Starring:
Taiki, Amiko, Suzume, Nori, Sosuke
Date: February 6, 2013
Summary:
Taiki and a representative of the Uzumaki clan are sent to figure out what is going on in Kadomai, only to find trouble. But who is causing it?
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Unholy Alliances - Tenken is taken"
Residential section, Kadomai
Not too long ago, the leader of Kadomai contacted the Hokage, requesting assistance. Apparently there was a new resident of Kadomai who had taken residence in a house that had previously been uninhabited but well cared for. This in and of itself was no problem, but soon afterward the house, grounds, and everything but the outer walls and gates leading into the property simply disappeared. All anyone could see was an abandoned plot that seemingly had been so for ages. Anyone approaching, even ninja, found that they couldn't enter the premises, the gate would not budge. And if the gates were forced, like two groups tried, the results ranged from totally forgetting any interest in the place, to chakra backlashes for more conerted attempts by the ninja squad. This of course was cause for concern, so the leader asked the Hokage to call in somebody.
The Hokage's office researched this and found a reference to something like this effect before. As a result, two people were contacted and asked to go investigate, with a genin team to assist. Uzumaki Amiko, called upon for her status as a kunoichi from Uzushiogakure, and Inuzuka Taiki, for his past work with the Uzumaki, were assigned a group of genin and asked to investigate this. Nominally Taiki was put in charge of the Konogakure genin, and given the file on what they knew. They were told to investigate this residence, but not to provoke the resident inside if at all possible.
Taiki led the group here, asking questions be held until they arrived. This gave him time to look over the file, and when they finally arrived, Taiki's expression was one of cautious amusement. His two ninken, Shinobu and Nozomi, had taken turns reading over his shoulder, and thus they were tasked with watching the parameter while Taiki briefed everyone of what their orders required. "Well, this looks fairly straightforward. Let's get a quick introduction out of the way along with any questions you may have. I'm Inuzuka Taiki, Chuunin of Konohagakure, med-nin and somewhat skilled in seals and elemental Taijutsu. My partners are Shinobu and Nozomi, the larger white one being Shinobu. Next?" he asks.
Nori moves along at a relatively slow clip for a shinobi. When the time comes for Nori to speak his part, the young Yamanaka states, "Yamanaka Nori. Eh, I'm fairly good with my clan's mind-body style. Other than that, I'm fairly fresh out of the Academy. Use me as you see fit though…and eh, what exactly is the task at hand here?" Nori smiles and looks over the two ninken. "I've worked a little with Sumire-san and Hakuro before too…" he notes.
"Tsukinamida 'Gansao' Sosuke. Genin and Grandson of the Fukumune, expertise in silent Taijutsu and Genjutsu." Sosuke introduced himself after Nori. Sosuke recognized Taiki and his two companions but has never seen nor heard of Amiko. Nori he had have the pleasure of working with numerous times and Suzume he met twice so far. He knew enough of her to be a bit comfortable around. Questions Sosuke assumed were to be saved until the end but this mission was so straight forward that he didn't have any that didn't already seem self explanatory or covered in the briefing. When Nori asked his question Sosuke glances over in confusion. "It said in briefing were to just investigate the residence." he stated. "Aside from that I don't think we can go off of much else."
Amiko bows politely to the group, smiling happily. "Uzumaki Amiko," she introduces herself, then looks back and forth between the others, and coughs a little, "I'm a specialist in Sealing Techniques and not much else." She laughs lightly at her self deprecation, even though its true, then folds her arms over her chest. When the group starts discussing the mission she nods slowly and says, "I wonder what the hitch is going to be. There's always a catch when there are several Chuunin involved. Nothing's ever simple." She chuckles lightly as she watches the rest of the team, studying them closely.
Taiki answers Nori's question first. "Having a residence that is locked down so tightly and no one knows about makes the leader of Kadomai nervous. Their people can't figure out anything, so we were sent to investigate. It's entirely possible, given some previous reports on similarly guarded areas, that whoever it is may be friendly, thus we're not to go in hammering things down. We're to see what we can see, and decide from there what, if any actions need to be taken." He then looks toward Amiko and says, "If this follows what was last encountered, your assistance as a member of your clan may be a rather large help Uzumaki-san." Taiki apparently is thinking of something, but he's not saying what.
"Okay, the grounds are down the right fork of this path. Being so close to the leader's residence is another reason they're nervous. I'll take front with Shinobu, followed by Yamanaka-san and then Tsukinamida-san. Uzumaki-san, could you take the rear with Nozomi? Keep your eyes open and at the first sign of anything unusual, let me know." With this Taiki turns and takes a few steps forward to let everyone fall into place. Shinobu joins him while the red-furred Nozomi trots over toward Amiko and waits beside her. Taiki is fairly relaxed at the moment as he moves. He's not expecting much from this.
Nori smirks at Sosuke, "I know what the briefing says…it says very little though. I'm wondering what tasks exactly we're to do. We investigate without provoking…but what does that really mean…especially with two Chuunin involved. It sounds like we might have a sealing issue given the noted specialties, and I want to know how to help. I mean, if we can't enter without taking down the barrier, and if taking down the barrier is provoking, what more can we do?" The young Yamanaka thinks too much.
Nori then nods to Amiko, "Ah, by the way Amiko-san, I've finally learned how to tree-walk." He smiles proudly at that.
Nori listens to the rest of the background on the mission and asks, "Can jutsu get through the barrier? I might be able to push my mind inside and grab an animal or something." He shrugs, but grows quiet as the group starts to move. Nori follows along in rank and file.
"That's why we're investigating. Because we know so little." Sosuke adds nodding to Nori. "Until we know we can't help. Can't have an answer without a problem." Sosuke explains. He looks back to Taiki as the Chuunin starts to give them their mobilization orders. It seems he'll be taking front along with Nori. Sosuke nods in understanding. His head turns when Nori states that he can tree walk to the Amiko woman. Sosuke softly sighs and reminds himself he needs to get to work on water walking before Ishida prods him about it next. But that was to be left behind, the mission took precedence. Sosuke catches Nori's last question is actually interested to see the answer. Then again he does recall something about shinobi and villagers alike to have some difficulty.
Amiko smiles broadly at Nori and offers the boy a high-five. "Well done, Nori-kun, that's not an easy ability to master!" she says enthusiastically. Returning to the conversation at hand she shrugs. "Well then, shall we get underweigh? At the very least we should check out the perimeter and get a better idea of exactly how to approach this mission," she suggests as she tightens the forehead protector around her head just a little.
Suzume wasn't at all thrilled with this mission, then again she was never thrilled with any mission to begin with. Anything that was outside of the hospital was hard work and not necessarily anything that she had signed up for as she conducted her training in Konohagakure. A lazy pair of eyes merely awtched forward as they moved along, not at all itnerested in investigating anything, it seemed like the hospital wanted to make sure she got some field excerises for just in case reasons… " Ugh, this is terrible… How long is this mission going to take?" Suzume blurted out from behind them, pursed lips exhausted a quiet yawn as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"I don't know," Taiki answers. "Last time that wasn't tried. If this is the same jutsu, the resident will know of our approach even before we reach the gate. Whether they will let us in is another question entirely. Last time, they did, as we were expected and had an appointment. This time, if it is the same work, I don't know if we're expected, if its even the same person, or what. So the only thing I can say is that we'll have to see when we get there… Which there it is," Taiki says, pointing to a wall-in abandoned lot a little off even this side road.
'Abandoned lot' pretty much describes the place. There's a few trees, but they and the grassland around them looks like it had been here for many years, completely untouched. The walls echo the theme, being half-overgrown with ivy. You get the faint but distinct impression that this place is not worth even looking at, that your time is better spent elsewhere. The gates look old, like the rest of the place. In fact, the only new thing is a chain and lock around where the gates join in the middle. That looks well-cared for, and relatively new. "Try to keep up Suzume-san," he says as he looks back. "This will be over more quickly if you put an effort in."
Nori nods to Sosuke. Suzume is given a slight eyebrow-raise. While she is frustrated at being here, the Yamanaka boy is just in his element: investigation. "This reminds me of a book I read once about a spy breaking into a palace, but there was a sealing jutsu blocking the entirety of the palace." When Amiko's hand is held up, Nori takes the hand and shakes it. It is a very awkward move.
As they reach the lot, Nori hmms, "The briefing said stuff started to vanish. Maybe this is a Genjutsu or something affecting our minds?" He hmms again, "You sure we really should be looking into this?" Seems his own will is starting to be sapped.
It sounds as though Taiki and Amiko have been in a similar situation before. This was good news and perhaps it would make the investigation go by more smoothly. Suzume's outburst surprises Sosuke. He glances towards her then forward again. Sosuke looks towards the Abandoned Lot and he starts to feel like he's far too opinionated about this area already. Sosuke looks to Nori "That may be the case. Can you feel any chakra flowing from anywhere?" Sosuke asks Nori. In the meantime he'd check himself thoroughly to see if he was indeed under a genjutsu at the moment.
"I don't know," Taiki answers. "Last time that wasn't tried. If this is the same jutsu, the resident will know of our approach even before we reach the gate. Whether they will let us in is another question entirely. Last time, they did, as we were expected and had an appointment. This time, if it is the same work, I don't know if we're expected, if its even the same person, or what. So the only thing I can say is that we'll have to see when we get there… Which there it is," Taiki says, pointing to a wall-in abandoned lot a little off even this side road.
'Abandoned lot' pretty much describes the place. There's a few trees, but they and the grassland around them looks like it had been here for many years, completely untouched. The walls echo the theme, being half-overgrown with ivy. You get the faint but distinct impression that this place is not worth even looking at, that your time is better spent elsewhere. The gates look old, like the rest of the place. In fact, the only new thing is a chain and lock around where the gates join in the middle. That looks well-cared for, and relatively new. "Try to keep up Suzume-san," he says as he looks back. "This will be over more quickly if you put an effort in."
Nori nods to Sosuke. Suzume is given a slight eyebrow-raise. While she is frustrated at being here, the Yamanaka boy is just in his element: investigation. "This reminds me of a book I read once about a spy breaking into a palace, but there was a sealing jutsu blocking the entirety of the palace." When Amiko's hand is held up, Nori takes the hand and shakes it. It is a very awkward move.
As they reach the lot, Nori hmms, "The briefing said stuff started to vanish. Maybe this is a Genjutsu or something affecting our minds?" He hmms again, "You sure we really should be looking into this?" Seems his own will is starting to be sapped.'
Amiko kind of… frowns oddly as Nori shakes her hand instead of giving her a high-five, but she shakes her uncertainty away and sighs. Then she follows Taiki's gaze to the worn down building not far away. The girl spends a good few moments looking at the building, almost having to force herself to pay close attention to it. "Its definitely an odd old place," she says glumly, then purses her lips at the suggestions that it might be a Genjutsu. "I hadn't thought of that," she says, and then places her hands together in a seal, "Hold on a moment, I'll see if I'm being affected by any illusions." She sends a powerful pulse of chakra through her system, trying to clear away anything affecting her perception. Her eyes go wide immediately afterward, and she doesn't say anything as she examines the place. But her look of surprise is replaced just moments later by a frustrated frown. "Well, its Genjutsu of some type," she says, "But either the user is very persistent, or the effect is sealed into the building somehow. After I dispelled the illusion it came back after just a few seconds. But I got a good look at the place before it did. It isn't nearly as run down as we thought. In fact, it looks quite well maintained."
Suzume merely watched as the investigation began to take place, there wasn't any effort to be had because she generally didn't want to go around snooping, if anything she would just relax and be semi alert… yes that was a good plan, take things as they come and do something when she was really needed. " I'm so out of my element…" Suzume complained quietly though that was going to be the end of it. needless to say she kept up along with the group, lingering behind and not even bothering to look or feel for genjutsu, not that she knew how in the first place. She huffed and stayed quietly, merely idling about rather than searching for anything that might catch her attention.
Taiki looks back at the group and nods and motions them forward. He's been listening to everything so far, and it just seems to confirm something in his mind. He crouches down and pulls out a scroll, then opens it and channels chakra into it. Inside the seal is stack of other scrolls, of which Taiki pulls out one in particular. He spends a few moments scanning it before rolling it open wider for everyone to see.
"Well, there's an easy way to see if its something we've seen before," Taiki explains. "I want you to circle the walls, spread out and look for something that looks like this," he says, pointing to a seal diagram. It would take a seal expert to even begin to understand what they're looking at, but Taiki points out enough details for the non-seal experts of the group to compare. "Yamanaka-san, see if you can find wildlife in there. If you can, see if you can mind switch with it, and scout around for a minute, then transfer out. If you're detected and attacked, transfer out immediately. If any of you have any other ideas, let me know."
He then looks at Suzume and sighs. "I think you're here on the off-chance we run into something that injures us. Since we don't know what we're dealing with and I'm having to take a leadership role here, you're the main medic for the group. In the meantime, can you please just look for this seal on anything around the parameter, it need not be on the wall itself, a rock or a tree just outside would do just as well."
Nori uhns, "Good idea Sosuke-san." He closes his eyes and stops moving entirely to let his senses adjust to their surroundings. The boy looks like he is meditating. Slowly, he focuses in on the abandoned lot to attempt to sense any amount of chakra coming from the area.
At the suggestion from Amiko that there is indeed a Genjutsu in place, Nori frowns, "Well, I'm afraid I won't be much luck in the Genjutsu department. I know just what they taught us in the Academy, and that isn't very much." He sighs and reviews Amiko again, "Still…why the fake facade? What don't they want us to see?"
Nori studies the seals that Taiki points to, nods, and then says, "A-OK." He rushes off to scout the perimeter and see if there are any animals inside too.
You paged Amiko with 'That seal Taiki is showing you all looks familiar. It's Uzumaki in origin, but not as elegantly drawn as it would be if an Uzumaki drew it. Likely Taiki drew it, but its better than a tracing or a memory. You can roll int+seal to see if you can recognize the signature.'
Sosuke finds the seal Taiki had shown them and not only that he has determined that someone has been there. It was on a rock nearby but what was truly unnerving was that someone was just at that rock and was more than likely aware of this team's presence. "Found something." he says. Sosuke inspects the seal a bit closer to see if he can find anything else a bit useful. Was no seal expert though and saw nothing. He figured he should wait until Amiko or Taiki came to take a look at it. "It's that same seal. What does it mean?" Sosuke inquires.
"I recognize that seal," Amiko says as she examines the depiction. It isn't perfect, but its good enough for Amiko to get an idea of who they're dealing with. "Its the seal of an old Uzumaki med-nin. Actually, I thought he was dead," she adds, screwing up her face as she thinks, "If he's still up and ticking, and he wanted to make life difficult for us, this mission could definitely get tricky." And with that she gets up and starts searching the area. She quickly follows along behind Sosuke, and when he spots the seal she squats down nearby and looks at it, trying to work out if its trapped or anything.
Suzume shrugged her shoulders at Taiki, giving him a nod. " I suppose I can match a picture with a picture," She responds back while casually begining to look around the area.. Rocks trees… she really didn't know how she would find the seal or where it would be, if anything as soon as she found one she might accidentally step on it or who knows worse. For now she kept her eyes somewhat peeled, leaning forward to glance for seals. While it may have seemed like she wasn't entirely alert she did keep her senses acute so she could find anything unusual. "You can count on me! Mostly…" She found a few tags here and there, though not yet anything she raised her concern about…
Yamanaka Nori walks up to the gate and performs that hand sign, calling out his jutsu. Taiki is one step behind and catches the boy as he falls, and holds him where he is. "He's alive, or was when I last saw him just before he left Konoha, But you're right, if it is him, and he doesn't want visitors, we probably aren't getting in. At least I'll be able to report him friendly…" Taiki says matter-of-factly. "Didn't tell me where he was going, only said he had a lead he was to follow up on." Taiki looks at the gate, then the columns, the looks at Amiko. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" he asks, sounding concerned now.
Just then there is an explosion on the only unmanned side of the estate, and the entire party starts shaking as it flickers widely. A moment later the empty lot vanishes, and its place is a rather nice home, manicured yard, two cloaked people running full out for the front door… "Wait, who is that?" Taiki calls out. "Everyone meet on the east side of the property!" he calls out, running for the side with the collapsed wall.
Sosuke gives Amiko some room to look at the seal. He keeps an eye out for any sort of action while she does so. "An Uzumaki Medical Ninja. And you know of him? Well that should make things easier shouldn't it?" he asks Amiko. Suddenly an explosion goes off and Sosuke snaps around to face the direction where it came from. When Taiki gives the order Sosuke is already on his way to that side of the estate. "I think we've provoked someone."
Amiko frowns as she examines the seals. "These seals are slowly coming apart," she says aloud, "It looks like someone's been unsealing them using a method I've been struggling to learn for the last few years." She folds her arms as she further examines the seals and whistles as if she's impressed. She stands back up straight and looks around, double checking that the area's safe. "There are some seriously skilled ninja involved in… whatever's going on here," she says, shaking her head glumly. As the explosion sounds out though, she's quickly on her feet and running to join up with Taiki, her long blonde hair streaming out behind her as she goes.
The rocking explosion caused Suzume to squint her eyes briefly as she poked around the seal before her…She was hoping that she didn't set anything off. "It wasn't me!" Suzume suddenly exclaims throwing her hands into the air to prove she wasn't touching anything. She then peered at the others, covering her tracks and rubbing the back of her head, she was becoming a little worried, but the innocent Uzumaki wasn't going to be the first one to dive anywhere. " So…anyone want to check that out?"
As the group reach the demolished section, two cloaked figures are pulling a struggling old man out of the house. He looks like he's been drugged, but is still fighting. Likely its only a testament to the old man's skill he's even conscious. One man looks up at the group at the wall and starts to make a series of one-handed signs. The old man looks up, sees Taiki and says, "Study." Suddenly the earth opens up and swallows the three of them, causing them to disappear. Taiki and Shinobu jump up and spin in the air, becoming electrified whirlwinds as they strike at the place where the people were. The ground gives quickly, throwing rock, dirt and grass everywhere, but not far enough to reach the wall. He comes up and says, "Fan out! See where they come up!"
The old man spotted with the two cloak figures starts to turn gears in Sosuke's head but for now he worries more about the fact that the man seems to be in need of help. Before he or anyone can do anything however the man encases himself and his two attackers in a dome of earth. Sosuke had no way of getting through that. Taiki's actions did make a mess but it cleared the barrier. Sosuke circles around looking for one of the hooded figures to see if he can get the jump on them in the confusion. Once he had eyes on one of them he could use his genjutsu to immobilize them. It's much easier to take someone live that way.
Amiko places her hands together, readying chakra as she approaches the sight, but the trio disappear and she bites her lip. "Swirlit, alright we'll find them wherever they resurface," she says as she starts running away from the group, drawing a kunai with one hand as she does so. Her head looks like its on a swivel, swinging this way and that as she tries to catch sight of the old man and the ninja. After a while though the girl begins to tire, and having not caught sight of any of the other group she begins losing heart. "This is hopeless, old man Uzumaki is gone boy now," she says to herself, cursing silently.
Suzume truly didn't have a clue as to what was going on, all she saw was a sudden group of cloaked figures who disappeared into the ground beneath them. She blinked her eyes definitely feeling well in over her head at this rate. Instead Suzume continued to stick back, keeping her eyes on the others instead of finding their targets she would know who to come towards if either of them sustained a wound or injury.. She was becoming a little bit more alert, her heart pumping as she felt they were definitely in great danger. " What…was this mission suppose to be abotu again..?" Suzume wanted to say… No one said anything about fighting shinobi.
As the minutes pass by and no one appears, the odds are looking worse and worse for the old man. Finally Taiki sniffs at the air and grimaces. "Well, this probably wasn't the Recluse," Taiki says loud enough for everyone to hear. "Nozomi, stay out here and let us know if you see anyone. The rest of you, inside the house and let's see what we can find. Just… if it looks like a locked container, don't touch it, but call for either Amiko or myself. Tenken-sensei is very protective about his secrets, and it won't do for any of you to get hurt." The chuunin looks stoic, perhaps too stoic. After a quick search of the house, the old man's comment becomes clear, as there is a box on his desk, obviously locked. It is a plain box, but it is obvious that if the strangers could have, they would have taken it with them. Fortunately for the group, they didn't have the time.
Sosuke enters the house and is very careful not to touch anything. It seems Taiki and Amiko know this person rather well. What is found is a box that looks as though it was once locked. "This is odd. What do you make of it Taiki-san?" Sosuke looks back to Taiki. If Suzume was still around Sosuke would pass a glance her way too. "I wonder if Nori's found anything useful. He's been gone a while." Sosuke looks back to the box and backs up to let either Taiki or Amiko get a look at it. He'd join Suzume in the back and let the experts deduce what they could. "Turned out to be more than we bargained for." he remarks while folding his arms.
"I know right?!" Suzume soon responds back, she reached out for Sosuke to ruffle him up just a little bit, honestly feeling quite content with being safe and sound within the wall of the house rather than outside wit hthe group. " We sure scared them off at the very least, or at least from what I can tell," Of course Suzume didn't do a thing, staying back was what she was best at doing. " How about we look around somewhere else, maybe for more seals Sosuke-san?" she asked him curiously, there was an odd smirk swooned along those lips of hers… obviously she felt much more at ease.
Taiki looks back to Suzume and Sosuke and says, "Actually, a thorough search of the house is a good idea. We have to figure out who kidnapped Uzumaki-sensei and why. But…" Taiki says as he turns to the both of them. "I know you're an Uzumaki yourself, but unless you have been trained in your clan's seal mastery, don't touch any seals you find. Mark the area, and note what you see. Then when you're done, find Amiko-san or myself. Amiko-san will likely have to be the one to go through a greater part of them, unfortunately." Taiki is speaking in an even tone, as if his emotions have been shunted to the side so he can do his job. "Go."
It would take some time to cover the entire house, but they would. And while more seals would be found, nothing of worth to the investigation could be found. Finally Taiki collected everyone and led them back to Konoha after stopping by the village leader's house to let him know the house was the property of the Uzumaki clan, and no one but them should approach it. What he didn't say is that Taiki used his own chakra to activate some of the left-over defenses. It wouldn't stop a concerted ninja, but it would keep the gawkers away…
