Todas las Personas - Watanabe, Uchiha and Uzumaki

Starring:

Canis (emitter), Hiei, Michiko, Hanami, Sachiko, Shinji, Naruko

Date: August 14, 2015

Summary:

After the combat versus the rogue Yotsuki, the Village has been on alert for more such attacks after her words. As it happened, such an attack came once again. And it wasn't pretty…

Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.


"Todas las Personas - Watanabe, Uchiha and Uzumaki"

Land of Lightning

Over the past few weeks, ever since the death of Yotsuki Donna and the utter destruction of one of the many villages in the Land of Lightning, things have been far from quiet. Word of various attacks throughout the Land have come to Kumo but any attempts to help have arrived far too late. The attacks hit random locations in no as-of-yet discernible pattern and even the damage done had varied greatly. Sometimes there was only damage to buildings, sometimes there was only death to villagers, and sometimes it was only the destruction of crops or cattle. And finally every account of who had done it varied as well, almost making it seem like it was various groups that somehow attacked without knowing about the others. The description of the leaders was different every time and never very detailed by the time the Kumo nin arrived to investigate.
Due to the erratic nature of the attacks it had come under observation that the amount of time it took to gather an appropriate team took a larger amount of time than they could afford with the quick attacks. This had caused some thought in the Intelligence unit and they had come up with a rotating schedule. The rotation was known only to those in it and had a spread of abilities to help insure success whenever the next attack hit. For a few days after its inception it seemed like it wasn't even worthwhile, but then…
It was early morning, almost two, and a thick fog covered the Village. Not only was the mountaintop amidst the clouds, but the Land below was under its own thick blanket, making it seem like there was no world other than Kumogakure. The night was dark without the moon able to break through and add it's light to the land and only the glow of fires and torches helped in any real way. Luckily, messenger birds have keen senses.
One such bird arrived at the Raikage's house, the first to be notified in any event and also the leader of the current rotation. Word had come of another attack on a bustling market town and Yori, currently on watch for Intelligence, had notified the Response Team to meet with Hiei at gates as soon as possible. While Hiei would receive all the information they had, everyone else would only get a quickly scribbled note. Hiei's note would mention that Sachiko was on the rotation as well (and a babysitter was on the way). Michiko and Hanami were also on the regular rotation. While Shinji and Kajiru were visiting shinobi, they had also made the mission list and thus the rotation despite Hige's absence. The night was going to be a long one.'

The messenger bird flies in through the open window, waking Hiei up out of his sleep. He turns on the lamp beside the bed that he shares with Sachiko and reads the note quickly. He wakes his wife up. "Sachiko. We have to go, we've got a mission." After his mother shows up to keep an eye on the boys, Hiei is dressed and is making his way towards the front gate. He's already given word for his warhorse, Snake Eyes to be made ready for the journey. Now all there was left to do is wait until everyone else is gathered so that they could hurry off. Time was of the essence here.

Michiko had been on edge ever since the attacks had started, though she would never show it. The reports on them were concerning, and she even made sure to be a part of these rotating patrols as much as she could. Fortunately, she was going on this one. And perhaps it would hold some answers. She knew some of the people that were on these rotation lists, of course, though she wasn't sure who was available this time of day. Or maybe she should say it's night…
Looking around at the gathered team, she can't help but smile. She didn't know the Konoha Shinobi that well, but they looked like they were ready for anything. Plus, they were members of Hige's team! She figures Hige has been training them well enough. "Hiei-san," she greets. "What're the details?" she asks the Raikage, nodding to the Shinobi as they show up at the gates. She asks her question once it seems everyone is assembled, not wanting to have Hiei talk about everything more than once. Efficiency is important! Michiko looks to Roadblock, her horse, and climbs onto him.

Uchiha Shinji was part of the small team to arrive recently from Konohagakure, and as such, he is obliged to render asssistance to Kumogakure in time of need. The young man arrives in short order to heed the call of the Raikage, and for him, the darkness is no bother. It's the red eyes, of course, following the flow of chakra and every nearby movement with keen accuracy. Suddenly, an unfamiliar village is quite visible even in the darkness of early morning.
Taking the expedient route of the rooftops, Shinji drops down alongside Hiei's horse. "I feel slightly uneasy at suggesting this," the young man grumbles, "but in the absence of Hige-sama's nose, you may want me to ride with you. My eyes could serve to alert you to threats in this darkness." He's being diplomatic. It is, as with other gestures at his arrival, a start.

Hanami gets the quick note, frowning because of the danger it means. She grabs her gear, most of it packed and ready to go at a moment's notice anyways. A few items and she's done. Weapons, supplies, check. Make sure the wolf is secure and knows not to go racing off so she can take off. It doesn't take long for the speedy shinobi to get to the village entrance. Along the way she couldn't help dwell over the trouble. Villages destroyed, many more attacked and ransacked… She clenches her teeth, memories bubbling to the surface aren't going to do her any good. But this was important, she would push herself if needed. She'd be fast enough, she had to! As such without thinking she sped up, luckily the early morning hour meant there wasn't really anyone about to 'see' the blur rocket across the city. Sadly it does mean she's going really fast when she gets to the entrance and only just manages to snap out of it, skidding a bit to a halt. She looks embarrassed, though the bad memories dance behind her eyes, "Uh…hey. Sorry um…yeah." She just shuts up and listens, glancing around at the group.

Sachiko had somewhat heard the flutter of wings in her sleep, but she wasn't awake until she heard her husband's voice. "A mission?" A groggy query, followed by her yawning and sitting up, rubbing her eyes. She hadn't been called specifically for a mission… well, ever that she could recall. At least not in Kumo. So she's up, dressed, and fully awake in a matter of minutes, gazing at Hiei curiously. She doesn't actually ask what this is about, probably figuring he doesn't know any more than her. She's ready to go, whatever this is…

Naruko was magically apart of the response team, luckily for them she was already wide awake, tending to a few plants at her parents green house. The idea of something bad happening once again to Kumogakure had…rocked Naruko's core a bit. There was instant frustration, anger even as she stopped what she was doing, quickly got dressed, and lastly sped off to the main gates. She met with Hiei and the others, from the opposite side of the gate. A light frown is visible upon her lips as she clenches her fists and naturally complains… "THe longer we wait the longer we are going to lose our lead…" She was frustrated… It would have been better if they just met up at the location or something.

The thing that makes Hiei a great leader isn't the fact that he knows what to do all the time. It's the fact that he knows the capabilities of his fellow shinobi and knows how to employ that for maximum effect. He swings up into the saddle of his horse. "This is what I know. The note is a request from Muni Village, it's a large city to the east and they have spotted what they assume is bandits nearby and coming in their direction. The village is two hours hard ride, but the time it's taken for the messenger bird to reach us, and the time it takes us to assemble, we're already on the clock, people. The village is pretty much a big market and it would be the perfect place to hit. I suspect that this is the same group that has been hitting various villages in the Land of Lightning. Their goal is to drive out all shinobi. Odds are the villagers are already trying to defend themselves so we don't have time for questions. "Michiko and Naruko, provide us with some light until we get close enough to slip in unnoticed. Sachiko, ready your sentries, keep them peeled for anything out of the ordinary. If you detect anything that's not supposed to be there, I want to know about it." He looks over at Shinji and nods. "You make an excellent point, Shinji. You're riding point and will be our eyes." He then nods. "Mount up and let's ride!"

"Be sure to pay attention on the mission, Hanami-san," Michiko cautions. "Running into an enemy attack is a sure way to get killed, and Kumogakure has already suffered enough loss…" She shakes her head a bit, not wanting to dwell on such thoughts. Then her attention is directed to the Raikage, and she nods slightly as he speaks. "Hai," she says, making a few handseals to make a flare of fire. She'd probably have to spit them ahead in a rather continuous fashion near the front so they could all see, and she'd be directing them downward at the ground to prevent the fire from spreading.
"Hiei-san, are we taking any prisoners?" she asks, taking off right behind the Raikage so she can assist Naruko and light the way. Thankfully, the girl had planned ahead a bit, so horses are all waiting for the various individuals that showed up. And there are extras since she didn't know how many would be here…

With Hiei's permission given, and no small measure of discomfort over following through on his order, Shinji reaches up to grab Hiei's arm and hoists himself up onto the back of the horse. The problem with becoming Chuunin at a mere twelve years is that you're still annoyingly small two years later. Still, he manages to settle in such a way that his red eyes find purchase above the Raikage's shoulder. "Ready," Shinji informs Hiei. "We'd may as well go. I do not believe the rest of my team will be coming; they'd have been here already."

Hanami gives a curt nod to Michiko, hearing her but most of her attention is on Hiei's words. Her body goes cold, bandits. She definitely wasn't going to let them get away with this if she could help it. Not again… She's already hopping up into the saddle though her body tingles with the need to run faster, to go! She knew she could out distance the horses no problem. But thankfully she doesn't do that, knowing in her head that she'd be worn out by the time she got there if she ran. She didn't want to think about the other part. It wouldn't do her any good anyhow, so instead she tries to reign in her need to bolt and keep with the group.

The redhead nods, creating sentries. Sachiko offers an eye to each of the others and keeps an assortment on her person to keep watch and such. Also ones that she could disperse once they got there. She doesn't really know the other shinobi, but it's of no consequence to her. Mounting up a bit awkwardly, she gulps and is as ready as she'll ever be to head off with the group. She's just ready to be what she's always been: a Genin, following and following orders.

Naruko merely scoffs silently at Michiko's comments to the Raikage, prisoners. "Nope… I won't be taking any," Naruko mentions under her breath as she makes her way towards a steed to get mounted up. She spreads out along each side of the saddle, one hand taking hold of the reins while the other was held out, suddenly covered with a glowing blue fire. It was Matatabi's 'fur' but it would do with lightning up the area with a slight blue illumination. With that done she takes way on a flank and begins to move forward, ready to move along once the Raikage and the Uchiha took point.

The team begins to ride through the thick fog. For anyone not overly familiar with the trail down the mountain side, and even for some of those who are familiar with it, the fog adds a whole new perspective. A rather uneasy once since it's difficult to see more than a dozen feet in any direction. The trail falls off on the side into a thick swirling mass that could be a ledge a short distance below, or nothing but air for a few hundred feet down followed by very hard ground. Luckily the horses are well familiar with the trail and have little difficulty even at a faster pace. Once the group reaches the bottom of the mountain the pace picks up considerably and the horses seem to fly through the night.
The fog thins some as the team travels though not a great deal. Still the thinner fog does allow a ghost of moonlight to penetrate and help light the path. The thinner fog also allows sound to travel further than it had been able to atop the mountain. After traveling for an hour and a half there are some sounds in addition to that of the heavy footfalls of the horses: the sound of battle. Metal against metal, screams of anger, cries of pain. It all permeates the air as the team gets closer and the fog makes it all seem to come from different directions. But then there's light up ahead, a flickering orange glow through the fog.
The fire and rapid movements of bodies and horses has helped to clear the fog closer to the city and makes the visual all that much more gruesome. Bodies litter the cobblestone streets while houses and shops burn. Fights rage on as those with swords, pikes and pitchforks fight against others with swords, axes and hammer. There is no real way to differentiate who is who however. Who is from the city and who is attacking?

Once they're down the mountain, Hiei leans over Snake Eyes' neck and spurs the horse into a gallop. The entire time they're moving, he is hoping that they are in time to prevent these people from dying. This group had been a thorn in Kumo's side for a few weeks now. And he was itching to take his frustration out on someone who deserved it. "Michiko, Naruko. Kill the light." He brings his horse to a stop and swiftly dismounts. He waves the other shinobi next to him before he speaks softly. "Anyone that looks like they might be in charge, we need to capture to interrogate later. Anyone that's not a friendly target is cannon fodder. Pick your targets carefully, don't get too separated. If you get overwhelmed, holler for support. If anyone hears someone ask for support, don't hesitate. You get over there and help. Now, let's be mindful of the civilians. No big explosions." That last part is directed at Naruko. "I can sense someone of high chuunin level near the center of the city. I can also sense someone even vastly stronger than that. Michiko and I will take that one on. Pick a battle-buddy and stay by their side." He frowns for a moment. "There are people on the ground with something tied around their bicep. I think those are the civilians. That's how we tell them apart. Everyone good on their orders?" He doesn't really give them time to worry about it. "Now move out." Lightning sparks and splays along his skin as he prepares his body for combat.

Michiko takes the offered eyeball, though… She admittedly isn't sure if she should put it in her pocket. It may be a useless thing if it's seeing the inside of a pouch for the whole mission… In the end, she just holds it loosely in her left hand, glad that she isn't squeamish about holding an eye.
As the group travels, Michiko continues to light the way with small bursts of fire, though Naruko's flaming body part may be the better lantern in this case. Michiko just follows until the sound of fighting and the sight of fire catches her attention. She stops firing off her flares to try and keep their presence hidden. The girl peers intently at the village, hopping off her horse to try and get a feel of the intensity of the fighting while she searches with her eyes to get a feel of the scene… Which was already chaotic.
Chakra flickers faintly around the girl as she nods to Hiei's instructions. "I'll stick with Hanami-san until this strong person shows up," she tells Hiei. "From what I can tell, there are almost three hundred people in the city, but a majority are in hiding in buildings and underground bunkers. And as Hiei-san said, there are people with armbands." The girl takes a breath, then gets ready to move ahead, only waiting for the order to go ahead. And waiting for Hanami to be ready.

Shinji blinks several times enroute to the village, as if his eyes were for some reason bothering him. "I hope you know the path ahead of you," the young man says to Hiei, given that they're riding upon the same horse. "An inch too far to the side and we'll need to learn the art of flight." This is, certainly, a strange enough way for the two to reconcile their past differences - but with an alliance in place, Shinji is sworn to protect the Land of Lightning as much as he is home.
By the time they arrive within visual distance of the village, he comes to understand what's happening, given his recent training. Another series of blinks ensue before his eyes close, and upon opening again, they present three tomoe rather than two. It would seem that he's matured early, at least where his Sharingan is concerned. It takes him a moment to become accustomed to the new sensation, as well as the new feedback it offers him. However, he behaves so dutifully in the moment that others may not even notice the change.
When Hiei stops the horse, the Uchiha drops off of the back and looks ahead. "I will partner with you," he says to the Raikage. "We've come this far together without managing to strangle each other." A step ahead as he surveys the village proper, assessing the flow of chakra and jutsu activity among the masses. "A great deal of close quarters combat." Shinji pauses for a moment as he renders his assessment to Hiei, before looking away to the Kage. "No one is using jutsu. Chakra levels are low in general."

Hanami listens to Hiei intently as she makes her way through the fog. The weird eyeball thing Sachiko makes causes her to start at first, but she soon gets use to it. She opens up her senses, casting her chakra out on the wind though by now the clash and smells of battle will probably hinder that sense. Either way she's going to go in. Her chakrams are at hand and ready, her chakra built. When Michiko offers to pair up with her she just nods, shifting her horse in her direction, "Okay, I'm ready to go Michiko. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Looking to Shinji and his observations, "So possibly more taijutsu based combat? Hope that gives us an advantage…" Either way she's heading in with a vengeance, senses alert.

Naruko does end up cutting off the 'light' so to speak but she doesn't pursue any further, instead she just begins to back track a bit on horse back. " I think… I'm going to call for a bit more backup or something," Naruko states, simply turning around to bolt off in the opposite direction, undoubtly to head back toward Kumogakure, or somewhere else.

Sachiko keeps her sentries alert while trying to keep atop the horse. She's never been particularly good with horses, but she knows enough. Her brows furrow as she surveys the battle going on. She listens to Hiei and nods her head. "Got it," she says, as respectfully as it can be given the words. She and the sentries drop off the horse. No way is she fighting from the back of a horse. The eyes and ears she's made all scatter among the chaos, more being made occasionally as she heads forward. She wonders how sure he is the ones with the armbands are the civilians… but she's not about to question him. Sounds like it makes sense to her.
Teaming up… while a good idea, she doesn't really know anyone and they don't know her. She looks to Hiei and gives him a hopefully reassuring nod. The woman would be all right without a partner. All of them were working together, anyway. Looking ahead, she tries to look for anything to fully back up Hiei's guess about the armbands. Partially activating her eyes, she sees a few of those people trying to put out fires and nods her head. She glances back at Naruko leaving and frowns, but just shakes her head and hurries forward, focusing her chakra. As she moves, she sends a few jolts of lightning at individuals without the cloths that look to be potentially overwhelming villagers.

The arrival of the shinobi from Kumogakure has apparently thus far gone unnoticed as no one is looking in their direction. Instead the fighting continues to rage on the streets of Muni as one side fights the other. In various other locales some are fighting fires while others seem to be very much trying to protect specific places. The ones with the various types of 'armbands' do seem to be the villagers and it's fortunate that someone has the foresight to plan for such a thing. Not only does it help the villagers recognize each other, but in the event that their plea for help was answered it would be a way for those coming to assist to recognize who not to kill.
That all changes of course once the first attack leaves the group. A few cries of surprise and pain escape the two that go down under Sachiko's lightning, twitching a bit. The villagers look shocked until they see the shinobi and only then does a look of relief flood their dirty faces. "Oh thank the gods!" One of the ones Sachiko helped says, running towards her. "Please, you have to help us! They're burning down everything and our families are hiding inside! Some of them are in basements but that won't help if the building burns down on top of them!" The other man with the armband quickly stabs the two that went down to make sure they don't get back up again.

Hiei is still taking stock of the battlefield. When Michiko pairs up with Hanami, he nods and when Shinji offers to be his partner, he nods to him as well. Partnered up with an Uchiha. Well, stranger things have happened. He pats Shinji on the shoulder and motions for him to follow him into the fog. Hiei rapidly moves through the fighting groups silently, taking opportunities to snap a neck here and stab someone with a kunai there as he heads for the center of the city. Upon coming on a group of three vs one (bandit's favor), he kneels down and strikes his fist on the ground. His forearm is wreathed in flames as he takes a running leap at one of the men. He extends his fist forwards in mid-air, while kicking his foot out to the side. Effectively attacking two people at once. Once his flaming fist connects, he lands in a crouch, knowing that Shinji would be taking out the third man. Or at least, he hopes he would be.

"Sachiko-san, could you please watch Hanami-san when myself and Hiei-san go off?" Michiko asks the Iga, not wanting to directly order the older woman because… Well, Michiko knows Sachiko doesn't really take to authority well! Whether or not that's changed, Michiko just doesn't want to risk getting the cold shoulder of Sachiko /again/. Naruko's disappearance makes her frown, but she nods all the same and focuses her attention to the battle ahead.
"Hanami-san, we'll move together. I'll try and trap people in the earth. When you see them trapped, hit them with everything you got," she instructs, making a handseal to prepare the jutsu. Sachiko's eye is tucked somewhere… Because during battle it'll be inconvenient. Maybe she should get a glass pouch someday! … Or something just see-through that won't break so easily. One or the other!
When the people rush over to Sachiko, Michiko grimaces a bit. If only she knew water jutsu… Hopefully her earth jutsu would be enough! Michiko charges down, flickering just a bit as she moves quickly. When she arrives, it would be near a burning building. First, she directs a fountain of earth at the nearest group of fighters, which happens to be two enemies on one villager. The mud should knock them over. Then she turns her attention to the fire and directs a spray of mud at the building. It's far from powerful, but it moves over a large area to prevent the fire from spreading.

Shinji shakes his head at the question. "I'd normally be able to see Taijutsu just as well, but there are so many," he says. Even with new eyes, it's difficult to tell apart an entire village entangled in chaos. "All I can tell you is that it's a great deal of close combat." Being as much the tactician of his team as the genjutsuist, he thinks quickly on his feet and addresses Hiei. "They may be doing it this way on purpose, to take advantage of the weather. I can't discern foreign jutsu from what the locals would know if they're not using any."
The Uchiha blinks again and flips around at the hip as Naruko goes bounding off. "You're doing what?! It's already a mess down there! We need every body we have now!" It seems that even Shinji has a sense of responsibility, but with a roughened sigh, he looks to Hiei again. "They could be playing this armband scheme of yours, too. There's no way to know if they're aware, but if they are, they could be using it to their advantage. I'd take no risks; clever people."
Of course, in Hige's absence, what Hiei says goes. He's tethered himself to the old man for better or worse. "Just so you know, I'm seeing now with adult eyes. Go easy on me if this takes a little getting used to." He tries again, commenting, "All over the village, small groups. Odds probably aren't in favor of your villagers per group."
Uchiha Shinji follows quickly after Hige, without need to stop, as he discovers. All he needs now is eye contact to cast his illusions, and he passes one man aside to assist Hiei with his third opponent. Although the first fellow is lucky enough to only be pushed to the ground, Hiei's last opponent feels his blood boil forth from his veins, assuming all goes as planned.

Hanami races along, feeling good to stretch her legs. While Michiko is talking her focus is more on the destruction ahead. She nods absently, keeping up with Michiko fine enough. Her hands move through the signs against the targets Michiko attacks, causing the wind to swirl around them both quickly, if it hits they'll feel its slicing bite. But her attempt probably doesn't have all her focus as she slows and stumbles upon the burning buildings. No…no it can't… She trembles, "Can't happen…not here too…"

Whoever's these bandits are they don't seem to be putting up much of a fight against trained shinobi. It's one thing to fight against villagers who have little to no experience in combat but when it comes to someone who has trained their entire life they fall light wheat before a scythe. The bandits cry out in pain and death and Hiei moves through their ranks, the villagers showing true relief and appreciation in their eyes. As the bandits fall more villagers turn to trying to grab buckets and starting a water brigade to put out some of the fires. Shinji moves rather well in concert with the Raikage and leaves those bandits who connect eyes with him on the ground unable to move or writhing in imaginary, yet to them all to real, pain.
More fall before Michiko as her mud sneaks up on them out of fog and topples them before also trapping them. The villagers are quick to finish what Michiko started at least and leave no one alive that her mud traps. They seem even more grateful when the mud smothers one of the fires, one of the men even stopping momentarily to mumble out his thanks before going to help others with water buckets. Mud could be cleaned, but fire couldn't be undone.
First there's lightning, then fire and genjutsu, and then mud. Now there's wind! Even if there were some kind of defenses in place for the men it wouldn't be able to hold up against such a variety of attacks! Cuts appear from the literal thin air on a few men and they scream in pain, the distraction enough for villagers to finish the job. In this part of the city the tide seemed to be turning - but now the bandits knew the shinobi were there. They come forward with swords and axes, a number of them charging at each shinobi in an attempt to cleave them down and keep them from traversing further into the city.

"Hiei's right!" Sachiko calls back to Shinji. Did she hear him from where she was? Sentry, probably. An ear tucked away on Hiei. Turning to the villager, she looks toward the buildings and bites the inside of her lip. Would anyone truly be able to help with that other than Michiko's earth? "Don't worry," she assures the villager. "You start helping to put out the fires. Get any other villagers that aren't caught up in a fight to help you too. We'll do what we can to stave off these attackers. Keep your families as safe as you can." With that instruction, and at least a nod to make sure he understood, she offers a smile to try and help assuage his worries. Then she'd turn to Hanami and notices her wind. "Hey, if you can draw up enough wind power, try and put out some of the smaller flames!" That wouldn't work against some of the more raging fires, but… hopefully it could help just like Michiko's mud.

When two swordsmen come towards Hiei, the Raikage doesn't even bother to draw his own blades. He charges his hand with lightning and stops the metal blades from cutting him by blocking them with his bare hands. "Forget her." He says to Shinji on behalf of Naruko. "Shinji, I don't have time to stand around and figure out if they're playing us with the armband thing or not. People are trapped in burning buildings." He sweeps the blades away from himself and extends both arms, blasting them both with lightning from the palms of his hands. "We just have to play it by ear." He offers the Uchiha a big grin. "This is how we do it in Kumo, kiddo!" He spins quickly, sending out a foot towards another approaching bandit. "But you are right. These guys are pushovers. The main event is in the middle of the city. And I don't plan on keeping them waiting!" From the expression on his face and the way he's talking…Hiei is having fun right now. "Small groups fighting all over, got it. Redirect Michiko and Hanami this way. Track down Sachiko, too. Have them start converging towards the middle of the village."

Michiko notices while she's taking care of the fire that Hanami's heart isn't really in this. "Hanami-san, FOCUS!" she calls out, more out of concern and worry than anger. "We have villagers to save!" That being said… The forces were all scattered…. They'd have to draw them in or move quickly. 'I wish Naruko-san didn't leave… We could have used her shadow clones…' she thinks to herself. Hiei is occupied with an enemy, and she isn't planning on distracting them. She has to focus on the battle, too!
Fortunately, these goons aren't putting up much of a fight. Michiko is quick to nod to those that thank her, but she tells them to go and put out the fires (not that they need any bidding) while the Shinobi work together. As the wave of enemies come at them, Michiko can't help but smile faintly. How nice of them to reveal themselves… Sword meets metal as Michiko simply blocks the incoming attacks with her arm, a brow raising. "You need to work on your skills," she comments off-handedly, exploding the ground to distract the man. "Sachiko-san! Hanami-san!" she calls out, trying to tell them to pick off this guy as well as their own opponents so she can focus on putting out more fires. Waves of mud start splattering the houses as she tries to put out various fires while still keeping alert during the battle. Sachiko had a good plans too! Too bad Michiko can barely comment with all the action…

"Since we're on a friendly, first name basis now, no honorifics required …" Shinji moves in good concert with Hiei, despite this being their first time fighting in tandem. "I was trained as a tactician first, /Hiei/. It's my job to think about the possibilities. I don't risk your life on a whim." The young man follows through in taking down the Raikage's third opponent and looks around. "I wasn't trained for close combat, and the villagers are in a panic enough without me breathing more fire all over. You're stuck with me until we're through, for better or worse. Just the same, not trained to leave my partner in the field."
And so, Shinji remains with Hiei as the Raikage advances toward the center of the village. Along the way, he sees a swordsman move out in front of them with blades flashing, intending to interrupt their charge. His eyes, glowing red in the darkness and fog, meet with the other man's and similarly cast an illusion of blood like lava bursting through his veins. All of his illusions have kind of a sadistic streak to them, perhaps troublingly.

Hanami is in a bit of a daze, the burning buildings flooding her mind with memories of the past. Bad memories, painful memories. So much so that she isn't even aware of the enemy baring down on her with his sword. Thankfully by some chance her body reacts enough to turn slowly but the sword still hits her, giving her a nice cut down her shoulder and side. Seems the pain does the trick, or maybe the people yelling at her. Her eyes clear, then flash to a cold anger as she immediately sweeps her hand around gathering wind chakra and blasting the man as he moves to strike her again, screaming. Her intent with the direction of the counter move was to blast the man back hopefully into something burning or if not at least solid to smash into. She gasps, the memories still there but she's aware now. And pissed. She notices the others moving inward, and the cries of the villagers.
The people…the buildings… She inhales a ragged breath, churning chakra and releasing it with a cry to form a fast moving spinning vortex. Her hope, aside from hurting as many of the enemy as she can, is that maybe her wind vortex will suck the air from some of the lesser flames(Maybe she had heard Sachiko after all, or was on that thought track herself) to help put them out. But then she does something rather stupid no doubt. Taking a building somewhat at random where the fire doesn't seem too bad, whether by Michiko's mud or not, that seems to have someone trapped inside she barrels forward, finding one of Michiko's many patches of mud and slides into it to get somewhat covered before turning back to the burning building. Focusing her chakra she blasts it with wind, hopefully enough to clear the way in at least. Her senses alert for those inside, she stays low. Gotta find them fast.

Sachiko is quick to respond to Michiko's call, sending lightning to meet any other attacker that comes her way. She even moves to stand closer so she can both defend her comrade and help the villagers within distance. She blinks when she watches Hanami take a hit. "Hanami-san!" Oh boy… protecting so many people is difficult. "Michiko, Hiei wants us to head toward the center of town." Of course she heard that. She takes a moment to take out more of the attackers, but this time uses a better technique for a group of enemies. "I want to help put out fires as much as you do, but if we take out the leader, then we'll have more time to help them escape the flames and put them out. Let's go," she says to Michiko before her brows furrow. "Sorry, that was more demanding than I realized." Then she moves to start toward the village center, somewhat hesitant until she knows the other female agrees with her advance.

There is dual looks of confusion as the two men who attacked Hiei find that their blades hit his arm but did absolutely nothing. Not only that but he's not even paying any attention to them! He's talking to someone else and AHHHH! That's two fried up men who drop to the ground after that lightning finishes coursing through their body. Or maybe it's only just started through their bodies? They twitch on the ground for a bit after all, almost looking like they're doing some sweet dance moves. Horizontally. Working so well with Hiei, despite the biting tone, Shinji manages to take care of any other distractions that Hiei doesn't, leaving men in screaming pain on the ground, or running around, or even the one who's flapping his arms and running in a circle trying to cool off his blood like some kind of elephant. Even the man who tries to block their path falls victim to the genjutsu.
Coughs erupt from those unfortunate souls who attacked Michiko as the dirt beneath their feet explodes and their caught in a mini dust storm, inside of the thick fog. Because trying to see through one isn't bad enough! One falls victim to Hanami's wind while the other meets with Sachiko's lightning. While others near Michiko they meet with the same fate from both Sachiko and Hanami. Even the man attacking Hanami has no chance when she turns on him and blasts away! And then there's the building. It could've been foolish, in fact it might have been very foolish, but sometimes such foolish things work. It causes the flames to expand, then explode out, basically causing the fire to blow itself out and saving the remainder of the building and its inhabitants.
It seems that many of the bandits have now realized what is going on and have taken to fleeing in the opposite direction, towards the center of town. A large explosion booms from the town center and screams of pain are cut short as death claims all those that fled. And then a more serious attack finally appears as a fireball explodes out, on towards Shinji, the other seeking to consume Sachiko and Hanami. Atop the building where the fireball came from stands a lone man, red eyes staring down below. "Raikage. Iwata. My companion awaits you in the town center. I believe he gave you thirty seconds to arrive before he was going to kill the civilians he has there. Of course, that was fifteen seconds ago." Apparently this man is splitting up the group whether they like it or not.

Hiei stares up at the red eyed man around the time a lightning field envelops his body. He asides to Shinji. "Take charge here." And then there is a very audible *pop* as the sound of air rushing to take the place of something that leaves in the blink of an eye is heard. There are some in Kumogakure that say the Raikage's speed matches and in some cases even exceeds, that of those of the Reizei clan. Apparently, those rumors have merit. He arrives in front of the man in a crouch. Narrowed eyes inspect his opponent, immediately searching for signs of a weakness that he can exploit. "I understand that you're looking for me." He stands up straight, lightning sparking along his entire body. "This is between you and me. Let these people go." His voice is calm and emotionless as he stands stock still.

Michiko hears Sachiko and nods to the Raikage's words. "Got it!" she calls out, not worried about how demanding people may or may not seem. "Let's- Hanami-San!" Ano Baka… The girl scowls a bit as she sees Hanami race into a burning building. Michiko waits a moment to make sure Hanami was okay, relief seeping out of her body when she sees the Genin make it out alive. Except now there's a huge fireball coming at them… Can't get a break!
Michiko makes a handseal. Knowing Hanami wasn't very good when it came to fire, Michiko just threw up a barrier of earth between Hanami and that fireball. Nope! Whoever it is, they aren't touching her friends! Then Michiko turns and vanishes, appearing near Hiei just in time to listen to this goon speak. And see the fireworks in the center of the city. A fist is clenched as Michiko senses running… Then nothing in that town center. And that explosion… It was extremely powerful. It reminded her vaguely of a fight… Against a certain Kage. She glances to Shinji and says, "Sachiko-san and Hanami-san can back you up." Then she moves again, appearing next to Hiei so that she's facing the main guy. She isn't as fast as the Raikage, though, so she comes up two or three seconds behind him. "So rude, giving little warning," she comments, chakra aura flaring up around her and seeming to lick her skin like flames.

After he has any of the given bandits Hiei ignores under his genjutsu, Shinji simply leaves them behind to keep up with the Raikage. They'll eventually come out of it, true, but probably not before the villagers either kill them or round them up as madmen. When strategizing, leave the pawns to deal with other pawns.
"When the great fireballs descend to begin parting the effective teams, Shinji is quite naturally mortified. He recognizes the technique, an Uchiha technique which signifies adulthood, wielded against these people. Things only get worse when the Uchiha looks up at the source and sights the red eyes. "Yes, Hiei, I think I will." For once, the Chuunin and the Raikage are on the same page.
When Hiei's gone, Shinji leaps up to the roof of the building to face off with he who also bears the red eyes. "Who are you, traitor? Only a missing-nin would turn his Sharingan against Kumogakure." Uchiha matters behind what they are, there's the matter of honor to contend with. How timely it was that his eyes matured this evening! Although he knows it won't be easy, he attempts to enforce his will upon the man via genjutsu, first willing him to the ground as harshly as he can. Leaves him able to answer the question, if it works.

Hanami stumbles from the building after hurrying those trapped inside. They take off and she turns toward the focus of this mess(at the moment). The buildings were still burning but when that man appears she just could help herself, so very pissed. As she goes running in the fireballs appear. Damn, figured it'd have to be a giant fireball. She's about to try moving out of the way anyways when a wall of earth blocks it, the heat still washing over her. If she comes out of this without eyebrows it'll probably be the least of her problems. After that passes she quickly moves in to Shinji and Sachiko, "Okay, what's the plan for ending this miserable excuse for a human being?"

Seeing the flame coming thanks to all her sentries, Sachiko had moved to try and intercept the attack on Hanami, only to realize she was too slow and growl underbreath. She adjusts herself to avoid the attack and glares upward at the man with his threatening message. Watching Shinji confront the man, she looks curious. Uchiha, huh? Part of her wonders if her clan feels similarly to her as Shinji feels toward this man. Shirking her empathy, she turns to look at Hanami. "Are you all right?" She was glade Michiko was able to keep the flames at bay with the earth… Returning her attention to Shinji and the other man, she activates her eyes, letting the crosshairs through them focus on the two. This way, she can read lips and focus her hearing elsewhere. She doesn't attack, but focuses a bit more chakra just to be sure.

In the village center there is death, and lots of it. The stench of burning flesh permeates the air as those that had just tried to retreat were burned to a crisp before they truly got anywhere. In the very center is a single man, standing tall and his height rivals that of the Raikage himself. Behind him is a good twenty villagers huddled together looking quite afraid and for good reason. Whoever this man is his chakra levels are off the chart. "Ahh, Yotsuki Hiei," the man says in a smooth tone before his eyes shift lazily over to the late arrival. "And Iwata Michiko, how nice of you to join us." His gaze once more returns to Hiei and the man shakes his head sadly, "I'm afraid I can't do that Raikage. They need to stay and enjoy the show. It's not often you get to see two of the finest shinobi in the world die."
"I was never one of you filthy shinobi," the other Uchiha states with disgust when Shinji confronts him. "You are the traitors, killing for money. Assassin's for hire to the highest bidder. You are a plague on the land. I might have this curse from my family, but I'll use it to make sure you and your friends die!" Well at least that was the plan. Sadly, there had been no intel on another Uchiha being in Kumogakure and while this second phase sharingan was impressive for someone untrained by another Uchiha, it was weak against a full fledged sharingan. There is a grimace as the genjutsu sweeps over Shinji and he drops first to his knees, then to his hands and knees. "Curse you," he spits to the ground.
The man in the center of the village, one Shiro, glances to where the genjutsu battle is currently being waged. "You brought your own Uchiha. Intriguing. I guess I will have to kill you quickly and move on." Shiro quickly brings his hands together and a fraction of a second later there are many of him - and they all charge towards the two Kumo heads.

Hiei continues to stand there as the clones converge on his location. When they move to impact him, it seems that he was swallowed up in the explosion without even trying to defend himself. However, Hiei steps out from the shadows. He had waited until the last possible second to dodge, and then left an afterimage in his place. He cants his head towards Shiro. "You're going to have to do a clan of a lot better than that." The Raikage moves so fast that by the time an attack is even registered, he's on the other side of the man already. For those that can follow, he had attacked him twice as he went by, first by sending a knee towards his gut, then by sending an elbow towards the side of his face.

Michiko gives a light nod to the strange man in greeting, then says, "I'm afraid we're going to have to ruin this show, as I don't plan on dying. And Hiei-san isn't, either." She plans on dying before Hiei, anyway, should she be working with the Raikage in battle. As the clones of fire come at her from all sides, Michiko defends against them all by encasing herself in a dome of metal. Then a small opening appears in the dome, and a barrage of flame bullets appear, covering the ground as the barrier disappears. The metal doesn't go away, though. It simply reforms, sneaking over to this Shiro person and grabbing at him, trying to hold him in place!

Shinji wages a bit of a staring war with the other Uchiha, but his genjutsu ultimately wins the day. To the betrayer, it seems as though the young man is shedding a tremendous aura, slamming him to the ground for lack of ability to stand against the force. Once he's down, the better of the two waits to hear of what the rogue has to say, and none of it answers his question in particular.
"It's true, some of the family does serve the Hidden Village, and we're paid for it. However, we have more honor than to use our /gift/ to massacre innocent villagers. You don't want to reveal your name, then I'll take your face back for someone to recognize. I'd rather not dirty my ears by hearing it, nor let you dirty our first by breathing more of it." A pause. "Maybe, if you'd learned at proper heels, you'd have been a better strategist. Revealing yourself instead of continuing to direct things, sloppy. My move." He flicks a kunai from his sleeve and rather promptly hurls it downward, delivering a coup de grace to his foe's right temple. Family business concluded.
Shinji leaps along the rooftops as quickly as he can thereafter, until his words can reach Hiei's ears. "Hiei, his friend's dead! Take care of him!"

Hanami hears the crackling of the burning paper, the sparks and explosions all in moments. Maybe because she wasn't occupied with anything else at the time, either way she has the wind with her and dash away, twisting and turning gracefully to avoid the various explosions around the area. As the dust settles she looks around to take in the scope of things. So many explosions she had only been able to focus on dodging and staying out the way. First she'd look to see if she can spot the others.

Sachiko wasn't paying as much attention as she should have been, her mind too focused on other thoughts. When the explosion actually happens, she twitches at the sound, but can't move herself quickly enough and just stands there, a bit dumbfounded. She focuses her attention on getting information from all her sentries scattered about the village, trying to find whoever had done this part of the trap. Plus to check on the state of Shinji and his kill. Other than that, she is still, her clothes singed and skin burnt. "Such a fun day out with the husband," she mutters to herself.

The dragon roars again as the Kumo shinobi attack, his scales going so far as to rather simply deflect the blows coming at him by their inherent hardness. Even the hand of earth fails as the jagged edges of the scales shred the earth as the large creature begins to move, lunging into the air for a moment to get itself situated before turning back to head straight towards the two on the ground. It's mouth opens, showing the fine jagged teeth it has as fire once again blossoms and shoots forth. Somehow the creature had mixed it's fire with another jutsu, causing the fire to spread over an area of sorts as it attacked the two shinobi, still bearing down on them at the same time.
Sachiko's extra senses would tell her that the majority of people remaining alive have turned tail and are fleeing. However there are two that have not and have just come out of one of the few buildings that had never caught fire. One is an older man in his late thirties while the other appears to possibly be his son in his early teens. Regardless they both seem quite dangerous. And they both seem to have some very dangerous seals. The old man runs at Sachiko without warning, throwing a seal at her to attempt to drain some of her strength while the younger heads for Hanami, releasing his own seal to try and poison the girl.

Hiei saw how the dragon hardened it's scales from his attack. Which gives him an idea. Hopping backwards, he raises both brows when it roars out more flame towards him. He leaps high into the air, backflipping end over end and then twisting his body in mid-air like a gymnast to land softly with his arms out to the side. One might not believe that a man his size could move like that. He exhales softly. "Alright. So normal attacks are no good. That's good to know." He calls out. "Michiko, keep him busy a sec, would you?" He forms handseals rapidly, though nothing really seems to happen other than he stands there for the time being.
With his shadow clone firmly in place, Hiei stands on a nearby rooftop and holds his palms out in front of him, towards the sky. He closes his eyes as the air around hin becomes super charged with electricity as lightning from his very aura begins to shift and move around his body.

Michiko shakes her head a bit. The ground here was very uncooperative… The girl grumbles lightly, then blinks as fire seems to come at her and rain down. It even seems to hit the girl, but when the flames die, there is a dome of metal where Michiko stood. "Got it, Hiei-San!" she calls out, forming handseals to create a swamp beneath the large dragon. Hopefully the scales will be useless against that! … And hopefully this Watanabe won't be able to fly…

Hanami spots Sachiko, grimly she makes her way toward her, the woman didn't look in the greatest of shapes after those explosions. Then there's an older and younger man stepping out of a building. As she's about to call out the two attack them. Without pausing Hanami gathers wind to her and flings it out at the young man, taking care of his seal and blasting him in the process. "Guess we're not done yet. This stunt of yours is pissing me off." Though really that last part was more meant for the older man bearing down on Sachiko but whatever. Quickly shaping chakrams out of wind chakra she spins them and sends them to hopefully rip into the young man as she hops back a bit to put some distance between them. At least the villagers were gone. Hopefully Michiko and Hiei were doing alright, though mostly likely they're fine. She needs to focus on these guys now.

A seal, huh? Sachiko stands there, seeming to just let it hit her. But her chakra is focused to block any effect the tag is supposed to have on her. She reaches up and peels it off, glancing toward Hanami and the younger man curiously before looking back to the one that attacked her. "Nice try," she says. "The fireworks were a nice display." Then she lazily extends a hand and fires off a lightning bolt at him. Forming seals, she extends her chakra out before more lightning streaks through the air between the men, trying to shock both of them.

The Watanabe doesn't have much luck when it comes down to spotting Hiei in his use of the shadow clone, the dragon landing with a thundering boom only to find himself starting to sink into the ground. Shiro is not pleased by this as he tries to pull himself free, focusing more on that task instead of trying to attack the other two. As well he should be, considering that if he can't escape he's going to be a rather easy target.
The younger of the Mysteries isn't fully able to escape the wind blows that come from Hanami. Though he uses a seal in his hand to ward off the majority of them one of them slices straight through the seal into his arm, causing him to let out a violent string of curses that would make a sailor blush. "Watch your mouth boy!" the older Mystery calls as he uses his own barrier to keep free of Sachiko's attacks. "I hope you're ready to die lady." Almost as one the two pull out more paper bombs and fling them at their respective targets, looking to bring a quick end to the battle.

Hiei's clone runs up to the dragon that's sinking in the swamp and winks at it before it goes *poof*. Meanwhile the real Hiei finishes his jutsu as a large bear shaped out of lightning chakra rears back on it's hind legs and roars loudly before Hiei pushes his palms forwards, sending the construct towards Shiro at the speed of..well…lightning while the swamp has a hold of it.

Michiko grins slightly as she sees Hiei charging his skill out of the corner of her eye. Then the dragon is caught. "I'm not going to let you go… If I can help it…" she murmurs, a long spike of metal coming from the ground. She grips it in her hand, aiming it at the Watanabe. Then… It suddenly shoots out, elongating after she touches the tip to something from her pouch. Once it strikes the dragon, it would 'explode' into many smaller spikes to create massive damage from within while she worked on draining his energy.

Hanami frowns as her attacks mostly fail, eyeing the two they move in sync as their explosive tags come flying at the two of them. She gathers wind to her again and blasts the tag out of harms way to explode off to the side as the wind whips at the young Mystery. As she does that she takes off to dodge the second tag but didn't get enough speed in time as it connects, knocking her back, causing her to cry out in pain. Regaining her feet though she pants a bit, singed over parts of her body but it doesn't kill her determination. "Fine then." Wincing from the pain, she wields her chakram with wind enhanced speed making short slashes in the air before her. Up and down, angled, the wind chakra gathers and starts to form. After several of these she draws more wind chakra to her and actually howls, pushing the constructs at the young Mystery. As it releases one might notice that it forms the shape of a large, angry wolf head. The chakra wolf head moves with blurring speed and an echoing howl, twisting and moving around almost like a stalking wolf making it a bit hard to track. If the attack hits it'll engulf the young man causing the wind 'fangs' to tear into him from all sides.
Once down she doesn't waste time though, moving her hands through the signs she gestures and drops her hand, condensing the air above the two enemies and having it press down upon them to knock them down.

Sachiko raises a brow at the interaction between the two men and then snickers at the words from the older. Her sentries tell her where to move to evade the first tag and she simply shifts out of the way of the second. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not today, my good man. Not today." She moves forward, seeing that her lightning doesn't help much. So she forces chakra to her foot so she can attempt to sweep his legs out from under him, followed by a chakra-infused punch to the chest.

There's little for the dragon to do except for take the blows that come it's way. The lightning jolts the dragon, the element shifting through it's scales and body and giving a momentary image like an xray. Dragon skeleton! That's followed by the spike that pierces the dragon's body, causing even more damage as it roars, then shrinks back down to human form. "You…insolent…shinobi…" Shiro spits, blood coming from his mouth and nose as well as a dozen other wounds that seem much more harsh on the smaller frame. "You think you rule the world…but not for long…we /will/ bring you down…"
As for the Mysteries they are both lucky and unlucky. Junior has a much better success rate this time and manages to use the seal barrier to keep himself safe while the older man tries to jump away from Sachiko only to be caught and thrown onto his back. He grunts in pain at the following strike before he manages to push back away and to his feet again, joining the younger one. They exchange a glance and nod before looking at the two shinobi. "Time for you two to die!" Together they draw out a handful of seals and throw them into the air above the two shinobi, activating them almost immediately and causing a large scale explosion.

Hiei blurs from the rooftop to next to Michiko as he slides both swords into their sheaths. He comes down from his powered up form only to reach down and grip Shiro by the face as he lifts his dead weight up with one hand. "We don't rule the world. We are it's servants. Look around you. These people aren't shinobi. If we are the monsters, then what does that make you?" Hiei curls his free hand into a fist and as lightning crackles from it, he slams it towards the man's chest. If he connects, he'll inject chakra into his central nervous system, causing his muscles to seize up. If he was anything like Donna, he'd try to take himself out. That's going to be more difficult if he can't move.

Michiko shakes her head a bit. "And we won't let you win against us, either. Not with you destroying the lives of innocent people." As she speaks, she flashes through handseals so that bindings of metal shoot up to keep the man all tied up. His muscles are shot, hopefully, and even if he can't move, the bindings should further reduce that risk.

Hanami just goes stone faced, nothing is doing any good against her opponent. Stupid seals, stupid guy… And then they throw out the seals overhead and BAMBAMBAMBAM! Trying to move out of the way failed her as the blasts send her stumbling then knocked back, tumbling across the ground. She hurts. This sucks. Sucking in a deep breath she drags herself up to her feet before focusing her chakra in her breath and releasing it as a swirling vortex toward the two, picking up debris as it goes, and if it manages to hit will cut and smack them around. After that she tries the jutsu again, hands forming the seal and her hand gestures to try and flatten both mystery men with hardened, oppressive air. "Just go down…"she growls.

The Watanabe spits a foul curse at Hiei when the Raikage lifts him up, the motion causing his wounds to scream in pain. "You're…nothing…but…monsters," he manages to get out before Hiei blasts his midsection with the lightning. A surprised shriek of pain escapes the pain and he slumps just as the metal bindings cradle him in his unconscious state.
The two seal users aren't much better off, unfortunately. But as the others before them, they aren't going to get up. Even as they're slammed down the older one says, "It's time!" They manage to channel enough chakra…to ignore the paper seals mummied around their own bodies, causing the sizzling sound a moment before they explode, trying to take Sachiko and Hanami with them.

Hiei drops Shiro and looks at Michiko. "Prepare him for transport." Then he looks off back to where Sachiko and Hanami were still fighting. He could sense the chakra output from their battle and as much as he wants to go back and fight for them both, he stops himself. They would never learn to fly on their own if he intervened, and Sachiko would never forgive him. He growls a little softly and begins to walk back towards where they are, making no moves to hurry himself. They were well trained. They'd be okay..or heaven help these people if they weren't.

Michiko nods and heals a few of the wounds of the Watanabe just so there's little danger of him dying. Can't have that, now! The girl then just proceeds to drag him, whistling for the horses to come over here ASAP so she doesn't have to drag the prisoner all over the place. She doesn't even think about helping Hanami or Sachiko, admittedly, mostly because she's confident that they'll get the job done.

Hanami keeps her feet after her attacks, getting a bit of satisfaction as she watches the two smacked around by her vortex only to be slammed down. The brief satisfaction vanishes when she hears the familiar crackling just before the two of them explode. As they explode she swears and moves to dodge out of the way when suddenly Sachiko is there. Leaving her a bit stunned at the woman's willingness to just take the punishment. Stunned she may be for a moment, but safe regardless. Family if she died or something Hiei would kill her no doubt…then again she didn't remember Sachiko really getting hurt. That was her department tonight. Either way Hanami will move in to grab Sachiko if she falls or at least support her if needed and look to see what's left of their opponents.

Nope. No way Sachiko was letting this happen. She swiftly moves, standing before Hanami with a reassuring smile. She wraps her arms loosely around the younger girl, not actually holding her in place but rather just providing more shielding from the explosion. The chakra she flooded her back with was a little delayed in taking its proper place, leaving her some burns, but mostly fine. She withdraws a little from Hanami and turns to look at the destruction left, breathing a little heavier than before. With a sigh, she shakes her head and looks to the girl with a shrug. "Only so much we could do, I guess… Those jerks." The poor village… She then looks toward the center, wondering how it was going at that end. Seems like it's going well, judging by the chakra levels, at least.

The rest of the villanous folk have fled, leaving behind only the one now captured and the three dead. People from the village are hanging out a good distance away behind where the shinobi went in, looking at their homes now that they managed to put out the majority of fires. At least half the buildings were nothing but char and ash. The others were all damaged in some way, either with a lick of fire or from the men beating it up before. While the villagers are grateful and give the shinobi their thanks, there is little they can do except start the long rebuilding process.
The shinobi would be offered food and drink though that's limited to a few loaves of bread and some water. One of the least damaged houses is offered for a night's sleep as well, the people showing their gratitude in the only way they still can…

Just as Sachiko was wondering about the other battle, Hiei steps out into the light from the shadows. From what it looks, he doesn't have a scratch on him and his swords are sheathed as they were before he left. He looks at the smear spot that used to be the father and son team before he walks towards Hanami and Sachiko. He frowns slightly and then he speaks. "We're staying here for the night. Help them rebuild a little before we leave tomorrow. They're offered us food and shelter. Michiko will ride back to Kumogakure with our prisoner and make sure that he is secured in one of our chakra resistant cells." He motions behind him. "If you're hurt, see Michiko before she leaves. Then help the villagers get things sorted out as best you can." He whistles and Snake Eyes runs over to him. He swings up into the saddle. "I'm going to go kill a couple of deer, so that there is more food. I'll be gone an hour." He would go run down a couple of buck and carry them back. It wouldn't be much, but it would be some meat for a few families at the very least.

Michiko manages to get the prisoner onto Roadblock safely, keeping him tied in place with rope. Then she leads her horse over to see Sachiko and Hanami, frowning at the condition of both. "Please excuse me," she says, moving to heal them. Her hands glow green with healing chakra, and unless they refuse, she would start healing some of the more nasty looking wounds.

Hanami gives a tired smile to Sachiko, "Thank you," then the smile fades as she looks around. So much gone…she shivers, this night hadn't gone that well at all. She looks to Hiei and Michiko with their prisoner, at least that much went well. Then again many of the villagers were still alive. That was something, it was a start. She begins to make her way to the other two but they seem to be coming there way. Instead she just stands, trying not to look as bad as she probably does at this point. When the two are close enough she calls out, "Glad you two got a prisoner. Ours killed themselves like the other one before we could stop them. What's up with the whole suicide bomber thing?" She shakes her head, kind of talking to herself more but she listens to Hiei and nods, "I'm glad we can help them out at least a little bit in rebuilding." And then Michiko is there, and the healing feels good, causing her to sigh, "Thanks Michiko…wasn't much at my best tonight, sorry you guys." She would probably then excuse herself to go lay down, unless anyone needed her for anything more. Maybe get a little something to eat but mostly it was some rest she needed after this, though her dreams certainly weren't all that light and cheerful.

The redhead smiles at Hiei, shaking her head in bemusement at his condition. As Michiko approaches, she nods her head and stands still for healing. "Thanks, Michiko," she murmurs. "I'll be sure we have the tools and fire to prepare and cook the meat, hun. See you when you get back," she offers to her husband before turning to do just what she said — set up what was needed for cooking. Afterward, she'd start helping with whatever she could to get this village back up and running. She was pretty tired already, but she could sleep at home and after all this, she'd sleep like a log.

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