Starring:
Date: June 8, 2015
Summary:
A small team has been sent out to go and retrieve some missing goods. Unfortunately, missions can’t always go smoothly.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Scientists and Spiders"
Land of Water
Those that know Kirigakure would know that the scientists within the village are ever experimental. For their next little project, they have decided that they needed to import a few … valuable goods. Unfortunately, the ones who were shipping the goods were attacked, and the supplies needed were stolen. With this news reaching the ears of the scientists, they immediately sent for Kirigakure's shinobi to 'take back what is theirs'. Shimizu Kiji was made to lead the mission, and she could choose who she wished from the list of Genin provided. On this list were two names in particular: Shirayuki Tsubaki and Uzumaki Byouki.
Also within her instructions would be clues as to 'where' the goods would have been taken to. It was known that the thieves were hiding in the Land of Water, perhaps idiotically so, and they were about twenty miles from the smallest isle, which doesn't say much… Or does it? This island has been considered uninhabited for many years.
Kiji wasn't sure why she had been tapped for this mission but she was anoyed from the get-go. She looked at those assembled, two genin, one she knew the other she didn' exactly trust. The Shimizu's eyes were golden as she re-read the missio information. "Well it looks like we're on a treasure hunt… If any of these things seem od you /do not/ talk about them. Got it? These are part of experimets unknown and they will stay that way." The white-haired girl looked up and around them before she nodded toward the ferry. "We'll take the ferry to the island. I'll keep my senses open. You know I'm a sensor I assume. What ca you offer this mission?"
Byouki stood before Kiji - the pair hadn't exactly bonded, but that to the boy's apathetic stare meant not - he bound by the work that is meant to come those graduated from the Academy. But there was - if you looked closely enough, could penetrate notice enough to see the slim tremble that chugged along the youth's skin - there was fear. This was, after all, his first mission.
Such fear cannot be shown though, and stop being a lab fool about it anyway, this is what it was meant to be a shinobi, but ah: that Kiji lead it. To stumble in front of her would be a poor way to match the bravado he had previously shown. He couldn't just dash off this time; there would be death to pay were he to desert. This is what it is to be a shinobi. Succeed, or perish. Can't run from it this time.
Byouki clears his throat through his rebreathers, soggy metallic puffs, "I, uh-" but the boy's voice finds itself, and the end of his stutter the words come clear enough:
"I'm Uzumaki Byouki."
As if that is the best offer he can muster.
Tsubaki bows lightly to both who were there. It was not her first mission, and it wasn't going to be her last. But she still felt excited when tapped for these /kinds/ of missions. Usually it was simple tasks that are had as a student. The girl glances to Byouki, only recalling him from a few small encounters. "Shirayuki Tsubaki," the girl says, introducing herself more for the Uzumaki's benefit. Then she looks to Kiji, following the Shimizu to wherever it is they're going. Which likely means the ferry. Her chakra is focused as they travel, the girl wanting to be ready for anything. "… I can… Keep people where they are…" she offers. 'How' is left to the imagination.
Of course, the trip via ferry is uneventful. There's nothing to really see until they reach the smallest island, and the initial look over the isle would leave people wondering if there really is a thief hiding there. While Byouki and Tsubaki could really see nothing with their eyes, senses with the mist might notice that there's some unnatural shapes way off in the distance. Of course… It's a bit far for Tsubaki to detect right now. Kiji, being a sensor, would be able to pick out 3 distinct signatures. No details, but they're there.
Kiji could sense Byouki's.. unease. In the way he stood, in the way his chakra felt… But Kiji merely gave him a look that did not suggest se noticed. She simply nodded her head to each in turn. "Shimizu Kiji though I believe we've all been introduced." Once on the ferry she kept watch and kept her sense open. The wie range version of her abilities allowed her to be warnedof shinobi level signatures from far off. Once she got closer to the islad she would focus a bit more, switching to a more detaile inventory of those signatures she sensed. "There's at least three. Come on let's go. Be ready."
The boy was already charged, as ostensibly as emotionally, enthralled by the tingles running up his spine and down his fingertips. This is going to be it: the decisive moment. From the Academy he had slain a beast, and the metaphor was easy enough. Now though; now the opponent would be real, someone behind the eyes too, a life lived and decisions made and here they are. Here they are perhaps unknowing - as Byouki was ignorant himself - of how death might smell.
The genin follows suit behind the others, trailing slightly Tsubaki in what seems a standard tactical approach but which also provides him be required the last to act. He breathes in deeply, the air pours out of his rebreathers with a tumbling unsure. His large iris eye darts around the island, looking for the now known three.
Tsubaki waits until the ship has reached the shore before extending her senses. Her chakra permeates the mists, giving her a sense of what is where… "… There's a … building.. Hidden by fog…" she reports to Kiji, the girl looking to the Shimizu for orders on what to do. Obviously, they were going to disembark, but was there any plan going into this?
Kiji moved off the ferry when it landed, turing to Tsubaki and Byouki. She nodded to Tsubaki's information about the building and then looked to Byouki. Se took a breath then motioned him to come closer. "Stick close or you make yourself a target." That was mostly for Byouki's sake, she'd noticed his placement and figured it wasn't on accident. Then she glanced back toward the building and signature locations. "I sense three. Two…" She furrowed her brow, concentrating. "Two use water. The third I… cant tell but leave that one to me. Cover eachother's backs. And follow me." Kiji headed for the direction Tsubaki mentioned and she sensed the people in…. Keeping a close 'eye' on where the people were as they got closer…
Byouki keeps close as Kiji mentions, much tighter than probably desired, a shadow's thickness from her side. If anything, it sounded like she would protect him. His breath begins to come more rapidly the closer the trio move inward on the island. Water users on an island would be ideal for the enemy, plenty of liquid to flush the three away with. Would his hand seals come in fast enough? Were they memorized well enough? Would he be quicker than the three shinobi, three shinobi who felt brave enough to thieve from Kirigakure for goodness' sake. Surely they must know what would happen; but then surely they would be prepared for an attempt to bring the equipment back.
Byouki shadows closer Kiji, practically a second skin, his eye much larger now, more rapid with each encroaching approach. The others must be close if they can be sensed…
Tsubaki nods softly, keeping about a foot from Kiji. Not so close as Byouki… Which… oddly irked her… To an annoying extent. The temperature around Tsubaki steadily gets colder … But… Only for the Uzumaki? Kiji is largely unaffected by this sudden onslaught of freezing weather. And with this cold, a bit of water snakes its way… eventually pausing near Byouki's foot and aiming to trip him up a bit. Regardless of if he trips or not, it would quickly splash into the ground and leave no trace.
The trio would continue on, traveling… There wasn't much to see until they reached the building that Tsubaki had mentioned. It was squat and rectangular in shape, not really… Well, it didn't seem imposing. It was grey, ugly, boring… But being so close might allow Kiji to sense a few tags that were located around the building. And if Kiji didn't sense those, then the group might end up running into the wall that has been formed about twenty meters from the walls.
Kiji blinked as Byouki moved closer to her and closer still. She had meant stick close to Tsubaki as they would be able to watch eachothers' backs. But if he was that close to Kiji.. Well she probably could intercept anything major comming his way.. But she wasn't there to baysit and the one se could sense was definitely a step too high for Byouki to handle. She spoke, softly but with a firm tone. "The closer you are to me the more chance you have of getting caught in my crossfire." Tsubaki's little trick got a shake of te head from the chuunin. They needed to work together if they were all comming home from this mission… The wall went unnoticed by Kiji and he slammed into it as she moved, her blood comming out to form whips from her wrists that caught her before she hit the ground. She shook her head and blinked a few times… "What was that….?" She rubbed at her temple.
Byouki's attention is shifted when Kiji speaks to him, thus he fails to grasp the grasp that does not fail to entangle his ankle. The water curls up around the boy, pulling him just enough that he stumbles to the ground right before Kiji steps into the wall. The youth looks up as Kiji grounds.
"I did not do that."
He is slow to stand, more so for his eyeing of Kiji as he does so. Is it okay to stand before she does? Of course, right? That would be foolish, surely?
Once stood, Byouki puts his arm out as he steps forward, the elbow turning in as his hand contacts the invisible wall.
"There's, a… well, there's something here."
Automatically, without command, intrigue overwhelming attention to duty, the youth presses his hand against the wall as he moves himself right, that he might find an edge to the unseen block.
Tsubaki is far enough behind that she doesn't touch the wall. Whether that's a good thing or not, she doesn't know. All she knows is that if there is a wall, they are trying to hide something. Keeping something in. Keeping something out. Whatever the case may be, this wall was in the way. "… A barrier…" she simply says, wondering what its purpose was. They would all likely find out soon enough, though.
The barrier… is actually used more to make sure there are no intruders. A way to make sure those within are not disturbed. Something pings through the mind of who made it, and the two Water-users, which Kiji would sense very well with them being so close, come out and throw knives made of water at the trio. Chakra solidified the point so that the weapon could pierce. Oddly enough, the 'knives' went right through the barrier that kept the Kiri-nin from advancing.
Kiji looked up at Byouki as te boy stated he hadn't doe that, a blush on her cheeks. Did she just walk into a wall of chakra without sensing it? Embarassing… Byouki got to his feet beore she di becaue of te twinge in her head. "It must be a barrier.. Tags or something. Be careful, they might have a self-destruct written into the sealwork." Standing, Kiji looked around and focused forward as the knives came at her, a splatter of blood and Kiji is no longer visible. Then suddenly she was standng several feet away, eyes darkening into a ruby tone. "Tsubaki-san, Byouki-san. The wall is focused at it's corners. the tags are.." She focused again and then spoke the locations of two tags, one for each of her gein. Kiji would be there to fight…. She purposefully did not defend her teammates, watching to see how they could work in battle, Byouki specificly.
The boy is again distracted by Kiji as she talks: the first of the water blades comes dashing high towards Byouki, he not able to move fast enough to dodge its assault — the razor-sharp water gashes his shoulder, his hand instinctively jumping to staunch the blood and grasp the hurt, leaving him bare as the second water sharp darts across his thigh — his other appendage slaps to the new wound.
"GAAH!"
The boy's eruption is a static of noise from the rebreathers, certainly alerting anyone nearby to the shinobi's presence.
But it is just pain, and father did not raise a coward. Perhaps it is the anxiety of the mission which has the genin out of sorts, for he has been beaten and battered before and often, and what is this but the same? It is but flesh. It is but blood. The boy stands, taller, strong, the leaking blood turning his dark clothes darker. He nods (albeit forcefully, stiff at Kiji), moving towards the tag assigned him, to unwind and defuse it if he can. His eye is a bit calmer now, keeping itself up and alert in case of a new attack.
Tsubaki is quick to react, water forming around her and blocking the initial water kunai. However, the other slips through the ribbons, stabbing her eye… And then she bursts, splashing the ground. The girl had replaced herself with a water clone. She eyes Byouki to make sure that he's okay, then looks to Kiji with a small nod. "Hai…" she says, darting over to the corner to find this tag that Kiji mentioned. She doesn't say much else as she seeks out the tag, occasionally looking up to make sure that nothing comes her way….
The enemy doesn't seem too happy about the fact that most of their attacks were defended against. And one of the shinobi was going after the tags! One of the bad guys begins to focus solely on attacking Tsubaki while the other sends needles of water at both Kiji and Byouki, trying to injure and even kill them. They were here… And orders were that anyone that came this way needed to die.
Kiji winced in sympathy as Byouki ended up taking a few cuts. But they had just been water knives and she had needed to see how he would react to being struck. Now she knew. She nodded to herself. Battle was one way of getting to know a person after all. With the two headed for the tags, Kiji was watching thier opponents, crimson eyes flicking back and forth. Byouki would find a Kiji suddenly between him and the attacking shinobi just in time to take the strongest attack aimed for him. Se splattered into a rain of blood as it struck. Meawhile te real Kiji as defending herelf as well, her whips knocking the water knives away She trusted Tsubaki to be able to defend herself but Kiji was aware this was Byouki's first mission. Kiji sprouted more whips as she watched silently, waiting for the barrier to fall…
Byouki is stunned as Kiji takes one of the blows meant for him. Everyone he had known in Kiri were heartless though not for lack of caring but for wont of learning what loss tastes like; the blood shinobi, it seemed, was a bit more of the former.
There is still, however, a second threat. A second liquid needle comes darting in at the genin, he barely managing to get himself out of the way in his pursuit to disarm one of the tags. He finds it, a grin behind his mask, an exhale burping from the rebreathers.
"Excuse me," he says, removing the tag, holding it aloft for Kiji… and that's when he sees them. They look… the boy cocks his head. They don't look like ninja at all. But they're certainly… Byouki presses himself against the imaginary wall, intrigue again overwhelming duty.
"Who are you!"
Tsubaki surges forward, a clone taking the blows for her and absorbing the water into itself. Then she makes it to the seal. She rips the tag off the rock it was stuck to, tearing it up… there's a faint flicker between Kiji and the attacking scientists… And then the sound of shattering glass. The barrier was no more, and now the scientists looked worried… But why? Was it because of the shinobi? They both make a seal, and a large scroll appears between them. They spin, and from this scroll emerges a number of weapons. Weapons of all sizes, and all are aimed directly for Kiji.
As soon as she hears the shattering shield, Tsubaki makes a clone of herself. This one is made of pure ice, and it charges at one of the scientists that are there while she goes to stand near Kiji again, about a meter from the Shimizu. No need to get injured by the bloody tails that are swelling from her body, right?
Kiji watched, felt, as the wall went down and the second it fell she was moving forward, heading for the strongest of the group. "Good wrk! Take tem down!" Her whips came up to defend herself from the barrage of weapons te scroll had to offer eve a Tsubaki came to be at her side. Kiji growled and her whips grew thicker, the tendrils weaving together to form something very much akin to the tails of a bijuu. Then she struck, trying to sweep the shinobi away, looking to pin them. If she could capture tem she could interrogate them….
The scientist-looking shinobi remain quiet towards Byouki's question, the silence instead filled with the thunderously muffled shattering of the invisible wall.
"Neat trick."
And then the weapons come scaling forward, though most seem aimed for Kiji. There are few strays that come lacing towards Byouki however, the youth quickly realizing that these are not whimsical water needles: this is iron, dug from the earth, honed, sharpened, intended to maim, kill, die regardless of whom for it was blind — too easy this way.
Byouki's hands dart upward, three seals shining off in succession, the paper dropping to ground as the weapons boune and spin off the genin's barriers. He's still not close enough to help…
Irrelevant it seems, as Kiji lopes forward with whips wailing the island air, their bloody selves set to gnash at the scientists. The boy instead sets himself paced to intercept any of the faux scientists should they decide to flee the coagulated onslaught.
Tsubaki allows herself a small nod when she sees that these scientists were struck. Kiji was able to trap one in her tails, and the other was struck down by her ice clone, unconscious thanks to the impact of solid ice. She looks to Byouki for a moment, motioning for him to approach for a second. She would bring out a few herbs and show them to him, offering to apply them, or at least give them to the boy to use. Then she would look to Kiji, frowning. "… There's… only two…"
The third chakra signature soon reveals itself to be… a very very very very … very large spider. It also looks very mad, eyes glowing red, interestingly enough. Also, it's hissing. Its legs carry it forward, though it stays back from the group, too… Eventually it just attacks, a mechanism for self defense springing from the beast. Web. Sticky web that would trap the three (and the 'scientists').
Kiji watched as one of te scientists got caught in her tail and the other was knocked out by Tsubaki's clone. She smirked a bit and formed hardened shackles of blood about the one scientist, assuming Tsubaki would do the ame for her catch Then the third signature showed.. A large spider. She hissed and her tails flicked out to three, unfurling and snapping out to catch the webbing before it struck any of them. The webbig would be soaked in her blood and discarded before she turned and struck out, trying to wrap her whips around te creature's legs, to hold it still. Assuming that was successful, she would call out to the other two. "Kill it while I hold it!"
The webbing is absorbed by Kiji's whipping tails, the blood trumping the sticky spider substance. The chuunin's words ring out as she entwines the spider with blooded whips. Kill it.
Byouki unsheathes the machete belted to his back, the metal coming free with a leathery rasp, matching the roaming breaths unwinding from behind the boy's rebreathers. The arachnid seems clearly trapped beneath the whips of blood. The boy begins a slow march forward, then a jog, a run, a sprint, his blade roaming through the island air with each further stride towards the stunned spider. Close enough too and the boy's savagery becomes wildly apparent, his arm rising and falling to cleave the arachnid to pieces.
Tsubaki's eyes widen slightly when she sees the third chakra signature is a huge spider. But the webbing attack is stopped completely by Kiji, and then the spider is trapped. The girl doesn't waste the opportunity, two clones of ice forming and charging in after Byouki. The clones shatter against the spider, piercing its hide while it's trapped.
And with the combined attacks, the spider is as good as dead. Sure, it could probably have eaten Byouki for lunch, but Kiji was able to protect him and Tsubaki just fine, and now the spider was dead. Who knows /why/ the spider was there… But who cares? The 'scientists' could be taken back for some interrogation, and the stolen supplies would be found in the compound with little to no difficulty when it came to actually finding them.
