Starring:
Niko, Isura, Kyuketsuki, Shinjiro, Atorei
Date: May 14, 2016
Summary:
Morimoto Niko's parents have mysteriously disappeared! Lucky for him, Konoha ninjas arrive on the scene!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"The Missing Morimotos"
Outside Konohagakure
It was a cool Konoha evening, the sun was setting and the clouds were the color orange, reflecting the color of the setting sun over the dusk sky. On the outskirts of Konohagakure, there was a farm known to be called the Morimoto Gardens. This farm was similar to other farms in the area in some ways, as they rented out large areas of their fields for the growth of turnips and yams, but some parts of the farm were very different than the other farm developments in the area. The Masaharu family, known to be a great lineage of farmers/gardeners and butchers, had been cultivating this land for generations. They had special techniques that they used in order to keep the soil healthy over the years. They had many different areas that served different purposes with different types of vegetation.
One area, called the 'Forest Garden' mimicked the natural forest edge, in which a large crop of sweet acorn trees were planted, surrounded by perennial woody herbs and annual self-sowing crops. Another area the 'Grazing Paddies' was planted with a special mix of grasses and perennial cover crops, meant for grazing sheep and cattle. This was divided into four large paddies that were rotated throughout the season, allowing for the animals to fertilize the field which brought about the re-growth of the grazing crops. This same system was used for the poultry they raised however using much less land. Of course, the 'Market Garden' was a sight to behold, for any farmer/gardener that is. This garden was fenced in, the fences lined with heavy growth of kiwi vines, and the vegetables were planted in heavily mulched rows that curved to form the shape of a spiral. You could walk for an hour in the garden, towards the middle of the spiral pathway, and still wouldn't find the center. This was because the amount of vegetables covering the pathway was so dense, you would have to pick them or chop them down to get through.
A mailbox that seemed to be a re-purposed bird house stood on a wooden pole to the entrance of the property. Niko was expecting to come home to dinner on a seemingly normal night. His mother Satu, had been expecting him. As Niko heads towards the main farmhouse, he could smell the BBQ his dad was cooking. 'mmmm' he was definitely ready for some of that special sauce! His mouth waters, and he couldn't think of anything else but the BBQ for a few moments, when he snaps back into it. He was not just there for dinner, but for a purpose. However many times he had asked his parents to become a ninja, it didn't matter, because he was going to ask them once again tonight. With a determinant look on his face, he continues forward to meet his parents for dinner.
Once Niko enters the house, a dark feeling of gloom and mystery possesses him. He becomes on full alert, as he notices some of Satu's special things were out of place. 'That never happens!' He sighs warily, and continues to the kitchen. "Hello!? Mom, dad?" There was no response. "What the waldo! If those pesky neighbor's kids were here causing trouble, Mom or Dad would have taken them home, but both of them, gone?" He continues into the kitchen. Something was definitely wrong, it was as if someone had left in the middle of cooking. He searches around for any clues but comes up with nothing. He sighs again and decides to take a look out in the leisure courtyard outside the kitchen. He walks out into the courtyard which displays a massive mud oven and shows off a number of beautiful flowers and edible herbs. The BBQ was still cooking. "This is bad! THE BBQ BURNED!" Niko shakes himself back into it, for him, this was a serious situation nothing like this has ever happened before. "Where are my parents? It's time to prove my potential as a ninja, and find them!" He readies his trusty shovel and squints his eyes looking for any more clues as to Satu and Masaharu's whereabouts.
You know it's serious when Niko skips BBQ for dinner. He immediately goes to the barn to check on the situation there. It looks like his dad brought in all the livestock already, so everything was normal there. He does take time to check the haystacks and the feed stock just in case. His search is to no avail, as he feels like he was literally trying to find a needle in a haystack. He checks the market garden, but due to the amount of vegetables covering the area, he finds nothing there either. Distraught, Niko leans on his shovel and scratches his head. He had to search his mind for anything that could help, as he knew that a real ninja would have some plan that would work to find his missing parents. "The mailbox!" Niko's mother would always leave notes in there for him as a way to communicate about certain chores and market schedule shifts. He makes his way back to the property entrance and hesitates before opening the birdhouse mailbox. "This is my chance, if I ever want to become a ninja, and if I ever want to see my parents again. I hope there's a note in there for me." He intently opens the mailbox and reaches in. Success! He takes out a note from the mailbox. The note is written on the same paper his mother always used and it reads; "Go to the Hokage lookout. Get help!" The writing is for sure his mother's handwriting, but the calligraphy is not nearly as neat and beautiful as his mother usually writes. He was sure she didn't have time to explain what was going on in the note. "This is bad. I better go!" He picks up his shovel and heads down the road back to konoha in a ninja sprint, leaving a trail of dust in his path.
Isura been traveling back to Konoha from Suna around this time, the much needed training has done him good as he now had a more relaxed head and calm nature. The young Chuunin Uchiha would have one thought on his mind, seeing his wife however that though quickly faded as a messenger hawk landed on is shoulder. Reading the scroll he knew he had to jump into action. Gathering his team of Kyuketsuki and Shinjiro they wasted no time heading to the local gang last known location to start the investigation. Luckily for Niko it was his farm where the three would appear, once on the scene he gave the hand signal to split up and regroup in five minutes. Isura quickly notice the smell of burning food which meant that these poor people were taken in a haste making this sight kinda creepy.
Kyuketsuki had nothing better to do, having tried to find his usual friends to hang out with, but having no luck with that pursuit. When he finally gets the message for him to come with Isura and others on a mission, he wastes no time. He quickly arrives on the scene, to accompany Isura to the farm. Upon arriving at the scene he looks around. "It's like they just vanished. No traces. But then again, I can definitely search more deeply." Kyu readies some chakra, activating his three tomoe Sharingan. He was going to search every inch of the area for any traces of things out of place. Lingering chakra, small details one might overlook without enhanced perception, anything at all that could be used to explain this.
Shinjiro was just out for an evening walk when Isuru came looking for volunteers. He signed on without hesitation, even before he was told what the mission was. Upon arrival Kyuketsuki began searching around for anything with his Sharingan, so Shinjiro decided to talk with Niko, "So, don't suppose you remember anything in particular out of the ordinary, aside from obvious of course. Were your parents acting any different than usual lately? Did you see anything today that sticks out in your mind?"
Niko skids to a stop when just as he was about to set off to Konoha in search of help, a team of leaf ninja come to his rescue. He was filled with so much gratitude it almost made him cry. "OH heavens! Thank you for coming!" He was so surprised by the speed at which they arrived, and at just the right time to help him, saving him a trip back into the village. Now they could get started finding his parents immediately! The team seemed like they were either genin or chuunin according to their age, but they all carried a certain unique presence. He was sure they were all ready to do their jobs, as he notices one of them, the squad leader wearing the white vest, give the command to search the area. He hadn't met the other ninja either, an Uchiha who seemed to have an air of power about him, especially when he used his Sharingan. These ninja were the real deal, he thought, at least one Uchiha, and one Hyuga. His eyes sparkle at Shinjiro, his friend had come to help him! "No, nothing happened out of the ordinary besides a few things that were out of place and the kitchen was abandoned! I just came home from my stroll in Konoha when I found it like this." When the team of ninja went to search, Niko says "I already searched the farm, I know everything about the place, so I can help!" He trails behind the team as the last rank of the order of the squad. However, during their search they would come up with no more than Niko had previously. The chakra present was coming from the chakra of the goat, sheep, cattle, and chicken all pent up in the barn for the night. The market garden radiates chakra as well, but it's from all the growing vegetables. Other than that there are no signs of any powerful chakra or else someone knows how to cover their tracks.
Isura looked at Niko before scratching at the back of his head, "urgh, sure I would rather you with us than by yourself save me on people I have to rescue, Kyu you're in charge of keeping him safe as for you Shinjiro just keep doing what you're doing," Smiling Isura reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll on it was a map of the nearby area. "I suppose this would be they're next likely location, based on the terrain its a location I wouldn't want to be in if I can help it. Its a swap like area hence why I feel they would most likely be there other these other two location. Either case my be we move in two mikes gather yourselves and ready to get a little dirty." Isura would lead the team down a beaten path before calling them to a stop a half a click away from the swap like terrain "alright team stealth mode," is order as he slipped into the shadows."
Kyu listens to Isura. When told he was in charge of keeping Niko safe, he nods. He also deactivates the Sharingan to save chakra. "Right. No harm will come to him. I'll be sure of it." Kyu goes along with Isura, and when stealth mode is called, he makes sure to stay close to Niko, once again activating his Sharingan. He sighs a bit, the fact his Sharingan has developed further means it's more draining to use. He vowed he'd find a more efficient way to keep it on. But for now, he is content with wasting chakra as it means it's extremely unlikely for someone to sneak up on him, and he'll spot most threats first and be able to redirect them with his genjutsu. Therefore, his stealth mode isn't actually very stealthy, simply making sure he's ready to spot people before they spot him.
It seems Niko's first ninja mission would not start under any desirable circumstances considering it was his parents that were missing, but he was ready nonetheless. "So, you think a gang took them? That's strange, we are always on the lookout for bandits that might try to rob us, but these guys didn't take much of anything. Could they be holding my parents HOSTAGE for RANSOM?" He got so upset at the thought of this that his voice raised, but he quickly shut his mouth again with his hand as to cover any further sounds. He was reminded that he was with a team of ninja now and they were all ordered to practice stealth. "Okay, so are we supposed to just walk in and take my parents back?" he whispers and seems quite sincere in his question, clearly not familiar with the ins and outs of ninja operations. He nods at Kyuketsuki in acknowledgement of the situation. He was sure that Kyu had the means to protect him, but hoped he could prove that he had some defensive skills himself if it came to it. However, he shivers in fear at the thought of going into a bandit hideout nonetheless.
Isura natural perceptive prowess played a good part at scouting the area for traps, smirking he noticed the wire trap and along it was a explosive tag. "Not bad, would've caught anyone else but not me." Isura avoided it before he checked on the others. Isura would signal to the group that they were drawing near he would keep his advancement moving cause right now with these traps they would be on a time schedule. "We shouldn't kill them this time around I suppose…maybe cutting off a leg or two them could work." Isura spoke softly to himself as he chuckled.
Kyu's faintly glowing red eyes scan the area, but the world seems to move in slow motion to Kyu as his eyes lock onto the ground and narrow at something. Kyu immediately speed-seals a jutsu ending in the snake seal and Niko would imagine vines bursting from the ground and grabbing him, before turning to metal, stopping him from moving from his current posture. Kyu is simply tricking his mind though, but the power of a tricked mind can do many amazing feats, including miraculous one-legged balance and discomfort ignorance. <"Trip wires."> Kyu sends out through auditory hallucinations to the group. <"Watch your step."> Kyu releases his genjutsu on Niko, allowing him to move freely but only AFTER Kyu sees him acknowledge the wire his foot was near. Kyu looks at Isura after he disarmed the trap and once again speaks through the illusion. <"Isura. You missed one. Or ten. Or a lot. In other words, watch your step.">
Shinjiro stops as he hears Kyuketsuki's hallucinatory warning and focuses, the veins in and around his eyes bulging out as the optic nerve goes into overdrive. He slowly steps forward while glancing about….and steps right on a tripwire. Nice to see the vaunted Byakugan living up to its reputation.
Niko suddenly feels sick in a way he's never felt before. Not sick to his stomach, this wasn't a virus either, something was attacking his mind. As the vines quickly creep up his legs and bind him he begins to say "What the heck!? They're here!" Niko would have kept going on screaming if it wasn't for his body transformation into a metal substance, freezing him in place and cutting off any extra words he might be trying to say. If it wasn't for this, Niko would have been sure to alert any other ninja or bandits in the area. Even amidst the craziness he was feeling, he could clearly see Kyu, who rather kindly points out the trip wire underneath Niko's foot. Niko's eyes follow the wire all the way to an exploding tag, of which he's never seen in a situation like this. With the kanji for 'Explode' Niko almost fainted, not only would that have been life threatening for him, it would have set off an alert to the bandit's lair. Not only were they close, but the real danger of the situation set in for Niko. If this is what it took to get his parents back, he was more than willing to oblige to the bandit's game. "So this is what it's really like to infiltrate a bandit's lair. I it's not your first rodeo." He whispers to the crew. He knew they had to find the entrance, and quick before anyone set off an exploding tag.
Kyu looks at the many traps and sighs, but he does his best to spot them and evade them. In his search for traps, he spots the entrance. "There. I spotted the entrance." Kyu says, pointing towards it. He begins the process of CAREFULLY making his way over there. Slow and steady, after all, wins the race. "Try not to explode, please." Kyu says.
Atorei was sent as backup for a team of shinobi going after some bandits. They were known to be causing trouble and targeting farms, capturing people and harming them. Atorei was told the general location the team should be at and went full speed, focusing himself as he did, his sharingan picking out the area ahead of him where they were at. It also picked out other things. Wires. Traps. Atorei's eyes narrowed and he'd draw a scroll out. The flicker of metal would probably be the first thing the others would see, the spinning discs of death snipping wires expertly where they needed to be stopped, so none of the tags could be set off by a trip wire. Atorei would land in a partial crouch near the team, looking around to make sure he got them all before standing and looking to the team. "I was sent as backup.. That entrance is what we're looking for, right?"
Shinjiro barely noticed the tripwire he was about to step on just as his foot was about to brush the top of it, pulling back at the last second. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and stepped over it, proceeding on the way until Kyuketsuki gave the signal that he'd found the entrance, at which point he moved to converge with him. That's when Atorei arrived and dealt with likely every trap in the entire area in a matter of seconds, drawing a surprised look and then a smile from the young Hyuga. He waited to see if the others had a reaction to him, in case this just some trap he's blunderously activated without knowing, much like the tripwire narrowly wasint.
Wow, what an entrance this guy made, this ninja stuff was really cool, thought Niko! That didn't make up for the fact that his parents were missing, however now that Atorei managed to get rid of all the traps in his way, he was ready to get in there and kick some bandit butt! He holds his shovel in both hands and prepares to enter the bandit lair alongside his crew of Konoha ninja. "Wait, let's check the door for traps." It seemed that this young villager was showing some thought and initiative, perhaps his claim to have the potential to become a ninja really did ring true.
Kyu looks back at the third Uchiha in the group. "Welcome, Atorei-san. Yes, we need to head in there. It's a bandit hideout from what Isura says. I'd recommend low voices and carefully considered stealth… The latter I'm not necessarily great at, but if I see them first I can make them go the wrong way entirely." Kyu says in a low voice. He moves to the door unhindered by the wires now, since they're gone, and looks at the Hyuga. "You can see through walls, if my memory about Hyuga's famous Kekkei Genkai serves. Come here, and see if there's anyone on the other side of this door, please." Kyu whispers.
Atorei would nod to the others, making sure he had the spots for the seals before moving over to the trap door. While kyu would bring the Hyuuga to look past the door, Atorei took Niko's advice and checked over the door, the three tomoe in his twin sharingan careful in that study to verify that everything he could tell about the door was clear of traps. Once it was, Atorei would muse and then pull out a scroll, quickly and carefully starting a seal array on it. "Once we know it's clear, I'll remove the door." Atorei would keep low key on his voice as well, glancing to the others so they understood. When the Hyuuga would say it was clear, then he would apply the scroll to the door, sealing it into the scroll along with a section of the wall around it, leaving them an opening into the area below.
Isura just watched the dangerous juts before blinking blindly before speaking "that scroll sealing technique is dangerous and useful." From there he would lead the group inside this teatime flaring up his sharingan he would get a better peer of what was inside.
Shinjiro goes over when called and looks the door over, "…..I dont see anyone. Go ahead and open it." He steps back for the removal and then follows the others inside, his eyes scanning the area for any signs of chakra.
Niko looks around at each of the ninja team members, and he thought that they all seemed well equipped for this part of the mission. He was no stronger than any one of them, so to him, they all seemed pretty powerful. It was in the Konoha spirit that he was ready and willing to fight alongside the protectors of his village. He nods and says ok, "Let's open it up!" excitedly, yet somehow still at a low pitch in order to stay hidden.
The lair was cold and cavernous. If it wasn't for the swarm of bats that flew out when the entry was opened, the ninja team would seem to be safe and the coast seemed to be clear. A tunnel leads further in, into what seemed to be a dark cave. Niko held his breath, out of pure excitement and hesitation for what would come.
Kyu watches as the door is rapidly removed. Hearing the area is clear and seeing the bats, Kyu figures there's no one in there. OR if there is someone in there, how tough could they be? Kyu smirks a little before silently taking off into the cave. He rapidly flicks through handseals as he goes, red, Sharingan filled eyes flicking around the room. He starts spotting bandits, time moves in slow motion again and Kyu counts in his head. '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… And that's all.' Kyu finishes, doing the tiger seal. "Temple of Nirvana Technique." Kyu announces, trying to meet eyes with each and every one of them as they undoubtedly attempt to find out who just spoke. As soon as their eyes meet Kyu's, a gentle rain of glowing white feathers beginning to fall, a beautiful display surrounding them, though, they would feel their eyes getting heavy, their minds become foggy, and if they cannot break the genjutsu, it wouldn't be long before they're on the ground, asleep.
Atorei would come in behind Kyu. As he'd mark off targets and seek to genjutsu them, Atorei would do his own set of handseals in a blur, suddenly a dozen Atorei showing up. They'd immediately spread out, two to a bandit, using ninja wire to tie them up if they were bound within Kyuketsuki's genjutsu. For those that didn't get caught by the trap? The fire clones were fast to pummel them into submission before tying them up.
Shinjiro walked along and watched the older ninja dart in and deal with everyone in a matter of seconds, smirking at the display of awesome and looking to Niko, "Pretty cool huh?" He said as his Byakugan receded and he began to look around normally.
As the sun set finally and completely over the outskirts of Konoha a band of bandit's known as Gosu's Gang were hiding in their lair. Niko's nose twitches and his eyebrows go up "They're down there, I'm sure of it, they have roasting chicken with no seasoning." He shakes his head, such bad taste these bandits. It was supper time for Gosu's crew, as they all sat around the table slurping on soup and feasting on stolen poultry, except for one who was standing by the door.
As Kyu moved into the cavern hideout the bandits all jumped up, on guard at once! Gosu was the biggest one, and he carried a giant cleaver "HEY!" He points towards Kyu, then looks around at his crew, singling out the guy by the door "You were supposed to be on watch you idiot!" He turns to the guy next to him, who seems to be wearing makeup like a geisha. "TanTan, you need to keep your men in order! How many times have I told you to be strict with these fools!" His words started to trail off as he fell sleepy. The Geisha henchman starts yelling at the other bandits "Are you stupid? Didn't you hear Gosu-san? You're all idiots!" Tantan starts to fall sleepy too "Gosu-san, I'm sorry. I failed you" He says trying to crawl towards his master before falling asleep and snoring.
Niko runs in after the rest of the ninja "Kyuketsuki, it seems you're technique worked but, where are my parents?" He looks towards Gosu who's sound asleep and moves closer to the bandit's prone body. He uses his shovel to poke the guy in between the ribs, that should wake him up for some questioning. Gosu lets out a long drawn out snore and then realizes that his whole crew just got beat and he was already tied up by Atorei. He looks up at Niko standing over him "Hey, you're the kid from the farm. We were just about to go raid your place, you were supposed to be our next mark!" Niko squints at the guy "Hey! I'm the one asking the questions here, you stupid elephant! Where are my parents!?" The bandit boss makes a noise "HMMMph. Let me outta here! How should I know where your silly looking parents are? They should be kissing in the courtyard for all I know! I told you already kid we didn't raid the place yet, we were going to after supper!" Niko had enough of the ugly man's antics "Ok, if that's how you want to play it. We'll send you in for questioning by our secret ninja with special torture techniques. Any last words?" Gosu grins and spits on Niko's foot. Niko's face turns blood red. He raises the heavy iron head of his shovel up high in the air with both hands, "Goodnight, again!" he says and brings down the shovel straight on top of Gosu's head and knocks him out cold. "CARMENIT" his voice echoes through the cavern. It seems Niko's parents were still missing, but at least the team of Konoha ninja captured Gosu's gang. The case of the missing Morimoto's were now a mystery, and required a mission to be approved by the hokage before they could take any more action. "Now that my parents are missing, all I can do is take care of the farm myself. Is anyone up for some BBQ?" Niko needed to uplift his spirits some way.
