Starring:
Kaido, Taiki, Tsukino, Jade, Hige, Zori
Date: March 4, 2015
Summary:
None given.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Reconstruction Blues - Team Tsukino: Part 1"
Village somewhere in the Land Of Fire
All of you were called into the Konoha Administration building via messangers. The messages were terse, saying only that you were requested for a mission of the utmost importance. When all of you arrived, you were greeted by the a Jounin who addressed you all:
"You've been called here today to help deal with a problem arising after the pacification of The Silence." The Jounin looks at all of you gravely, "As you may know, the war with the Silence took it's toll on all the lands, leaving villages in ruins and many people dead. We are endevouring to help the Land of Fire rebuild but there have been… problems." He pulls out a scroll and reads from it, "In certain villages, while rebuilding houses and buildings, several of them have been sabatoged with traps, mostly explosive tags placed underneath wallpaper and the like set to trip wires. There is no pattern that can be detected in this incidents, as there is no one company or group of contractors or sub-contractors who have been targeted. It seems to be random as to who and where and what is targeted." He rolls up the scroll and says, "As such, you are directed to investigate the next two villages slated to be rebuilt and find and disarm the traps and if possible, discover who is causing it and bring them to justice. This mission is to be in two teams lead by Kamizuru Kioko with Kataras Toshio, Uchiha Kyuketsuki and Isura and Sarutobi Zankuro and the other team will be lead by Uzumaki Tsukino with Inuzuka Hige and Kaido, Aburame Jade and Zori. Inuzuka Taiki will be in overall command of the mission and will provide backup and battlefield medic in case of emergency. This mission is of the utmost importance and the health and welfare of the village and Land of Fire lies in your hands. Remove the last vestiges of Yuuma and The Silence, so that our great nation can rise again from it's ashes."
The Jounin turns and bows to Taiki and offers him the scroll and says, "Godspeed Clan Head of the Inuzuka, and good luck." With that, he turns and opens the door to the Hokage's private office and walks in, closing the door to let Daisuke know that it is done.
Kaido and Bolt cracks his neck and says, "Well, now I know why I was asked to go on this… there's no one better dealing with traps than me in the village, that I know of at least, and it'll be good to get my new partner some experience on a mission." He looks to Taiki and says, "Well Glorious Leader, meet you at the gates?" The young man does have some stuff he needs to take care of before he leaves.
Taiki bows toward the jounin and then turns to look at everyone else. "30 minutes, Konoha gates. Make sure you have enough supplies to cover the mission. You're all dismissed." Once he says that he turns towards Kaido and arches a brow at the title, but then seems to shrug it off. "Indeed. I have a few things to pick up myself." Taiki and his ninken then turn around and walk out. They don't play the "mysterious shunshin" type.
Tsukino was suprised she was included in this mission considering the targets possible connection to the Silence and her just having returned from 'safety'. But she showed up to hear the briefing. Long hair falling freely to brush against her thighs. The Uzumaki princess nodded to Taiki and the others, disappearing to gather supplies as well. Then she went to the gates and stood leaning against the doors, waiting.
Jade was a little late to the show since she came from the forest and was called in kinda short notice. Yawning as she heads in "Sorry im late" She not sorry "So clearing traps right? Shoudnt be too hard." Her jacket is a little dusty.
Hige and Konsho arrive at the Adminstrative Building and listen to what the Jounin has to say. Well, that's interesting. Of course he'd heard rumors about the traps that were starting to be discovered but he hadn't really expected so much of it to be in the Land of Fire. Once all is said and done he looks around his particular group and hmms softly to himself. When Taiki gives his orders Hige only nods before going along with the other Inuzuka to pack up, returning to the gates quickly with Konsho. He nods in greeting to those already waiting there with a tight lipped grimace. This could go bad. "Hey Tsukino." The youngest of the Inuzuka greets as he crouches and pets Konsho while waiting for the rest.
Zori looks around at the group. Smirking a bit. Pulling off his backpack. He looks inside it. It seems he has all the supplies that he would deem neccessary. But its best for Zori to make sure and see what all supplies the other group grabs. Slinging his backpack on his back. He would then follow the group. Once he got there he would greet every one with a nod. "Hey Hige, Hey Jade hehe"
Kaido and Bolt are waiting with their packs in front of the gates, Kaido is trying to give Bolt as much instruction as he can about traps and how to detect them at least. Bolt isn't Bandit, and he isn't going to ask the nin-pup to try and disarm any of them for quite some time until he's trained the pup enough not to put himself into any danger (or others for that matter). This will be good to get experience in a real world mission situation though.
Once everyone was gathered, he called for everyone's attention. "Okay, listen up. We're going to split up. My team will handle the first village, the second team will handle the second village. I'll be primarily staying in the back along with my ninken. Tsukino'san, divide up the tasks as you deem appropriate. However, Inuzuka Kaido'san knows a great deal about traps, and thus would be best suited to remove them." He hands out a two flares from each team and then adds, "If you need my assistance and I'm not around, send up a flare. I have two different colors for myself. the Green means I'm coming, the Red means I'm delayed. If you see the red flare, act apporpriately." Every flare he hands out is yellow, so there's no chance of confusion.
Tsukino nodded to Jade when she arrived. Hige's greeting got a smile and a nod while she already had jerky in hand for all the ninken on this mission. She would offer eaach one a piece and a smile.Bending, she offered her hands to Konsho and Bolt followed by pats on the head for both of them. Taiki's nnken got more of a formal treatment from her mostly because of Taiki's rank. Bowing politely and primly to Taiki Tsukino toom her place amongst the teammates. Taiki's words made her nod. She would accept is advice of course. So looking to Kaido she smiled. "I would appreciate your aid, Kaido-san." Then she looked around "If you are unsure about your ability to locate the traps stay behind Kaido-san and myself so we don't set any off acciidently and no one gets hurt. Any other questions or input?"
Jade looks around as the Inuzuka seem to dominate the mission early on. She just shrugs and goes to get her stuff before meeting them at the gate. She lets them figure out plans, takes a flare and thinks about how she is going to be helping…When she can always throw a wave of kikaichu into a building and let them trigger traps. Less dangerous than sending someone in and they only live a few hours anyway. "Ok so tell me which team im on and we can figure it out."
When Zori arrives Hige says nothing, just gives the other boy a stiff nod of greeting. Once Taiki starts speaking the young Inuzuka stands to listen, eyes fastened on his Clan Head as he gives out instructions. Once he's done that the boy looks to Tsukino to see what other orders she might have before they depart. Hige shakes his head no when she asks for further questions and he just prepares to go.
Konsho is quite happy with the head pat and the jerky and he yips his thanks once that little piece was quickly eaten. The pup also gives a yip of greeting to his fellow ninken, quite glad to have them along and silently wondering who he can hitch a ride on. Where's Taizen when you need to be lazy…
Zori glares at Hige. "You cant be serious?" Turning his head away from Hige. He quickly walks behind Tsukino and Kaido. Turning his body to where he can see the rest of the group. "I know i cant detect any traps, so to be safe im gonna hang behind you guys." Zori crosses his arms over his chest. "Jeez even during a mission, Hes like this" Zori mutters to himself.
Kaido and Bolt, before they head off with Tsukino, look to Kioko's group and says, "Here's some advice on disarming traps… don't set them off!!" He grins and gives them a thumbs up before they walk out through the gates and are out of sight.
Bolt yips gleefully and runs to Tsukino and nuzzles her hand after he nibbles the jerky and yips happily at her, liking the pretty Uzumaki Princess already. Kaido says, "Youkai!" He grins at Tsukino and tosses her a salute and then turns to the rest of the group and says, "They're likely to be simple things, like trip wire and/or pressure plates and the like, make sure you watch where you step and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If you see something, let me or Tsukino know and I'll disarm them."
Taiki watches as Kioko and Tsukino take charge of their groups. While he did not know the people in Kioko's group to make suggestions, he knew that these people were likely used to working together. So he'd wait and see what the questions were. He answers Jade's question by saying, "You're on Tsukino-san's team, Aburame-san." Other questions he'd let the team leaders answer, and once they finished he'd nod. "Okay, move out!" Shinobu and Nozomi, in the meantime, would discourage any canine hitchhikers…
Tsukino raised an eyebrow at Zori and Hige's interactions. Was there a problem here already that she would have to deal with? The princess took stock of the group. If they weren't illing to pay attention to orders or could not work together the mission was already a failure… She sighed but Kaido's words made her nod, shifting her attention, she started to walk toward the head of the group beside Kaido, hoping he would be able to spot the traps before she did.
Jade goes over next to Hige and Zori and puts arms around them both "You two need to hug it out while we plan. come on…hug it out…No Second base." She…might be joking…who knows with Aburame.
Hige watches Konsho start eyeing Nozomi and Shinobu and crouches again to thump him lightly on the head. "They aren't Taizen. You'll carry your own lazy bum this time." He tells the pup softly before standing again. He just ignores the comments Zori gives, knowing exactly what it's all about and choosing not to deal with it at this point. A mission was not a time for that. Once Jade comes over and puts an arm around him the boy simply sidesteps away from the arm and says nothing, focusing back ahead of them. When Taiki tells them to move out the teen simply nods and waits for the rest to go before moving to bring up the rear, performing his normal rear guard duties.
Zori watches as Jade comes over to hug him. But when Hige sidesteps the hug. Zori whispers to Jade about Hige "Very Mature of him" Zori snickers putting his hand on top of his head. Then abruptly briging down his hand shaking his head. "Heh". Zori glares at Hige. "Im ready when you guys are" is said to the group while still maintaining the glare at Hige. Zori is in waiting for movement.
The trek to the village that Team Tsukino was sent to takes about 5 days, it's in a remote part of the Land of Fire, close to the border with the Land of Rivers and so was hit harder than most with the war with the Silence. All that remains of the village were a few huts that were ramshackle or in complete ruins and construction on some buildings were just starting.
Kaido looks around appraisingly and says to both Taiki and Tsukino, "This is a perfect place for an ambush, we're near the Land of Rivers, and plenty of bandits roam around here. We better be on alert, if I were the ones setting traps, I'd be waiting around for whoever's sent to try and stop them and take them out." He points to the valley where the village is and says, "Tsukino-san, why don't you stay here with the rest and let me go first? If it's an ambush, I can spring it and get away and lead them back here where you would be prepared to deal with them on our own terms." He's a genin and so he phrases his suggestion as a request and in the politest way possible. Mostly though, he wants this opportunity to prove to his Clan Alpha that he can and is redeemed (not to mention the fact that he just plain wants to earn his respect back after all he's done).
Taiki falls in behind Tsukino's team for a moment. Luckily, the villages were pretty close together, allowing for Taiki to monitor both teams. Of course he saw the interaction between Hige and Zori, but left the disagreement in Tsukino's hands. Each night, he confers with the leaders fo the two teams to ensure they had everything they needed. Finally as they arrive at the village, Nozomi and Shinobu form up with Taiki, silently waiting as they watch Tsukino perform her duties.
Tsukino frowned at the interaction she was seeing between Jade Zori and Hige. It was not a good sign, nor was it something that needed to be done on a mission. Kaido's words made her nod. "You go ahead, Kaido-san, we'll wait here for the moment." Once Kaido had gone to check for traps Tsukino turned, her usually bright kind face harder and so serious one might think someone had died.
She normally would have taken a far less stern approach to it but with the Silence invoolved Tsukino had no humor left. Being their prisoner had been plenty to convince her there was no room for mistakes. She stopped and turned, folding her arms as she peered at the genin before her. "I don't know what is going on between the three of you but it stops. Zori, hige, if you can't work together come out and say it and I will see you at opposite ennds of this team. Jade, don't try to force them to be friends if there is a problem they need to deal with it but /not on a mission./ Are we all understood?" She raised her eyebrows at them all. "This is remnants of the Silence we are dealing with here and that is no simple matter. If we cannot be a cohesive group I need to know now so we can deal with this appropriately."
A glance to Taiki might tell the Jounin that Tsukino had forgotten he was even there for a moment, taking full control of the group and scolding them. briefly she wondered if she had made the right choice…. But no, this was too serious to allow a squabble to get someone hurt or killed.
Jade fake sulks the whole way when Hige and Zori refuse to hug it out. But at the same time she seems more than content to take the rear guard which is the most dangerous position in a patrol. Keeping an eye out while she acts like a pouty child about something stupid implying she was in fact joking she keeps throwing treats to the Nindogs probably leading to questions about where shes keeping all that stuff in her jaket. She does though speak up when they talk about serious matters "Sending Hige ahead like that might be dangerous. Why doesnt he go along the path and I say off it acting as eyes for him. Even with his dog going alone is too dangerous on any mission."
Whether or not Hige hears what Zori says he doesn't seem to pay it any attention. Not for now. The trip is long and the entire way Hige generally picks up rear guard, he and Konsho quite used to it and using their eyes, ears, and noses to watch for trouble. Once they arrive at the village they stay behind the rest, wary as they watch for any signs of danger that might try to come up behind them. There are enough people looking forward to warn him of anything coming from that direction. As Tsukino turns her stern gaze on them Hige gives her his full attention, his face stone as he keeps any emotions from showing. "It won't be a problem Tsukino." He says neutrally. And really it shouldn't be a problem. He can work with people even if he doesn't get along with them. He's done it in the past.
Zori looks away from Hige. Bringing his full attention towards Tsukino "Understood" he gives a slight nod to Tsukino. Zori maintains his positioninig behind Tsukino. "Dont worry, its behind me now. Im more so focused on this mission. We need to stay togethor in order to succeed and thats what i want to do."
Kaido nods to Tsukino and glances at Taiki for a long moment before he take Bolt aside and says, "Ok Bolt, here's what we're going to do. I want you about 10 feet in front of me, nose to the ground, sniffing for any scents that seem out of place. That will likely signify an ambush. Let me know where the scents are. If someone comes after us, we turn and run back to the group. You do NOT, under any circumstances take them on ourselves, is that understood."
Bolt straightens and almost doggy-salutes and Kaido just appears a bit nervous now. This might be a bad idea, taking point with an untested and untrained nin-pup. He wishes that Bandit hadn't been such an idiot, he would love to have Bandit here right now for this. Kaido takes a breath and with that, begins to pick his way down the hill towards the village with Bolt in the lead.
When Tsukino looks back toward Taiki, he gives her a supportive nod of his own, indicating he was in full agreement of her actions. Now, in the middle of a mission, is not the time to be squabbling. Inwardly, he hoped he wouldn't have to intervene himself. People of his rank weren't sent on missions often, but when they were, the situations were always very, very dangerous. He nods to everyone else that look back toward him, but he does his best to ensure that everyone knows this is Tsukino's show.
Tsukino accepted the nod from Taiki as a bit of reassurance. The jounin was letting her go and seemed to agree with her words. She nodded then looked at Kaido and Bolt, nodding to them as well. Looking to Hige, she spoke with a kinder tone now that they had been warned. "Hige-san, please see if there are any strange scents to the west but do not break into the tree line." She looked then to Taiki and chose Nozomi, speaking to the ninken directly. "Nozomi-san if you could check the east for us? Thank you." A glance to Zori and she hesitated. She wasn't seasoned as a leader either, but she wasn't sure what Zori's abilities were. "Forgive me, Zori-san, I am unfamiliar with your abilities, tell me if you have a specialty? for now you and I will stay here int he center and watch everyone's back, alright?"
When Zori says he's moved passed it Hige is relieved. He doesn't need the other Genin screwing up the mission with feelings. It's why Hige has started blocking his out in situations like this. As much as he can at least. Not to say they aren't going to leak through but, you know, so far so good. As Kaido moves off towards the location with his nin-pup Hige tenses a bit and glances at Konsho…even Konsho is much better a companion, and much better trained. Maybe he should've sent him with Kaido. Too late now. Besides he and Konsho have their own duties to attend to now. Hige nods to Tsukino at her order and Konsho lets out a soft yip of acknowledgement before the pair break off to the west and investigate with their increased Inuzuka senses.
Zori notices as Tsukino glancing at him, as he looks at her from the corner of his eye. Listening to her he hesitates for a moment but brings up the courage and says "Well i use wire strings" Zori knows its not much right now, but in the future its gonna be scary. Zori nods in agreement to Tsukino statement. "Ok ill assist you, i can at least fight." Zori shakes his fist at the air "Im ready for whatever!"
Nozomi and Shinobu notices it at first, and stiffen and growl as the wind brings the scent of multiple unwashed humans to their senses. Kaido and Bolt notice it next, being halfway down the hill into the valley as all of a sudden, about 20 or so bandits pop out of hiding from a couple ruined buildings and start to take potshots at the pair. Kaido blinks and manages to wind step out of the way of the first, but as he tries to grab Bolt and start to run back to the group, an arrow just nicks him as a huge cry from the bandits roars as they begin to charge towards him.
Kaido runs for his life and says, "Get ready! Stirred up… hornet's nest…" The bandits all carry short swords and knives and look like they know how to use them.
While Nozomi may been a bit out of the way to help cover Kaido initially, the moment the archers make an appearance she turns and runs toward the group. The canteens on her sides pop open in a flash of chakra, releasing tendrils of water to coalesce into whirlpool-like cones on her paws. As she grows nearer to a group of archers, she launchces up into the air and twists, forming a horizontal, pointed waterspout that plows through people on her way toward Kaido. In the meantime, Taiki and Shinobu are also at work, but not in the traditional Inuzuka Sense. Instead, Shinobu opens his mouth to launch a thick stream of lightning toward one of the archers, while Taiki runs through a set of seals and intones, "Raiton: Lightning needles." A spray of electric needles rain down on the archers closest to Kaido from a distance away as the trio try to provide support.
Tsukino heard the cries fromt eh bandits comming from Kaido's direction and tensed as Kaido came running for his life yelling about a hornet's nest. It didn't take long for them to fogire out he meant the bandits. (Bandits or silence, no difference, she told herself) She stepped forward, her gloved hands flying through seals until her left palm glowed. She stood at the edge of the hill and narrowed her eyes. "KAIDO-SAN! Left!" She ordered as a blast of chakra exploded from her palm. Twice she fired but not at the bandits directly.. No she was aiming for the trees just uphill from the bandits. If Kaido went left as ordered he would not be caught up in the mess she was making. The trees burst and creaked then toppled. Several trees falling over and onto bandits, possibly rolling over them as well Or pinning them between trees.
Hearing the cry out from Kaido about the hive of bandits. Zori realizes its time. As the young boy watches as Tsukino shoots a blast of chakra at the bandits uphill. He thinks to himself "I wonder what she thinks about his little "ability"?" Zori snaps himself out of thinking to himself and brings his attention focusing at the time at hand. Performing the neccessary hand seals he inhales a burst of air, releasing about 3 burst of air from his mouth aimed at a group of bandits near the same spot Tsukino targeted.
Several of the bandits are cut down by the attacks of everyone and Kaido dives left just as Tsukino yells and tosses Bolt over head of Nozomi and Shinobu and yells, "Take cover behind Shinobu and Nozomi Bolt! You aren't ready to fight yet!" Bolt lands behind the two bigger nin-ken and whimpers at Kaido, wanting to help his partner but follows orders, staying out of sight behind the two better equipped nin-ken.
Kaido turns and gets winged again twice by the two archers that took shots at him earlier and now he's shored. He rabs a gas grenade from his secret pocket in his vest and says, "Let's see how you all deal with this!" He grips the pin and key with his teeth and yanks it out, and tosses it in the direction of the two archers loading up to take another shot at him. The grenade explodes giving off a noxious green gas in all directions.
Nozomi finally makes it closer to Taiki, just past Kaido, when Bolt is thrown behind them. "Stay behind us," she says in dog-speech as she turns around. Their teamwork, combined with having to look after Bolt, almost causes them to be surprised when an older, grizzled man charges Taiki with a flaming sword! But Taiki is much more experienced and stronger than that, and throws up a seal wall to intercept the blade. "Bad move," Taiki says as Shinobu and Taiki both spring into action, supported in the rear by Nozomi. This time, a pair of horizontal whirlwinds charged with lightning appear, not quite in the gatsuga range, but definitely in coordination, one right after the other. Nozomi follows this by spitting several water bullents toward the man… and his sword.
Tsukino was gratified to notice Hige rushing back and Zori joining her in attacking a specific group of bandits. Though she was still quite serious about the mission, she offered Zori and Hige supportive (though grim) smiles. "Good job guys, keep it up." She watched Kaido get clipped again and then throw a ppoison bomb. It was a good thing they were upwind and uphill from the bomb. Tsukino herself continued with the glowing seal on her palm, She braced one arm with the other and shot at the bandits again, once, twice….
The bandits were aiming for her and Zori as well and she clapped her hands together then spread them apart, a wall thicker than Taiki's seal wall presented itselfaround her and Zori like a riot shield. She took all the attacks without even flickering the power in her shield then she pressed her palm against it and shot pure chakra out at the attackers.
Hige watches in silence as the group is attacked, noting the ones that seem to be quite so captivated with him. The boy leans away from two of the blows, the third slicing him along a shoulder. Pain to be ignored for the time being. With a wary eye on the two near him as much as possible he returns the favor of some sharp weapons, thrusting a kunai out at two that are closest to him while leaving Konshk to throw himself in a spinning attack at the third.
Zori responds to Tsukino "Will do, Tsukino" Zori looks away for a brief moment and notices Kaido throwing a poison bomb into a group of bandits and it explodes. "Wow kaido sure is brave, heh" It was just seconds later a group of bandits rushed at him and Tsukino. "Uh Oh!" Zori closes his eyes. He hears a clang "Huh?" He then reopens his eyes. Tsukino had stoped the all attacking bandits with some sort of wall. "Good one, Tsukino" Zori smirks a bit. Raising one of his arms he sends out a trail of wire aimed at Tsukino's attacker's. All the while inhaling and exhaling sending a burst of air at them also.
The Sargeants fall immediately to Kaido's gas grenade, which forces the charging bandit horde to veer around the spreading cloud which gives the shinobi the opportunity they need to pick most of their targets off. The only ones still standing are the two Lieutenants, one who indifferently dodges Zori's attack and tries to cut the beautiful face of the Uzumaki Princess. The other is hit by the bad breath attack of Zori and angered, tries to skewer Zori for daring to attack him. The Grizzled Captain glares at Taiki as he deftly avoids the nin-ken's attacks and tries to cut Taiki to pieces, seeing him as a bigger threat than the dogs at the moment.
Kaido seeing what's going on, debates, he leaves the Captain for Taiki, because he could end up hurting Shinobu or Nozomi if he tries to get involved and faces the Lieutenants. He unhooks his two chakram, and then throws them, using the power of wind to make them much sharper and more powerful then they already are, slashing at them.
Taiki appears slightly impressed that the grizzled man somehow managed to evade all that. Similar displays of power and teamwork often proved enough to take down most bandits. "Okay, you're experienced. Well, so am I," Taiki snarls as lightning pads develop under his feet and hands (him being on all fours now, like most Inuzuka fighting styles call for). He uses these pads to skate around the captain with apparent ease while mimiking dodging movements seen mostly in the canine world.
Now it's Taiki's turn, and the trio change things up again. The tops of the water bladders Taiki carries pop open in a flash of chakra, and Taiki's hands, which had long ago been encased in long, sharp, claws slash forward as Taiki's lightning pads propels him, Nozomi stays back, however, and covers him with a batch of water needles. Shinobu, on the other hand, opens his mouth to reveal another attack, a spray of lightning shafts that make both the water needles and the previous display of lightning needles appear puny. No, these are a spray of arrows with a similar homing mechanism to the lightning needles. And at this close a range, the captain is going to have his hands full…
Tsukino met the eyes of the Lt. aiming for her face and stepped backwards, opening her hands to once again produce that seal wall of hers with the extra layer of protection. it shielded Zori as well. Taiki was clearly able to handle himself so she focused on protecting Zori and herself.. but then.. she couldn't just let these men get away. She spoke to Zori then, issuing a command. "I'm going to try and bind one if I manage to hit him I need you to get in there with your wires and tie him up, Zori-san. Understood?" She flashed through two sets of seals then and both of her palms glowed as the barrier dropped but rather than running or aiming she leapt toward one of the Lts looking to touch him with her hand, on the arm, the thigh, anywhere. Her other hand lifted and exploded in a wide array of energy, trying to blast the man in the chest and compensating for him possibly dodging.
After dispatching of his own troublemakers Hige turns his focus to those remaining. Everyone is handling things well. There's that one lieutenant still hanging out and, while Hige was about to attack, his ears managed to pick up Tsukino's order to Zori. Alright probably best not to kill him then. Instead the boy starts moving around the men on the ground to make sure they are dead while the others do whatever they're doing.
Zori listens to Tsukino. "All right, i got it covered". Watching Tsukino as she blasts the lietenant with her chakra. It seems like the lietenant was sorta stunned, probally from the impact of the hit he just endured. Nonetheless, Zori springs into action, wasteing no time as he extends both of his arms forward sending out a trail of wire from amongst his sleeves at the Lieuntenant to wrap him up.
The Grizzled Captain is just no match for the teamwork of Taiki and his mighty nin-ken, the Captain manages to avoid Taiki's lightning claws, but really should have tried to do something about Nozomi and Shinobu, because it's them who manage to take the Captain down with their water needles and lightning arrows. The first chakram is blocked by the sword of the #1 Lieutenant, but it puts him off-balance for the second which literally slices the man in half. Kaido catches them on the return and hooks them back to his belt as Tsukino and Zori working together manage to stun and then bind the #2 Lieutenant and take him prisoner.
The man struggles and says, "You foundations… you'll get yours!" He snarls as he tries to reach for his dropped sword to cut the wires holding him captive. Kaido glances down at the village and says, "That's a lot of bandits… I wonder…" He pulls out a map and peers at it, "This area's a perfect spot for an army to use as a staging ground if they wanted to launch attacks." He looks to Taiki and Tsukino, "We might want to ask him where the rest of them are." As soon as he says that, the man starts to sweat and says hostilely, "I'll never talk!"
Taiki nods once as the captain falls. "Good work guys," he says quietly to his ninken. He surveys the area, his eyes falling on the captive man. After motioning to Nozomi and Shinobu to watch Bolt for a moment, he walks over to the man as he makes his declaration. He doesn't answer the man directly, but instead turns his attention to the team leader of the town, Tsukino. "Uzumaki-san, do you or Zori-san have knowledge of interroation techniques? Or perhaps access to genjutsu. Since we don't have any Yamanaka, we're forced to use less… clean methods. And I'm not sure you want me interrogating him…" Taiki's mostly formal and congenial "mask" drops for just a second to reveal a sadistic, extremely frightening, and feral look that spoke of untold suffering and the lessons in pain it taught. Taiki made sure the captive saw the look by glancing at him with rather calculating and almost… eager… eyes. "We might want him able to… remain sane."
Tsukino saw hige catch himself from attacking again and then watched Zori move in with his wires to bind the Lt. who was paralyzed by her seal. She did her best to not look around at the bodies around her, she hated how they had simply killed so many people and on top of that she'd acted herself without hesitating. For a moment she looked like she might be sick.
She turned her attention back to the bound man and kicked his sword away from him. His admission that he would not provide information made herr sigh. She glanced at Taiki as the man made his way over to them. What he said made her blanch and she looked down at the man with a look of worry. She shook her head to Taiki's question and bent down, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Please, tell us what we need to know. I cannot protect you from this if you do not…" Her big blue eyes said she wanted to help the capptive, that the idea of torture upset her, but she would wait for the man to answer. If he spoke what he knew she would get between Taiki and him, if he continued to refuse she would back up to allow Taiki to do as he saw fit.
As Hige and Konsho make their rounds they are also checking pouches to see if any of the dead have anything that might give some information. The captain and second lieutenant are the most obvious options so he checks them first, but moves on from there. Check if they're dead, check if they have anything useful on them. Fairly simply task, right?
Zori is suprised hes actually doing right in this mission. Zori remains calm as he looks at Tsukino interrogating the lietenant. "Hey Lietenant..its a wrap." Zori snickers, smirking a bit. Zori looks over at Hige for a brief moment. "Good he's alright." he thinks to himself. Looking back over to the lietenant, he focuses on maintaining the hold of his wire. Making sure it cant be broken.
The Lieutenant looks more than a little green as Taiki talks so casually about torturing him. He bites his lip and then when Tsukino tries to charm him, he glares at her, glancing at Taiki nervously.
Kaido reaches into his vest and pulls out a dart and says, "Want me to inject him with truth serum? I have one that's pretty much foolproof." He raises an eyebrow at Taiki and Tsukino and then at the Lieutenant and says, "I do caution that there's going to be some… side effects from it."
Taiki looks down at the man and drops his expression further. His grin becomes wider and speaks of a deep, dark madness of a man who has seen far too much, and wears sanity and decency like a cloak. Shinobu hunches down, almost ready to put a paw over his face as if he doesn't want to see what is coming. Noxomi gathers Bolt up and whines at him comfortingly, but ushers him away from this as her motherhood instincts take over. Taiki glances over at Kaido and actually pouts for a moment before addressing both the man and Tsukino. "It's up to her… but I do hope she'll let me play. It's been so long since I played…" The hoarse voice sounds both hopeful and whistful, as if he's talking about a playground playdate, and not unmentionable suffering and anguish that is to come. Taiki holds up a hand as electric claws once again grow from it. "You'd be surprised how much a man can take…" Before what, however remains unsaid.
Tsukino saw the fear in the man's eyes and the nervousness. She felt for him, honestly felt pain for him. But it seemed foor all her caring he was determined to make them do something cruel. The actions of the ninken were telling and Tsukino's blue eyes showed that she knew Taiki was offering soemthing very dark and she doubted it was a bluff…. She tried one more time. "Please, just tell us what you know and he won't touch you." She looked at Taiki then, her eyes sad but she clearly knew her duty here was to Konoha…. "If he will not speak…h…he's yours. But do it here Taiki-san…" She fully intended to watch. Now she waited for the man's final answer….
Hige drops the leaders pack once he finds nothing of use, then looks around the dead folks with a soft sign before running a hand through his head. He considers adding in to Taiki's threat but in the end decides that the Elder is handling it fine himself. Besides Hige doesn't look threatening. Unless he gets angry.
Maintaining the hold on the lietenant. Zori observes as Kaido pulls out a dart. Zori is knows this aint gonna end well for the lieutenant. Zori watches as Taiki makes his way over to the lieutenant, with a grin wider then Zori could ever make. It seems Taiki is enjoying this, and wants him to not talk. Zori winces a bit from Taikis outreaches claws as they embezzle with electricity. Zori cant wait for Taiki to unleash his fury upon the Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant now is very afraid, he looks at everyone and then back at Taiki as he advances and blanches and then says, "Alright! Alright! I'll talk! I'll talk! What do you want to know??" Bolt just tilts his head and yips back at Nozomi and follows her confused, but trusting in the older nin-ken. Kaido on the other hand shrugs and then shoots the dart into the Lieutenant's neck anyways and says, "There… let's make sure you're going to actually tell the truth and not tell us what you think we want to hear." The man's eyes start to glaze over and he begins to speak in a monotone, "Yes…" Kaido walks over and checks his pulse and then says, "Ok… go ahead and ask him your questions Clan Alpha, Tsukino."
Taiki delivers another pout when the man says he'll start talking, but lets up on the ominous aura. "Looks like I won't get to play after all… Unless he suddenly shuts up," Taiki says, looking for all the world like someone just destroyed his favorite play toy. Then he looks toward the man again before turning and nodding at Tsukino. "If he doesn't answer your questions completely, he's mine. And yes, I'll be more than /happy/ to do it right here." Taiki makes an exagerated show of some hand seals, as if he's getting ready to activate another jutsu.
Tsukino saw the man reach the edge of his limits and break and she let out a breath of relief that he was going to speak… Kaido injecting him with .. whatever that was he called a truth serum, made herr wince. Glancing over to be sure Zori was still alright, Tsukino only allowed herr eyes to wander for a moment before turning back to the man and Taiki… She took a breath and bent down again, crouching before him daintily, herr long hair brushing the ground. "How many more of you are there? Is there an army nearby? You know exactly what we want to know so I suggest you simply tell us all of it. YOu see, I'm just a chuunin from another village. But he," She indicated Taiki. "Is a Jounin of Konohagakure and he really wants to play with you… So I really can't stop him if you lie or don't tell us everything." She wasnt sure how that truth serum worked but she just waited for him to respond, her eyes watching those seals Taiki was making with his hands…
His exploration of the bodies done Hige can do nothing but watch now. He says nothing as he merely crouches to pet Konsho, keeping an eye on their surroundings and letting his head swivel from side to side occasionally to make sure no one is trying to sneak up on them while they're distracted with the prison.
Zori saw that the lietenant eyes gaze in the back of his head. Looking over at Tsukino she seemed to be so calm about the whole situation. Bringing his attention back on Taiki, he then says "If you want i can do the honors…Get my kill streak going.. hehe" Zori infuses a bit more chakra into the wires to give more holding power to keep the lieutenant in place.
The Lieutenant has the thousand yard stare and says in that same monotone, "We are part of a vanguard, I do not know where the rest of the army is, we were sent here by General Kharg to secure this village to use as a base for attacks in both the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. We have our supplies in the village elder's house and are using it as our headquarters, there are another group of mercenaries there defending it." With that, the man falls silent and then his eyes roll up into his head and he passes out. Kaido winces, "I was afraid of that, it's a sedative that acts like a truth serum for a short period of time. At least we got what we needed." He looks down towards the village, "We'll probably learn more once we clear the village, they probably have maps and things we can use to find the rest of their army."
The moment the man drops to unconsciousness the mad, sadistic expression drops from his face, to be replaced by the fairly congenial but serious expression of a professional shinobi. "Sorry you had to see that," Taiki said to those around. Having missed Nozomi's remarks to Bolt he continues, "I'm not really that… insane. Just the threat of great pain can break the week quicker than just about anything else, especially if your target thinks you've lost hold on your mental faculties." He then nods in agreement with Kaido's conjecture before turning to Tsukino. "Whenever you're ready to go."
Tsukino looked at Hige as he finished looking over the bodies. But Zori's comment got her attention and she frowned at his excitement over killing. He was far too excited by all of this… And Taiki seemed too excited by the idea of torture. She would probably mention them both in her report.The information they goot was good but there wasn't much they could do about it with this small group, could they? She looked at Taiki as he spoke up, appologising for his display. Tsukino breathed a sigh of relief at his words, then took a moment before she hesitated. "Are we few enough to deal with this? If they are gathering here they won't blow up the infrastructure until they're ready to leave. I believe this descision should be yours Taiki-san." She bowed her head to him.
And Hige just stays quiet and watchful cause there's not really anything else he can do. Leave the decision making to the decision makers, be the underling and just watch their asses.
Zori smirks as the man blurts out the information he was holding in. "Guess nothing is gonna happen then. Bummer" he mutters to himself. Zori keeps his wire wrapped around the man awaiting Taiki's decison.
Kaido kneels down by the trail to the village and says, "I think we should wait until dark, give them some time to wonder and get nervous about why their friends haven't come back yet." He stands up, "I rather catch them unawares then walk in right now and have to fight them in a potentially booby trapped village. We need to know what they're up to and whatever intelligence they have could be lost if we're not careful."
Taiki listens to everyone before motioning Nozomi over. When she approaches, Taiki opens one of the pouches on the vest she wears and pulls out a scroll. This proves to be a storage scroll, from which he draws an injection kit. A few moments later, and Taiki is giving their captive an overdose of a powerful sleeping agent. He will never wake up again.
As he puts the stuff away he finally speaks. "We need to stop this threat before it takes root and proves more damaging. We will hide the bodies, and then ourselves. Two hours past dark we will silently but quickly infiltrate this village and aim for the head of the snake. Keeping the village elder's house intact will be a high priority, right after removing the command structure here. Any questions?"
Tsukino was aware of everyone's reactions and felt quite silly to have come along on this mission. It was clearly not meannt for people like her. But she was here and that couldn't be changed. At least Taiki had taken over for her. She watched him overdose the captive and closed her eyes for a long moment as he spoke. She shook her head at his question and pulled out a scroll. Within it was a very large scroll stored, though it was blank. she laid it out ont he ground and diected the others to bring the bodies over. When they had the leaaders bodies and those most visible piled ont he scroll she sealed them inside and then put that scroll back in the little one. she would dispose of iit and them later….
Hige does as told, dragging bodies around, not seeming to mind the death of the captive just as he didn't mind killing the others. Death is simply a part of things in this life for him. With all of the instructions handed out Hige only nods his understanding to Taiki before preparing for the wait.
Zori watches as Kaido and Taiki inject the captive with some sort of drug. Looking at the group, he then gives a slight nod. The wires that was once wrapped up on the Lieutenant, unravels itself off of him. Once it fell to the ground the wires would then retract itself back to Zori going back under his sleeves. Zori shakes his head as he stares at the motionless captive. Glancing around he notices Hige dragging bodies around. Zori lends a helping hand as he assist Hige in the proccess.
