Starring:
Date: July 29, 2016
Summary:
Hotaru, Kaneko, Tsurure, and Akio are sent to the Eroded Canyon to investigate and patrol. They run into seemingly normal issues, though.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Murasame's Return - A Simple Threat"
Land of Earth
The threat of the Storm Brigade has not yet touched Iwagakure, though the Hidden Rock Village is certainly on the alert. Today, a team of genin was sent out on a patrol, moving towards the Eroded Canyon. The transportation? They lacked it… Many carts and horses were unsuited to traveling along the rocky areas of Iwagakure and the Land of Earth (you'd think Kumo would have more difficulties with this…), and Iwa itself hadn't fully developed things like battle-trained horses. Which is why they're footing it.
Akio, Hotaru, and Kaneko were familiar with each other. Teammates, even. It was Tsurure who was the oddity. A Sasaki that had moved in from Sunagakure after the Path of Earth Elders and the Path of Wind Elders finally gave up on attempting to be nice to each other. Kaneko was the unofficial leader of this (current) team, not because of her strength, but because she was more trusted than the others to not act childish … Umm… There are specific histories we won't go into.
"Here we are! We're supposed to explore this canyon and make sure nothing is really gonna happen. Ummm… Nothing bad, at least. So let's be sure to explore as much as possible!" She nods a bit, glancing back at her teammates and Tsurure. As they traveled, she had asked Tsurure to maybe describe some of his abilities so she knew best how to 'use' him.
Oh, also, it's morning around 10 am right now and it's cold but sunny :|
Hotaru played the part of Umahito today, that is to say that her legs would not normally allow her to partake in a reconaissance mission. She was useful in so many ways, but useless in many others. Enough that even she was given heavy considerations for mission of this sort. Hotaru is currently in her genin attire as it was before. The deep Rust-Red shirt, skirt, and a deep blue cloak over that. The young girl has yet to really consider filling her wardrobe with anything shinobi-worthy, but at the same time she wasn't much of a taijutsu user. "I will name you… Clover! No… Clover is a terrible name…" The young girl cooed as she brushed the horse with an expensive brush as she held on to the horse for dear life with the other.
"Oh, are we here? So then, it's time for business… Excellent!" She would tug the reigns of her horse to cause it to stop as she grinned quite smugly. "I will name you later." The horse was her father's private horse. In other words, already named. Though, no horse was going to be able to traverse the Eroded Canyon. It was an inhospitable environment. Hotaru came to the realization as she looked over the canyon that this was going to be very rough on her… "… Oh… Clover isn't going to be able to come along, is he…" Hotaru would sigh as she reached back to slip her cane out of it's holster. "So… Remind me, what exactly are we doing here." She didn't read the mission parameters herself.
Akio was just a bit tired. Recently he had been getting up pretty early to train. Earlier than anyone else was even. It allowed him to go to the training area before anyone else showed up. He would ask Kaneko to join him sometimes since they lived together, but most of the time he let her sleep. So he was walking along and a big yawn escaped him. "Oh great. We have actually arrive here." He looked between each of them here with a small sorta frown. He didn't know what to think as of now, so he didn't speak up. Just decided to follow orders. That meant looking around and preventing bad things. Then Hotaru spoke up with her questions not too long later. Seemed most things he had toned out, but her questions came through. "What? Oh.. I think it is just a patrol. Making sure our borders are secure or just… Making sure the land is safe enough." He states before looking to Kaneko for a confirmation
COMBAT: Tsurure focuses 3557 stamina to turn it into 3850 usable chakra!
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE…38
Tsurure traveled with the other Land of Earth genin.
He wasn't exactly… separate from them but there was a clear divide between them all the same. They all seemed to know eachother pretty well and he…? Thinks he's only met Kaneko and only once, a long time ago. So long he doubted that she'd remember.
The boy wrapped his scarf a little tighter around his neck as he made the trek, sweat starting to crop up on his forehead. When asked about his particular abilities, his peridot eyes shifted to look to Kaneko who was the leader of the group for some reason. His reply was short and to the point. "I'm an earth Sasaki. I tend to transform my environment. I don't specialize in making shields. That's about all you might need to know."
Afterwards, he returned to his silence. OF course, it wasn't long before that silence was broken by a sigh and a brief rubbing of the bridge of his nose. "This village needs better training," he muttered. But he wasn't in the mood for arguments, so he didn't say much of anything else. His attention turned outwards instead. A soul deep breath was taken to accompany the gathering of chakra in his system and he subtly used that chakra to attune his senses to the earth beneath his feet. His eyes hooded slightly as he started 'watching' the vibrations of his surroundings, instead, beginning his recon.
COMBAT: Kaneko focuses 732 stamina to turn it into 1000 usable chakra!
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a PERCEPTION-II…29
Kaneko frowns a bit when Hotaru seems to have missed the entire point of why they came out here. "Hotaru-chan… You were supposed to read the missive before we even met at the gate…" she says with a disappointed tone. Akio at least saves her the explanation, and she nods slightly to agree with him. "Hai, that's right. This region in particular can be filled with traps, so we just need to make sure that it's secure. I don't know if there's anything here, and maybe there isn't, but we should act like every square inch is booby-trapped, ok?" She awaits confirmation from her team before giving another nod. "Okay!"
The girl continues, "So, I was thinking while we made our way here. Hotaru-chan, I need you to go with Tsurure-san and take the front-half of the canyon. Akio-kun and I will go further back to explore everything." She glances at Tsurure, who seems to already be checking things out… He's pretty quick to do such, at least. Pretty responsible, even. He must have had a proper sensei, unlike her own team. "You two probably have the best way to sense people and … umm… bad things. So good luck!" she would start to walk off, calling behind her, "Hotaru-chan, Tsurure-san is in charge between the two of you!" As she wanders off, she looks around for anything that might strike her as interesting, but she doesn't see much. Probably because she's not too familiar with this place and she doesn't know what could be considered 'unusual'.
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…34
"Oh… It really is just making sure there isn't anyone lo…" She grunts. A noble girl must learn her big words. "… loitering! We have to make sure no one is loitering in our proud land! Thanks, Akio." Kaneko confirmed of course, but given how much tension there was between them lately she didn't feel like propagating anger during a mission. "Guess I have to get off the horse.." She indeed would slowly ease off the horse as slowly as she could, but likely found herself falling to her bottom anyways given her legs weren't necessarily strong enough to resist the impact of dropping a few feet. A slight blush, and a quick struggle later, she was ready to proceed. Her cane tapped against the ground as she took a deep breath. The orders were given. "Front half… Ah! Thank you! Kaneko-chan is clearly looking out for my best interest!" Hotaru said with a smile towards her most favorite team member. "Less walking." She rubbed her nose before she closed her eyes and made a singular seal with one hand, displaying a prominence. One-handed sealmaking, because keeping a hand on the object keeping her standing was important. While Tsurure observed the ground for movement using vibrational senses, Hotaru sought out chakra residue or networks of some sort. As she does though, she does wonder… "Tsurure-san, you said you could shape the terrain, ne?" Hotaru actually perked a little. "So, does that mean you could make steps and slopes? Even the ground out?" Hotaru opened her eyes after her scans were finished, golden and slitted Watanabe eyes looking at her newfound comrade with some level of hope.
COMBAT: Akio focuses 4278 stamina to turn it into 5000 usable chakra!
RPCOMBAT: Akio defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…32
Akio looked over at this other person with them. He was new to him, but anyways that was normal. Most people were new to him as it wasn't long ago the village and most of the world was new to him. He didn't talk to them though because of that really. He was very slow to chat with new folks unless officially introduced to them in a social enviroment! Or out of neccesity. Anyways he looked over at Kaneko as she gave her orders. "Alright Kaneko. And… I can sense things." He frowned a bit at her, but shrugged as he continued along with his walking. As he did so he sent a wave of chakra through the ground to see if he found anything. "Hmmm…"
His eyes drifted back behind them, and he nods. That made sense then. Letting Hotaru have the front to walk less. "Ehh. Kaneko. What are the chances we find something out here? You don't think we will find anything like… you know… The Murasame or those folks rumored to be fighting against all the villages?" He asked of her. He knew if anything they would find just random bandits but still. Had to ask. "If those folks were here they might be harder to find right?" He began to look in the air and such now too just in case. Though not too closely since he focused on the earth.
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE…37
Tsurure's brows immediately drew downward at hearing that he would be paired up with Haneko. He almost stopped as he turned to give Kaneko a glare at that information. But he looked back ahead, some of his annoyance smoothing away at hearing that he would be the one in charge between the two. It clearly appeased him, some.
Treat every square inch like it's booby trapped.
"This is gonna be fun," he said, scowl beginning to take hold of his face. Truly, he was in a bad mood today. And he didn't bother hiding it as he had to stop to avoid outpacing Hotaru. He stood there and watched as she struggled to get down from her horse, not bothering to hide the way he felt about her and the day in general. His frustration was softened by something else, though, as he saw her one handed seal before he nodded to her now that they were on track.
So he started forward again.
"I could," he said over his shoulder. "If you could give me back the chakra it would take to do it. If something does happen, I wouldn't want to be unable to defend us because you couldn't walk." He glances over his shoulder, "And you can. So do it." He starts the treck deeper into the canyon, though he trails more southeasterly than directly south since they would be staying within the front part of the canyon. "And while you're at it, you can tell me how you can help in this situation. The quicker we can confirm this place is good, the quicker we get home."
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a PERCEPTION-III…42
Kaneko tsks softly and just waves Hotaru off as she steps forward with Akio to make her way through the canyon. She would glance over at Akio with a blink. "I know you can, Akio-kun. If you and Tsurure-san were together, though, that'd be redundant. And if you and Hotaru-chan were together…" She trails off and just frowns. "So you're with me. Let's go." Akin wouldn't have found much on the initial trek, of course. They haven't gone very far, though, so who knows.
"Hmm… I doubt we'll run into that world threat that's going on. They attack islands more, don't they? It'd be silly if they tried to fight us here." She then frowns. "I don't know if the Murasame are here… But honestly, I think we will be okay. They wouldn't dare try to catch us again after we already went missing, right?" Then again, she hadn't contacted them in a while since she had reclaimed her actual memories, and it's likely that the undercover agents have discussed things with the rogues. "Oh, Akio-kun, did you hear what happened to Kita-chan? Her whole team got wrecked by bandits… Saved by someone passing through. I forget who it was, but… Isn't that terrible? Do you think /they/ are behind it?" As she speaks, she continues to look around carefully.
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…50
Hotaru could sense that Kaneko was… slightly annoyed. It caused her to smile a little. "Good luck Akio-kun! Kaneko-chan!" She said as she waved to them. Indeed, she wasn't entirely fast. She limped forward in a determined fashion, and like anyone else who had been born with issues, she doesn't even register anything was wrong. Her smile eventually faded as she started to struggle after the first fifty yards of walking. There were plenty of rocks and the like. As she slipped her cloak's hood over her head she almost walked forward as if she were an old woman, so small and helpless. It isn't a surprise that Tsurure would think she was incapable of protecting herself.
"Ano… How can I help?" She asks. "… I am a sensor! I will help you detect them when they approach! Ah… Mmm… I'm not going to brag, but I am also a member of the Fukurokuju branch of the Watanabe clan. That makes me strong!" There was… plenty to doubt still. Hotaru still looked up to Tsu, with a smile. She was at least confident in her ability. "I'm a genin like you, ne? You shouldn't worry too much! *Huff*." Hotaru took a moment to stop, panting heavily as she once more raised a single hand. "Just a moment… Let me work…"
COMBAT: Hotaru focuses 3854 stamina to turn it into 5000 usable chakra!
RPCOMBAT: Akio defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…27
Akio more so registered what Kaneko was saying over the other two because of obvious reasons. "Oh.. I suppose that is true. But I think I could work with Hotaru fine on an actual mission… We have a job to do. I won't let it fail because of something like that… Not now." He shrugged. Not that he cared too much, but Kaneko was leading this.. So…. "Yeah I suppose you are right on both of those remarks Kaneko. Though they came back for me once before so… Who knows."
Akio shrugged and just continued looking onwards. Hopefully he would sense traps before he tripped them. Otherwise things would go bad. "What? They were beat by bandits?" He frowned. "YOu sure they weren't more than bandits.. That in of itself is hard to believe." He pondered. Plus he only knew of one person passing through, but it couldn't have been her right? "It is terrible… We should go talk with her and make sure she is alright after this.. It could've very well been them. She is a Murasame like us.." He sits idly there for a moment. "We should for sure look into it later."
Tsurure looked back at Hotaru as she said that her clan link made her powerful and he gave her a searching look at that. After a while, when she told him not to worry too much, he paused before giving her a nod. "I trust you," he said and turned around. "In certain matters."
He stops moving, in part because the girl had stopped moving but more for another reason. "This is a good place to pause, anyway. I think I've found one of the traps that Kaneko was talking about. It's a few yards out, off to our right. All I know is it's metal and it's not shaped like anything common." He took a few steps back to come by Haneko's side.
"I'm going to raise it from the ground. Take care. And if you don't sense anything, let me know. I can lift you up to get you a bird's eye view. At least, that way you'll have a better perspective."
That said, he made a few handseals, applied a little chakra pressure and voila. A small section of earth began to rise, slowly and smoothly, in the shape of a pillar. He left the earth on top of it in case it was a pressure triggered trap and waited to see what metal thing would be wedged in the middle of his rock pillar.
COMBAT: Tsurure attacks target 1 with RISING-STONE-COLUMNS with a roll of: 32
Kaneko shrugs a bit. "I dunno. I haven't gotten to talk to Kita-chan in depth about it yet, you know? We can ask her when we get back." The girl continues to look around, then she blinks a bit when she sees a very well-made hole. "Odd…" she says, stepping over to examine this hole and peering into its depths. It kind of smelled… "Hey, Akio-kun! Do you think there're any tunnels around here?" she asks, standing back up and tapping that hole a few times curiously. It knocked some dirt into the hole, and then Akio would be able to sense very tiny tremors, but it was so faint that they might not even register to him…
As Tsurure lifted the column of earth, he would notice that at least two feet of earth arose before he managed to see something. Something kinda dull looking from earth. It was camouflaged? Or maybe it was old…. Regardless, it looked like it had a flat bottom and a rounded/domed top. He was right about it probably being pressure-triggered, so it doesn't go BOOM yet. … Yet….
Hotaru hadn't sensed anything, and she had honestly never felt like she had extended her senses quite as far as she had just now. "We're safe for now! Everything is clear." Hotaru said with a relieved breath of fresh air as she moved over to the nearest non-trapped pillar that she could find and promptly slumped against it. She watched the Sasaki raise the very earth, slowly but surely. There was a small domed object that looked a lot like a pressure cooker used to steam rice, but a little different. "That is a trap? Nothing like I've ever seen. There's no trip-wire." Hotaru lingered a little more before she finally had enough rest. She decides against trying to detect anything at the moment, and instead gives her senses a rest. "Don't touch it Tsu-san! I doubt it has rice in it."
RP: Akio transforms into SIZZLE-II.
RPCOMBAT: Akio defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…36
Akio looked at Kaneko for a moment, and turned to face her directly. "Hmmm… I don't know if there are any tunnels here. I don't know a lot about that. Where they could be you know?" He stated and sorta asked her if she knew that. "Ummm wait.. Nah that was probably just the dirt dropping." Right? Just the dirt huh? But just in case he actually did focus more to look closer. "I am looking closer just to see if I see anything alright?" He said before quickly growing in power/chakra. Hotaru would likely feel the growth in chakra within him.
"Good."
Tsurure's response to Hotaru's all clear was just above a murmur, its volume dampened by his distraction as he finished raising the booby trapped pillar. He examined the thing with narrowed eyes, definitely wary of the thing. "You're right," he said. "About the trip wire. It may not be a trap… But it looks like a mine. My guess would be a pressure sensing one. I'm surprised you don't know about them. They're not uncommon in the Land of Wind. They can be put kind've deep and still be effective because of the loose sand."
He tilted his head, " But whoever planted it /here/ had no idea what they were doing. It was planted too low for footsteps to trigger it. And it looks… old." He gestured to their surroundings, "This place is worn smooth, but for the gathered silt. The earth has been getting lower, not higher. Maybe… the trap isn't for what's walking on top of the earth. Maybe… it's for what was beneath it."
A gust of wind tossed his hair into his eyes and he frowned, gaze sharpening on the trapped pillar. "And maybe it's already triggered and just needs the pressure released to go off." He'd spent enough time speculating about what could easily be an exposed mine. "This thing is going back into the ground and I'm setting it off there." And with no further ado, further handseal were made until they rest on a final one. He glanced, briefly, in Akio's direction but swiftly turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Giving the proper chakra emission, the pillar began its slow descent with the plan of putting the metal contraption back way deeper than where it had been resting.
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a EARTHFLOW…20
"Keep a close eye, then, Akio-kun," Kaneko says with a few nods. The girl continue to look around, and then Akio would feel a tremor in the ground that marked the explosion Tsurure had set off. "Che… What the heck was that…" Kaneko mutters. "It was really… muffled. Weird." And then there would be more tremors in the ground. A lot of little tremors that made one huge one: a swarm of mice escaping from their tunnels in a panic!! They actually happen to start setting off a lot of mines that were around, probably from back when the internal fighting was still going on. The explosions ring out across the canyon and start up a few minor rockfalls that are very dangerous for four Genin. Especially one that can't walk very well….
"The Bedrock layer in the Land of Earth is… rather high. It actually is bad enough to prevent such a large nation as ourselves from having a stable farming industry." Hotaru raised a 'as a matter of factly' hand. "There is so little arable land that The Land of Earth relies a bunch on mining. My father happens to be a mineral baron!" How about that. Useless information. Hotaru would get to her feet and keep herself where she was. "… Trip wire is really common here, that's all…"
Tsu had a point though. It could have been for someone using earth release too. Hotaru's eyes widen as she blinks a few times, placing a finger to her lips as she taps her cane on the ground. "You're right! That's a possibility… I imagine… The earth is always shifting around, and I've seen shinobi use earth manipulation that creates screens of earth in front of them… If they create one with the mine built inside it, it could detonate."
Hotaru looked in Akio's direction, promptly narrowing her eyes as she seems to focus on him instead for the moment. "He's being a showoff… In front of Kaneko…" She grumbled. It was enough to distract her from the incoming rocks. Right as one was about to collide with her head, the earth moved right out from under her. It certainly tripped her up, making her fall on all fours, but it also saved her from the rocks. "Are we under attack!?" Just to make sure, Hotaru raised a handseal to her face and closed her eyes…
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…42
[NPC System]: The World roll(s) Falling Rocks vs. Akio from 20 to 40 and get(s) a 34. - Rolled by: Kaneko
RPCOMBAT: Akio defends against with a EARTH-DOME…61
Akio nods to Kaneko. "I will. Don't worry." He smiled and then quickly his face changed. "WHat the…. That felt weird. That was like… A sudden vibration like an earthquake." He frowned. THen more things were popping up everywhere, and he frowned a tiny bit as he noticed the mini walking and more explosions. "Oh.. Oh no…. I think some rodents are in some tunnels and they are tripping old traps…."
Suddenly he noticed the rocks falling and he in an instant reaction a dome of earth surrounded him. It seemed to not bother him at all, and once they were knocked to the side he opened the dome. "We need to make sure the others are alright. Now." He started slowly heading that way. Being careful to not set anything of, and to try and spot everything. "Keep a look out for more traps alright?" He said.
RPCOMBAT: Akio defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…63
[NPC System]: The World roll(s) Falling Rocks vs. Hotaru from 20 to 40 and get(s) a 23. - Rolled by: Kaneko
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a EARTHFLOW…39
[NPC System]: The World roll(s) Falling Rocks vs. Tsurure from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 33. - Rolled by: Kaneko
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a EARTHSTREAM…29
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure took 400 damage.
"That sounds like a government ploy," said Tsurure without preamble at the idea that the Land of Earth had too much bedrock to allow for farming. "A land of earth ninjutsuist saying that the stone they're moving around every day is too hard for its commoners to farm? Ridiculous. I could make soil here now, if I wanted to. There's nothing stopping terraforming but for, maybe, a village and a Daimyo that doesn't want people getting -too- comfortable."
And then he was quiet, because it was time… to set off the explosion. A shift in the earth released the pressure on the mine and boom, a slight rumble beneath his feet marked the desutrction of that threat. It took a little effort to focus on it over the sound of Hotaru's voice, though that particular idea of the mines being meant to counter earth users was an… interesting one. A very interesting one.
But he ignored that as more tremors met the soles of his feet — many more. After a second, his eyes whipped to the outpouring of mice near Kaneko and Akio, eyes widening slightly. "There's more… A lot more." As the explosions become more apparent and pieces of cliff start falling off towards /them/ the Sasaki flew through a few hand seals and slapped his hands together with a resound clap.
The earth beneath both himself and Hotaru shifted beneath their feet. After the abrupt start, it was relatively smooth travel, the pair appearing to simply glide along the ground towards the entrance of the canyon.
Hotaru's question of whether or not they were being attacked made him scowl. "You're crippled, not blind! Pay some intimidating attention here!" he shouted back at her as they avoided being crushed by large stones. Of course, he should have paid more attention himself.
As he turned to look back to the front, what had initially appeared to be one huge stone to his glance turned out to be a smattering of smaller but sizable ones. With a curse, he split up the platform that was carrying him and Hotaru into two so that he could move them both independently. Through intense concentration, he managed to weave the girl between all of the debris but in the end one of the stones slammed into his shoulder, sending him spinning backwards. He landed in a graceless tumble, quickly ending up on his back.
A hand gripped his injured shoulder and he struggled a second until he sat up, growling.
[NPC System]: The World roll(s) Falling Rocks vs. Kaneko from 20 to 40 and get(s) a 23. - Rolled by: Kaneko
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a EVASION…46
Kaneko's eyes widen slightly as she sees the rocks tumbling towards her, and she is quick to move around to avoid taking any damage. She exhales a breath, mildly jealous that Akio was able to hunker down in a dome. She could do that too if she wanted, but no, she chose to try and avoid everything because Taijutsuists tend to dodge more often than not. Also, she is sort of bad at doing hand seals quickly… "I'm sure they're okay…" Kaneko says, frowning. "It doesn't seem like anyone is around, and those explosions didn't go off until just now. We walked all this way with no issue." She would start heading back towards where she had left the other two, though, even as she hesitated. "… We should finish checking things, though…" she grumbles, warring with herself. She couldn't tell if she wanted to go back because she was scared for Hotaru or if it truly was the 'right' course of action. "… It'll be fine if we just check on them…" she says, trying to convince herself. She makes up her mind, though, and she does continue onwards. She does keep a close eye out for anything leaping out at her … Literally.
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a PERCEPTION-II…37
Hotaru managed to slip to her feet a few moments. From the sound of the explosion, and outcry of her current team-mate, she got the impression that explosives had been set off. "Those didn't come from us! That means…" That meant her team was under attack. She would just have to hope that they were okay. There was no possible way she could get to Kaneko or Akio, so she went towards the only person she could get to. Tsurure. She tried her hardest to get to him, and dropped to her knees beside him, cane off to the side as she examined his shoulder. "Doumo, Tsurure. You saved me…" She nodded her head, wincing as she saw how wounded someone was.
She felt responsible too… "… Are you okay?" She said rather meekly, going as far as pulling her hood over her eyes a little. "You didn't have to! I could have done it! Why did you help me over yourself?" It didn't really make sense to her. Without any medical skills, she really is being quite useless right now…
Akio didn't notice that she seemed jealous at that dome of his. "I am sure too, but have to make sure you know?" He states as she finishes her statement. "Well ummm. I guess it doesn't…" He pondered a thought. "They would've had to known we were here to do it as well right?" He pondered a thought. "No you are right. This is a mission. We have to complete the mission, but making sure everyone lives is a part of that.. Hmmm…" He looked over at Kaneko. "I will keep looking. You go make sure she is alright. I won't mind." He offered a smile so genuine it was probably a bit weird coming from Akio. He kept walking, but he seemed okay if she went to look at Hotaru and make sure she was fine. ANyways he kept scanning the earth still.
RPCOMBAT: Akio defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…58
"Do better next time, Sasaki," growled Tsurure, obviously speaking to himself. Having taken this injury and needing this brief sit down, he appeared more than annoyed. He was actually angry. And from his words, he was mostly angry with himself.
As Hotaru came to his side, he glance at her but quickly looked away to, instead, use his better arm to pick himself off of the ground. He lifted the hand with his wounded shoulder, but only with difficulty. Menace…
And all the while, Hotaru continued speaking with him until, after her final question he snapped, "Because I'm the leader here!" He tamped down the anger some as he turned and directed it away from her, but the words still rushed from him, heated. "You can't suddenly follow when danger's in front of you. That's the purpose of a leader; To be at the head when problems rear up."
With the words out, he quickly cut off the line of conversation with a "Brace yourself. I'm going to lift you up to give you a better view." He took a step back and grimaced as he brought his hands together, pushing through the few it took for his jutsu. Once the final one was made, me raised the earth beneath Hotaru to lift her up into a bird's eye view. "Let me know if you notice anything we should investigate."
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a EARTHFLOW…28
Kaneko would nod to Akio and she started to make her way to Hotaru and Tsurure. Then a giant column of earth appeared and she blinks, squinting and shading her eyes against the sun, only for those eyes to widen when she sees Hotaru. "Wha-What the heck??" she would squeak in surprise. "I … Guess that means they're ok… I can go back to Akio-kun and help him," she says to herself, turning to make her way back to the Murasame.
Both Hotaru and Akio would see, in their own ways, a figure approaching from the far side of the canyon. It's really a wonder how they got there without the team noticing, but there he was, a silhouette in the distance slowly growing. Akin would notice the footsteps before he saw the person, likely, and Hotaru being so high helped her see the person. Kaneko was oblivious.
Hotaru narrowed her eyes a moment as she grunted. "Leader? Hn… Don't underestimate me! I'm plenty capable of leading too." She resisted calling him an idiot, as she would with Akio during his similar outbursts. To be fair, though, Akio's outbursts are usually directed at her and not at the surrounding landscape. Well, Hotaru has conflicting views on what a good leader is. "A leader's purpose is to dele… delegate tasks to those whom follow him, and are responsible for keeping them out of trouble! You've certainly done one of those tasks to some extent but you hav-"
Of course, shortly after, Tsurure did delegate. He ordered her to take a look. "Fine, fine…" She said, grumbling. Was it being a sensor that made her be so keen to absorb people's anger and channel it so easily? Either way, before she could even say anything else, she was already at the highest point in the canyon. "… I guess you are the leader… Hmmmph…" The little noble indignantly huffed as she reached into a pocket in her vest-like shirt, pulling out what appears to be a monocular of some sort. With the flick of a wrist she extends it with a single hand before bringing it to her head. Standing straight and tall, with the breeze brushing against her from so high up, she scours the landscape until she catches a figure in her sights… "Hey… There's someone over there… That isn't Kaneko or Akio." She moved the monocular soon after, "We have a visitor…"
Akio looked at Kaneko and nods again as well. He was simply keeping an overall eye on things. Even then he noticed she was coming back it seemed, but the big thing on his mind was.. Wait was that…. Someone else? Someone else was coming here now. Alright looks like Akio is heading towards Kaneko and he is going to keep this new visitor in his senses. He also noticed Tsurure was doing something with the earth and was lifting up Hotaru. When he got in range of that giant pillar he looked up to see Hotaru up there, and she seemed to be looking at…. the direction of the new visitor. Alrighty then. Once he found Kaneko he quickly looked at her. "Hey.. Someone is on the way and I believe Hotaru has spotted them too."
Tsurure's gaze sharpened at the news that they had company. Of course they did. As soon as he got injured, things went from 'there's noone around' to 'We have a visitor.'
"This is why you don't trust luck to get a job done. It'll spit in your face." A grimace found his face once more as he made the handseals and started lowering Haneko back down, starting slowly to give her time to react to it and then letting the pace pick up. Putting her so high up, if she could see their visitor than their visitor was much more likely to be able to see her, which he didn't want.
Once Hotaru was down, he said, "Our job is reconaissance, not assault. Let's reposition, in case they saw you and figured out where we are, and make our way over to the others. Can you get a read on him? Get a feel for his chakra? I want to know if he's a shinobi, if he's preparing for battle, his approximate distance and, of course, if you recognize him. " More hand seals, more grimaces, and more chakra and then the pair were traveling, relying on the ground carrying them towards Kaneko and Akio rather than walking for obvious reasons. "And try to get a read on our teammates while you're at it."
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a EARTHFLOW…31
RPCOMBAT: Tsurure defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE…31
Kaneko would blink a bit at the news, hearing both Hotaru and Akio's announcement of someone approaching because she's really in a convenient spot to hear both. She would gesture to Akio to get back to where they started, then she starts to retreat back towards Tsurure, catching his comments. The girl nods a bit. "Agreed. Let's just see who it is," she suggests. "It's only one person, right? Any interesting thing about their chakra, Hotaru-chan?" If they had a lot of chakra stored up (which they don't), then they could be dangerous. Kaneko rubs her chin in thought, musing silently for a few moments. "Everyone be ready just in case the person is dangerous."
The person would be approaching slowly, giving everyone time to prepare. In the end, though, it turned out to be a man who looked to be about 30 or so years old. He looked a bit erratic with his silvery hair sticking out all over the place. He had a white smock on over his clothes, which looked like commoner's clothes. "Ah, hello there!" he says cheerfully. "Were you the lot that was causing all that commotion? I swear, it's hard to work with all the booms going off!" His voice is one of those higher-pitched annoying-type voices that you associate Dr. Doofenschmertz (sp?) with.
"Are you sure!? I could get him from here! I have one long-ranged technique…" It's also -very- experimental. Maybe not a good idea. "… Mmmh… Okay… Fine, we'll reposition…" Hotaru whines and drops onto the pillar, collapsing her spyglass and sitting on the pillar she was still ascended upon. "You're the leader…" His earth was going to take her places regardless, she might as well just sit and enjoy the ride.
In short order, the pillar descends, and when she reaches the ground below and is promptly shifted towards Kaneko and Akio, there is a pouty look on her face as her eyes shut close. That didn't stop her from reaching her senses out regardless. It wouldn't be long before the reached Kaneko and Akio, and upon seeing them Hotaru would wave a hand out to the side. "Kaneko… I'm checking now. He…" He was already here.
Not a typical bandit, no, but he had hair that made her want to make sure her own hair was properly straight. At the very least, he seems like a respectible individual. He hasn't attacked yet. "It wasn't me!" Hotaru quickly noted. "I mean… Hello! W-who are you?"
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…33
Akio looked amongst them as they caught up to each other. He was just behind Kaneko and missed Tsurure's comments. "Well I guess that is all we can do. It is only one person. I will be sure to look out for more though." He states before looking over Kaneko. Of course it wasn't long before he also looked at firstly Hotaru… "Any chakra?" He shouldn't have already been there before she could check chakra. Anyways when the man did arrive the first thing Akio did was bring up an obvious question. "What are you doing here? Obviously this is a dangerous place to be for a civilian or traveller." He states quickly. Obviously he figured something was admist… With everything he dealt with.. Deception was common.
RPCOMBAT: Akio defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE-II…41
"You need to vacate the area."
This was Tsurure, speaking to the 'old' man who'd approached the group now that they were together. "What you heard were some underground explosions and they caused a small rockslide in the canyon. We no longer know just how stable the surrounding area is, so we should all leave."
He wasn't particularly worried about this guy who'd just popped up. Hotaru hadn't sensed anything amiss, else she would've shared it, he was sure. Tsurure himself didn't sense anything amiss and nothing about the man said there was anything to worry about.
Of course, that didn't mean they wouldn't keep an eye on him. "We'll escort you out to make sure nothing bad happens to you on the way." And with that, he gestured to the exit of the canyon that remained within the Land of Earth and ultimately headed back to the village. They should tell Iwagakure of the state of this place.
"You may call me Ukon," the man says in a cheery voice. "I was studying the rock composition around here when I heard all the awful explosions. Oh, and if you're wondering why I don't seem all that dirty, it's because I did the excavation earlier. My house is somewhat nearby, so I was researching things there. Horrible place to research, really. I should get a proper laboratory (he says it la-/bore/-a-tory) someday." The man scratches his head, making his unruly hair even worse. "Mmm… No escort needed, young man. Thank you much, though. I just wanted to see the ruckus."
It's then that Kaneko would step forward. "Then we can escort you out of this canyon and maybe partway to your home?" she would offer. Assuming that this person was okay, of course. After a bit of arguing, it was finally settled that Kaneko and Akio would accompany him to his home part of the way while Hotaru and Tsurure made their way back to Iwagakure. The two Murasame would catch up with them quicker.
Upon reaching Ukon's home, the man would thank both of them sincerely. "You two are very responsible. It's nice to see how much you've grown, after all." Then a look would shadow his face. A scary look… One that seemed to erase any sign of the erratic and crazy man that they were talking to moments before. "We're coming for you two… Kaneko. Akio. We aren't done with you yet. And if you mention my proper identity to anyone, you'll be /very/ sorry."
Kaneko paled a bit when she heard that, but then the door slammed shut before her eyes, and she was forced to turn away from the house. "… Akio-kun…" she would say, obviously shaken. "We… We can't tell Hotaru-chan about this… Okay? We /can't/. We … We have to keep her safe from all this. This is our issue." The girl clenched her fist a bit. "I'll destroy them someday… I need to get stronger, though…"
Once the older man was dropped off at a fairly humble abode, Kaneko and Akio would depart quickly and go back to Iwagakure. All four of them would return to the gates, and Kaneko filed in the report of the various mines that had been scattered all over the canyon. All in all, a job well down for just simple scouting!
