Starring:
Kiji, Kiyoshi, Naoya, Tsiro, Yuriko
Date: January 8, 2015
Summary:
Tsiro takes the Genin out for a mission which seems to be more of a test of their abilities than it does an actual mission.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"This is for the Birds.. Part 2"
Land of Birds
Tsiro moved quickly through the woods on foot. The warmth of his breath was the only thing left behind as he vanished from each spot to the next. The steps were few and far between as he needed to make up some ground to keep up the assessments of the Genin he had brought with him. Naoya had left the group behind and struck out on his own. This put him pretty far ahead. He was relying on his spiders to recon the area and more specifically the cabin. The chimney was obviously in use as the smoke continued to pile out from it. The fire there was keeping someone warm. The old cabin did have a single window that was cracked open. It seemed the old construction did not involve a latch of any sort.
Yuriko seemed to be leaving the group as well as she sprung to the top of the trees. Tsiro's eyes easily followed her movements. It was brave and foolish all the same. She was wet and the air was definitely colder up there. She was either dead set on succeeding or she had some feelings for Naoya. In doing such she may get to him sooner, but if she should become ill, she'd be of no use to anyone.
Then came Kiyoshi and Kiji. The big man seemed a bit clumsy in his current state. It was like he relied on Kiji to be his senses. It was almost touching. As Tsiro considered this, he kind of wanted to stop to throw up, but there was not a whole lot of time left. Soon they would be upon the cabin and that's where things would get a bit more dicey.
Kiji watched Yuriko locate the trap as well and then jumped up into the trees. Kiji wondered what the Kaguya was thinking for a second… Then shook her head and managed a tiny smile for Kiyoshi, squeezing his hand back before taking the lead. She led him around the trap, her senses open and ready to react if something was out of the ordinary. She also stretched out her senses toward the cabin specificly searching to see how many living beings were inside the cabin.
Naoya was way ahead, Yuriko had gone off to follow, leaving Kiji and Kiyoshi behind. So Kiji decided to move faster. Her blood pumped through her faster, churning and roiling, adding more chakra control to her arsenal even as bloody vines crawled their way up her arms. She did this in increments so Kiyoshi would not be overwhelmed by the scent.
But then she scented something.. something dangerous. Oh no.. "Yuriko-san!" She called hoping the girl and Naoya would see her as she used those combat gestures to warn them, the ground had been soaked with gas! Kiyoshi could probably smell it too now, but she, held up a hand to try and keep him from going past her. Her eyes were bright yellow, a heightened state of awareness. There was no snow where she could detect the gas, but it was soaked through by the looks of it. "Kiyoshi. One spark and this whole place goes up…" The Shimizu turned, looking for a good way around the flammable patch… Perhaps going into the trees /was/ the smart idea.. "Noaya-san.. Where's Naoya-san?! It's dangerous!"
Staying on his perch, the young Okumo's amber eyes dim, as his head tilts slightly to one side before leaning forward intently. One by one, the spiders along the roof top begin to retreat, lowering down to one side of the house. Several spiders, having found the window slightly ajar takes the opening and works their way inside. Once within the cabin, the spiders fan out, quickly dispersing to locate all the occupants.
Moving hand hands in front of him, the young man closes his eyes as a brief chain of seals are made, causing the melting snow along the cabin's roofing and the moisture of the nearby ground to rise as a mist, covering not just himself but wrapping around the house. Preparations set, Naoya moves forward, for the first time landing onto something not a tree, the edge of the rooftop before lowering down to the window, working it open just a couple of inches before pausing to fetch out a pair of shuriken.
With the blades in hand, he begins to rotate them, tethering them with silk. 'Stay still for me.. Keep watching him' was mumbled to himself before hurling them into the narrow opening, using the tether to sharply change the flight path, attempting to strike at the child within.
Kiyoshi had all but given up trying to rely on his own senses; except to keep track of Yuriko, and to a lesser extent, Naoya. Even then, the effort behind it isn't much at all. That was his intent at first, but ultimately he abandon trying to ignore them. He trusted Kiji implicitly however, so the Kirryu divided his focus between the team and searching for things that might not have a chakra signature for Kiji to pick up on. In hindsight, it may have been a foolish consideration on his part.
When Kiji decided to move faster, Kiyoshi released his restraint over his usually longer strides to keep up. The blood rush… distracted him, though not nearly enough to miss the tall-tale scent of something flammable ahead. Too flammable at that. Kiji beats him to the warning, eliciting a snort of mild irritation. "Mm… It is a good thing 'that' was left behind." He replied off-handily as examined the area before them. Trying to navigate around the booby trap would take time. Far too much of it in the Kirryu's honest opinion, which meant the odds of the advance portion of their team going unassisted despite the nature of their mission. So, after a few moments of scanning the area Kiyoshi taps Kiji shoulder to grab her attention.
"Want to fly?" He asks, even though the mischievous spark in his eyes made it clear it mattered not how she answered. She would either be launched clear of the trap prepared to move on or… not so prepared. As soon as that is out of the way, the man henges into the atypical appearance of a desperate woodsman turned bandit before continuing on to find a passable area on foot.
Hearing her name called out behind her, it takes all she has not to reflexively come to an abrupt stop and glance back over her shoulder at Kiji. Instead Yuriko firms her jaw and moves forward, quiet, swift, graceful through the treetops. In a matter of moments she jumps and lands on the cabin roof with bent knee, pausing a silent moment to evaluate whether she had disturbed anything further, eventually deciding that she had not. Seeing as Naoya was already here and already preparing to infiltrate the cabin, it was a pretty good indication that there was no traps up here as well.
While he's busy with his spiders, Yuriko carefully crawls to the edge where the front door would be. A small smirk touches her soft lips and reaching up, she purses and pinches, lightly pulling from her mouth an ivory senbon. The Kaguya kunochi reaches out and drops the needle, allowing it to fall only a few inches before it comes to an abrupt halt in midair.
So as Naoya was creeping along inside the home, there is some commotion outside followed by the sound of a loud *THUD* on the roof. It happened to be Kiji's landing as Kiyoshi had tossed her. The young boy inside the home turns around in time to see the Okumo assailant's weapons hit him. "You! You're not suppose to be here!" he screams out not fully realizing the impact of the shuriken cutting into him. He half turns towards the door as he falls over a stand that seemed to hold some kind of family picture. The glass shatters and the boy hits the ground like a sack of bricks… dead.
Tsiro finally reaches the clearing that the cabin was in. He smelled the gas in the field. It was obvious that someone had gone through a lot of trouble to keep their hiding spot in the Land of Birds as safe from intruders as possible.
His eyes focus on the cabin, even through the mist he could see Kiji's landing on the roof, Yuriko making her jump to the roof and Kiyoshi somehow managing to stay behind yet again. Tsiro simply shakes his head. Tsiro was pretty sure at this point, Kiyoshi would be too lazy to plug a hole in a sinking boat if it meant saving his own life. Tsiro simply raised a hand to cover his eyes. This was painful for him. Somehow the fates managed to put one of the tailed demons into this specimen of lazy. However, he did manage to toss one of the girls to the roof. Ok so he wouldn't plug the hole in the boat for his own life, but he might to save someone elses…
Kiji was busy scanning the area looking for a way around the gas trap when Kiyoshi tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she wanted to fly. She blinked a few times but when he picked her up she moved so she was positioned properly and added to Kiyoshi's throw by jumping at the same time he threw her. She sailed up into the air and flipped a few times before comming down ightly on the roof. She slipped just a tad on the sloped roof but activated her chakra in the feet and secured herself. She pondered what was next.
Standing on the roof itself she dropped to one knee and placed her hand on the building beneath her. This time she was going to get a feel for who or what was inside… It kind of annoyed her that Yuriko and Naoya had both not reacted to her second warning. Where was that 'we're a team' line Yuriko had said earlier? Kiji sighed softly as she searched for information.
But then it seemed to be over. Naoya had attacked something and it had apparently been killed. Kiji stood, furrowing her brow. Something was… wrong with this situation. Something didn't fit. She narrowed her eyes and began looking all around her, taking in the lay of the land about her and whatever chakra signatures she could muster.. Something just felt… /wrong/. If this kid was their target.. why wasn't he protected better? Kiji dropped to a knee and spider-walked upside down to peer int he window at the kid. "Naoya-san.. something is wrong here…."
The 'thud' sets the young Okumo on ends but then several of the spiders easily noticed the Shimizu kunoichi approaching through the way he came. Not once glancing towards her but he spoke softly, his void hardly carrying "Then keep looking.. I have a head to collect.." was offered as he makes his way towards the fallen child. Moving his right hand behind him, he draws a curved short sword from its sheath while his left moves forward, touching the child's body faintly. Kiji would be able to notice a faint pulse run from Naoya and into the body in front of him him.
'Hmm.. Too easy, there will be others..' Moving his hand up to the boy's head, he grasps the corpse by the hair to lift it slightly before slashing twice suddenly, carving into the boy's neck, making the opening wounds before severing the head. The young Okumo's brood would continue to look around the cabin, should some would leave and expand outwards in a search net, a pair would crawl onto Kiji to monitor her while another set onto Yuriko once she was close enough.
It took the Kirryu longer than he anticipated to find a means to bypass the fire trap by ground. Every now and then during the search, he toyed with the idea of triggering the traps and enduring the consequences of his actions. But then, that would've been against the ground rules set by Tsiro. Thinking of the Kaguya led to more distracting thoughts. Thoughts better pushed aside, and yet… he entertained them while there remained time to do just that.
Kiyoshi eventually found himself hoping his teammates had not rushed anything. There were too many uncomfortable variables to the mission. Chief among them being the fact that none of them truly knew >who< their target was; only that they were to kill all the inhabitants of the cabin. There were things as well that drifted in and out of focus. None of which turned the Kirryu away from growling guttural at every point until he actually drew closer to the cabin itself. Sensing no ongoing struggle, the Kirryu hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and turned to skulking about the outside, adjusting his course as necessary to make it seem akin to that of a thief scooping out a prize.
Seeing as Naoya had already claimed the kill and busy inside taking the head, Yuriko wrinkles her nose with mild annoyance, but far from perturbed. "Hm." Reaching out a hand, she wordlessly snaps up the ivory senbon hovering in midair and quietly slips over the side, falling and landing in a slight crouch. As she rises to her feet, the younger kunoichi narrows her vividly aquamarine eyes and glances around her with growing suspicion, just as she boldly enters the cabin after Naoya. Yuriko doesn't interrupt him, rather, she leans down to pick up the picture of the family that had fallen to the floor. Her gaze examines the faces for a brief moment before turning the frame over, opening the back to see if there was anything else inside.
As Yuriko picks up the picture, she would see what was obviously the young boy, who was having a much better day when the photo was taken, and his father. His father was a dark haired man with a scar down his right cheek. The picture shows the two of them standing next to each other with the father's hand ruffling the boy's hair. To most it would be a touching photo. There was also a sword at the father's side.
Tsiro does not need to go into the cabin. He's only heard the scream of a young child and not much ruckus. Something was definitely wrong with the situation. However Tsiro had prepared for this with the orders. They were told to kill all inhabitants, not just who was in the cabin… For now Tsiro decides to wait. The kids should be ok.
Yuriko and Kiji would both sense something approaching the cabin. It was moving fairly quick. In fact they had just enough time to give warning before the door bursts open and the father appears with an axe in his hand. His eyes fall directly on the blood and the Okumo holding his son's head. "MONSTER!" he screams as he prepares to attack.
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Kiji tilted her head as Naoya told her to keep looking because he had a head to collect. She sighed softly. She had figured she had no chance at the head from the beginning but with this much gas and such a pathetic target…. Something felt off. She paced the perimeter of the little cabin's roof, looking alla round them and reaching out with her senses, trying to put the pieces together. It took a moment but she managed to get a good bead on the team. Naoya below her, Yuriko ont he roof, Kiyoshi in the woods.. Tsiro coming up on the scene… When naoya went in to take the boy's head she spider-walked back down again so her head stuck down by the window, watching Naoya take the child's head… She sighed softly, glancing around the room looking for a hint that there was someone living there besides the kid.
And then se could sense him. a larger man burst onto the scene axe raised. Kiji simply relaxed, her eyes went black much like the other day in the pits, but more controlled and her body sprouted more whips and tendrils of blood from all over her body. She dropped down behind the big man and got between the man and his target, blocking the axe with her blood tails. And then she snagged the axe with those same tails, turning, and swinging the axe right at the man's throat, aiming to cut off his head with his own axe. All of this was done fast and with a certain amount of coldness in her motion.
In the blind spot of his spiders, or more along the lines they simply couldn't relay the information to him quickly enough erupts the man, forcing the door open in an instant. The name called out and Naoya reacted to it quickly his fangs beginning to bare as his chakra began to shift as soon as he saw /what/ the source was. The young Okumo's arms were at war with themselves for a fleeting moment before they ripped apart, upwards and downwards. It would only take a instant before a pair of fresh arms made of silk appear above and below his natural ones before hardening with chitin.
Wasting no time, the son's head still being held in one of his six hands, the young man charged forward, slipping under the tendrils flowing from Kiji. Naoya strikes forward before withdrawing, attempting to quickly overwhelm the much larger man with speed as well as simply striking with strike as many arms as the man had available to him to defend himself with.
Kunai? No. Shuriken? Definitely no. Fists? Maybe? Claws? Yes, Claws were the only weapon he could count on in the mission. No, not claws. He would have undo the henge in order to use them properly. So, yes, fists and legs it was.
Despite every cell in his body screaming at him to rush in blindly and strike down whoever happened to be close, the Kirryu held the urge in check long enough to spy the commotion inside first, then wait for an opportunity. Whatever he did next couldn't risk the man slipping past the others. That meant staying by the doorway and waiting until the man was forced close enough catch in mid-movement with a strike to solar-plexus.
All at once Yuriko tenses, bright eyes flicking up from the picture in her hand up at the door. Her senses alerted her to the quickly approaching figure, the man with the ax. No doubt the father and who she can only assume to be Gotokatsu. An ivory blade is pulled from her sleeve, the Epigaea blade flashing in her hand as she blurs with speed. No signs that there were shinobi here. But a blade is smooth, clean, quick and untraceable. Yuriko smirks. She rushes straight at the ax man and slashes at his throat. Two swift swipes.
Gotokatsu's axe is easily taken from him in his state of shock. He seems oblivious to it until the tails of blood swing the axe towards his head. He backs up at the last minute. As he bumps into Kiyoshi standing there he pushes off of the man before he is able to get a hold of him. This forward motion pushes him into Naoya's attack. One of the fangs manage's to scratch him. As Yuriko attacks with her Epigaea dagger. These strikes though well intended, meet nothing but air as Gotokatsu vanishes. The man appears right behind Naoya with the blade from his waist drawn and extended. He had managed to attack every single person in the room in almost an instant.
Kiji swore. She had had a good angle on the man's neck too… But it was inconsequential. He managed to completely avoid her strike. She set her jaw with a hint of anger, that rage she'd tapped into in the pits came to the surface. She saw the attacks coming, tried to wrap herself in bloody tails to defend herself but it was no matter. The blade cut deeply into her back, laying open skin to the bone. Kiji growled low in her throat but otherwise did not react to the pain. She did not have to move to attack the man, the whips coming from her back were enough. She focused, her head not even turning to look at him as she tracked him by his chakra so that as he came to a halt behind Naoya he would find himself facing a tendril of blood aiming to wrap around him, immobilize him… Of course that would just make it easier for someone else to take his head… Kiji slowly turned her head, looking to see if she had succeeded in binding the man… Her face unreadable.
Squinting slightly, the young man felt something was off when his blow should of connected but.. nothing. It didn't phase the man at the least as he wasn't there. He hops back quickly and to the side avoiding overlapping into Yuriko's way but then loses the man suddenly. For a fleeting moment the young Okumo sees a glint of a blade, reflecting the fire near by causing the young man to burst with speed leaving only an after image to flicker through the blade as he rolled past it and towards the side.
Kicking at first up and away from the man as he watches blood begin to surge, likely the Shimizu's tricks, but he was preparing his own. Not staying still the young Okumo's image continues to flicker above the room before he lunges at the man. Moving one of his lower arms downwards, he grasps at the man, letting his web arm detonate to attempt to snare him while using his other free hands to try and lift the man into the air and slam him against the ceiling and into one of three webs prepared.
The man pulling a disappearing act in the middle of a room filled with shinobi gave Kiyoshi more than enough reason to react accordingly. Still, he feels the man's blade sink into his side before his body could be properly morphed to handle an attack. Just as quickly as the wound is opened does the area get flooded with chakra, sealing the opening within a matter of seconds. On reflex a hand had been slapped over the spot as if to hold back the blood while the Kirryu searched for his assaulter.
His concern faded into nothingness as it becomes clear the others — the girls had been wounded once more. A prickling sensation at the back of his eyes warns him of the change. He… he had to remain at the door. He had to… stay calm. Not for the missions sake or really for his own, but for everyone else. So there he remained…
Seeing the father reach for another blade, Yuriko is able to watch his movements even at blinding speeds. Anticipating an attack from behind, the Kaguya kunoichi forms bone just under the surface of her flesh while also hardening the ivory bone of her body suit. Just not fast enough. In any case, she doesn't give the man time to react. Even if he goes after Naoya with the head, Yuriko blurs with abrupt speed, creating afterimages of herself as she aims several slashes.
The tendril and the webbing hit around the exact same time and bind Gotokatsu. For the two Genin this was perhaps the unluckiest way to land their skills. Because the webbing hits the tendrils, the move pulls them away from the enraged father and through the rest of his strength he is able to slip away. "DIE!" he screams as he vanishes from Yuriko's attacks. Once more he stabs at both Yuriko and Kiji with such speed that its hard to see. As he appears by the door, he makes another slash at the man before moving at his true target. It was the Okumo with his son's head. He was attempting to take the boy's arm as his own trophy.
Kiji frowned even deeper as she saw the two attacks cancel each other out. She growled again, much like Kiyoshi might before she tried to bring her tendrils of blood up again. The man was just too fast and she felt another gash open on her side. The blood did not fall from her, though, it gathered and formed even more layers of blood on the tendrils and tails about her form. She scowled and sent another tendril at the man, looking to bind him.. then to strike him….
Trusting too heavily in his speed being the easy solution was costly. While he was faster, the father's strike went almost unnoticed until half of his real left arm was cut into while his lower web shaped arm was severed completely. Tucking his left arm inwards, the arm above it drapes down, to try and shield it from a further attack, using two of his right arms, he drew out shuriken to hastily launch them while trying to back off of the man. The severed arm was also the arm holding the boy's head, his prize though at this point it hits the ground with a sticky thud before rolling awkwardly to a stop.
The man was simply too fast. They should've been patient! They should've confirmed their target, or at least try to — a moment of inspiration transforms into one of panic as Kiyoshi realizes the man once more sought to attack them all. Kiyoshi makes it one step, or perhaps two at the most before feels another find flesh and darn near bone as well. He wasn't fast enough to protect either Kiji or Yuriko…
>Geki…<
'Not… now' Kiyoshi growled guttural at the thought, refusing the Bijuu's aid once again. It was an arrogant move, and one the creature normally would've made his host pay for by refusing to regenerate him. But he did not. Yet. Kiyoshi opens his mouth, but whether or not it is to yell in pain or bark some kind of order is never determined. He saw his target and laughed for the head in hopes of securing the macabre thing and running out the door. If all went well, the man would pursue him outside without there being a need to taunt him.
Yuriko scowls to herself as she watches her strikes become useless, though she doesn't let herself linger on it for too long. Just as he slashes, the young Kaguya blurs with speed as she sidesteps, seeming able to keep up with his blurring speed and avoiding the path of the blade. A second curved blade forms in her other hand. A small smirk forms at her lips as Yuriko throws both blades, even in the limited room that there is.
Gotaktsu was able to jump over the tendril before backing away from Naoya's strikes. As the head drops and makes the sickening thud, the father's eyes fall on it. This allows Yuriko to take a nice chunk out of his side with one of the bones she threw. Once more Gotokatsu vanishes. This time he appears by the bed. His hand reaches for the sheet. He whips the sheet off the bed towards Yuriko. He was seeking to tangle the girl up before twisting around with his blade to form a sort of blade tornado, slicing anything in his path or around it.
Kiji's tails formed up around her, blocking the man's attack from landing against her. She oculd read him attack against Yuriko by his movements (he wasn't the best at this kind of thing perhaps…) And she reached up to the ceiling, pulling herself up with the blood tendrils until her feet could stick to the ceiling with chakra. then she ran over the group, skidding to a stop and crouching, much like a spider, above the father. This is why she wore shorts under her skirt. Had she not had the shorts on, everyone would suddenly know she wore black panties with cat skulls on them…. But no one got to tell! Yay shorts!
Kiji's expression was deadpan, emotionless, her eyes completely black. The blood tendrils dropped at the father silently, trying to bind him again, with barbed bindings. She would dig into his very body if given the chance. The fact that he'd harmed Kiyoshi annoyed her to no end as well.. She would get some form of revenge if she was allowed….
Once again his speed failed him, but not as utterly this time. The man's strike cuts into his chest deeply as he makes his way away from the man, moving his back against one of the walls, sacrificing the arm holding a curved blade to make sure the cut wasn't too deep. Unlike true limbs, the ones forges from webs quickly weave themselves back into existence, and move into his supplies. A paste is collected and fingers press deeply into layers of silken body padding and into the fresh wounds, causing them to clot and stimulating the wounds to begin the process of closing.
Sensing the man's, Kiyoshi yanks free kunai in mid-leap and twists about with the intent to deflect the blade. The titan succeeds, after a fashion, in more ways than one. Pain and reflexes demanded that he held the boy's head slightly away, taunting the enraged man. If there's even the slightest of reaction from the man during the moment — ANY indication that Kiyoshi may have had his full attention — the giant would then dare to smile toothily, teasing the man further.
Then, gravity and time fully reasserts itself, forcing the Kirryu to turn away and focus on hitting the ground running outside.
"You'll never see you're son again~"
'Hrk, don't throw up…'
"You'll never see your son again~~"
'Gut.. no.'
For every sentence that left his mouth, Kiyoshi's stomach twisted in his gut. By sheer force of will Kiyoshi tried to force himself to keep running towards the trap.
Perhaps the bedsheet used as a makeshift weapon against her catches off guard, or maybe the ingenuity causes the girl to falter. It wraps at her, entangling her arms before Yuriko is able to defend herself. "Ack!" a short cry of pain escapes her, pain coursing through her for what feels like could be an eternity. "Eugh… not… so fast."
As Gotokatsu was about to make good on the restrained Yuriko, a blood tail whipped around him. Dropping his sword, his hands move together and he is able to use the escape jutsu to get out of the move. These kids were wearing him down. Kiyoshi was right. He wasn't going to see his kid again. He had to escape now in order to continue this another day. Given the location of the others, Gotokatsu takes off for the window and dives through it. He was quicker than they were, but it did not matter. Tsiro had been just outside the window watching and grading the students. As the man made his escape an obsidian blade would slice through his throat with such precision the head did not fall off. He moved for at least five paces before the head finally flopped over onto the ground. Not even facing him, Tsiro stood at the window watching the Genin. His eyes flared with anger.
Kiji's only comfort in those few moments came from Yuriko both taking a hit (from the sheet no less) and that she voiced her pain. Kiji did her absolute best never to show pain so for Yuriko with all the attention she garnered from those around her, to show and voice pain, gave Kiji a grim sort of satisfaction. In this at least (in this perspective) she was on a higher level…. The fact that the man was able to shrug off her bindings so simply infuriated Kiji. She moved to follow and though she did not move fast enough to catch the man, perhaps it saved her life as she came through the window seconds after the man had which only barely saved her from Tsiro's blade too. However, the rage flowing through her veins gave her temporary courage and bothered her enough that she met Tsiro's angry gaze with a black one of her own.
Squinting slightly as he watches the man, not once by twice wasn't disturbed or surprised by the jutsu used, but calmly avoided them, turned them against each other or found their weakness. The lower arms slips into pouches, quickly drawing two pairs of shurikens each, linking up the window the man lunged through but then pauses when someone else came into view..
'Him..' the brood outside the cottage saw everything, and shared it with their host. One of the spiders around the cabin also made not of the Shimizu's visual challenge towards the older Kaguya. Taking a few steps forward, another hand, presses itself against his chest while a different one moves to the young woman's shoulder. 'Settle.. Rather not have to carry several back' was offered softly before the arm wilts, losing it's form and returning to just loose silk.
Kiyoshi was out the door well before he realizes that Gotokatsu hadn't followed. A curse is swiftly followed by some stumbling on the giant's part as he tried to turn about and race back into the cabin. He does not have to get far to see for Gotokatsu try to escape… and fail. Kiyoshi slides to a stop upon seeing the startling death of the man.
The look Tsiro gives is enough to enforce silence in Kiyoshi. Granted, it wasn't as if anything worthwhile came to mind when it was clear enough the team failed part of the test. He could've of course tried to grab the head, but the potential consequences… weren't worth it. So he stood there silently with a bleeding head hanging loosely from his grip at his side and a grim look about him.
Yuriko exhales a labored breath as she struggles to straighten, willing herself forward and using the many bone sprouts to slash the sheet into ribbons. Another breath and she narrows her eyes out the broken window, seeing their prey already taken care of by Tsiro outside. She doesn't allow herself to linger, as Yuriko moves with abrupt speed, blurring through the broken window and coming to a halt just at the body of Gotokatsu. Ignoring the angered look from Tsiro, she takes a blade to boldly slice the head clean off.
Tsiro remained quiet for a moment. He was not happy. "Enough Yuriko!" Tsiro yells as she goes to take the head. "This was unacceptable. Naoya, from the get go you have done nothing but serve your own purposes. Believe me, no one here besides me understands the Lone Wolf concept as well as I do. However even the wolf sometimes needs a pack to accomplish its goals. Together you all could have taken the man. Instead you ran off and forced them to catch up to you. You attacked not caring where their attacks were. The one thing you have going for you is that you took the head of the man's son. You put him out into a enraged mind set. You need to remember that the team is here for a reason. It does not make you weaker to allow them to help."
Tsiro's eyes then moved towards Kiji. She was next. "You are obviously the weakest here physically. Falling through the ice put the rest of your team in danger. Your redeeming quality though is that you desired to work together and through your sensory ability, you managed to save the team a few times in the trip here and at the end of combat. You need to work on becoming more physical."
"Yuriko, you are next." Tsiro states. He does not turn around to face her. "You put yourself in danger on the trip here. You did so for another member of the team. If you fell ill, it would not have saved Naoya. You wanted to work together from the get go. Of this fiasco, you have probably shown yourself as the best all around member of the team for the mission currently."
Tsiro then looks directly at Kiyoshi. "Peck it Kiyoshi. You are by far the strongest here. You have the skills to be a superior shinobi but yet you want to trade shots back and forth with Naoya. You then decide to relax on the orders to make sure the girls are safe. Up until the very end you seemed to be a gentle giant. Saving the two girls in the water was a plus but overall you need to find your inner shinobi and get his beak in gear."
Though Tsiro understood that team work would not come over night he was not going to give them an inch. They had survived a tough target and showed a lot of potential for improvement. "I had hoped that someone here would have established themselves in the pecking order. Unfortunately it ended up being two shinobi at a time working as a team at a time and the others kind of doing their own thing."
The hand on her shoulder nearly got Naoya struck. Her head turned to the side and the whips tensed, but she managed to keep from striking out at him. His words got her to narrow her eyes but she turned away from Tsiro and looked Naoya over with a tilt to her head. If it hadn't been for the blackness of her eyes they probably would have shaded purple. Yuriko's action to cut off the man's head the rest of the way annoyed her but she simply looked away and turned her back, blood tendrils snaked down to Naoya's visibly injured stomach and sank into his veins. Quickly the pain lessened and the bleeding stopped. Kiji's will causing the chakra in her blood to heal rather than injure.
Aaaaand there went Tsiro. She had expected an outburst from the elder Kaguya so she did not jump or cringe when he began speaking, she just continued what she was doing. She glanced at Tsiiro when he told her to become more physical. Silence reigned and her eyes were devoid of emotion.. it was hard to see or detect any emotion at all with nothing but black in her eyes…. She turned back to what she was doing with Naoya. He might note her gritting her teeth as Yuriko was once more singled out as 'the best' at something. In fact Kiji did not really fully hear what Tsiro said she'd done right. It didn't matter….
Tsiro had clearly thought they failed and Kiji couldn't argue really, though she was annoyed that she was suddenly expected to keep up with the 'Golden Child' of the Kaguya physically. Tension was building up in her shoulders and she was putting a bit tooo much chakra into her healing so that rather than numbing the pain she was inadvertently making Naoya's skin itch and tingle. Yet she remained silent…..
The glare the Shimizu gave him was met with his own dull amber gaze, not shying away from the threat she posed even though his protective layers were weakening. At the sound of the the older Kaguya chastising Yuriko when he made a move to behead the man, the young Okumo turns to glance through the window, his focus fading some what when he was the first to be singled out and focused upon. Even as he listened, the mention that this was his 'Team' a faint snarl flashes across his lips but makes no sound.
A slight dip of his head is offered when he could feel his chest begin to knit together more securely than what the salves and his webbing made possible but he didn't look away from Tsiro. 'Thank you..' was mumbled, hardly above a whisper though the mention of Yuriko becoming ill to get him causes the brood within the forest to re-position. Several of them set their focus onto the young Kaguya, most were subtle, some moves to directly land onto her shoulders before proceeding to inspect her, paying little mind to the rest of the world.
Until Yuriko made her move Tsiro had Kiyoshi's full attention. Truthfully, he would've not paid her petite form any mind if not for the sound of flesh being rend hit his ears. It was impossible afterwards not to stand there staring at Yuriko with eyes wide with shock. The Kaguya-hime had to be beyond irritated over the whole mess to balatantly ignore Tsiro's presence for something that equated to petty revenge in the Kirryu's eyes. Even when it comes to mind that the true culprit might've been her bloodline, Kiyoshi cannot shake the feeling that her reasons were less than sound.
The demand from Tsiro draws Kiyoshi's gaze immediately. Though he was in agreement with it, the titan found himself reflexively glaring at the man, if albeit half-heartedly. Having felt as if he did little to truly help the team aside from playing hero, Kiyoshi had braced himself to be dressed down first. The shock at hearing Naoya received punishment first transforms into a restrained, small smile. The Kirryu just couldn't help himself. Then, Tsiro moved on to the others. Bitterness. Annoyance. Tension. Even without being able to see Kiji directly, her mood was more than clear enough to imagine as well as scent. As much as he wanted to go to her and try and calm her down before she followed in Yuriko's shadow, Kiyoshi had enough respect for Tsiro to restraint his less than shinobi-esque quirks. Impatience drove him to grit his teeth behind closed lips.
Yuriko. Kiyoshi glanced at her, and belatedly noted the spiders beginning to swarm. She was in no danger. He knew it, and still ground his teeth even more at the sight. Inevitably, he turns away, though in truth it was because of Tsiro's curse dragging focus out of him.
"…."
Nothing. He looked back until the end, then bowed his head and closed his eyes. He did not agree with being a superior shinobi, but would not deny Tsiro's claim openly. Yet.
The girl pauses as she hears her name screamed, turning her snowy head just slightly to glance over her shoulder in Tsiro's direction. A slight smirk tugs at her lips, and she rises, almost protective over the head at her feet. Yuriko makes a small sound as she lifts a hand, smearing blood across her cheek as she listens to her older cousin's 'evaluations'. "I wasn't trying to save Naoya. At all. He can handle himself." she murmurs. "And if I fell ill, it wasn't an immediate concern." Though now that he mentions it… the wind chill strikes through her moist clothes. Most certainly the few spiders that had landed on her would note this. For the moment Yuriko ignores it, reaching for the severed head and holding it in her hand. "But you said at the beginning that this is what you wanted."
A low toned growl emits from Tsiro's mouth. There were a number of ways to handle this. He'd probably pay later, but now it did not matter. "Have you ever wondered why I work alone Yuriko?" he asks. "It is because of things like this. You were born a handful of years ago. Yet at every turn you know so much that you get to tell me what goes on. Your mother was my sensei. You are not. You are a Genin and maybe Meruin allows Genin to tell him how this go, but I do not. ."
Kiji simply nodded once to Naoya's thanks. He did not need anything bigger, she did not require it either. She was the medic. She would heal them. Of course Tsiro's issue seemed to be that certain members of this 'team' had acted on their own and thus endangered the rest of the team. Kiji had known she would never come out on top of this 'test' with Yuriko around so she had ignored Tsiro's suggestion that this was a contest. Which had probably been her saving grace. (and though deep deep inside Kiji knew Tsiro would have found /something/ for her to improve upon no matter the circumstances…) It still annoyed her that he wanted her to be more physical. She was never good at Tai training. She was a small person with limited muscle. So Tsiro picking out her biggest weakness to poke holes in just plain annoyed her.
Perhaps it was jealousy directed at Yuriko, perhaps it was the rage that fueled her ninjutsu and caused her blackened eyes, or perhaps she was annoyed that Tsiro had basically tricked them into not acting as a team by telling them not to act as a team… Whatever the reason was impossible to tell.
She pulled away from Naoya, silent as ever, and moved closer to Kiyoshi, her blood moving up to coat his injuries. She was positioned standing equal with Kiyoshi, her back to the other three so Kiyoshi would be the only one seeing her expression really. For a moment her face relaxed just a little, an expression of exhaustion crossing her features even as she healed Kiyoshi. Then it was gone and Kiji simply walked away. Had she been reacting to Kiyoshi's wounds? Or had something else broken into her mind in that one moment? Once again, she was unreadable.
Her mind was elsewhere. She had been pulled from the concentration camp to come on this mission and she had been able to show off a few of her new techniques while she was at it, but she had been a bit off the whole trip. /Something/ had been strange about her behavior and it had probably been chalked up to her being unsure around Yuriko again. But the truth was it had nothing to do with any of them here. It was something else entirely….
Kiji turned her head, peering at Yuriko and the young Kaguya's behavior. Her glee and the way she wiped the blood on her cheek… She grit her teeth and her head snapped back forward. She heard Tsiro speak to Yuriko then and oddly enough it did not really compensate for the other things swirling around the Shimizu's head… Eyes set forward….
Kiji began walking.
Or perhaps Marching was the right word. As soon as she had soothed Kiyoshi's pain she had simply walked away, heading back for the river, back toward the abandoned cloak in the snow. Silence and tension her only companion. As she moved the blood constructs on her body coiled around her figure, arms and legs but did not retreat into her body, rather they remained ready for use and combat. She had failed the mission, had had her faults pointed out and Yuriko had collected the head. What use was she now? So she walked.
"Kiji-san.. Yu-chan.. Stand still." The young Okumo's voice would raise for a moment before falling silent again. Twisting his finger, he would make a few seals before looking towards the Shimizu with some intent. The water that had been soaking her clothing and her hair would begin to break down, wrapping her with a mist that fills much of the room. Looking away, the young man would make his way towards the window again before hopping out of it with minimal effort.
With a bowed head to Tsiro, he softly says, "Excuse me sir" though he doesn't wait for him to move. Moving a hand towards the younger Kaguya's shoulder, he taps her with his palm lightly before pulsing his chakra. The water that had been soaking her was force backwards with the pulse but his hand didn't leave her shoulder, though his own eyes were kept close. "I will make sure none are a further liability." He made no effort or even acknowledgement that Kiyoshi was still living, not a smirk when he was scolded nor seeking to aid the giant.
Kiyoshi cracked open an eye at Yuriko's response, and soon after found himself sighing silently. As much as he wanted to deny her claims, the mission was — should always be in theory — first and foremost. That isn't to say it sit well with him. His tired eye turn to Tsiro next, observing the elder Kaguya passively. The debate between the two held the promise of evolving into a lengthy familial dispute if things kept going along the same course. Unfortunately until Tsiro dismissed them or gave them orders, speaking or acting by one's own free will was inadvisable. He had been working up the nerve to try and distract the two with a question when from his peripheral he saw Kiji approach.
Seeing her alive, and… well seeing her alive should've elicited at least a small smile, but instead Kiyoshi regarded her warily. It seems Kiji discovered another new feeling, because not a thing was reflected in those eyes of her currently. If not for his sensitive nose he would swear she was broken. But then again, something /had/ broken.
Kiji's blood is left without much to work with to restore. While the Gobi was so active the Jinchuuriki had been pretty much restored to his previous state before even having taken a dip in the frozen river. Her efforts were appreciated, but hardly given much thought at the time. It was her state of being concerned him, assuming the inquisitive look he gives her meant anything. But she says nothing to him — offers nothing except the lingering feel of her blood in his system and the distorted smell of her emotions.
When Kiji leaves Kiyoshi is not far behind at all. At the very least he bowed respectfully to Tsiro before taking off after the Shimizu. Whatever orders would be — might be — barked are ignored during the silent procession. Regardless of personal concerns, the giant would not intrude upon her thoughts more than his presence naturally did. There were just some things that a person needed to sort out themselves. This did not mean that he should not be nearby just in case…
Yuriko idly shrugs her shoulders to herself as she rises to her feet, leaving the head and body where it is on the ground. She could say a number of things to her older cousin, but what's the use. She was just a kid in everyone's eyes, the same age as most genin that had just graduated from their exams not too long ago. Cheek smeared with blood still, Yuriko reaches up to lightly brush at one of the spiders perched on her shoulder, if only briefly. Exhaling a long breath she glances back at the cabin. "We should probably get to making it seem like they were attacked by pirates. But for the life of me I can't imagine pirates being smart enough to get through a field full of traps."
