Starring:
Katsurou, Kasumi
Date: June 16, 2013
Summary:
Kasumi is on the hunt. Katsurou must protect a merchant that has been loyal to his family for generations
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Shirayuki VS Tenjin "
In the wild out side of Kirigakure
The old grumpy merchant has two big oxen who carry his stuff (though hidden underneath several rags, the constant clanking of metal against metal at an imperfectness in the road soon gives away the payload. Weapons. The shady merchant smiles. "Thank you for personally being there to protect me. I'm not so strong anymore. My younger days are over.." He chuckles and then coughs. Walking along with his oxen. They would be travelling for three days, passing by several points. Lots of potential for traps. Lots of locations no Shinobi wants to be in when protecting someone. But they have to. "What's your name, boy?"
"It is my pleasure." Katsuoru says in his usual soft voice as he continues to look straight ahead on the path they were traveling. "Once I heard that it was you personally enlisting our help, I decided to take up the task myself in a good show of faith. I am Katsurou. Aoitsuki's younger brother. Your merchant service has been a great help to my clan in the past and we continue to do business with you." The Shirayuki's armor itself clanks along side of the materials that ride on the oxen.
The merchant nods at Katsurou. "Very much appreciated. I expected no less from a noble clan like yours." Such a suckup! But hey, he needs them. "There's our first location.." Says the man, and soon they stop. He does his business. All is well for now. A day passes. Soon Kasumi finds her target. She stops in a nearby tree. Trying to asses things. "The next stop is half a days walk. Night is falling. Where do we camp out?" The merchant asks the Shirayuki. "We need water nearby for the oxes…" The Merchant adds. There's a lake not far from there. But that also means a clearing. Which means they're an easy target. Right here is actually a relatively easy to defend location! But no water!
For the most part, Katsurou stayed his reserved, quiet self as he accompanied the merchant to his stop to handle his business. Now that night was approaching, the Shirayuki pondered the choices he had to set up camp for the night. "I advise that we set up near the lake. I do not wish for the oxen to get sick as they will be traveling for quite some time without water; nor do i wish to prolong this adventure and keep your contacts waiting. Also, being close to the lake will aid me if we do choose to get ambushed. I do not foresee it happening but it is better safe." For now Kasumi's lurking goes unnoticed to Katsurou.
"Very well." The merchant says. Leading his oxen towards the lake. It doesn't take long for them to reach said lake, finding a nice clearing while on it. Meanwhile Kasumi stalks them from a minor distance. She's a tenjin, poisons are her forte! She quietly reaches into her pouch, looking for a set of pre prepared darts. Once she found them she nods. She would wait for nightfall before striking. If the oxes die, they will be stranded. Confused, in that time, she would kill the merchant. Simple plan, not comes the execution.
As Katsurou and the merchant get settled with their camp, the Shirayuki hears a brussle off in the distance. There was something unsettling in the area. "I do not think we are alone." Katsurou says as he scans the area around him. He takes the time to focus his chakra just in case he is forced to make a quick action from the unknown. "Stay low." He advises the merchant.
Hmm, found out. Guess she'll have to do this a little differently. Kasumi looks around and spots a rabbit. Perfect! She quickly throws a shuriken behind it which causes it to run out in the Shirayku's direction. Meanwhile Kasumi tries making herself as small as possible in the cannopy. Hoping she manages to trick Katsurou into dismissing the possible threat. Meanwhile she also focusses her chakra, just in case there's a confrontation coming.
Katsurou reaches for his kunai as he watches the rabbit run out. Scanning the direction of where the rabbit had run out of to see what would have spooked it, he noticed a figure in the canopy up above. Kick squirtle ask questions later. That was Kirigakure's motto right? Katsurou's brows furrow then suddenly he begins weaving together a series of hand seals. Once the jutsu was complete he holds his hands out to his side and almost immediately trails of water snake from the lake to the palm of his hands. After a few moments the orbs of water ice over in the shape of shuriken. With a flick of his wrist he sends both shuriken whirling through the air towards the figure in the trees.
Kasumi looks at Katsurou. O-pikachu! When he throws at her it looks like his ice shuriken were about to hit her. Though at the last moment she's sucked into the air. Showing up on the ground in front of him. She just sidesteps the second shuriken. "Guess we need to do this the old way." Kasumi says. Throwing a dart at Katsurou, followed by a set of handseals. If the genjutsu manifests she shows up behind Katsurou. Stabbing him in the back repeatedly before showing back up where she started with the handseals.
Katsurou grunts as he is hit with the poison dart. A second later he feels as though someone has appeared behind him. Looking over his shoulder he sees what must be his attacker stab at him numerous times. Though initially he felt no pain therefore he was able to see past the genjutsu. However, the poison from the dart kicked in and gave the impression that the attack was real. The Shirayuki rolled to the side to get away. Once he looked up, the assailant was no longer there but instead where she originally was to begin with. "Stay here." He commanded the merchant.
Now rushing towards the girl, he formed the necessary hand seals while in stride. The water from the lake catches up with him and swirls around his body until it reaches a point in between the palm of his hands. Holding out the globe of water, smaller droplets of water begin shooting forth at Kasumi at a rapid pace.
Kasumi was about to be swallowed by air again before she suddenly skits backwards. Mewit, that hurt! She looks at the wound on her shoulder. Good thing she's not made of sugar. The second aqua bullet gets easily dodged. Now that her poison is taking effect she smiles. Rushing in and showing off some of that shrurikenjutsu of hers. She suddenly throws two clouds of shuriken at Katsurou as fast as she can. After that, if he gets struck by her next genjutsu he can see shuriken floating all around him. Just hanging in the air. "RELEASE!" She says, all for show. The genjutsu would make it seem like those floating shuriken all strike shallow cuts along Katsurou's body. Man this fighter is nasty!
Continueing his charge towards Kasumi, Katsurou leaps into the air just as she released the barrage of shuriken. He quickly performs a series of seals but it seems as though he was a little too late…or was he? The shuriken hit their mark alright, but unfortunately for the girl he was merely a clone technique. So where did the real Shirayuki go to? He was standing just a meter away from behind Kasumi with his hand held out and already in the middle of his next technique. Water at the palm of his hand reaches out in an attempt to engulf the Tenjin in order to trap her inside the watery prison.
The water prison quickly engulves the Tenjin. But Kasumi quickly disappears. Standing behind Kats. Then she disappears again. Doing so several times, she blinks from place to place. It was all part of her genjutsu. Suddenly he can feel considerable chakra forcing itself into his body. "You get once chance, walk away. Or end up severely wounded." Kasumi threatens. While that happends, before the first genjutsu manages to manifest there's a rumble in the ground. A spike made of water rises up to try and drive it's way through Kats his leg. It's genjutsu again. But it sure looks real as charmander. And if it hits, it does FEEL real!
Katsurou furrows his brows over his mask at the sight of Kasumi disappearing from his water prison technique. He watches her image bounce around from out of the corner of his eyes. He hadn't really allowed Kasumi's genjutsu get the best of him yet, nor was he about it. However, as he waited for his chance to strike he then heard a female's threatening voice. Suddenly he feels himself being pulled away from his own body just as a water spike drills through his leg. Mukit. Her voice had distracted him and now he was victim of her genjutsu. He had no control over his own body; however, he was able to still watch everything happening to him from off to the side.
Now he's in her world. Kasumi takes a quick step foreward. It's all still genjutsu. He gets to watch as she so expertly grabs his hand, slowly whipping out a kunai. A glimmer of the blade and a spray of blood, while his hand suddenly gets impaled clean through the middle with the kunai. The hand going in through the back of his palm, coming out at the bottom. She then walks up to his other hand and does the same. After which she kicks him in the nose with her knee, which causes more blood to spray about. She in reality never touched him. Who would hurt such a pretty face anyway! But to him it all seems and surely feels real! The meanest genjutsu on the block. And all she does is grin. When he suddenly gets sucked back in his body she knows all that pain will flood in at once. She was a sadist for sure. She - reveled - in the cries of pain these techniques usually causes!
Katsurou watches helplessly as his body is mangled by the Tenjin girl. He winces as he watches his blood leaves him. Even though he is numb to the pain right now, he only figures the genjutsu is designed so that he WILL feel it once he snaps out of the trance. Two good beatings in one week is really going to take a toll on his body. That was it though. He was not going to allow a punching bag to represent the Shirayuki. This was not the reputation he was going to allow himself to succumb to. Mentaly, his fists clench together. He then watches as his body reacts the same. His hands close tight around the kunai that are impaled in the center of his hands. His brows furrow and a look of determination appears on his bloodied face. He was regaining feeling back into his body and in a split second he suddenly was back in his own body. The pain from Kasumi's attacks were also there to welcome him. Forcing him to throw his head back in a cry of agony. Once the initial shock of pain was stabalized, he slowly lowers his head back to meet Kasumi's sadistic grin with a fierce expression on his face.
Suddenly the Shirayuki's skin grows even more pale than before. It is now also cold to the touch and even Kasumi would notice his blonde hair fading to a snowy white color. If the Tenjin would look closer she could see a thin layer of white haze of frostiness emit from his skin as a breeze blows by. Katsurou was unsure as what just happened to him, but he did not care. He felt empowered to take down this threat and that was what he was going to do.
With a yank, he pulls out the kunai from his hand and a trail of blood goes flying with it. In doing this he lets out a loud grunt of pain; however, he was too focused on the destruction of Kasumi to allow himself to think of the pain even more so. The genjutsu had even faded from him after yanking the kunai free but he did not even notice that.
He threw together a series of hand seals and in no time the wind begins to pick up around both him and Kasumi. Streams of air begin to take form as they whirl all about the Shirayuki's body. Then without warning, he pushes his hands forward toward the girl in attempt to blast her backwards with the force of wind he conjured forth.
Kasumi her grin soon fades. She thought the fight was over by now. Turns out, she was wrong! She winces while the winds begin to come up and this guy she thought she coudl beat suddenly turned into a far more real threat! "Bulbasaur.." She blurts out. Getting struck by the cutting winds, which rips her clothing open and leaves cuts along her body. She takes a deep breath. "You're making me use this seelit.." She reached into her pocket and flicks out a green ball. Sticking it in her mouth. She rolls it around for a moment before biting it open. Suddenly her muscles relax. Her eyes turn red. Is she high?
"Oh man, I forgot how soft my clothing is when I…" She strokes her own clothing a bit too affinitively before she turns to the Shirayuki. "Right right… enemy." She quickly opens her right eye which turns bright red. And then blue. It's all again part of the genjutsu. Suddenly a voice while Katsurou's knees feel heavy. Kneel, kneel KNEEL…. He was commanded to kneel down! Does he succumbs? No matter, Kasumi follows up by throwing a poisoned dart at him before she can see if her genjutsu takes effect. After that she rushes up again, this time after she passes him his arm is on fire! If the genjutsu manifests.
Katsurou winces as he feels the strain of Kasumi's genjutsu working on him. However, he lost this round as he watches himself kneel down only to take a dart to his chest. He winced at the sudden sting. It was also enough for him to break free from the genjutsu that held him down. Getting back to his feet he watches as Kasumi approaches him. With a few quick hand seals, water comes up from the puddles below and take form into a giant orb. He attempted to meet her charge with his prison of water once again.
Kasumi begins zapping around the moment he pulls off another one of those water prisons. Pesky! But she's worse, again she suddenly disappears and reappears several times, then she's right in front of him. "Shee, you're so tiring sometimes!" She sighs and shakes her head, Some hair falls in front of her face, which causes her eyes to cross to check it out. Then she giggles, before blowing it out of the way. "Sorry sorry, back to focussing…" She chuckles and then suddenly snaps to uber serious mode. Making the same handseals as before. That same genjutsu again! She focusses her eyes on Katsurou while trying to drive her chakra into him. "Come on…"
Katsurou cursing inwardly as her image vanishes. She appears on the other side of him which makes the Shirayuki turn his head in her direction. He cancels out his water prison technique which allows the gathered water to splash back down on the ground below. He was just about to reach out for the girl but suddenly he felt his body stop responding. He immediately begin trying to focus on combating the genjutsu mentally, but she was easily able to over power him. He was growing exhausted and it was showing.
Kasumi nods happily while she's got him like this now. Very well, she reaches into her pouch and pulls out her signature and unique darts. She breaths in deeply and walks up to him. Looking at his body for a moment. "Such a shame.." She knows he probably assumes this is genjutsu again. Sorely mistaken. She lifts up the first dart and stabs it into his shoulder. Leaving it in there deeply, the next one goes into his other shoulder. Then, she drives the third one into his chest. Before she walks up to the merchant.
"Hello…" She whips out a kunai. Smiling at the man. "If you kneel it'll hurt much less… I promise." She muses. Waiting for him to kneel. Which technically gives Katsurou a window to stop her. But if he does, she will not have mercy on him like she has no. She didn't want to break his mind with more draining gen. But she would if she has to. This is his chance to give up.
Katsurou watches as the girl implants a few of her darts into his body. His conscience lashes out at her like a caged lion unable to retaliate at her. He watches the girl leave his body and make her way to the camp where the merchant was hiding. Pushing himself to break free of the genjutsu, he finally emerges with his body. And again a world of pain courses through his body. He lets out another yell of agony this time it was enough for him to fall limp onto the ground. His face splashes in the puddle of water and at this time his skin and hair return to normal. Slowly raising his head up from the water he looks over to see Kasumi confronting the merchant. "Nooo…" He breathes for the first time since he began this fight with Kasumi. He pushes himself past the pain and exhaustion of his body and attempts to lift himself up from the ground with shaky arms which showed signs of given out due to physical exhaustion.
"No, I'm afraid that's a yes.." Kasumi swallows another pill. This one counters the effects of the prior one. She needs a moment. Looking at Kats. "Don't move too much, it'll spread the poison through your system faster. You don't want to die do you?" She shakes her head. Looking at the merchant. She sighs for the first time. He sure did hurt her. And tired her out!
"Good night." She stabs the blade cleanly through the man's neck. Which ends it instantly. Very merciful indeed for such a sadist. She then walks up to Katsurou. Sitting down in front of him. "There…" She sighs and shakes her head. "You're a tough cookie. Cute as well." She shakes her head. "Now don't move." She slowly reaches around. "If I wanted to kill you I would have." She slowly begins pulling out the darts.
"Nasty.." She says. "I want these back though." She slips the bloody things back into her pouch. Actually rolling Katsou onto his back if he permits it. She then begins shuffling around a bit. "Now your wounds are bleeding I know. I'm not going to let you bleed out." She grabs some field dressing, pulling out the gauze and ripping pieces off with her teeth. Beginning to apply them to all his actual wounds. "Here's the deal. You're from Kiri right?
I'm going to give you an antidote that'll keep you on your feet until you reach Kiri. Then it'll work out. You'll have maybe three to four hours to report to the hospital by then before you die. They'll be able to find an antidote. The poison is really basic." She chuckles. "After that, lots of water and rest." She's done with applying the dressing (if he allowed her to). "I'm Kasumi by the way. I can't tell you who hired me I'm afraid." She giggles. "Not a village." She shrugs then. "So eh.." She reaches into her pouch, whipping out a small bottle. She opens it up and drops the liquid out until about half is left. She then stuffs the thing into Katsou's mouth and makes him drink it. The taste, repungent! But he soon feels better. Much better in fact! "Need me to point you the right way?" She asks. Still seated on her knees. If she wanted to kill him now she could.
"Katsurou merely lets out a grunt as he watches the girl murder the merchant who was his responsibility. He wasn't sure what was more stress on him right now. His physical condition or him having to answer to the Shirayuki's comments along the lines of "Some leader you're turning out to be." He was already not so confident about his new position. Not being able to win a fight yet since his return back to Kirigakure. On top of first his father and now the merchant…so much blood was now on his hands already.
By the time Kasumi made it back to the Shirayuki, he was sitting up on his knees staring at the ground in defeat. His beaten body showing signs of a very tough fight. Darts decorated his body which leaves blood trailing down his attire. He raises up to lower the mask that hid his face and lets out a few hollowed coughs. He winced at the poison that coursed through his body. "Get away from me." He says in his usual soft tone with an underlining sterness to the girl, though he did nothing to bat her away. It was unsure whether it was because he was fatigued or just felt sorry for himself. The Shirayuki slowly turns his head to face the girl almost in a possessed like daze as she addressed his wounds. He would grimace at each dart being pulled out but nothing more than that. When Kasumi introduced herself he merely just continued looking at her. However, he was caught by surprise when she poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth. He coughed and spit after swallowing a gulp or two. "Just leave me…" He says after his coughing fit when she asked if he needed direction back home.
Kasumi looks at him but shows no mercy now either. "Leave you alone? What do I look like, some servant? Stop feeling sorry for yourself.." She pffts and shakes her head. "Some ninja are you.." She then whips out some sort of root from her pouch, sticking it in his mouth, pressing his jaw so he bits. When the juices spread he soon feels his conciousness fleet. This also tastes horrible. "Sleep tight.." She smiles. Sitting in front of him and waiting for him to go nappy time.
Once he's asleep she gets up on her feet. She lifts him up and throws him in the back of the ox cart. On top of the rags that cover him from all the weapons beneath him. She then puts a cowl over her head, before headed for the road. She walks the ox about halfway towards Kiri, before finding a main road that's bound to pass Kiri. She then simply lets go, letting to Ox's walk foreward along the road as they're used to.
If her memory serves her right, the place they'll stop will be the docks, since they can't go foreward there anymore. Since he doesn't have a lot of time on this antidote she added a note. 'Kiri, hospital, NOW!' the note said. Stuck to Katsurou's chest.
On the back of the note is a smily. Crazy jigglypuff. Also he smells… of dead body? When they lift up the rag they can find the headless body of the merchant right underneath Katsurou. Lots of blood obviously seeped through the material which caused rust and decay. Yep, that made the payload a lot less valuable! And humiliates Katsurou even more. The head was probably taken to proof her succes at her employer. Another merchant who wanted to expand his enterprize!
