Starring:
Date: February 7, 2013
Summary:
The group was on their way back from Kadomai when Nori's older brother catches up to them and wonders where Nori's younger brother is? Apparently he ran after them and got lost in the woods. Nori and Naru head teams to find the boy and run into a group of thugs taking children for nefarious reasons.
"Headed Home - Stolen!"
Rural Road from Kadomai
The vacation is over…already. Nori had finally gone home to Kadomai and his family's farm. It had been a very long time, a whole year, since he had seen his parents and home. For an 11 year old, a year seems like a long time. The trip was a success actually. Nori had dragged Naru and a few others along to Kadomai with him to meet his family. Other than a few awkward moments where Nori's mother tried to hook up Naru and Nori's oldest brother Osamu…and Sosuke getting pulled into a used (make that very used) chicken coop…and Hideaki appearing coincidently at the farm to ask questions about Yamanaka clans in their natural habitat. Yup, went pretty well, and on top of all that, Naru and Nori have had plenty of opportunities to foster the young Yamanaka's sensing talents.
Nori was thinking about the trip as they walked home. A group had gone out to Kadomai together, and now the group was heading back home. Even though the Land of Fire is safer than most lands, the rural areas are still unsafe and there is safety in numbers. The group is nearly home when Osamu, Nori's eldest brother, finally manages to catch up to Nori. The younger Yamanaka blinks at the older Yamanaka. "Err…" Nori stammers. "What are you doing here?" Osamu asks, "Where is Akihiko?" Nori blinks again, "At home…with you…" Osamu shakes his head, "No, he ran after you after meeting all of your fun shinobi friends. He said he wanted to start the academy. We told him to wait another year and to go to bed…and then next morning he ran off." Nori frowns and looks at Naru and the others.
Midori had been out to Kadomai and back a few times now. Each time she'd been accompanied by her father, and this time was no different. Uchiha Shundo walked silently beside the girl as they made their slow way back to Konohagakure with the rest of the group. Midori watched Nori all the way, who was not far ahead of the couple. As the older Yamanaka runs out to greet the group however, Midori's little brow creases in a frown. She hears the boy's explanation and moves closer to the conversation, walking right up alongside Nori. "Oh no!" she exclaims, "That's no good! Is there anything I can do to help?" Her expression is concerned and shocked, and she moves almost into the middle of the conversation, hoping that they won't brush her off as a useless student.
The situation was a little unusual, and Naru couldn't help but to have a light sweat drop trickle down her cheek at the sight of Osamu… Things had already been quite awkward around him but this time things obviously seemed sincere, prompting the Jounin to arch an eyebrow in Osamu's direction. " So he ran after us in the morning? Where in the world would he go? To Konohagakure?" Naru asked curiously and while turning her eyes on Nori. "If this is true then he has to be somewhere within this…forest of all places perhaps he had gotten lost while trying to find us…" Naru spoke softly, arms crossing along one another. " Well we don't have a choice in the matter… We need to track him down and look for him, he couldn't have gotten that far right?, after all it's only been over night," Naru was suddenly caught off guard by Midori, the older Uchiha arching a slight eyebrow as she peered down at her. "You are some way from home hmm, I figure we will need all we can muster to cover ground…"
After cleansing himself thoroughly and excruciatingly Sosuke forgave Nori for letting him being condemned to the chicken coop. Sosuke also advised that the coop be cleaned soon and even offered to help which would then be followed by more extensive and arduous cleaning. When Osamu catches up to inform them of the missing Akihiko Sosuke looks back to Nori. Sosuke shrugged and gave Nori a nod indicating that he was willing and ready to help in any way he could. That's when Midori showed up. Sosuke has never seen her and her sudden arrival had him on edge a bit until she expressed her desire to help. He inspects her a bit more and can see that she's from Konoha and Uchiha from Konoha. Sosuke looks back to Nori. "Well we should backtrack and try to find any traces we can. I'm sure I don't need to explain the dangers Akihiko-kun is exposed to."
Nori continues to blink. It is a tick when he is nervous or stressed. Family is at stake here and he is having a hard time focusing. The young Yamanaka is about to answer his brother when Naru steps in and takes charge. With a shy smile, Nori nods tentatively at her assessment of the situation. He is thankful for her having come on the trip for more reasons than one, and this is the first time he's fully realized it. Nori looks to Naru and says, "I'm…I'm not sure I can find him…my mind is too worried." And the young boy starts to cry. Aw-shucks, you broke him! Luckily Naru's been making installation payments already.
When Midori pops up out of nowhere, he erks, "Midori-chan?" Truth be told, he would have noticed her in the group, but his mind is scattered. Still, the sudden arrival of Nori's star pupil (sorta) along with Sosuke's offer to help and Osamu's hand suddenly pressing on Nori's mop of hair makes Nori wipe away his tears. He has family and friends supporting him. Right now, his brother needs them all. So…Nori shakes it off, and tries to find the 8 year old. His senses take everything in. Besides the life-forms immediately surrounding him (the group), Nori begins to feel the animals. Their chakra is muted, but still present and in abundance in this forest. Then, he begins feeling life further out, and suddenly his eyes shoot to the right and then to the left. "There are two groups of people out there, smaller than ours, but I'm not sure how many people. They kind of merge together still for me. I…I don't see anyone else, so maybe one of the groups has found Akihiko? Think we can split up and find them? Narusegawa-sama, can you lead one group and I'll lead the other? Who wants to come with me?"
Hearing that she can help look for Nori's brother, Midori spins around and looks to her father, who's standing with his arms folded giving the girl a condescending look. "I doubt you'll be much help in locating a run-away, Midori-kun," he says to her, then sighs and shakes his head. "Maybe a little bit of real world experience could help bring the girl up to par," he thinks silently to himself, and gives her the nod. "Naru-san," he addresses the Jounin, "Please make sure she doesn't get herself into any trouble." And Midori bounces on her toes excitedly and spins around again. "Is it ok with you, Naru-sama?" she asks politely, her face pleading with the Jounin to look after her so she can go and help.
"Splitting up into two groups would be the the best, though we need to keep checks on eachother also… This isn't necessarily the safest area, and I mean animals as well," Naru stated to Nori, her eyes then shifting to Midori with a light smile. She had heard something about her, though she truly couldn't put her figure on it considering the situation. "Midori-chan…" Hmm the name was slowly coming to her but for now she nodded to her father giving him a light nod. " I'll take her along, this could definitely prove to be useful, Sosuke-kun do you mind heading off with Nori-kun? That would be best for now as our way of covering the most ground,"
<Weather> Raindrops fall heavily from thick clouds which fill the sky. The sun occasionally shines through a gap in the clouds, though the weather shows no signs of letting up.
Nori's sudden crying makes Sosuke's eye twitch. Unpleasant things come to mind, very unpleasant and Sosuke didn't like them there festering in his head. He almost reached over to grab Nori but the Yamanaka boy comes to his senses and realizes it on his own that his crying wasn't helping anyone. Sosuke settles himself with a sigh and softly smiles. Nori's chakra sensing abilities were improving greatly and exponentially. His progress is impressive. Midori's father reminds Sosuke of his caretaker Ishino which caused him to find Midori's jovial expression to be a bit…strange. After Naru is asked to team with Midori Sosuke nods in agreement with him. "Of course Naru-san." He glances towards Nori. "It's better this way as I've already become accustomed to trusting in his abilities." Sosuke states. He moves near Nori and looks onward ready to move out. "We should proceed carefully but with haste."
Nori looks over to Midori as she is given permission to help. He bows to Midori's father and says, "Thank you for letting her help. Another set of eyes and ears could be a lot of help."
So it is Naru and Midori on Team A and Nori and Sosuke on Team B. Osamu not being a shinobi, stays behind. That will work. Nori gives a slight direction for Naru to follow, not that she'll really need it, but he still tells her what he's felt. "We'll be safe," Nori tells Naru, "And you two please be safe too." Nori then turns to Sosuke and says, "This way." The two groups go off in their respective directions (Nori actually tree-walks!). It wouldn't take too long to find each group.
Team A's group would come along two men sitting beside a smoldering fire. The two men look up at the two girls and then look at eachother. "Say, what's a couple of girls like you doing out here in the woods all alone?"
Team B comes across four shinobi…and a young Yamanaka being held by the scruff of his neck. Erk. Nori shouts out, "Let my brother go." The shinobi look over to see Sosuke and Nori, and they all start laughing. One says to the others, "Look, more playthings."
RP: Nori joins the roleplay.
RP: Midori joins the roleplay.
RPCOMBAT: Midori defends against with a PERCEPTION…11
Uchiha Shundo looks at Nori and shakes his head bemusedly. "Like I said, I don't think she'll be of any -real- help, but we'll see I suppose," he says with a grin. Midori moves over and stands next to Naru, and then when the groups split up she runs as quickly as she can to try and keep up with the Jounin. Several times during the journey she stumbles and trips on objects she can't avoid quickly enough. When they approach the two men Midori stops and looks at them hesitantly. She takes a step back, hoping that Naru won't need her help if the two men get aggressive. Her lower lip quivers a little in anxiety as she tries to gather her chakra.
RP: Midori transforms into ANXIETY.
COMBAT: Midori focuses 500 stamina to turn it into usable chakra!
RP: Naru transforms into SHARINGAN-III-MASTERED.
RPCOMBAT: Naru defends against with a PERCEPTION…48
Narusegawa swiftly began to move along along side Midori, though gradually she began to stick to Midori's pace, being sure she can keep up as every now and then she would trip and stumble. " Keep your eyes on the road before you, this will allow you not to worry too much about tripping up.. Focus on yoru step and form," Naru suggested until they had come across the group at the camp fire.. She narrowed her eys upon them briefly until finally offering them a shrug of her shoulders. " We are looking for a little blonde Yamanaka that may have gotten lost, do you have any information about that?" She asked them curiously, not nearly that much intimidated but she did notice the spike in Midori's chakra… There was a chance at this becoming a ill pleasant situation.
COMBAT: Naru finishes her turn.
COMBAT: It is now Sosuke's turn.
Sosuke follows behind Nori but keeps a fair amount of space between them. Finally when they come to see shinobi up ahead Sosuke stops. He peers to Nori's brother and frown. They were at an advantage thanks to Nori's perceptive chakra sensing that is until Nori shouts out to them. Sosuke blinks and looks to Nori "Uh…that could've been handled better….well it is your brother."He says moving forward. "We just want the child." Sosuke explains to the shinobi. Hopefully they were the type of shinobi that could be reasoned with. "Simply put the kid is a valued family member who's wandered too far away from home. So we'll be leaving as soon after we retrieve him." Sosuke bows "Didn't mean to interrupt you."
Team A - The two men look between eachother and then shake their heads. The first says to the second, "I haven't seen anyone fitting that description, have you?" The other states, "Nope. Now how about you two come on over and keep us company, ne?" As the words are spoken, two shinobi appear from the camoflauge of the trees and leap down. A rain of kunai are sent at Naru by both shinobi, but in a way that they would be closer to the gap between Naru and Midori. They are trying to separate the two girls. Meanwhile, the earth henged shinobi that appears from a pile of rocks just behind Midori reaches out for the young Uchiha.
Team B - Nori is too worried about his brother to be thinking straight. He looks to Sosuke as the boy says he could have handled this better, and Nori sweat-drops. "Oh…yeah." He sighs and then looks back to the others, "Seriously, let him go. We are just the scouts. There are more coming this way." Nori starts reading the enemy's body language, their chakra flow, anything that will give them an advantage in dealing with this mess. Nori looks to Sosuke and then the others, "And if you don't, I'll be sure to tell them that you," he points, "are the weakest of the group. I wouldn't even consider you an Academy student." The weak one growls in anger, but doesn't say anything else. Nori continues, "And you…are the strongest, but your chakra is moving erratically, so I'm guessing that you've a cold and aren't at your full potential. The other two, pff, easy pickings." The man holding Nori's brother sneezes in surprise. Nori looks back to Sosuke…with a 'that better?' stare.
RPCOMBAT: Midori defends against with a DODGE…8
Midori shrieks as the rain of kunai come down, and she runs, trips and rolls out of the way. She pulls herself slowly back up to her feet, her kimono ruined with dirt and grass stains, and the girl gulps loudly as she looks up to spot the shinobi. She completely misses the shinobi who comes out behind her, and within an instant he's wrapped a hand around her mouth and grabbing at her arms to try and disable her. The Student manages to get off an elbow at the shinobi before he grabs both her tiny arms and starts dragging her away, trying to sink into back into the ground.
Naru could clearly see that there was more going on here than she had anticipated… Nevertheless she goes through with the motions until instantly there is a surprise attack. Naru then slips away from the kunai barrage, ducking her body and rolling to the side her eyes would meet with the man attempting to drag Midori away, after all she did give her father her word. With eye contact alone she would attempt to bring the man to his knees with a single act of genjutsu, the rest of the shinobi would be attacked by a series of water senbon, formed with a single hand seal picking up the dew within the air, needles of water formed and barraged in dozens, ripping through the air.
RPCOMBAT: Naru defends against with a DODGE…34
RPCOMBAT: Naru attacks with KUPPUKU…48
RPCOMBAT: Naru attacks with WATER-NEEDLE-TECHNIQUE…26
RPCOMBAT: Naru attacks with WATER-NEEDLE-TECHNIQUE…43
Sosuke nods to Nori. "So if you'd please just let the child go before the other more provocative ones show up." Sosuke had attempted at this point to fool these shinobi via genjutsu. With Nori's analysis of their chakra Sosuke was able to determine which of them would be affected the most by his genjutsu. It was a simple genjutsu trick, at various parts surrounding this group and behind Sosuke the shinobi would see small glints and forehead protectors in the trees. Sosuke holds a hand out and waves to the man holding Akihiko. "Well? We wouldn't want to keep you from your duties. Can we have the child already?" he prods.
RPCOMBAT: Sosuke attacks with DISTORTION…26
RPCOMBAT: Sosuke attacks with DISTORTION…22
RPCOMBAT: Nori attacks with MIND-LOCK…20
Team A - As Midori notes, she is grabbed and is starting to get pulled backwards, towards the cages actually. The Earth henge is just a mudded up version of a regular stealth technique, nothing as cool as underground fish projection at any rate. Still, she is in danger and Naru has to come to the rescue. Poor girl is going to have a complex after this, and it is all Nori's fault. Luckily, Naru is superkunoichi and Midori's attacker comes to a halt upon the eye contact. The two other shinobi are speared through with the water-needle-techniques too. The first takes a needle through the eye, while the other takes one through the throat (instant-KO). The two men by the fire scramble and run for it, not having expected a fight. With things well under-control, the two girls can search the cages hidden in the bushes and find…well, no Akihiko, but certainly other children, about 4 in total. Most of them look like they have been roughed up considerably. Guess there was a child-slave trade ring in operation. Hopefully Team B had more luck.
Team B - The four shinobi look amongst eachother and then down at their possession. Then Sosuke's Genjutsu kicks in and they start to panic. The weakest amongst them states, "I'm not paid well enough for /this/." He turns tail and runs. Like a flood-gate, once let loose, the tide of panic swells and overflows. The other two shinobi run too. Mean-while the strongest growls for him to get back before <enter string of explicatives here>. Nori's brother grabs his young innocent ears and firmly kicks the man holding his hair in the marbles. The man falls to his knees. Nori reaches out and mind-lock's the man into submission. Nori looks over to Sosuke and asks, "Can you carry my brother…I am too weak. We need to leave…and quickly before he gets back up." And with that, Nori starts to run back to the main group.
