Starring:
Date: February 5, 2014
Summary:
Kaito and Rise get picked out of convenience by a merchant to guard a caravan for a race involving defense.
"The Sleeper, The Drunk, And the Great Merchant Race"
Unknown location
The Land of Grass has some weeeeeird traditions. There's apparently an ongoing tradition with some of the different big merchants. The one today's mission is focused on is a challenge between two families that one has to move a giant payload of goods from Kusagakure through the plains and up to Kyusen while defending against the other. If the defending party doesn't make it in time or winds up with an unmovable cart, they forfeit half the payload to the other team. This practice was fairly benign until the Wakahishi family head start drinking a lot this last year, and he wound up hiring actual mercenaries to do his attack for him, which the Wakizashi family to have to hire shinobi protection because they really don't know how many mercenaries have been hired.
Of course, hiring shinobi from their villages is rather costly, thus they settled for hiring one or two that they saw passing through, Rise and Kaito. The Nara was actually taking a walk back from a mission rather than flying for once and wound up running into someone who asked him to join when his headband was seen. With challenge part of the race coming as they prepare to enter the plains, the Chuunin would meet up with the wagon and resume a spot on it where he lays back and closes his one open eye, waiting for something interesting to happen and not knowing who the other hiree is.
"Well lookie at that. If it ain't none other than Kaito-chan himself." Cho says the moment she popped her head out over the top of a wagon carrying perhaps more stacked up goods than it probably should. If ain't already obvious from the way she smiles down at him, rosey cheeks, the gourd in the hand she had dangling over the side, or the stink of overly sweet sake on her breath that she's already good and drunk, then Kaito will be out of luck for any more clues right off the back. Mostly.
"You follow'n me or somethin water boi?" She asks, canting her head to the side in bemusement. "Heheh, Or maybe yer the one I'm spose to be guard'n these merchas from, Hmmmmm?!" She giggles. "Well, eitha way ya put it. Don't go nodding off again ya hear, or I'll… I'mma give you somethin.." She says brightly.
From some place further along the caravan line, one of the pair looks back at the duo's antics before turning to his friend and saying, "Why in the world did the boss have to hire her?" His friend's only reply is a shrug and a weak smile in return.
Hearing a somewhat familiar voice coming, Kaito's brows furrow a bit as he tilts his head slightly to open one eye just barely. "Look who else got grabbed up for this one," he says with a light smirk before he'd lay his head back again. "Yeah, yeah. Just let me know if something's actually gonna happen," he says as he does so, that eye closing again. Thus far, the wagon seems unimpeded, but they are just now starting to cross what would be considered the line to enter the plains where the real competition will begin.
Rise pouts at him and almost considers dumping some of her sake on him in vengeance. But then, that'd be a waste of sake! It is meant to be consumed, worshipped, and regaled! Not wasted like some cheap booze on a being who cannot even appreciate the finer things in life. A tentalizing thought then pops into a mind, prompting an impish smile out of the girl. "Haaiii~" She replies before shimming back towards the center of the pile and sitting up to start enjoying the view, tenatively sipping sake here and there.
She needed the right opportunity now… and maybe a fork. Her smile grew wider and more devious.
Whether there's a fork among the supplies is hard to say, as the workers don't really seem to want the shinobi shuffling through things. Kaito seems to still be sleeping on the back for now, though he is internally keeping a count and waiting. Meanwhile, as the middle of the wagon passes over the line, the crew seem to start getting nervous, murmuring to each other about hoping the shinobi are ready when the entire caravan finishes passing into the plains.
Even with a plan in mind (not really), Rise cannot figure out where in the world she's gonna find a fork out in the middle of nowhere. Then it hits her. "I'll just axe one of them!" She says, tapping her fist into the palm of her other hand. She crawls over to the edge to just that, but then, she has an ephiphany of sorts based on how thye looked. "Neh, driver-san?" She asks, surprising the poor fellow in the process quite possibly. The teen did kind of sneak up on top of there without anyone looking after all. "Ya wouldn't happen to have a spoon on ya, would'ja? It'da be really 'preciated if ya did."
The driver would look at Rise and blink a few times as she asks for a spoon, sort of wary before he hands her a plastic spoon he'd planned to use for his lunch just to get her back away from him and back to where she should be. The crew are murmuring still, wondering what sort of shenanigans these shinobi have going on with one hard asleep and the other asking for silverware. Guess that's the best they can get when they don't commission 'em from the village.
The spoon offered gets a wary look for a second there, but ultimately — and with suprising speed — Rise snatches it up with her mouth and disappear back over the lip of the goods with a smile. Now she had everything she needed for her plan. Still, there was one thing left! Maybe. Kind of. Sorta. "Now where'n he go." She murmurs with the spoon still her mouth as she crawled about until she found the sleeping chuunin again. She giggles lightly as she stared at him for a moment, and then proceeded to try and quietly lower herself down onto Kaito's level. It may take some serious maneuvering on her part to do it, but if successful in her endeavor the girl would eventually be hovering over the man. A spoon full of sake is poured onto the still saliva-ridden piece of plastic. Then, if by some miracle she's managed that much at least, Rise plops down onto Kaito's gut with enough force that she hope would force him to open his mouth on reflex. If so, sake, spoon, and saliva are shoved into his mouth!
Kaito normally has the upper hand on almost every woman who tries waking him up, finding a way to outsmart them. In Rise's case, she is so unorthodox that her actions a pretty much unpredictable sometimes. As she plops down onto him, the desires effect would happen, her uncanny strength actually causing him to open both his eyes as he suddenly receives a mouthful of sake and… Rise's saliva? He blinks a few times as he looks up at her, unsure if he should respond as he normally does and blast her with water or if that would make her go crazy in her drunken state. Instead, he pretends to fall back and go to sleep again while trying to think up a strategy.
Rise beams down at Kaito. Mission Succ—"What the?! Oi! Ya can't just ignore my mornin brew like that, Kaito-kun." She whines. And after giving him a moment or two to wake up on his own accord, Rise closes her eyes and pouts. Options flit about at turtle speed in her head. Most of which were unfit to even consider. Oddly enough, It is those types her mind stalls on and wonders about. Absently, her attention drifts to their surroundings as she puzzled things out, observing and not any changes that might even cause a drunkard some concern. Although it'd have to be something extremely serious to really cause her even the most minute of concern.
In the end, Rise just settles for the option that doesn't require her to search for a feather or try her hand at knocking down some birds for some. That option… hold his nose this time around and force feed him more 'morning brew' the moment he gasped for air.
As his nose is held, Kaito finally opens his mouth and is forced to drink more of the sake. He finally sits up then, quirking an eyebrow at the girl. "You know, if you want me to have a drink with you, all you have to do is ask," he says with a smirk before bringing his hands in a seal. While she might be expecting some retaliation, what happens is a wave of water shooting out from behind her to deflect a wave of incoming shuriken and kunai. "Looks like we've got company," he says as he eyes a number of mercenaries who've at last made themselves known.
Rise snorts at him, and opens her mouth to reprimand him… or something, only to be given pause by his forming a seal. She could not guess from a single seal what the Chuunin was planning. Nor did she really try for that matter. The whistling sound of weapons cutting through the air kind of grabbed her attention, though by the time she turns around to glance at them, the problem is settled by Kaito. "Mmhmm.." She emits before giving her sake bottle a shake. "Huh?… Why don't ya wait here, Kaito-chan. I'm gonna see bout a reload." She drawls out as she slips off of Kaito and rises shakily to her own feet. Rise gives what mercs she can see a quick once over, searching for one in particular.
Is it the commander she seeks? Oh no no no! Those guys are usually stiffs when it comes to drinks. She's hunting for a potential slacker or whoever might smell like sake. Her nose is pretty darn sharp to at that, so even at a distance that merc is in trouble. As soon as Rise has found the one she looks for, the rest of her gourd is emptied into her stomach. A second later, she tosses the gourd away and leaps off the caravan. She hits the ground bad and ends up stumbling over her own feet at first. Thanks to all that acrobatic training however Rise is rolling and running again.
When Rise mentions a reload, Kaito blinks a bit then smirks as she rises off him then actually goes to look about at the mercs for someone who's got sake apparently. Meanwhile, more weapons continue to be flung toward the caravan, requiring another wave of water to stop them. From that wave of water, though, orb of water fire out toward each man the girl has passed over in her search for booze to take out the ones who aren't fast enough to get out of the way. Screams and cries of pain ring out as men are smacked into trees or sent flying, the intent being to merely incapacitate them since killing them would be a little pointless since this isn't really a life or death mission for Konoha or Kumo.
Some of the mercernaries didn't quite get her intentions. Those that didn't would learn the hard way not to get between 'The Cho' and her booze! Backhands, sloppy looking kicks, and even a running tackle followed by her rolling back onto her feet in seconds serve her well in her travels. Incidently, a few of those mercs are incapicated or captured by Kaito in the process, but again, that's not really much of a concern for Rise.
"Ooooh, onii-chaaaan~"
The sole warning her target gets before being tackle from the side. Unlike the other merc he managed to keep to his feet, though doing so only prompted Rise to adapt by clamering behind him and hug him from behind, arms around the neck and legs over his mid-section. "Onee-san be need'n ya stash. So be a good boi 'nd help her out, aight?" She asks, swaying to and fro and rendering it hard on the man to throw her off or really fight back in the process.
Kaito can't help but smirk and chuckle a bit at the drunken Rise's antics in clearing through mercs haphazardly. If it were anyone else, they'd be a liability in the condition she's in, but she seems to be holding up superbly. Orb after orb fires out as more mercenaries seeming to be coming out of the woodworks. Things are starting to get a little more interesting now, though, as a swarm of them charges down the valley toward the caravan. Standing back and appearing to give orders is a big man in a red duster coat with a scar over his cheek and right eye up to his forehead. This brings a blink from Kaito's one open eye as he searches through his memory for where he knows that guy from in the closed one… DING! Lightbulb! "Hey, Rise! It looks like the stakes just got higher. We've got an A-Rank Criminal from Iwagakure among the herd of idiots. Bounty's somewhere around five million if we bring him back alive, only two if he's dead. Wanna split it fifty/fifty and have some fun here?"
The mercernary is just about to say something — probably utter nonsense no doubt — when Kaito calls for Rise, prompting her to cover her captives mouth to better listen. "Mm! Sixty-forty! Odds on the last licker, eh?!" And with that out of the way, Rise returned to interrogate her prisoner while the other mercs tried to get in close and help. The only problem was that Rise had the uncanny time to manipulate her captive into position to defend her. She was far from gentle about it too. More woe befell the the same man, for giving Rise a poor answer the girl bit into his neck, shredding flesh and darn right come close to nicking a major artery in the process. Why such cruelty? Because of a random thought that popped into her head. Something about being able to drink the alcohol from the merc's blood or something.
She still licking her chops as she began stumbling her way closer to the headhonchos, evading those that were directed towards her with the occasional misstep or two. "Mmm—mm-mmn… That son o'va bitch must've tolled onii-chan to go easy on today… gotta… gonna teach'em a lesson I am," She drawls out.
"You're on!" Kaito calls back with a slight grin, eyeing the incoming mercenaries with a bit of amusement as he places his hands in front of him. These are mere flies used for the real boss to look scary when he brings big numbers. Now that Kaito knows that, the game has changed a bit, and the water orbs begin to fly forth from his hands at them in wave like a he's going for bowling a ten. As the mercenaries are lit up and sent spiraling in every direction, one orb goes right at the main target's head, which is dodged with a simple step and tilt of his head as he eyes Kaito, rather infuriated that this job isn't going to go as easy as planned.
"Peekaaaa-bo!"
Just how in the world advanced through a horde of mercernaries in such a short time might be hard to tell, but without a doubt the girl was on the main target the instance Kaito has his full intention, lashing out with a vicious flying lariat if the man didn't react quick! Alhough even if he should manage as much, Rise wouldn't be hesistant about continuing the assault immediatly. Or so she'd want to do, only to trip forward on her own feet.
The soft sound and subtle rise of her back reveals that the girl passed out…
The leader smirks as Rise comes at him, lifting his sword in the hilt to knock her strike to the side. He seems about to take advantage of her drunken and now passed out state with a blade coming down directly at her throat until what appears to be a sufboard of water meets his blade. He blinks a few times just in time to see another surfboard coming directly at his face and sending him spiraling into the trees surrounding the lake. "Now, now, didn't anyone ever tell you how to treat a lady?" Kaito asks from atop the caravan where the board just flew from, incapacitated mercenaries lying all around from the flight of the board that apparently took the rest of them out while Rise is sleeping.
Rise doesn't so much as flinch at the threat hovering above her neck. The closest thing she does closest to a defensive maneuver is roll over… albiet, that was more likely a means to get more comfortable than anything else. "mmm… tham fish has my gumpy.." She murmurs in her sleep. Incapacited much like most of the mercernaries about the area. Despite the danger the surfboard firing shinobi possessed to the squad, one indignant Mercenary still had the nerve to try and get one spot of revenge against Rise. A single stroke and it'd be off with Rise's head! Or so the man would think up to the point feet caught the blade its side. He can struggle and curse and press all he want after the initial suprise. The still sleeping Rise doesn't give an inch or even strain under the pressure.
After gathering himself, the criminal leader hops back up and leaps right over Rise to run straight for the caravan. He even bypasses his downed men as he draws his blade and leaps in what appears to be an executioner's strike right at Kaito's head. SLASH!… or splash since the water clone he took way too long to hit is splattered. From his side, a water orb flies right at his head, except it slices straight through it this time, which brings a slight smirk to Kaito's face from where he stands at the firing point about five feet from the man. Maybe he wasn't fooled after all.
"That—Does it!!" The blade is finally forceable ripped from Rise's feet. This time the mercenary would circle around and aim for Rise's head this time. A task made that much more easier by the criminal leader distracting the only other real threat to their future payment. The problem was… Rise turned again just as he made the stroke, burying his blade into the ground. Of course, having to deal with a now stuck blade is far from the worst of it, because like it or not, Rise is up again, er, up for moment to drop kick the poor fool with enough force to knock him out. All the while the girl STILL appeared to be in deep sleep! Blissfully and perhaps happily unaware of Kaito fighting for his life.
That is, until her battle senses finally get the tingling. With a jolt, Rise bolts upright in a daze, rolls onto her feet, and starts racing down to the caravan. Although there is something distinctly odd about her this time around.
While Rise keeps herself defended in her sleep, Kaito is busy dodging strikes, one grazing his arm yet not actually doing any slicing for some reason. Just as a struck comes down and impacts with his skull, Kaito smirks, an aura of bluish gray chakra surrounding him, accentuated around his fist as he swings it forward to slam into the guy's face… only to be sent back a bit himself by a glancing kick the man throws as he flies.
As he is sent back, Kaito notices rise with that new look on her face, blinking a bit and wondering what's going on with her.
She's uncouncious..
She is racing down an incline and over fallen mercernaries full tilt and… she's uncouncious.
This fact becomes all that much clearer as she approached the caravan train, spooking the riders in the progress with her looks. When the time was right, Rise leaps high in the air like a true blue Kumogakure shinobi. And just like those of her adopted home, when gravity came a knocking Rise is instinctively prepared to transfer gravity's 'hellow' to criminal leader in the form of an axe kick meant for his shoudler.
As he notices the unconscious state of Rise and her path, Kaito becomes a little concerned, but there's little time to worry about it with a high level Jounin coming at him. The guy swings to strike at Kaito again, this time moving in an almost unseeable flurry, some of the strikes actually penetrating Kaito's armor to leave his torso a bit bloody. However, as the blade gets into his side, Kaito would grab it and then the man's hand to hold him in place. CRACK! A high yell of pain comes out of the man as Rise probably just broke his arm before Kaito's points a hand forward, slamming his face with a water orb that sends him spiraling off the caravan unconscious. "We might have to have a talk with the other guy if he's hiring a guy like this to go after simple merchants," the Nara says with a smirk as he gathers some rope and leaps down off the wagon to bind him up before he can wake up. Peering back up at the unconscious Rise, he figures this is as good a time as any… He forms a handseal then spews a small harmless jet of water at her face, attempting to wake her up in a little payback for her antics before leaping onto the caravan with their bounty so they can begin moving again.
