing in front of Miyo just in time to take the first dart to her forearm. She hisses once. Concerned that she might be leaving her young charge open to the attacks, she does not dodge, rather taking the other two attacks on her arms as well.. Steam wafts up from the burns on her arms and she lowers her defense for a moment…. She's still watching Fudo closely as Miyo dashes out from behind her and sends her 'actions' at Fudo…
For Akane, it's clear: Fudo does not know what he's doing or he's being controlled. The first thing that springs to her mind is genjutsu.. which she has little practice with and less use for. She did, however, know how to yank someone out of a genjutsu.. unfortunately Fudo's going to be hurting once she's done. Her hand goes up and she pulls out three of her hair sticks which allows the lower half of her sodden hair to fall loose. Her hair was past her butt when wet. She puts the three sticks to her mouth and withdraws the three metal needles (like large senbon) from thier sheaths, dropping them to the ground…… And then she leaps to the side, entering the small amount of shelter the trees offer and races around Fudo. She knows she's leaving Miyo open to attack, but she's got a target… She moves around behind Fudo and throws the first two sticks as though they're kunai…. The third she leaps forward, adding the momentum of her body to the force of the blow, trying to stab Fudo's shoulder or back with the needle, somewhere non-lethal. "WAKE UP, Moron!"
Fudo's body was quite sluggish. Though he usually barely moved when evading, this time it was different. His body more slunk and toppled form side to side than actually moved, as if he were more a marionnette. AS he was hit with the tag, evading the one after, then bash upside the head, bleeding a bit from the wound, he didn't seem to show any physical effects in his expression, nor make any noise. Still, one of the poisoned neeldes struck him before he would leap back out of the range of the second and finally Akane's melee thrust. "Hmm… this body isn't responding so well." Fudo would say… to himself. "No matter… let's see about this!"
A hand seal would be formed as Fudo would grin deeply, maliciously. His glowing white eyes would swirl in to a mass of pink and lavender, the crimson of his eyes lightened greatly by the strange light coming from them. The three tomoe appeared to be blood red however as he began to channel chakra. "Amazing! This will work very nicely! When I get rid of you two… I will have to retrieve this one!" Fudo's chakra would flare out in to a large dark purple flame about his body as he seemed to prepare himself for combat, his chakra reaching levels beyond what more shinobi are capable of containing.
Miyo quickly dashes back and out of the way, returning her sword to its rightful place upon her back and glares at Akane. "We're not trying to kill him!" She shouts and then listens to… whoever it was controlling Fudo. "You let him go, or I'll pummel you into next week!" She shakes a fist, and then lets out a little squeak of surprise when Fudo's sharingan was activated. Not cool! Well, that means Miyo would have to do something she hadn't done in a while. Hopefully she… didnt explode or anything. She rips her robes open with one hand and shrugs out of them, letting them fall to the ground with a loud thud and a puff of dust from the ground. She then runs through a set of seals as fast as she possibly can before clapping her hands together. "Alright, then, Fudo… let's go…" The seals distributed across her legs and single arm light up in a bright purple, rapidly expanding across her limbs and snaking towards the center of her body. As soon as her seals were activated, it was time to get back to business… "I'll save you, Fudo-san… even though I don't really like you…"
Akane growled a bit as her needles fail and then as Fudo's eyes change to the odd mix of pink and lavender and white… she sees the tomoes begin to circle and from what she understands, what ninjutsu she does know probably won't work but then she has another Idea….. Attacking had little effect…. Miyo's transformation brings the chuunin more concern for Fudo…. Her background had always focused on physical fights… But she did have one possible way to interrupt the 'puppeteer's grip on Fudo… She takes a breath and leaps forward, hands slipping through signs gracefully then she wraps her arms around Fudo and directs her chakra into a healing technique, but she does not focus on Fudo's actual wounds. she's searching for a way to sever the puppeteer's bonds. "wake up Fudo, we need you…"
"The Sharingan…. I can see…. everything! It's like… the vision of a …..ehhhh….??" Fudo would ramble before Akane came flying at him. Gorgeous hair floating through the air as she would seem to pounce at him suddenly, causing Fudo to stand straight up. He didn't blush or anything, in fact, he seemed to be almost entirely vacant, but his body seemed to respond to the sudden… attack… with less than a defensive posture. As Akane all but embraced him, whom ever was controlling him would almost growl. "D…d…detached Uchiha always get the girl! I mean come on…. he's a useless lump of flesh doing my whim and /still/ they won't keep their hands off of him! Hush!!" Looking to Miyo however now, as Akane spoke to him and told him to wake up, he would be able to see her seals, the chakra… how it all worked. "That is… very interesting. Maybe I will take y… Wh…what is hap…."
The voice seemed to be cut off suddenly as the dark purple flames enveloped both Akane and Fudo violently, his eyes blazing forth crimson as he wraped one arm around her lower back and leaned lgihtly against her, his gaze far more focused and falling upon Miyo. "As if i'd allow my life to be someone elses play thing…." Fudo would say with a bit of disdain before turning his gaze upon Honosuke whom was still on the ground, and then Akane.
"Stand down, Miyo." he would say to her as he gazed at Akane. "Took you long enough, Scarlet Blade." Fudo's chakra would suddenly seem to stop as he'd fall forward, unable to stand under his own power now. "Halcyon…. has no idea how to control… my power…"
Miyo looks at Fudo, then looks at Akane, then back to Fudo, "How do I know you are you? And… what is going on? Is there some like, perverted Yamanaka running around somewhere? It's… Oh it's probably just Nori!" Her Nemesis! Not really, but sort of. As far as she was concerned it might as well be him. "I'm going to get him…" She turns towards the lake and points menacingly at it. "I will get you!"
Akane's jade eyes watched Fudo as he started to babble…. as the puppeteer sarts whining about how Uchiha guys always got the girls she would raise an eyebrow….glancing at him oddly…As he continued she fought the desire to just smack him… lucky for Fudo she reminded herself that he was under someone's control…. As he breaks free of the mind control she eases out of the healing jutsu and just lets him lean on her. Miyo made a valid point about being positive Fudo was back with all his faculties intact, but she took comfort in the fact that his eye swere no longer white. "I didn't think you'd really need a rescue by little 'ol me." Miyo's words make her look back at the girl. "Who is Nori?"
Shaking his head against Akane's shoulder, he would say, "My chakra… he used it all up prematurely… amatuer…" Grumbling, he would clarify, "It was not a Yamanaka. Based on what Honosuke was able to relay to me before I… changed… there is a seal or something under the lake." Fudo leaned his head back, having quite the head ache as he'd continue. "The mist was a by product, or perhaps, it was the next phase… i would guess. Based on what happened to chakra when in the mist, as well as upon or in the lake, how much toruble Honosuke was having, I believe that what ever it is was changing the chakra, perhaps even drawing it in. The animals… their strange behavior… i think it came from ingesting the tainted water. We don't drink from the lake, but the animals do. We would have never noticed much of a difference ourselves until it was too late, assuming the mist was the goal."
Fudo would finally stand on his own, placing a hand upon Akane's shoulder. "The reason it effected me… was i absorbed the chakra from the mist directly, in order to help Honosuke. But this means we have a bigger problem. Someone is experimenting with direct control over the chakra of others. And from what i recall of his ramblings… he's probably a nerd."
Miy gives him another suspicious look and re-seals her matrix before moving over to them. "So, I thought Yamanaka were the only ones able to mind control people…" She then turns to Akane and raises an eyebrow at her. "Nori is sort of a friend who likes to pester me a lot… and likes to mind control fish. And…" she gets in real close and looks up at her and Fudo, and then purrs. "I didn't know you two had a thing goin' on."
Akane listens to Miyo's explanation about Nori and nods slowly. She doubted it was this Nori but she wouldn't comment. Right now they had other things to worry about…. Then Miyo suddenly seems interested in thier relationship. "A…thing?" and she would seem honestly confused….. "We knew eachother as kids, is that what you mean?"
"Heh…" Fudo stated as he'd close his eyes a bit. "… there are all sorts of strange things in the shinobi world, Miyo." He'd state as he began to start walking away. "I… need some time to recover…" Fudo would say as he moved from the area. "We need to report this to the Hokage. Someone see to Honosuke as well. And Akane… i'll see you when you get home."
Miyo's head turns slowly towards Fudo, and she grins, then turns back to Akane and gives her a… look of 'knowing'. She then purrs again. "Oh, so he'll be visiting your house tonight? MMmmhmmmm… just… friends…. Right." Miyo then turns and skips off to retrieve her gear. "Ciao!"
