Starring:
Date: August 15, 2015
Summary:
A newly promoted Chuunin, Ouga, takes three Genin - Shinobu, Tatsuo and Zori - on a mission to capture a Konoha missing-nin that uses mud-related jutsu.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Sweeping Up a Mud-dle"
Land of Fire
It's a fairly typical day of (barely) early spring in the Land of Fire. A brisk wind blows through the area, sneaking underneath cloaks with fingers of chill. Nevertheless, the sun is out and shining with a mellow warmth that does much to balance out of the nippy air. The last rain was several days ago, so the roads are still fairly good. That's important, since a small team consisting of a Chuunin, two Genin and a ninken is being sent out on a mission. A missing-nin has been sighted within walking distance of a few villages set three hours travel away from Konoha. The duty of the team is to apprehend the missing-nin or bring back his body if all else fails.
The leader of this mission is a newly promoted Chuunin by the name of Ouga. He's a sixteen year old boy of medium height with the build of a dancer and the electric blue hair of a fashion victim. The boy is wearing a traditional Chuunin vest under red-bordered white cloak with the handle of a Wakizashi sticking out from under the ties at his back. He also looks -very- excitable. Ouga's practically dancing from foot to foot while he watches the gate's entrance with fairly sparking eyes. It's the first time he had Genin assigned under him for a mission and he can't wait to meet them. It's also his very first mission since his promotion.
Ever the nervous one these days, Tatsuo is on his way out to meet this new Chuunin for a mission and he goes about taking the long way around to get from Kenta's house to the gate. Better safe than sorry after all. He arrives without issue and bows slightly to the Chuunin. "Nara Tatsuo, reporting for duty." With that done he returns to his looking around and trying to make sure no one's sneaking up on him or anything like that.
With Tatsuo looking around, maybe he'll notice a little black puppy charging at him! Kame leaps into Tatsuo's arms with happy yips. ~Hi Tatsuo! We're going on a mission, right? Where's Kaido and Isamu?~ Shinobu comes up shortly after, panting a bit from the run from the Inuzuka village. She bows to the eager Chuunin, waiting for instructions…
"Hey, there! Name's Takanashi Ouga. Chuunin and leader of this temporary team for the duration of the mission. Exciting, isn't it?" Ouga says with a bright grin on his lips. He points at each person in turn, starting with Tatsuo and ending with Shinobu. "So you're Nara Tatsuo. That makes the two of you Inuzuka Kame and Inuzuka Shinobu, our trackers. You two are going to play a big role for us." He points back at Tatsuo. "You're the Nara that can't use shadows, but I'm sure you have plenty other tricks up your sleeve. Try to lighten up! You look a little constipated right now."
Ousa places his hands on his hips and grins widely again. "If no one explained the mission to you lot yet, we're after a missing-nin that disappeared from the village about three years ago. His name's Hitotose Yasumnori and he was being investigated as the possible murderer of a team mate during a mission. Our job today is to bring him back to Konoha for trial, in one piece if possible. The target was a Genin when he disappeared, but he was being considered for promotion to Chuunin until the incident happened. His specialty deals with earth style ninjutsu, specifically mud, so be prepared to get your hands dirty." He sweeps his gaze across the ranks of the Genin. "Any questions before we head off?""
Tatsuo blinks and catches the lab puppy as she jumps into his arms, looking surprised for a moment before he cradles her in one arm and pets her. Doesn't take long to fall into that routine! When Ousa speaks the Nara turns back to face him, nodding a bit before ducking his head at his…observation? He doesn't look constipated! Does he? "Um, no." He says in response to the questions…question.
Zori got himself ready for the mission he wanted to go to. Putting his medicine and his first aid supplies in the backpack he normaly carrys. He swings it on his back, walking out the door heading to the mission meetup point. His probation guard was merely waiting for Zori to walk outside, following Zori wherever he went. Zori finaly arrives at the meetup, peering around the other shinobis. Zori had already took his medicine well before he left, so its already kicked in. Zori waves at the others in a form of greetings. He turns his heading looking over at the newly Chunnin leader with a blank look. The probation guard bows to the Chunnin leader Oga "Alright hes in your hands now". He then walks off out of sight.
Shinobu gives a small nod to the Chuunin and glances at Kame, who is pretty content to ignore Zori and snuggle with Tatsuo. Sadly, they are on a mission. Which means pets and snuggles are cut short. The pup unhappily hops out of Tatsuo's arms and gives herself a shake, ready to head off. Shinobu's voice comes through a Genjutsu as she says, 'Let me know… when to start…'
Ouga turns to give Zori a puzzled look. "Oh, you're the crazy one. Zori, isn't it? Heard about you through the grapevine. I heard that you might be joining the group, but no official confirmation came so…" The boy shrugs his shoulders. "I guess it's now my job to watch over you until we return. Lucky me, eh?" Ouga gives Zori a wink. He steps a little closer and lowers his voice. "I heard that you were neutered, so you won't be causing any trouble anyway, huh?" The boy holds out a fist for Zori to bump.
Ouga whirls away so quickly that Zori might not even have time for a fist bump. "We're all heading northeast today. There's a rock section of lands between three villages where Yasumnori was spotted that shows promise." He pulls out a small pouch and tosses it to Shinobu. "There's some of his hair inside that. You and Kame get familiar with the scent while we travel." He looks around once more before he nods excitedly. "We're off! I'm taking point. Zori, you're behind me. Tatsuo next with Shinobu and Kame taking the rear. We'll shuffle up once we reach the destination." With that, Ouga starts moving swifly down the road.
Tatsuo eyes Zori warily but then ignores me him in favor of listening to what Ouga has to say. When the Chuunin instructs them he gives a small nod and waits for for the other two to continue ahead of him. He gives Shinobu a small smile of encouragement before he turns to follow after Zori, keeping an eye on him…just in case.
Zori looks confused as Oga basically makes fun of Zori. Zori is most definately drugged. Zori smiles and chuckles light heartedly "Yeah good one Haha.." Zori still looking at Oga he responds "Nah i wasnt neutered and im not crazy…" Zori then moves in behind Oga just as he was ordered.
Shinobu nods and takes the rear position, setting out with the team. Shinobu keeps her gaze firmly on Tatsuo while she examines the bag with her nose. Kame keeps on top of her head, and the pup leans down to sniff at this mysterious person's scent so that she can figure out where they ought to go tracking!
The team travels in near silence for about three hours to reach their destination. Ouga occasionally breaks it up with chatter, but even he's aware that they need to save their energy for reaching the place while there's still enough light to search by. Trees with the beginnings of new buds flash by. Then, thawing ground shot through the beginnings of grass and flower tips. Eventually, the team follows a stream into a wide expanse of rocky land where very little grows except for boulders. This brings them to a maze of rock pillars and outcrops that makes a perfect spot for a criminal to hide, since even a tracker would need time to navigate the twists and turns.
At this point in the journey, Ouga comes to a halt and spins around to speak to his team. "Phew! That was a journey, huh?" He wipes the back of his hand across his forehead. It's not sweating and it's also covered by a forehead protector, so the Chuunin's only doing it for effect. "That was the easy part! Now we've got to find the muck they sent us to capture. Time for you Inuzuka to earn your pay! From this point on, Shinobu and Kame are taking the lead to help us navigate this rock maze. Zori, you're taking second position again while Tatsuo follows. I'm going to take up the rear position." He lifts a hand and points it at Shinobu with a jaunty snap of his wrist. "You're up, Wonder Nose!"
Tatsuo doesn't speak to anyone though after a little bit he does fall back to walk next to Shinobu. This is the easy part after all and he doesn't like leaving her back there by herself. Not only that but he snags Kame and cradles her for more pets while he walks next to the Inuzuka. Just helps him to relax some. When the group pauses he gives Kame back so Shinobu and her can start scouting while he returns to his position. He focuses up some chakra just to be safe while he looks around, more to make sure there's no surprise attacks than expecting to see something.
Following behind Oga, he focuses on everyone in the group as they make there rearrangements. His eyes still straight ahead until he heard Oga speak out another order. Zori then responds "Alright, then" Zori then moves down in position to allow Tatsuo to get in his right position that he was told to be in. Zori focuses his chakra to his wires, while he awaits the next orders.
Shinobu keeps up with the group as they move, analyzing this new scent as much as possible. When they finally get to their destination, she gives a nod… Kame was all too happy to get pets and the like while they were traveling, and she seems a bit unhappy that they have to get down to business. But regardless, time for the ultimate tracking duo to start! They start sniffing around curiously, keeping a nose out for anything suspicious…
Surprisingly, Shinobu and Kame's noses pick up the scent of their prey within only five minutes. It's fresh and thick on the side of a boulder a short way into the maze. A quick inspect shows why, since there's a spot of blood and scraped off skin on the rough surface of the boulder. Someone must brushed up against it a little too hard recently and came away with a tiny bit less of himself. Whatever the cause is, this is a gift for the two.
Shinobu and Kame are able to follow the scent deeper and deeper into the rock strewn maze. Twists and turns abound. The scent grows fainter at some intervals and stronger at others. It starts to grow -only- stronger an hour into the search, indicating that they're getting very close. The team eventually ends up at a dip in the area scattered all over with tall rock pillars. The pillars obstruct the view greatly, so they have to be careful. Inuzuka noses say that the target might be right around the corner… but which corner? Ouga gestures for everyone to move more slowly and stay quiet. He also steps up to join the Inuzuka at the front.
Tatsuo follows after the Inuzuka two silently, keeping his eyes shifting around warily as they go along. The scent seemed to easy to find so he expects some kind of trap to spring on them. But as the time goes along and they just follow the trail he starts to think mybe this persion is just really, really foolish. He pauses when signaled and crouches down a bit to make himself less of a target while he looks around…
Zori walks in at the dip in the area, he noticed the tall rock pillars. Looking around at them, he then quickly looks at Shinobu, while she works her doggy magic and sniffs out the area. Zori lets out a soft 'hmm' placing his hand up under his chin. He then begins to rub his chin slowly. When Oga told him to move slowly and stay quietly , Zori continues to move with the group slowly and quietly. His eyes are straight ahead, he then summons wires within the area. He plans to use them to alert him of any danger through vibrations.
Shinobu sniffs around, as does Kame, the pair working on tracking down this weird man. But… Eventually they lose the trail. The scent gets confusing, and she can't figure out where this man might be. The girl shrugs helplessly to Ouga, looking mildly lost. She had led them this far, and now she's failing them… The girl scuffs a bit at the ground with her foot, then she gathers some of her chakra in case their enemy tries to surprise them.
Sunshine beat down warmly overhead. The air no longer feels chilly, except under the shadows of each pillar, which there are a lot of. Shinobu's nose says that they should be right on top of the guy by now. The scent is so strong. Yet step after step, glance after glance, doesn't show a sign of the missing-nin that they're seeking.
Then, a shadow flickers. It's so subtle that it's easy to miss, but most of the group catches it. The edge of a pillar's shadow blurs for a second, even though it's not overlapped by any of the Leaf shinobi. A second later, shuriken rain down on the group from -above-. There's a young bearded man, probably early twenties, crouched on top of the pillar that they're standing under. "New someone was sneaking around here. So that's all the village sent? A bunch of kids?" Yasunori scoffs as he sends another barrage of shuriken down at them. He doesn't seem very concerned yet.
"Down!" Obuo yells when the shuriken rain down on them. He follows his own advice, dropping to the ground and rolling sideways to spring back up again. "Whoa! Action!" the excited Chuunin exclaims. He plants one fist on his hip and points at Yasunori with his other hand. "I'm the Chuunin Takanashi Ouga and this is my amazing team. You betrayed Konoha! Prepare to get your grime kicked! Give him sludge, guys!" And with that declaration, Obuo draws his wakizashi and runs straight up the pillar to clash with the missing-nin.
Tatsuo remains quiet as he waits, then his dark eyes shift when he catches movement and it's in time to see the man move and start throwing shuriken. Clones take his place as the boy finds somewhere a lot safer before his attention turns back to the missing nin…hmm. Tatsuo says nothing, leaving the Chuunin to do the talking, before he makes a hand seal and calls up water to seek out the scruffy man. Multiple thin chains of water seek the man out, trying to wrap him up and keep him from moving.
Zori waits quietly, his wires sense movement from a far away distance. That puts Zori automatically on guard of the situation at hand. When the man appeared and threw his shurikens at Zori. Zori performed handsigns and made two clones in front of him, as they absorb the hit. Zori's wires unravel from his wrists and lash out from up under his sleeves at Yasunori in pursuit of wrapping the attacker up. Meanwhile tossing a shuriken using his wire at Yasunori's body as well.
Shinobu blinks a bit, seeing a flicker.. And then she's gone, avoiding the shuriken barrage with a powerful jump away from where she was. Kame dashes forward and attempts to tackle the man who dared attack her friends while Shinobu drops down to all fours, chakra flowing through her system as she performs a Tsuga on the man…
CLANG! Obuo's sword slams into the top of the rock pillar as Yasunori launches himself into the air. The missing-nin hits the side of another pillar and slides a few inches before chakra coated feet find purchase. But he couldn't stay there long, he ducks behind the pillar as chains of water lash out at him. The chains wrap around him anyway after he reappears on the other side… only for his body to immediately dissolve away into mud. Another Yasunori dashes across the ground from the base of the pillar, but is caught by wires and shuriken… only to turn into another puddle of mud. He weaves behind another pillar, popping back up at the top and jumps to avoid getting tackled by Kame, only to get knocked sideways by a well placed Tsuga.
Yasunori rolls across the ground until he skids to a stop. "So, not just ordinary kids," he grounds out between gritted teeth. The missing-nin was expecting an easier fight, so he looks a little worried now. "Doesn't matter. You haven't caught me yet…" And that's when he spits a bombardment of mud bullets into the group.
"He's kind of fast! Don't worry, we still outnumber him and we've got him cornered!" Obuo yells out enthusiastically to encourage his team's efforts. "Score!" he exclaims as soon as Shinobu manages to land a hit. The overeager Chuunin jumps down and starts charging towards Yasunori, but his haste causes him to run headlong into a mud bullet. The attack clips him on the side and sends him spinning around, which also disrupts the attack that he was about to perform.
Tatsuo frowns slightly as his chains only find purchase on a clone. His dark eyes scan quickly to find the missing nin but fails to do so. Well muck! The boy watches as Shinobu manage to tag him and however and Tatsuo let's out a soft "Yes!" of excitement. Good thing it wasn't too loud, might look silly! When the mud bullets come he makes a quick hand seal, letting a water clone take his…but then he sees the one heading right for Kame! Without really thinking he runs in front of Kame and sweeps her up into his arms, turning his back to the bullet and letting it hit him. Tatsuo winces at the pain, but at least Kame's okay…hopefully! "Are you alright Kame-chan?" He asks quickly before setting her down and standing to turn and face the man again. His eyes shift, becoming a dark blood red color as he makes another hand seal and sends even more chains after him this time.
Zori saw the mud bullets coming his way, his wires lashed out to a nearby tree that was beside him. Grabbing unto it, Zori is then reeled away from the mud bullets..out of harms way. The wires then lash out at Yasunori this time slicing and slashing at his body. While one of his free wires set up a poison bomb behind the attacker, giving one slight tug of it with his wire releasing the poison gas near Yasnori.
Kame squeaks as she's picked up. The pup was ready to move, but this is better! She licks Tatsuo's face happily, then bounds over and starts barking at the man. Her voice is laced with Genjutsu, forcing the man to believe that he is getting mauled by wolves… And Shinobu adds to this attack, overlaying Kame's illusion with her own.
Splat! Splat! Splat! Yasunori is apparently a master of clones. He keeps dodging and ducking behind pillars and calling up mud clones to take his place. Chains of water, wires and even bombs land, but always on the wrong target. The area's quickly covered in mud splattered by Zori and Tatsuo's foray into the offense. But there's one thing that Yasunori seems to have trouble with. "Ugh! Genjutsu… which of you…" he groans out when foreign chakra tries to take control of his chakra network. He stabs a kunai into the meat of his arm to break the genjutsu before it can take hold. Once… twice… and utterly fails the second time. This leaves the missing-nin frozen on the spot while he's assaulted by wolves in his mind and struggling to scream "I give up!" for real physically.
Ouga has righted himself by now and is approaching the frozen Yasunori cautiously. It's probably good that he lost some of his enthusiasm, since that might keep him alive. "Which one of you did this?" the Chuunin asks. He keeps advancing slowly on the missing-nin, since he doesn't trust that this isn't simply some kind of trick to get someone close enough for a stabbing.
Tatsuo watches as his water is again avoided and he prepares for some other attack but…it doesn't come. Shinobu is the saviour of the day from the looks of things! The young Nara doesn't relax fully, but he does relax some as he realizes that Shinobu used one of her genjutsu. Oy, some medic shinobi he is. He was no help at all and was the only one that even got hurt! Oh well, at least he could take care of himself too…not that he really even needs to. His eyes return to black once more as he watches their team leader approach their target, the bruises on his back healing themselves.
Zori saw the mess that the mud clones had made and Zori shakes his head. This guy is becoming more trouble by the minute expecially with all this dodging of our attacks. Its like..my wires are to slow. With that idea, Zori snaps his fingers. "Got it" Zori pulls out a kunai, He then slices his hand with it. He then holds his bloody hand up to his face. Zori looks at his bloody hand for moment but nothing happens. Usually Zori would get all crazy from the sight of blood. But not with these pills hes been taking, they just keep him ever so calm. "Great..that didnt work" Zori brings his hand back down to his side. His wires then lash out at Yasunori in aim of wrapping him up.
Shinobu watches the man for a bit, continuing the illusion and not moving. Kame barks a, ~We did it!~ to Ouga to let him know that the Genjutsu was their doing. Good thing they didn't get hurt! Then Kame wanders over to Tatsuo for some pets!
Yasunori tries to break himself out of the Genjutsu again, but doesn't manage to do it. To be beaten by a bunch of kids! This leads him to get tied up easily by Zori's wires, which causes him to topple to the floor in a heap. The man's lies there inert while Ouga bends to tie some ropes more securely around him.
"Bagged and tagged! My first successful mission as a Chuunin and it's all thanks to my wonderful team!" Ouga says after he straightens. The boy claps his hands together to remove imaginary dust. "This is going to look -great- on all our records. It's not every day that you get to capture someone that's been missing for three years. And wanted for murder too! So which one us are going to carry him?" Ouga looks around at the small group of Leaf shinobi. It only takes a second for him to remember that he has three kids that probably haven't reached puberty and a puppy with him. He deflates slightly. "Right. I'm going to do the carrying." Ouga sighs and bends down to grab Yasunori under the arms. "Ok, get us out of here Wonder Noses…" he grunts softly as he starts to drag the downed missing-nin with him.
