Starring:
Shuuren, Hiei, Misaki, Hiroyasu, Nori
Date: May 13, 2013
Summary:
The Kumo genin squad get sent out to escort a bridge builder to his bridge….
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Team Mihiro: Building bridges P.1"
Land of Whirlpools
It is a calm morning in Konohagakure, for now. In the wee hours of the morning, a messenger hawk from Kumogakure had flown into the aviary with a note attached to its leg. The message was decoded, the mission's office was informed, and additional notes had been written onto scrolls and sent back to the aviary.
For our intrepid Kumogakure shinobi, the calm morning is broken by the shrieks of messenger hawks. While the Kumonin are typically found as a team, it was just more diplomatic to send three hawks out individually. This way, Hiei wouldn't have to go find his team-mates.
Another hawk was sent out to find Shuuren too, but it had been sent out earlier to give him time to get to the Konohagakure main gate.
The scroll on the hawk's leg reads, "Kumogakure team, Your team is required to meet at the Konohagakure main gate for a C-Rank Mission by the time the sun is half-way into the sky. Ogosokamaru-sama is busy with his diplomatic requirements and cannot attend this particular mission. In his place Nagamura Shuuren will be your guide and mentor. Your mission is to escort a master bridge-builder back to the Land of Whirlpools. Good luck."
Misaki was fiddling with the bird more than the letter which honestly didn't even get her attention so much. When she finally reads it she blinks. "A… mission? A MISSION! A MISSION!" She nearly dances in happiness as she finally gets to go on a mission that doesn't involve finding stray dogs. So she goes to collect her stuff and happily hops towards the gates. "I wonder who this… mentor is.." she looks out to see if she can find Hiei and Hiro. Though her excitement died down a bit as she realized this is probably another one of those D-ranks… though they get to travel! It's…. something?
Hiei was training in seclusion when the bird found him. When it arrives, he promptly unties the message and reads it. An actual smile comes to his lips. "C-Rank. Finally getting some respect around here." After checking his gear, he puts on his shirt and straps his sword to the small of his back. He runs at top speed to the front gate and slides to a stop once he reaches it, kicking up dust and debris in his wake. He did stop off his room to get his black traveling cloak. And the weights that he usually wore on his arms and legs are no where to be found. He waits patiently, not speaking much until acknowledged or spoken to first by one of his teammates.
Hiroyasu was.. indisposed when the hawk came calling, He was soaking the hot-springs sporting his always fashionable lady-killers. He sits in the water for a moment staring at the hawk, there was no way it was there for him, but it wouldn't go away, maybe it was plotting something untoward maybe it liked his fashion statement. He can see it isn't going anywhere and there is no one else around, He whistles to it and it comes over allowing him to remove the note emboldened with his name. "Oh, what has Nii-san or Hiei done now.. this better not be a morgue summons" he snarks unfurling the letter, it was encrypted and from kumo! "A Mission! C-Rank! uhh" he looks around before shooing the hawk. He rushes into the changing room to correct his choice of outfit and gather his things, before rushing out into the street with a speedy trail of dust following him as he slides to a halt at the entrance finding his teammates already present "Oh, you guys got it too.." there goes an intelligent sortie. "Ready, to go!" he beams.
After receiving the request from Kumogakure to act as team leader for the mission, Shuuren promptly made his way to the village gates to wait for them. One might think he'd have some kind of shinobi attire on were they not familiar, but the almost unassuming former Jounin wears one of his signature white suits as always.
Standing at the village gates, the suit-clad Medical Ninja flips through the folder of the profiles of his team members, at least what was provided. Beside him is the old bridge master, who receives a glance once in a while as the young bureaucrat awaits the arrival of his team. After reading things over a bit, he tucks the folder away into his jacket and looks around. "They should be here soon," he smooth voice rings out as he watches for the arrival of the team.
The old bridge builder is all smiles as the team arrives. The old man speaks, teeth slightly rotten and yellowed with time, "Thank you all for helping an old man travel a long distance. I have several sacks of clothes and personal items, as well as a crate of tools of my trade. I need some help carrying those. Otherwise, don't mind me or the speed at which I travel. I'm not as fast as I was in my youth, and even then I could never run as fast as you shinobi."
And thus, they begin along their way. If there were any questions that they had of the old man, he doesn't seem all that forthcoming of them. Instead, he moves along at his own pace, turtle slow, but he moves along without any help. Time passes. The sun rises high into the sky and bakes down on the earth, making it so that the heat radiates from both above and below. Soon enough, it is clear that the old man is in need of a break. He calls out to everyone, "Drink time," and motions for someone to bring his crate to him so he can sit on it.
Misaki wasn't all that interested in the bridge builder. She walks around with big paces, gazing around herself before walking up to Shuuren. "Why do you wear a suit?"… "Why is your hair blonde?"… "Where are your kunai?"… "Who are you?"… "Why are you our sensei?".. "Show me a cool jutsu.."…. "Where do babies come from?"…. (the last one she didn't ask but any moment now…)
Anyways, when they stop Misaki sighs. "Again!?" She complains, walking over to grab his darn crate before dragging it over.
Hiei hasn't said much. He hasn't asked Shuuren a question about why he's in charge of the mission, he hasn't even asked him anything about his past or what kind of skills he has. Mostly, because he doesn't care. Secondly, he's used to how Ogosokamaru runs things and you just don't ask questions. You do what you're told. When the old man asks to rest..again, Hiei speaks for the first time on this trip. "I can carry you. It'll go faster." His expression is a cross between bored and annoyed.
Hiroyasu is contemplative and quiet as was his way whenever the word Mission was uttered. It seems Misaki forgot to take her pills today or maybe she swallowed a whole bottle of sugar pill placebos. "Nii-san, don't be rude to either of our hosts!" he says trying to be as hospital as he can with the sun bearing down on his bald head and baking his feet. Before cutting Hiei as glance, was he being rude or helpful… "A Drink sounds like a good idea, thank you for the break!" play it calm, play it cool, cause someone here is about to ask about babies. He pulls his small canteen to take a sip and then a rag to wipe the sweat from his brow and crown.
After answering several of Misaki's questions with things like, "I was born with it that way." "Hidden." "A former Jounin, but I'm just a doctor a businessman now." "The Raikage asked me to be." "Maybe later." and so on, Shuuren chuckles a bit and shakes his head. "To be a shinobi, you must learn patience. The 'Are we there yet?' child is not a shinobi role." He moves to stand near the old man, giving a nod then giving the Misaki and Hiei a hard glance. "Remember, you two, this man is the client in this mission. He is the one the orders you will follow stem from on this assignment."
The old man eyes Misaki as she babbles on and on. He laughs and states, "I don't need a drink because I'm getting tired, I need a drink because your incessant questions is about to knock me off my rocker and I need some alcohol to hold me back from my ledge." He rolls his eyes and looks to Shuuren, "She always this annoying or am I lucky enough to catch her on a good day?" He sits on the crate that Misaki brought him and pulls out a flask from beneath his shirt somewhere.
To Hiei the old bridge-builder snerks, "The point of the journey is to enjoy it, not to rush it. Plus, have /you/ ever been carried? I may be old, but I'm not a vegetable. I have some pride, so hands off…or is that your thing, hands on old men?" He smirks and then looks to Hiroyasu, "Well, at least we have one person with manners in the group." Hiroyasu…that suck-up. The old man might be surely, but he knows how to dish it out.
And, lucky for the group, the old man isn't the only issue to deal with out here. A puddle…on a nice sunny day…rests not too far from where the group stopped.
Misaki was looking at the old man before squinting her eyes. "Good day.." She angles her head… "You're annoying me.." She crosses her arms not even aware there is a puddle let alone the fact that it's odd. "And hey, be nice to Hiei, he was offering a hand!" She sighs and turns to Shuuren, who sides with the arched bridge builder! RABBLE RABBLE. She sighs and crosses her arms, looking between her team and the old man. "This.. is boring, I thought we were finally going on a real mission!"
Hiei looks at Shuuren for a moment, then over at the old man. He doesn't answer either of their questions, nor does he make any comment other than. "Old people are troublesome." He pulls the hood of his cloak back up and then crosses his arms over his chest while pacing back slightly away from the group. He was anxious on the inside, to get this done. The last time he was on an escort mission it went badly. He comments to Misaki. "Be careful what you wish for." He says as memories of the infamous Goat Ogre runs rampant through his thoughts.
Hiroyasu shakes his head, "We just can't take them anywhere, can we leave them somewhere?" before bowing his head in respect to the compliment bringing his hands into their trademark prayer steeple. "Thank you, I apologize for them. They took too many strikes to the head in practice the other day, I think there is swelling in their skull." before looking around at his teammates who were trying to get them fired or dismissed. He cups his hands and whispers at them "Is this how we act on a mission, an actual mission, no one will hire us again.. Nii-san please!" trying to get at least one on his side, the /more/ persuadable, usually of the two.
"Each mission starts with a few steps. You never know what the most gentle stroll could turn into," Shuuren says as he glances between the Genin. Ogo's really got his hands full with this little crew. He seems a bit amused by the exchange between the old man in the kids for a bit then he suddenly starts glancing around. "On your guard!" he calls out to the Genin, taking a step closer to the bridge maker as he moves into a ready stance, seeming to be waiting for something coming toward them.
The old man doesn't bother retorting Misaki's chiding. He's got himself a flash of alcohol and he's swigging it down. Gulp, gulp! The bridge-builder does respond to Hiei though, "Someday, sooner than you can imagine, you'll be old and troublesome too kid." He waggles his wooly eyebrows and stands. With a snap of his fingers, he expects Misaki to move the crate so they can be off. To Hiroyasu, the old man smiles, "You're such a bright, smart kid. Nothing gets past you at all." Will Hiroyasu note the sarcasm? Hard to tell.
The puddle slowly starts to rise in one lumped mass of water. Through the hydrification technique, the water takes shape in the form of two shinobi, about 15 or 16 years old by the look of them. They are back to back. They move with impeccable timing, as if the jutsu they are pulling off is a combination move that has been practiced many times before. They also look very similar, siblings perhaps. Both shinobi have a metal claw on their right hand.
The claws grab hold of each other as the two shinobi take hands, and one brother throws out the other. The metal claws snap apart and the sound of clanking chains can be heard. The chain comes from within the claw body, but the claws and chains themselves fire outward, away from their master's body. Performed in tandem, the two claws hold each other, but the chains trail back to the shinobi brothers, forming one long chain. With one brother in the air, the other snaps his arm back, causing the first brother to land right behind Shuuren. The leading brother quickly attempts to wrap the long chain around Shuuren to take him out of the picture…for good.
"On my….what?" She looks over her shoulder when she suddenly sees the two shinobi… "E..ee….." She stutters real good while she notices the two move so expertly…. She readies her own multi-tool gauntlets, standing in front of the bridge builder. "Okay… I'll keep your safe… I think!" She says, seeming not so sure about herself now. Cursing herself for wanting this… So not cool! "Ehrmm….." She grabs a kunai bit drops it clumsily. "Shh.."
At the words be on your guard, Hiei reaches behind him, underneath his cloak and draws his sword. He watches the formation of the brothers and then watch with a mixture of awe and a little fear as they use a combination attack on Shuuren. Well, he was a Jounin, he could take care of himself. "Hiroyasu, protect the old man. Misaki, stand with me and be ready to act." He unfastens the cloak and drops it to the side so that he is not restricted when it was time for him to move. He speaks to his team. "Everyone, we know what's at stake here. Do what you've been trained for."
Hiroyasu sighs for a moment at Misaki's poor showing, his hands reaching into his seal pouch removing several tucked between his fingers. "With me, Oji-san!" moving to bridge-builder, bringing his hands together in a prayer steeple with a tag poking out, it begins to glow blue and a dome of chakra appears around himself and the bridge-builder. "Hiei, Misaki, Assist our mentor, do as he directs if not we'll compensate individually" he shouts trying to keep his calm and his barrier in place, that is until it becomes under assault.
The chains seem to go right around Shuuren and bind him up. Falling to the ground, the former Jounin seems to struggle against the chains, groaning as he tries to get out of the bind. However, once the barrier has come up around Hiroyasu and the old man, the form bound in the chains disappears with a puff of smoke, apparently no more than a Shadow Clone. Appearing behind the brother who attempted to bind him, the doctor holds a simple syringe filled with some kind of liquid and goes to stab it into his neck muscles to push the plunger and inject it. A very simple maneuver, but its effects are anything but.
The bridge-builder moves behind the others, not saying a word. This was supposed to be a C-Rank mission, no enemy shinobi combatants, so what the heck was going on? Perhaps it is luck, or perhaps it is just the timing of things, but just when the two brothers think they've taken Shuuren out of the picture, they continue to move toward their main target, the old man. The brother behind Shuuren begins to spin and dip, effectively drawing the chain around him in whip-lashing manner. This spinning dip is what actually causes Shuuren to miss, which is why this is mostly luck.
The brother that did the throwing the first time is now the one doing the flying this time. As the first claw retracts fully, it releases its hold on the second claw. In turn, the second claw is sent rocketing out at the bridge builder. Unfortunately, Misaki just happens to be in the direct path of the claw. And then *poof…uh-oh, Shuuren is still there. The duo doesn't have much time to react to Shuuren's reappearance mid-attack, but they do manage to pull it back just enough so that it would still hit Misaki, but not the bridge-builder…you know, in anticipation that Shuuren will attack again and this time actually do some real damage.
Misaki was just reaching for her kunai when the brothers suddenly come at her. She looks up, the attack is slowed a bit by the barrier, but when it finally plunges through Misaki flinches instead of dodges. She covers her face… ~ Misaki what the SUSPENSION are you doing!? ~ She yelps while the claw comes at her. Though - something - stopped it. Is it goat-man? Is it Superman? No it's Shuuren! She places a hand on her chest while catching her breath. ~ Get your act together! ~ She nods, holding the kunai more firmly while seeming a lot more collected now.
Hiei got ready to move to help Misaki, but it seems that Shuuren beat him to it. These guys weren't messing around, at all. He sticks his sword in the ground and then performs a series of hand seals before ending with his hands closed together at his chest level. "Release: Lightning movement." There is an explosion of chakra as lightning bolts surround Hiei's body. For anyone looking, it would seem like his muscles begin to jump underneath his skin as if receiving a shock. As sparks fly from the Genin's eyes, he pauses a moment to allow his body to get used to the increase in power. Picking up his sword, he stands ready to attack, waiting for an opening to present itself.
Hiroyasu continues to hold his hands in their prayer steeple, keeping the dome surrounding himself and the builder. "Misaki! Wake up! Help Hiei! Do Something!" he shouts being held still by his defensive fortification.
With a flicker, Shuuren appears by Misaki, grabbing her to move her out of the way of the incoming strike. He would reappear with her in another spot about ten feet away before disappearing again, barely giving a glimpse as he swallows a golden pill with 'EII' inscribed on it. Moving into an insane speed as his chakra flares up insanely, he would appear to drive a foot into one's face, only to rapidly disappear and drive a foot into the back of the other one's head.
There isn't even a need for these two brothers to fight back. Those kicks knock them out cold. With limp bodies falling to the ground, the Oni Brothers are KO'd. The threat is over, thanks to Shuuren's quick movements. With everything gone quiet once again, the old man states, "Well, time to get moving then," He turns and tries to walk away, but is stopped by the barrier. Luuuucy, yous gots some splainin ta do! The bridge builder turns, water-drop behind him as he rubs at the back of his head with a sheepish smile plastered to his face, "Maybe not?"
