Starring:
Date: March 8, 2015
Summary:
Reports of a new arrival in a border village has caused the elders to ask for shinobi assistance in investigating. An easy task in theory, the Konoha nin arrive with a special guest to assist and find that things aren't as they seem on the surface.
"The Usual Suspects - Konoha Bound!"
Land of Fire
It's a dreary spring morning with some drizzling rain and the threat of even worse things. Messages had gone out to currently unassigned shinobi to meet up at the gate. Apparently mostly everyone was busy because the showing is small. Only Hige is there for now in a waterproof cloak and looking quite displeased at being summoned out in the weather to be sent on a mission. How annoying. He and Konsho stand there in silence, waiting to see who else might arrive. Konsho, the pup not liking the rain either, is currently hiding between Hige's legs under the cloak to stay dry.
Jade heads to the gate yawning and looking like she just woke up. Which is funny considering the time. She goes up to hige and yawns "Hows it Hige. So we got another job?" She pulls out a piece of beef jerky from her jacket pocket and tosses it to the nindog.'
In reality, Kaidan wasn't called upon for anything. He was merely passing through the gates and then blinks as he looks at the pair. He pulls a jacket tighter over himself as he looks at Jade and then looks to Hige, "What is going on here?" He chuckles, "You planning to go out int he rain again?" He looks at the girl with Hige and nods to her before looking back at Hige again.
"Appears so." Hige says in response to Jade, giving her a little nod as a way of greeting. When Kaidan walks through the boy blinks in surprise. "We're going on a mission Kaidan, though according to what I was given they were hoping for more shinobi to be free. Still, we're just going to explore some reports of an odd new arrival in a village not too far away. Seems animals have been disappearing and people are getting nervous." He tilts his head slightly, then raises his chin a bit. He's the ranking nin, technically, even if he's just a high level genin at this point. "Did you want to join us? You can even take part of my earnings if you want."
Jade shrugs softly as she leans against the gate "Why would we want one of your necklaces?" Messing with him a little as she yawns again and tries to relax.
A shrug and Kaidan chuckles, "Not exactly on a time schedule so if you need the help, sure." He nods his head and then looks over at Jade and chuckles before he removes his left arm and then shakes it out a little before putting it back on, "This rain is killer, though, right?" He chuckles and then looks over at Hige again, "Lets go find out what is happening real quick. Lead the way."
For shizzle. Hige glances between the pair as Jade mentions necklaces but decides against asking for now. He probably doesn't want to know anyways. With a nod he hops up into the nearest tree to get on the way, leaving Konsho surprised and grumbling before the pup turns to follow. "Must be nice to not be on a schedule," Hige says over his shoulder as he leads the way. "How'd you swing that?"
Jade is indeed wierd. Anyway she still looks up at the rain then back at the pair "The rain does make work a pain. We dont like it. But it must be worse to try to track with a dog nose in the rain." Hige might get the idea shes saying he has a dog nose and not the you know…actual dog.
A look to Hige and then he chuckles, "I told you, I'm to meet in the Land of Tea. He isn't going to meet iwth me till the end of the week. It only takes a couple days from here so I'm in no rush." He nods his head before looking forward and following Hige. He blinks at Jade before he chuckles and then rubs the back of his head. He looks at Hige before looking to Jade, "Seems someone likes you, Hige." He nods his head and grins.
"You told me where you were going, not when you had to be there you tree." Hige says over his shoulder. When Kaidan says Jade likes him the boy winces inwardly before he shakes his head slightly. "Yeah, she bugs me." Bugs me, get it?
The trip takes a little over an hour at a decent pace, the village in question really not that far from where Konoha is. At the edge of the village they are greeted by an older man who waves to them in greeting before motioning for them to come forward. "Glad you could all come so fast, we…" He trails off when he spots Kaidan but after a moment continues. "We think that a man who recently moved into one of our empty houses could be bad news. Some farm animals have started disappearing as well as pets."
Jade chuckles a little as they get moving "He keeps acting like he doesnt like me. Youd be amazed how much time we spend together." Usually trying to hurt each other. Its cute really. She moves after him though trying to stay under the tree line for dryness.
A grin as he nods to the man from the village and Kaidan simply lets Hige do all the talking. Him and Jade. He looks at the pair and then at the man, crossing his arms as he looks around the area, seeming to try to get a spot on what he might see with a cursory glance around.
Hige is all proper and everything, bowing to the man as they near. When Kaidan doesn't say anything he immediately takes charge. Hey, he was going to give the more experienced shinobi a chance but he'll deal with it. Even if he'd rather not. "We're here to check on it and report back. If it appears it might be a danger then we will come back with more force." He informs the man. "Can you point us to the house?"
"Ah, yes, I will. But first might I ask what you intend to do with the person inside?" The man seems a littlenervous. All three of them could tell that. The bugs would find the immediate surroundings rather void of people even for a village this small. There should be some people wandering around. Hige is picking up on the nervous scent and perhaps a hint of blood. Kaidan would be the one to notice that, behind one of the nearby houses, there's a glint of metal despite the dreary weather.
Jade looks around but keeps her bugs around them, not too many dont want to draw attention yet. She looks at the man and smiles softly looking non threatening "We were just going to check if you guys had any livestock go missing. Rumors of bandits up in the hills and the daimyo asked us to do a quick check around. Seems pretty quiet here though."
Allowing the person who actually is from Konohagakure to take charge, Kaidan nods lightly to the man. He then looks over to Jade and then looks up for a moment as he hmms. He seems to stare at a point for a long moment before he leans over to Hige, "Going to check something out." He states softly and then he rushes off with incredible speed as he heads right for the back side of one of the houses, moving to the other side fast to see what he can see there and keeps his hands in the pocket of his coat the whole time.
"Oh yes, lots of livestock has gone missing but, um, it's nothing to worry about. Wild animals I'm sure." The elder says in response to Jade's words.
Hige doesn't give any indication to what Kaidan says, letting him go do his thing for the good of them all. Hige knows something is wrong here, it's not hard to tell. He motions behind him with a finger for Jade to stick close. "We only want to talk to the person, nothing more. It could all be a misunderstanding after all."
What Kaidan finds on the other side of the house is a family, an older woman and a young girl, both bound, the woman bleeding. They appear to be alone at the moment, but the glint had come from there. Which can only mean the man saw Kaidan move. And indeed that's all the warning there is as a man comes down with a pair of swords to slash at Kaidan quickly.
Jade does stay close as she pulls out another snack from her pocket and chews on it making herself look like just kidnap bait. Please mr bandit man please kidnap jade to use as a hostage.
Even as the men come out of no where to attack Kaidan, he whips an arm up and catches one of the slashes on his arm. He dodges to the side as the other attacks. He quickly realizes what is going on and calls out, "Hige, Jade! This is a trap!" He then zips back in and attempts to smash into one of the pair of fighters before he back hands the other, trying to send him into a nearby tree with a kick, "Watch yourselves!"
The swordsman seems a little surprised and impressed by Kaidan's ability to defend against his attacks. When the puppeteers does his own attacks the man brings both swords up to block the blows, though the force of it pushes him back a few feet. "I heard they were sending kids here. Easy targets. Who are you?" The man asks gruffly as he eyes the hatai-ate. "Why are you helping them? You come to my side and I'll make sure you get whatever you want."
Kaidan's words bring a handful of armed men out from the nearest houses as their cover is pretty much blown and a pair of them go for Jade, one with a sword and one with a bow in hand. The swordsman brings his blade down towards Jade while the archer fires an arrow towards her chest.
Another pair go for Hige and Konsho, these two both with swords as well. Seems to be the most exciting weapon they can pick from. The elder has stepped back and huddled in a corner near a house, looking afraid and doesn't seem to be any danger. As the swordsman come at Hige they attack in synch.
Hige hears Kaidan's words and frowns deeply. He pretty much knew something was wrong and was just hoping that he had bad judgement. Guess not. When the men come towards he and Jade, Hige leans away from his two attacks, though one does knick him in the arm. Grumble. He and Konsho hop back quickly before throwing themselves at a swordsman each in a spinning attack.
Jade has her swarm out in an instant streaming out of her sleeves she they cant seem to move fast enough to stop the blades though but it does make for quite a show.
Jade brings her swarm up in a hurry after a blade catches her arm, the cloud of beetles wrap around the closest guy trying to catch him so he cant escape. She curses loudly as she tries to dodge back "I really hate bandits!"
"Ya know…I just dealt with a bunch of people who kinda treated kids like easy targets. Bad taste in the mouth. I do hope you understand." Almost immediately, as if sliding up out of no where, armor slides over Kaidan's back, over his chest and then up over his face like a mask. It all slides out of his jacket and he takes a breath in before shaking his head. He slips past the man. If Hige wanted to see that new move, he was about to. Even as Kaidan is rushing past the man, his right arm flies back from him, almost literaly flying apart into its various parts. Hundreds of chakra strings whip out in between the various parts, the internals filling with chakra as he flicks his arm back and then suddenly it all slams back together, glowing brightly. He then brings his arm back forward with a massive haymaker right for the enemy combatant, "I killed them, too."
The two swordsman facing Hige must have fought an Inuzuka before, as when the pair start spinning the two men dodge out of the way before they can hit. When the two pass the men turn on them again, one dances to one side while the other moves in as they try and flank the boy. Okay, maybe they haven't fought an Inuzuka since they're pretty much ignoring Konsho at the moment. Maybe that's good for their health though. They slice in tandem at the boy.
The swordsman going against Jade is caught by the bugs and for a moment they eat at him, but then he jumps high in the air with a great speed to get away from them. While he's in the air the archer fires another shot at Jade, this time the tip is explosive and will do so on impact. After the arrow hits the man comes down with a two-handed overhead strike towards Jade.
The criminal that faces Kaidan just shakes his head. "I made you such an offer too. Pity." When Kaidan comes in for the attack the man just smiles sweetly before he simply vanishes, much as he had when Kaidan came behind the house. He's also coming from above now with both swords aimed to strike a blow to either shoulder with great force.
The two men work well when they work in tandem as such and one gets a deep cut along Hige's arm before he can get away. The boy and pup jump back, the former landing on one knee. "Alright, let's get this over with." He mutters then before launching himself forward quickly with the pup. This time their own attacks are dead on as they smash down towards the pair of attackers.
Jade tries to substitute away but the boom from the arrow gets her knocking her off balance making the sword coming down get a good clip on the side of her head. Not a lethal wound but shes gonna be bleeding for a while. She has her swarm try to take down the sword guy since hes more immidiately dangerous to her.
As the man avoids his attack Kaidan frowns and then his arm almost flies apart from all the power in it. He holds it and then notes the man attacking from behind and he looks up in time as the man attacks, "I made you an offer, too. You're still alive." He spins with his arm and aims right for both of those swords, punching right through the strike toward the man's chest, "We both seem to be declining." He chuckles a little and looks over at Jade, "You ok over there?"
As the Inuzuka duo plows down towards the pair of swordsman attacking them only one can move fast enough to get away. The other becomes prey to the pair and after a few moments the man is quite dead. The other swordsman doesn't hesitate as he jumps back in towards the boy, sword help high as he brings it down in a pair of quick tricky slices.
The swordsman still manages to elude those bugs though at this point it's making it harder for him to attack. It leaves things wide open for the archer however as he draws back on another explosive arrow to fire at the bug girl. "Just die already!" He shouts as he looses.
Another flash and the man is again gone, having somehow moved away from his own countered attack and the blow that came at him. "I'm fine. But I don't think you will be for much longer." Throwing his swords in the air the man makes some seals quickly before releasing a small ball of fire towards Kaidan. After moving a little away it hits the ground and erupts into flames as it seems to chase after the puppeteer.
Hige and Konsho can be quite vicious and quite feral, despite how they try to act. Hige's the more difficult one of course. When they stop their spinning the boy has blood dripping out of his mouth and off of his fangs, blood from the man they just killed. The pup has similar wet spots as well. Angry, feral looking eyes turn on the other swordsman as he jumps towards Hige with his pair of slices the boy and pup, down on all fours now, both push away to avoid them. A low growl erupts from Hige as he and Konsho move as one, coming from opposite sides and surrounding the swordsman in a blue of motion. They circle him, attacks coming from everywhere before they turn in suddenly at opposite sides and aim to claw the man across his middle.
Jade is getting annoyed, this time a stone hard wall of kikaichu block the arrow causng it to burst too early as the swarm tries to devour the sword guy. Sure hige and Kaiden have puppets and dogs but none of them having a living cloud of readied off flesh eating insects.
The fire courses over Kaidan and he locks his arms over his face as the fire burns away a bit at his clothing and he looks up to stare at the man before whipping his arms out as he rushes forward. He rushes toward the man and states, "Not giving up yet!" He jumps up into the air, the arm still glowing before he attempts to hammer the man right into the ground with it, the massive attack seeming far better aimed than past attempts as he tries to smash into the man's chest and knock him right into the ground, "We need to wrap this up."
Who knows how he does it but it appears to be good reflexes and a bit of luck. The swordsman that Hige and Konsho was surrounding jumps up and out of the spinning flurry, landing a short distance away before making hand seals and sending a barrage of fire clones towards the pair.
The fire arrows doesn't make it through the swarm this time and the archer lets out a curse as he prepares to fire again. He reaches back for another arrow, this one with a poison tip, and fires again at the bug girl. Meanwhile her swordsman is now consumed by the bugs and can't get away. He lets out a scream of anguish before the sound dies and he falls to the ground in a heap.
"Neat armor you have there. Does it protect that neck of yours?" The criminal asks with a sneer before jumping high and away from the incoming attack. He flashes a few times from one side to the next before he comes horizontally at Kaidan, literally aiming for his neck.
As the swordsmans many fire clones come at the Inuzuka duo they manage to avoid them all, hopping around on all four like some kind of crazy animal. Hige and Konsho land and immediately move back into the same attack again. Their intent is to rend the swordmans flesh before he can escape. Unless he's seriously just that good, in which case he might be in some serious trouble.
Jade is starting to get annoyed and keeps trying to kill the sword guy so she can spend a few minutes kicking that aim with the bow in the fire.
Still holding the attack, Kaidan is sweating as he realizes perhaps this attack isn't as practical as he thought. No choice though, he has to let it out before long or the energy will be released in a deveastating way to his arm. Even as the man swings at his neck, he proves he isn't just tough but fast. He turns and spins before whipping his arm back and sending it right toward the attack to crash through it and try to smash into the man. Even as he does though, he glares over the top of his fist and states, "Guess what! Round two!" He then shows what he means as his left arm pieces back together and then he slams it forward, using the counterstrike to cover his true cross from his left arm, "Die horribly!"
The man is apparently just that good, or that lucky. Before the boy and pup can even start surrounding him the man jumps away, then back in to slice at the Inuzuka boy before he can even stop his attack. This man is rather crafty!
The archer is preparing another attack when he sees the bugs coming at him. Oh dear. He has no way to move fast enough with his bow string drawn bag and they swarm him like it's no one's business. The man flails a bit as he tries to swing at the bugs with his bow but in the end they eat him up and the man joins his counterpart on the ground, quite dead.
It appears Kaidan has finally hit the nail on the head. Or at least this criminal. The man had only expected the one attack as before, but as the other fist comes he's not ready. A loud anguished cry escapes before it's suddenly cut off as the man gets obliterated. All that's left in the end are his swords dropping to the ground.
It appears the lucky man might continue to be lucky as Hige and the man continue to trade evading each others attacks. Sure, neither of them can get a hit in but neither of them is getting hit either. Both a good and bad thing, perhaps. Still, it's tiring for the boy and pup. They don't give in however as they move in to try again with the deadly attack.
Jade lets the kikaichu eat the archery guy…someone might have to talk to her about dealing with her anger problems because she literally killed the guy. only some shreds of cloth are left behind. She directs the swarm to assist hige now her arm outstretched while her other arm bleeds abit
It isn't clear if Hige saw it or not but Kaidan just obliterated a man with an attack. He left a mark on this village as the ground where what was left of that man hit was cratered into the ground. The attack was brutal and even as he stands there, Kaidan lets out a breath as both his arms seem to filter off steam, smoking. Kaidan takes a few breathes and then lets them out slowly. He had really gone overboard to get that guy. He looks over as Jade and Hige finish off their target and he looks back to walk over to try to help that poor tied up family.
Jade will need to get in line because all of the men are quite dead. By the time Hige and Konsho are done the last man is in many pieces of varying size and they are both dripping with his blood. Feral eyes turn to survey they others and, upon seeing them okay, he returns to two legs before turning his attention to the city elder. The anger hasn't left his eyes as he goes over to grab the man by the collar and yank him up.
Hige doesn't even need to say anything as the man quickly blabbers out, "P-please don't kill me. They were going to kill me family and the rest of the villagers. I had to do what they asked. They said they just wanted to hurt Konoha."
Hige does not seem convinced nor pleased with the mans words. Not until he sees Kaidan untying people. Only then does he let the man go, still angry, but not about to kill him anymore. "You alright Jade? Kaidan?"
Jade checks her arm and pulls out some bandages, she does some normal style first aid on herself "yeah ill be ok. Iv had worse. These guys were alot better than normal bandits…Missingnin?" She isnt interested in the villagers now that they are safe. Villagers only exist to sell you things, give you quests, and get taken hostage. They are doing none of these.
As he finishes untying them, he looks over at Jade with some concern before looking to Hige. He walks over to the area where the man was. Not much is left of the man as he looks where he was and then looks over to Hige, walking over to him, "I need to get back to the village. You think you guys can clean up?" He hmms and then starts off, frowning as his arms are still steaming. He walks off quietly, though it is clear something is off. If Hige looks, there really isn't much of anything left other than parts of the man that he hit.
After everything, including Hige, had settled down, the boy takes time to interview the elder. "The man just came to town and said to order some nin to come check out a stranger. He was excited when he heard it was just two genin. He said his name was Sunigo." The elder has no other information except that, "He said he escaped from Kumogakure." Hige makes a note to send a message to Michiko about it to find out details about the man.
"They weren't regular bandits. May have been some friends of that criminal. If he helped train them before they wouldn't be nin, just very skilled cohorts." Hige answers Jade as they make their way back to Konoha.
