Starring:
Sujin, Kiriko
Date: July 8, 2014
Summary:
A moment of chance with two fresh Genin building on their villages' alliance in the deserts of the Land of Wind. Bandits beware!
"The Growing Alliance"
Southeast of Sunagakure
The weather you ask? Most people can only muster the response of 'Not great'. It was a truly dry day out in the desert and relatively cold for the desert dwellers. One of those many people not enjoying the current weather would be one of the new Genin named Sujin. He had recently been given permission to go back to his brood to meet up with his family to tell them of his accomplishments. From graduating the academy to completing his first mission. Of course, returning home is sort of hard for one who comes from a nomadic family.
This thought is what causes Sujin to pause in place and look up into the desert sky with a sigh. "I should just write letters…" His eyes are momentarily drawn away by a falcon circling high in the sky, his only companion on what may be a long trip. 'At least she's having a good time.' Sujin continues to stand in place for quite some time, until the falcon above pierces the air with a screech. "Yeah yeah…" Sujin mutters this and his eyes drop back down as he begins to move again.
Sand and sun out here, just another exciting day in the Land of Wind.
Kiriko, being a Genin from Kirigakure, is not used to having no water about her. She is, at the very least, grateful that today is the day she gets to go back home. Getting familiar with those from the new allies was a bit difficult for her, since she's normally more than a bit introverted. Not really shy, just not a people-person. Much to her chagrin, she encounters another person on her way out of Suna, and no one she recognizes very well. "Excuse me…" she says quietly, moving past the genin in her path. A brief glance to the falcon above her head before she attempts to continue on her way.
Another cry is heard. "Oh?" Sujin looks up for a moment as the bird above spreads its wings and begins to hover in the air. Sujin's eyes trace from the falcon to where it was pointing. "Hmm." Just at this moment he hears the excuse me and nervously turns over and tries to quickly shift out of the way with a soft, "Sorry." He clears his throat and does a quick whistle. It isn't until after he does that that he realizes that Kiriko might of thought it was for her. "Ah, that was for-" Without hesitation the falcon falls from the sky and lands directly on Sujin's head.
"OW!" His hands flail up at the bird who expertly hops off his head and avoids the swipe. Swooping around in the air and landing on the sand before Kiriko. The bird's head tilts as it eyes Kiriko warily, seeming to analyze her. With a cocky twitch of its head its spreads its wings flapping a few times while hopping back as if trying to block Kiriko.
"Mijiko! Cut it out." Sadly Sujin doesn't sound too commanding, as if pleading to the bird as he scuffles up to it, muttering 'Sorry' to Kiriko all the while."
Kiriko does turn slightly at the whistle, but it is more for puzzlement than thinking it was directed at her. She didn't realize the falcon was partnered with the boy she almost ran into until it swooped down directly onto Sujin's head. Kiriko blinks, her blue eyes peering at both bird and boy as if studying them. She bows her head to the bird slightly before it hops away. "It is… no trouble…" she replies to the nervous-looking Sujin. "The bird… is Mijiko-san, then?" she wonders aloud, voice cool like ice.
Sujin utters sorry one last time, much to his own irritance. With a gently bow he gets up and looks to Mijiko, holding out a hand for her to land on appropriately, which she does. "Yes, and I'm Sujin, Hayato Sujin." With a huff he looks to Mijiko who looks rather pleased with herself, he then asks the bird, "How many?" Mijiko's right talon squeezes a few times and he nods. "Er that show was her… trying to warn you." He studies Kiriko for a moment, "Kirigakure."
He nods once more and with a shake of his arm Mijiko takes flight again. "I assume, the docks? Same direction… uh anyway. Mijiko spotted something of danger in the distance, about three. I am somewhat heading on the same path, as your ally I'd suggest allowing me to guide you around these individuals."
He looks to Kiriko a few times, eyes consistently diverting back off into the distance. Not really coming off as the confident leader to take one through the harsh desert.
Kiriko bows again, this time to Sujin, and introduces herself. "I'm Shirayuki Kiriko. It's nice to meet you." Her head tilts at the bird as it talks to the Hayato, waiting for further news to come about the discussion they seem to be having. "Ah, I see… Thank you for alerting me, Hayato-san." She considers his help, giving the boy a look-over. "Two is better than one…" She murmurs to herself, though she does have a few doubts about Sujin given his attitude. "I would be happy if you assisted me," she finally says after a long period of considering (a couple minutes of silence). "I imagine you'll lead the way, then?"
Sujin, as awkward as he is more or less just sits in the silence, looking about at their feet. When he finally does get a response there's a quick nod and he begins to take off. He leans his head back a bit to talk over his shoulder, "This can double the length, depending on how they move, themselves. So…" Sujin pulls out a map, looks it over very quickly and nods, "We can stop for water on the way… if you'd like." He quiets up now as he waits for a response. His eyes keep darting up to Mijiko, knowing that no matter how wide of a path they walk, there's still a chance of them being seen. "So bold…" He shakes his head, rarely hearing of dangers on such a popular road. Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, he keeps sort of opening his mouth as if planning on saying something.
.
Kiriko steps in, completely ignoring any issues one might have of personal space, so that she might also be able to see the map Sujin is looking at. "Hmm… Water is a good thing to stop for, yes," she says cooly, moving away once he rids himself of the map. "It's rather troubling that there's danger… Especially given where we are… Perhaps they think with the exams occurring, they have a better chance of getting away with things?" Kiriko stares at Sujin with her blue eyes, though it seems she's trying to hold back their rather piercing nature.
When Kiriko steps in to look at the map he gets a little withdrawn though leaves the map out a bit longer so she can see it. Sujin's awful social skills were bad enough as is but, this being a girl was making it even harder, especially with all the staring. He continues to try and play it cool but, it just makes him look more uncomfortable as he constantly adjusts his gear. Thankfully he is given something to distract his mind with. "That may be part of it but, ever since the alliance there has been more motion of ninja forces on both sides. It has allowed Suna to protect more remote areas while much more busy areas like this are guarded by natural movements." Sujin's breathes out heavily, "I think they're just desperate now, oppurtunity no longer knocks."
Mijiko momentarily tilts in the air, crying out once more. To the average ear this may sound no different than the first but, this seems to cause no worry in the boy at all as they continue on and he decides to push more conversation. So, Sujin scratches his cheek and glances over his shoulder at her, making direct eye contact for the first time. "Shirayuki, I've heard that before… is that a rich family?"
"That's true as well… Hopefully they can be dealt with at another time…" Kiriko responds, her eyes drifting away from Sujin as she senses his discomfort. "My clan is perhaps a bit famous in Kirigakure? We're both very old and very new at the same time," the girl says, probably a bit vague. She looks up at Mijiko when the falcon cries out, not understanding its tongue. But Sujin doesn't seem alarmed, so whatever it is must be good or neutral news. "I think I have heard of Hayato as well. I assume your clan partners with falcons, given Mijiko-san?" It's not that difficult to guess, given all the rather obvious information, in her opinion.
New but old? Time travelers? No that's too extreme. Sujin actually snickers aloud at that thought and doesn't even realize it. "Oh okay so that is a clan." Sujin nods in response to Kiriko's question, "Yes Hayato have a close link with falcons. I'm surprised more clans did not adopt the technique as they are very helpful." He clears his throat, "But, we're not the most dominant force in Sunagakure, mostly because many of us still live all about the Land of Wind." His hand raises to rest on his chest, "Technically I am Sujin of the brood Mokurei, Hayato was not really used until I came to Sunagakure." His fingers drum there for a moment. During this time they were walking up over a sand dune.
As they approach the top he smiles, "By the way Mijiko was mentioning this…" As they clear the top an oasis comes into the clear. "A quick break here and then it should be easy from here on out." With a confident nod he continues with a bit more of a lively step with water up on ahead.
Kiriko ignores the snicker, not quite sure what it's directed at. "I'm not sure how happy falcons would be in Kirigakure, given the climate there…" the girl responds easily enough. "We have our own styles that we've adopted." She listens curiously to Sujin as he reveals his 'true' heritage. "Then Hayato is being used to make sure everyone knows a certain group has certain abilities? I suppose that makes sense…" She seems a bit tired by the time they reach the top of the sand dune, as a result of poor weather low stamina.
Looking from the top of the dune, she sees the oasis and looks rather relieved to see it. Something nice and cool and /familiar/. "Ah, a welcome destination," Kiriko says with a small smile, following after Sujin with a bit of a spring in her step despite earlier exhaustion. Water just makes everything better for her.
Sujin chugs a bit of water from his canteen, giving a sigh of relief. As Sujin kneels to fill up the canteen he jokes, "Seems like you got the worst of alliances environment wise. What a shift…" Mijiko lands soon after dipping its head into the water completely. When her head pops back out she does her best to splash water onto Sujin.
Though Sujin wasn't having any of it. In fact, when the water slaps his face there is no shift in emotion. The boy seemed real intent on staring far off, his eyes focused on what seemed to just be a bunch of dots. "Mijiko." He states very flatly, "You only mentioned those bandits." With that he pulls his bow from around his body and stands up. "Kiriko-san." Sujin points in the direction opposite of where he was staring. "If you follow that path straight you'll reach the docks. Even if you go off track a bit it'll be hard to miss." While he didn't want to leave her to off a commonly walked path on her own, she was a ninja after all. "It was fun." With that he doesn't explain he just notches his bow with an arrow and expertly leaps and lands on the hill of the dune, sliding down with an obviously practiced effort.
Mijiko is not so quick to follow. In fact, it seemed like she spent most of the time ignoring the boy until he took off. The bird makes an annoyed sound and glances at Kiriko before taking flight.
Kiriko fills the water canteen she has, cupping her hands to drink from the oasis. "Opinions, Hayato-san. I much prefer Kirigakure's weather to here." She smiles a bit when she watches the falcon land and splash a bit at Sujin. Then her attention is drawn to whatever it is Sujin is staring at. It looks like more than one thing is in the distance. While she doesn't doubt Sujin's skill, she would rather the odds be a bit more in her ally's favor… Sujin dashes off before she can thank him, too! The Shirayuki moves to follow after the boy, perhaps not as expert in her movements as him. But she has her own grace about her to make up for it.
Before Sujin reached the bottom of the dune he'd hop forward and land, breaking straight into a run. With his Hayato vision he could easily made out the scene from far away. Though with Kiriko following she will soon see that the bandits encountered a man with a camel in tow. It would not be much of a yield but, like mentioned before they were desperate. "Depraved they should be easy to scare." He reaches into his robes and pulls out a kunai which is flung into the air towards Mijiko who catches it and speeds off ahead.
"Kiriko-san. It's not ideal for you to be here." Sujin's eyes trace Mijiko and he leans back, tugging on the string. "Hopefully this will scare them off but, if not… I'm not very strong." With the large amount of distance between them, the Hayato boy definitely had the advantage for now. He takes a deep breath and then lets the arrow loose, sending it high into the sky.
He notches another arrow during the time being as it does take a while to travel. Lucky for him, the bandits were busy talking down the traveler so there isn't much movement. The bandit furthest back gets caught, the arrow slicing down the back of his arm. From the distance there is obvious confusion and in time the sound of yelled complaints as they look about in a frenzy just for the lead bandit to get a kunai lodged in his back from a fly by Mijiko.
Despite these somewhat direct hits, they don't seem to plan on giving up. They just push the traveler aside and grab as much of his goods as they can. They do not run away afterward, no, it seems they spotted the two ninja in the distance and begin charging at them with freakish speed.
Kiriko makes her way after Sujin, finally able to catch a glimpse of what his eyes can see. And, really, it didn't look good. "Ah, but if I left my ally all alone while he fought off some bandits, it would make Kirigakure look bad, no matter the result. And if you're not very strong… Helping you would be in my best interest. Especially if I encounter something similar…" she replies. The girl starts to focus her chakra, eying the scene with narrowed eyes. At least Sujin seems to be damaging them, but bandits are unpredictable. When they start charging toward the shinobi, she almost wants to grab Sujin and get out of their way. "Ah, Sujin-san… Perhaps we should try to get more distance?" she suggests, even as she forms several handseals.
The second arrow is let loose as Kiriko speaks and well, Sujin can't really argue with her on that, her reasons were sound and also thoseguysarefreakinfast. The long bow is slung back as he begins to run, "This way." A smaller bow is equipped and he turns about for a moment, hop skipping back as he lets multiple arrows go before turning back to run proper. Between the onslaught of arrows and the occasional swoop of Mijiko, there is a bit of slowing of the group but, they were still gaining. During the evens Mijiko almost gets swiped by one of the bandits and the bird decides to back off for a bit.
"Don't panic but…" He picks up his pace, "At least one is a Missing-nin." His tone nervous, he's not sure if they really will be able to keep outrunning them. Sujin manages to let off a whistle to which Mijiko's flight path changes and with a bit of luck she manages to catch some wind that lets her speed right on past Sujin and Kiriko.
Mijiko would eventually more or less disappear in the distance and well… hopefully Kiriko had more creative ways of slowing the missing nin down than Sujin did.
Kiriko finishes her handseal, sending a bullet of wind at the bandits heading towards her and Sujin. Regardless of whether it hits, she continues to move without looking back at them. "… I wouldn't dare panic about facing a Missing-Nin, Sujin-san… The likelihood of succeeding against him is rather low, though…" she says, focusing mostly on trying to get away. She ponders, trying to think up a decent strategy. "Try to get them near the oasis. I think I have an idea…" she says, trying to make her way over in that direction even while attempting to outrun the superfast bandits.
Sujin catches the sand warp about Kiriko's technique, "Wind huh?" He sounded rather impressed. The wind goes on to connect with the bandit that was clumsy enough to get hit with the arrow before, it catches his leg and sends him off balance, tumbling until he landed face first in the sand. With that successful hit and the continued cool attitude of Kiriko increases Sujin's confidence, regardless of the terrible situation they were in, since she's had some success he'd go along with whatever her plan was. "To the oasis then and… nice shot." Sadly his arrows weren't as effective when they could see them coming but he lets a few more loose as they run.
It would seem that them approaching the oasis didn't matter at all either way. A crackling would soon be heard followed by a long falcon screech that seemed to be approaching. It sounded somewhat chaotic but nothing could be seen for quite some time and then in a flash there was the appearance of a projectile draped in lightning that falls from the sky, it dives low to the ground and in another flash instantly sped by them. The shockwave made the ground tremble launching the bandits into the air.
Before Sujin could react each one was quickly picked off during their flight with hard hitting arrows. Nearly as fast as the bird, a man with clothes quite similar to Sujin flashes in albeit still quite distant, "Letting Mijiko out run you by that much? Seems the Academy training isn't all it's cracked up to be." For now he waits for two to approach.
In time the travelers wares would be returned and Kiriko would be offered to join Sujin and his father at nearby oasis to rest and eat if she'd like. All that mattered was that they were safe now.
