Starring:
Date: August 26, 2015
Summary:
Some destruction after the Bijuu Capture needs to be repaired, which is exactly what this team is doing! Helping get things fixed and in proper order.
"Rounding Up Cows! And Chickens"
Land of Lightning
While it may not seem like much, Sakuya and Yori were to go on a mission! The pair were to meet at the entrance of the village and wait for Michiko, who is chatting with some of the guards present that lovely dawn. "Yes, keep recording. Yes, even shinobi," she tells them patiently, answering questions with ease while she waits for her teammates.
Yori had gotten word for something going on and so was arriving just a few minutes early to the front gates, bowing to Michiko as he arrives, then bowing to the guards as he does for pretty much everybody. He'd missed the battle with the bijuu because he'd been helping oversee things within the Village while everyone else was gone! "Michiko-san," he greets respectfully once there's a break in the 'conversation'.
Sakuya follows behind Yori the entire trip to the mission starting area. Having been given little background, she expects a full brief from Michiko upon arrival. She gives a slight bow to the guard, before she positions herself to the right of her team-mate. "Michiko-sensei. We've arrived. What is the situation?" She asks. "If I've been brought along, there must be some need for communications…" They are still short an individual for their genin team, so assigning something past a D-rank mission seems fairly unlikely.
Michiko finishes the conversation shortly after she feels her teammates' arrival. "Yori-san, Sakuya-san. Today's mission should be a bit easier than most, considering your level," she notes, a glance to Sakuya. "That being said, the mission for today involves rounding up stray livestock. Cows, chickens, goats, you name it. There are a number of farms that were destroyed after recent events, so we need to help them. I'll be moving ahead of you two to take care of bandits while we travel, and no, there will be no stops." They were going to travel a good twenty miles. It shouldn't take much more than an hour or two to travel, at least. Three if they kept their pace slow. "I've arranged horses for you two," she adds, gesturing to where Roadblock (her own ride) stood with two others.
Yori's own horse from the Saito village is waiting there and so the boy nods to Michiko. "Hai Michiko-san. I've read the reports and knew we would be helping in some regard." Honestly though, he's a little surprised to see Michiko going on this mission. Seems like she could be handling some of the other troubles that have likely arised! Yori turns to Sakuya and bows deeply to her as well, giving a small smile as a way of greeting before going to his horse.
Ugh, farm animals? Sakuya's eye twitches when she hears this. "B-but, I… I graduated at the top of my class…" She very, very quietly complains. The snake-eyed girl's shoulders slump as she narrows her purple eyes, tongue flicking as she looked off to the side. Yet one look down at her sleeves reminds her how unprepared she was for fighting, having been directly struck by that jutsu left her reeling. She has yet to counter such things appropriately. "Hai, Michiko-sensei. I will be sure to remain in contact with you if we have trouble 'rustling up' the grub." She hisses. Zuzu bites her as a gentle reminder to remain pleasant no matter the mission. Everything has it's uses. She nods her head to Michiko-sensei, not having time to return Yori's. "Keep safe, Michiko-sensei." She says, to end, as she moves over to her horse.
As far as riding one of these, she's not entirely sure how. Can't be that hard…
Michiko glances to Sakuya, saying, "I know it doesn't seem like much, Sakuya-san, but you /are/ recently graduated. These are the types of missions you'll be on for about a week, and then you'll be upgraded to some more difficult missions." Michiko looks to Yori. "Teach Sakuya-san what she needs to know, Yori-san. I'll be moving ahead now." The Iwata moves to Roadblock and climbs onto him, nudging the horse down the trail and heading south and west.
Yori bows to Michiko as she heads off, then looks to Sakuya as she stares at the horse. "Um, Sakuya-san, have you ever ridden a horse?" He doesn't seem to be judging her by asking the question, almost like he's just truly curious. After all, middle of a mission may /not/ be the best time to try and learn.
Sakuya places her hands upon her hips, staring it down. She tilts her head a little, to get a proper read upon the beast of burden. "Hmm… It looks like something you eat." She notes. Zuzu pops his head out of her collar at the mention of food, looking about. She looks over at Yorishiro, just to see what he was doing. How he got up onto his horse. She walks up to it, staring at Yori analytically. "… So, you just sit on it?" She asks.
Easy enough. She grabs the horse's back, and jumps up on it. On it, and quickly falls off it, landing on the ground with a rather loud grunt! She ends up retrying, saddling up, and squeezing the beast with every limb she has. "… I… I've got it now! I think. Now what?" Clearly, she hasn't, but this is no time for a lesson. There's only enough time for a crash-course.
Yori's gold-brown eyes actually shine with a bit of humor as he watches Sakuya, nudging his own mount towards her and just holding out a hand. "Here Sakuya-san, just sit behind me okay? When we get back from the mission I will teach you how to ride a horse," he says with a friendly smile. The other horse can be taken care of by the guards. As for his own, it can easily carry the little bit of extra weight.
Sakuya very-much would like that. As she presses her head against the horse's neck, she reaches out to grab Yori's hand… The next few moments could be considered the most awkward attempt to get from horse-to-horse. Legs streching out, snake-girls nearly falling off, but all in all there was no doubt that a Shinobi of Sakuya's prestige could pull off transfering herself behind Yori… "… Yori-san…" She grunts as she hugs his midsection tight, not sure what to expect. "… I'm going to regret this so much…" She whines. "… aren't I?"
"Yes Sakuya-san, the first few times you ride a horse will be difficult, but don't worry, it gets better." Yori gives a nod to the guards so they know to take care of the other horse, then tells Sakuya to 'hold on' before kicking the horse into a trot, preparing to stop if Sakuya needs to!
It's safe to say, there would finally be progress made, but it wouldn't be the smoothest. Sakuya throws a bit of a fit. "Michiko-sensei couldn't have just made us go by foot!?" She whines as the horse takes off. Zuzu slips out of Sakuya's kimono out of the skirt portion like a tail to watch the scenery change. Clearly this was faster than she could run, and until she learned a suitable alternative, this was the speediest way to move around.
Yori makes the horse go forward more?
Sakuya is beginning to get used to this, she supposes. Now she's mustered the courage to attempt to look over Yori's shoulder a little. She rests her head on Yorishiko's shoulder as she narrows her eyes to see if she can spot any farm animals. "This isn't all that bad after all." She states. As the horse charges forward, her uniquely tied scarf's to tails are picked up and flow behind her. "You're an excellent horse-handler, Yori-kun… When did you learn?"
As the pair chat, they would find the journey is going by a bit faster. No bandits or anything get in the way, though there are a few signs of fights around them if either of the two look carefully. Michiko was doing her job! And now the girl is helping with the rebuilding of one of the destroyed villages because she can use a lot of abilities that are useful for building. Yay, earth manipulation!
Yori and Sakuya's job is to round up the livestock, though, so once they dismount, they better start looking around for various whatevers that fill the pens of farmers! A few black and white specks are off in the distance, grazing from greener pastures, and there are white fluffy specks in a different direction. A chicken casually struts right across the path of the Saito and Hebisuuhai!
"My aunt and uncle trained me when I moved in with them. This is the horse that I helped to raise, he's mine." Yori sounds rather proud about that. "I named him Atarashi." When they arrive at the farm Yori dismounts smoothly, then reaches up to help Sakuya down before patting the horse and letting it graze on whatever it can find. "Okay…" he says, looking over the village and the rampant animals. "Let's see what pens are completed first Sakuya-san, then we can start rounding up what they're ready for."
"Hai, Yori-kun." She says as it would not be best to start catching the animals until they know the containment units are actually useable. Her snake, Zuzu, had other plans however. The walking white bird is curious, and thus he attempts to leave his master in order to taste. Sakuya notices this and attempts to grab her nin-snake partner before he ruins the mission. "No! Not now, Zuzu." She clearly has to keep her partner in sight, so she wraps the snake around her neck openly. "This is not my favored mission-type, Yori-san… At all."
The chicken flutters its wings, sensing danger, but then Sakuya comes over, which probably alarms it even more! Enough that the chicken is running away, at least! When Yori and Sakuya head over to see the pens, they would get to meet with a number of people who were working on them. "Well, we have some fer chickens… And then we have a thing for the sheep, but it's only half-done. You might want to work on the chickens and the cows. We have an area for them, at least," tells one of the workers.
Yori smiles a bit when he sees Zuzu and the chicken incident, then goes to talk to the people. He gives a bow to the one that tells them what is and isn't prepared, nodding before looking to Sakuya. "Um, I know you don't really want to do this, but it's a mission. So, um, let's go ahead and get the cows first. We're going to have to try and herd them this way…" Yori looks around to try and spot all the cows so they can get started at least…
RPCOMBAT: Sakuya defends against with a HEBISUUHAI-SENSES…20
Sakuya raises a hand, "Hai, hai, Yori-kun. A mission is a mission." She says, biting back the embarassment of hunting cows. She suspects that she'd be quite able to smell out some cows. Thus her gaze scans across the varied terrain as she flicks her tongue, tasting the air. She'll know where they went, at least, in the general direction based on this sense of smell.
The cows are, thankfully, both easy to spot and smell. They tended to gather in little clusters, dotting grassy fields with white and black spots. In total, there are about six noticeable clusters. Should Yori or Sakuya ask on how many cows they should be finding, they would learn that there were about 30 cows total to find
Yori smiles a bit when he sees Zuzu and the chicken incident, then goes to talk to the people. He gives a bow to the one that tells them what is and isn't prepared, nodding before looking to Sakuya. "Um, I know you don't really want to do this, but it's a mission. So, um, let's go ahead and get the cows first. We're going to have to try and herd them this way…" Yori looks around to try and spot all the cows so they can get started at least…
Sakuya raises a hand, "Hai, hai, Yori-kun. A mission is a mission." She says, biting back the embarassment of hunting cows. She suspects that she'd be quite able to smell out some cows. Thus her gaze scans across the varied terrain as she flicks her tongue, tasting the air. She'll know where they went, at least, in the general direction based on this sense of smell.
The cows are, thankfully, both easy to spot and smell. They tended to gather in little clusters, dotting grassy fields with white and black spots. In total, there are about six noticeable clusters. Should Yori or Sakuya ask on how many cows they should be finding, they would learn that there were about 30 cows total to find
Yori nods to Sakuya and, after hearing the genereal numbers, he goes out towards the closest clust and looks them over, hmming softly to himself. "Well let's hurry up and get this done Sakuya-san, that way we can finish this and go help with other parts of the village." As he formulates a plan the boy looks over to Sakuya and smiles a bit. "What do you think Sakuya-san, any ideas?"
Actually, she does. "… I've never tried my genjutsu on farm animals." She notes, rubbing her chin. "However…" Her eyes move to smirk at her partner. "Animals usually respond negatively towards loud noise. If I can affect them with my genjutsu, I can 'guide' them in a direction by implanting loud noises in the opposite direction of where I want them to go. It's worth a try." She looks over at the herd that is dotted within their closely localized area. "… It beats maneuvering each one by hand…"
Yori considers a moment before he nods, "Alright Sakuya-san, that sounds like something interesting to try. Why don't you get behind them and start having the sound come a little from the west side. I'll go behind and to the other side and together we can keep them going straight. I will scare them with something if I have to, but maybe your genjutsu will be able to just get them to move."
Sakuya is glad that a simple genin like her came up with a plan! "Alright, Yori. At your lead." She says as she readies her position south of the heard. She waits for Yori to take the east, before she creates the appropriate handseals. "Let's see if cows have similar neural patterns as people." She notes, taking this as a lesson in mental compatibility as she creates the handseals and makes a screaching noise due west.
COMBAT: Sakuya attacks target 1 with AUDITORY-HALLUCINATIONS with a roll of: 23
COMBAT: Sakuya attacks target 2 with AUDITORY-HALLUCINATIONS with a roll of: 20
COMBAT: Sakuya attacks target 3 with AUDITORY-HALLUCINATIONS with a roll of: 25
Cows, while they may not have brains exactly like a human, /can/ be affected by genjutsu, apparently. This is pretty obvious as they all seem to experience a very loud (and painful) screeching noise that nudges them all away from whatever this new sound is coming from. They all moo and shuffle around to try and get away, though a few of them are flat out disoriented from the whole escapade, likely needing some help to start heading in the right direction.
Have you ever heard of a cattle prod? Well they wouldn't have very effective ones in these times but to someone who can harness lightning they can make a fake one of sorts! Yori walks up to the confused and lagging cows and reaches out a single finger to give them a small shock to try and send them in the right direction. "Less distracting Sakuya-san, more scary."
She'll rely on the effects of the previous jutsu to continue, as she focuses her contract on something less disorienting. "R-right… They are prey animals, so the sounds of predators would spook them… logically…" The next sounds are the sounds of what she recalls are wolf's howls, and growls. What she perceives they'd sound like anyways. "Try this." She says as she maintains her activation handseal.
Well, wolves + electric shocky thingies = Very prodded cows. They all start to stampede towards the pens, something in their brains clicking about how they were safe if they got within the wooden boundaries. So away they go, mooing and all that good stuff. Six cows down, 24 to go! Fortunately, the clusters of cows are all easy to spot, and none of them seem to trigger any sort of mad rush, should Yori and Sakuya continue to do what they are currently doing. At this rate, they should be done in an hour or so! … Well, with the cows.
Yori follows after the cows at a jog to make sure they don't cause trouble, only stopping once they go into the pen. "Well done Sakuya-san!" He says, looking back to the girl and smiling. "You do very well, and you're very smart. This shouldn't take very long at all." With that Yori moves off towards the next group with the same plan. "Whenever you're ready Sakuya-san!" When she starts, he'll prod any lingerers a little.
Sakuya gloats on the inside after receiving praise from her older team-member! "Thank you Yori!" She says as she revels in the feeling. "Alright then, Yori-san. Onwards." If they keep this up, mission accomplished before the afternoon ends… "Although, this isn't going to work as well with chickens." She notes. "They aren't pack-oriented animals… Well, according to the book, they don't move in one direction in a group. They scatter more often than not." She makes the handseals once more, and activates her jutsu for the next group they come across. Using this ability over and over against a large group is starting to exhaust her…
Together the duo move from group to group, genjutsuing and shocking each group of cows back into the pens until, after a good hours worth of work, they're finished! With that part at least…Yori closes the pen door and latches it, then looks around for the only other thing that was finished…chickens. He spots a few, but turns his attention first to Sakuya. "Oh, Sakuya-san, here." He pulls off his pack and digs through, coming out with an energy bar. "Eat this to help keep up your strength." Yori does the same, chewing on a second one as he tries to formulate a plan for the chickens…
Oh, food. Sakuya grabs the very end of the bar and climbs up upon the gate to sit. "… Thanks…" she says rather spaced. "… I'd be able to help more if I had different variants. If I could use an ability that could replicate scent, or sight, I could create a line of feed straight to the pen…" She sighs at her lack of skill, before sticking the bar into her mouth and nibbling it slowly….
Looking around, the two shinobi would notice that there weren't any clumps of chickens. They were all in odd places. Asking on it would reveal there were a total of 12 chickens, but only 7 would be seen immediately. Hmm, how odd! At least they have a bit of a head start! The chicken that Zuzu scared earlier was tucked away safely in the pen.
Yori looks around for the chickens and nods slightly, "Okay, seems we have sight of eight total with the one already away, so we're missing four. Let's try and shoo these ones into the coop though. Um, Zuzu can you help and please don't eat any." With that Yori would give the chickens a wide berth before going towards one to try and…shoo it along >.>
In the essence of brevity, Sakuya would definitely ask Zuzu to help. She regrets that Nin-animals are sentient beings with their own desires. "Zuzu, you heard him. You take the brush, and flush them out into the open. Don't eat one, or I'll starve you." She says threateningly. Zuzu isn't fast, but he makes his way off his master while disappearing into the grass as Sakuya flanks where she knows she can smell the fowl… It's still one at a time, but it doesn't matter as much when the amount of birds are disproportionate to that of the cows…
The first unsuspecting victim is a chicken that is just pecking at the grass and making its way through grassless ground. Suddenly, there is a snake! Ahh! The chicken starts running around, though not really in the direction of the pen… Figures. Some well-timed jump-scares from the Kumo-nin, though, might get it running in the right direction, and it'll keep running if Zuzu chases after it!
Yori watches after Zuzu and Sakuya for a few moments before he nods, since it seems like they have things well in hand with that chicken. So instead the boy decides to use his speed to his advantage. Spying his first target, the boy just flickers over, grabs the chicken up, then flickers to the coop and pretty much shoves it inside!
RPCOMBAT: Yori defends against with a BREVITY…40
RPCOMBAT: Yori defends against with a BREVITY…43
Sakuya hopes that was the last of them. This was an interesting experiment in influencing animals with genjutsu. She heads over to the pens, counting the amount of chickens still missing, as Zuzu crawls back up her leg. "… We're almost done Yori-san…"
Well, not really 'almost'. At the moment, they have two chickens in the pen. By the looks of it, it's probably better to just grab the chickens and run instead of trying to lead them through a wild goose (chicken?) chase. Regardless, there are still ten other chickens to get, and only five are plainly visible. The others are all hiding in barns or something of that nature.
Yori goes through the motions again…and again and again. He doesn't waste time and instead uses chakra enhanced bursts of speed to appear behind a chicken, grab it, then appear at the coop to shove it in! Rinse and repeat until together they've gotten all the apparent chickens put away at the very least!
RPCOMBAT: Yori defends against with a BREVITY…33
RPCOMBAT: Yori defends against with a BREVITY…32
After Zuzu penned his chicken, and returned to his master, Sakuya could only watch as Yori moved back and forth, exhausting his energy on such a base-level task. She sort of stands there and places her hands on her hips as her head follows Yori's back-and-forth. Zuzu dips under Sakuya's skirt, almost acting like a tail as he too watches Yori work his heart out.
It was like an extended break, to watch him do what he was doing. "Yori-san, how are you doing that?" She asks. "Is that Ninjutsu?" She wonders. Is he so fixed on the task that he can't even hear her? Sakuya's eyes trail to the brush as she attempts to sense where the hiding birds yet are, using her special senses, while also nibbling on the energy bar she acquired earlier. "Ne, Zuzu. Do you think Yori is stingy with his jutsu? Should I ask him to teach me?"
Looks like it's seven chickens down, five to go! After Yori essentially does all the 'heavy lifting' with the chickens, they should probably go find the remaining ones, right? At least all the trapped poultry are save in their pen, eating up grains to get them nice and fat and (for the females) egg-laying.
Yori doesn't stop until he's got all the chickens shoved away that he can find, stuffing that coop like there's no tomorrow! "It's just training in speed and mixed with a little chakra Sakuya-san," Yori says, stopping for only a moment to explain before he continues. Now he just needs to find the rest…
Sakuya is likely the best option for finding the hidden ones, and despite an earlier rush to get done, she has become more apathetic regarding getting the mission done all the more quickly. Thus, while Yori dashes back and forth, Sakuya casually roams into the brush in order to get a better sense of where the little feathered morsels are. "Ne, Yori! Be right back!" she says as she moves out of general sight. While in the tall brush, thorns would snag clothing and dig into her exposed legs, but other than rely on Zuzu for the entire mission, this is the only way to catch chickens.
Eventually she would come across one, and try to pounce right on it!
Sakuya be hunting for those chickens! And yes, she does find one, but sadly, chickens don't like being caught. A spray of dirt goes up as it tries to flee the genin, only to be pounced upon. Like a mouse caught by a cat or something… Its wings flap all over the place as it tries to break free from Sakuya's grip.
Poor chicken! And poor Sakuya! Oh well…Yori will help! The biy flashes again to kidnap the chicken, holding it tight even as it flails at him. "Um, actually I'm using two kinds…one uses chakra, one is just speed, but it's more tiring…" Ahem, nowthat that's clear the boy takes the chicken back to the coop! "Keep flushing them out Sakuya-san!"
Poor Sakuya stands up and dusts herself off. "Got to have some fun, I suppose." She says, as she goes about finding and flushing out any other chickens that are in the brush for Yori to pick out. "It's just a D-rank mission, after all."
The pair continue on with their task, and by the time they're done, it's time to go home. Michiko calls out to them, looking a bit worn out herself after helping with the rebuilding. She had to use and maintain her jutsu for some time, and it got exhausting after a little while. "Did you two find all the animals?" she asks. "I hope you at least didn't mind the mission," she adds, knowing that most shinobi hate simple missions.
Yori wipes some sweat away after everything is back in place. "Good job Sakuya-san and you too Zuzu-san. Thank you for not eating anything." When Michiko reappears the boy bows to her and nods, "Yes Michiko-san, and there's a lesson in every mission, so it went well."
Sakuya keeps her mouth shut. After all, a mission is a mission… At least she has the knowledge that her first mission was technically an A-ranked mission to capture a bijuu. She was just a part of the more C-rank parts of it. "Michiko-sensei, it was okay." She knows now that she'll work as hard as she can so that she never has to wrangle chickens again. Ever.
"At least I'll be able to visit the hot-springs afterwards! Mmmh." Though the cost of cleaning her outfit might just eat up the money she earned on this mission… "Let's go home now…"
