Starring:
Date: October 9, 2012
Summary:
Shuuren hires a sweeper team to clear out a town of bandits in exchange for the locals to join his company.
Poster's note: Foul language filtered in obvious places.
"What Kaguya do Best"
Inside the Land of Water
As the sun begins to make its ascent above the horizon and into the sky, Nagamura Shuuren stands in front of a small ship with his arms folded over his chest. A message would have reached the three Kaguya for this mission last night, calling for them to be here promptly at sunrise this morning.
The details of the mission were quite clear. A small farm town on an island eastward toward the Land of the Moon has been taken over by a gang of bandits. The bandits have killed quite a few of the townfolk and seem to be set on doing whatever the please to them and their town. What they don't take for themselves in crops, they seem to be destroying carelessly. Most of the profits that could have been made from their crops have already been destroyed. The mission is to clean the town of the bandits in whatever way possible, but the money is coming straight from Shuuren himself. In exchange for this and to help them get back on their feet, the town's ruined crops will be traded for things Shuuren's pharmaceutical company needs to be help make production rates higher. In the long run, this may actually make the town much more wealthy than before the invasion.
Kiku has spent a lot of her time near Shuuren. SHe's been silent, and focused. The whole time, the woman has acted professional so far. She's even behaved herself, and hasn't kissed Shuuren once! Yes, when it comes to work, Kiku knows the rules, and unlike certain Twins, obeys those rules. So for now, its off to go kill some invaders.
Tsiro was more than happy to work with Yuuka on this mission. However when the young boy found out Kiku was going to be on it, he became less than enthusiastic. She had been different lately to him. It was like she had something to hide or seemed to think less of him. Either way it was not something Tsiro would dwell on. It was still early morning and the sun had not risen yet. "You coming Sensei? If we do not hurry, we may end up being late." the boy states over his shoulder as he moves. It was not that Tsiro actually cared about being late. He was Kaguya. A shinobi that was born specialized in brutal death. To him it did not matter if that death came at sunrise when the sky showed the crimson shades or if it came at noon without so much symbolism in the sky.
As he arrives, the boy offers a nod to Kiku and then one to the customer. His last mission for Shuuren was not so bad. Tsiro actually kind of liked killing bandits. They were the perfect victim. No one seemed to care if blood lust was satisfied on those with shady morales. It was something people did not question.
Mornings were never a strong suit for Yuuka, though this past year has tested just that as many a night had been spent trying to lull a cranky baby girl to sleep. Still, she hated leaving her with her grandfather, but at least this kept tears from being spilled. It crushed her heart to see Yuriko so upset to see her mother leaving, for whatever reason. So early in the morning she and woke up, prepared for the mission and left quickly, her aquamarine eyes staring absently at the sky while they walked. The boy's voice pulls her out of her thoughts as Yuuka blinks at him, the corner of her lips tugging with a small smile. Without a word she quickens her pace, easily making it to the dock before risking being late. "Good morning everyone." Pushing herself up on the boat, Yuuka breathes softly.
Shuuren glances over to Kiku every so often, a light smirk tugging at his lips as he waits for the others to arrive. Being able to tame this Kaguya is probably the accomplishment of the century. As the others arrive, Shuuren gives a nod to each. "Good morning. Let's go, shall we?" he asks before turning to walking up the ramp onto the ship. He moves over to a mechanism to holds the anchor and pulls a lever that makes it begin to coil the cain up. A few crew members on board begin quickly working to get the ship ready to take off, and, a few moments after the team has boarded, Shuuren is at the helm of the ship sailing it off toward the island. A few chairs sit near the deck, a couple near the helm since he figures Kiku will want to be near him. There's also a pretty nice cabin just off the deck for them if they'd like to rest or eat something from the ice cooler.
Kiku does take a seat near Shuuren. She's still silent though as her mind goes on focusing on the task at hand. She was already briefed on it, and knows the basic plan already. She had also asked Shuuren to check her bone growth, as she was worried that she was about to undergo another bit of wild growth…
Tsiro knew Yuuka was having a rough time leaving Yuriko behind. Who wouldnt? If their missions did not involve death and destruction, then he would have personally brought the child along. "You holding up alright sensei?" he asks. He was not sure if she would give a real answer or hide it. It was irrelevant either way. Yuriko was safe with Takeshi bar any village disasters.
siro then boards the ship when suggested. He finds a nice spot next to the cabin. Though he does not go inside, he leans against it and closes his eyes for a little bit. He wanted to take in the smell of the ocean air. That air helped him get lost in his own memories. A world all his own. It reminded him of his last mission. This time without the final screams of a political figure and his wife and child. The shinobi life was a dual edged blade. Sometimes it was awesome. Other times it sucked. There was no other way to put it. For now though, the boy would rest his mind. That ocean air seemed to hold many memories. Some of them were happier than others.
Taking a seat on the starboard side, Yuuka exhales a small breath as she glances forward, seeing Kiku naturally take a seat next to Shuuren at the helm. The girl sure was clingy. A pale brow lifts a she turns her head to glance at Tsiro, her expression softening with an appreciative smile for his concern. "Well enough. I know she will be fine. It just means we will have to spoil her a small bit when we get back." Yuuka chuckles lightly. Leaning against the wall behind her she exhales another slow breath and turns her face into the salty ocean breeze, silently awaiting their destination.
The ship ride goes on for a few hours, Shuuren sailing the ship hurriedly toward the island. As they approach it, several small fires are visible in some of the fields on the island. The former Jounin's eyes narrow slightly as he looks over the tattered island. The town begins about a half mile past the shore, its 'gates' nothing more than an opening in a small wooden fence. Several bandits are seen around town, terrorizing its residents. "The leader supposedly hangs out in the pub most of the time. Normally I'd like to arrest some of them, but feel free to kill them if necessary," he says as the ship pulls into the dock, and one can already see a few bandits running toward the docks to meet them.
Kiku looks at Shuuren, and then looks back at the greeters. She sighs a bit, and gets up. SHe moves over to the pier, hopping off the boat. As they charge at her, the girl focuses her chakra, and then looks over at the men. She tries to catch each one in the eye, hoping to drop each one down to their knees. She's trying to hold them down with her genjutsu, so that the others can kill the group with easy and silence.
Tsiro hears the orders given when they arrive. He opens his eyes and starts to move from the wall he had leaned against for the trip. He was pleased that they were all but given a green light to kill the bandits infecting the town. As he drops off the ship onto the dock, he walks right past the bandits that Kiku has subdued. He cares not for how she deals with them. For all he cared, she could be trying to rewrite their minds. It was simply more humane to kill them, but that was a decision for her.
As Tsiro approaches the hole in the wooden fend, he raises a foot and kicks it in. Soon bones are growing out of his chest, ribs, back and palms. "Come on out!" the boy yells. He was looking to gather a crowd of bandits.
Yuuka narrows her aquamarine eyes quietly when the boat begins approaching an island only after a couple of hours. The thin streams of smoke rising steadily into the air… it was ominous to what would be found inland. Eventually what used to be the gates of the town itself, now only a visible pile of ruins. Hints of the bandits' presence still evident as if a dark cloud hanging over the village, some even running towards the docks with the clear intent to meet them. As the boat begins to steadily slow as it docks, Kiku and Tsiro both move with purpose. The bandits were asking for it already, but they were doomed against three Kaguya shinobi. Both hit the deck first before Yuuka pushes slowly to her feet, a hand loosely tucked into the edge of her kimono as she steps onto the wooden dock. With a gust of wind both sleeves are caught, pulled backwards from her pale skin to reveal the stark white bone wrapped around her chest like an armored corset, an arm reaching up over her slender shoulder as if preparing to withdraw a sword from her back that wasn't even there.
The bandits here are definitely not scared to challenge the incoming shinobi, as several of them run out with blades drawn to strike at Tsiro. Several attempt to get by him and to try and help the ones currently under Kiku's Genjutsu as well as go after Yuuka. Shuuren himself stays on the ship for now, waiting for the crewmen to tie off at the dock. "These idiots never learn," he says with a smirk as he watches from the helm, folding his arms over his chest.
Kiku blinks a few times as Tsiro runs past her, and past the bandits. She sighs a bit as she starts to walk towards her bandits, and pushes them into the water. She watches them fall into the water, and drown. Nothing like being paralyzed, and drown cause you can't move. Kiku watches the Killer Kidling run off to have some fun as she looks back at Yuuka, and sighs…
A smile forms on the face of Tsiro as a couple of bandits come out to meet him. "Dance of the Larch, larch spin." He states before turning on his foot. The boy twisted his body around and around until he turned into a small tornado of bone blades that tore into his enemies. He was not worried about those that had been able to get past him. The others could take care of them. After all, whats a party without group participation?
Seems like Kiku and Tsiro are enjoying themselves. Youth.
Any bandits that manage to make it close enough to Yuuka instantly fall, after the first her arm falls to her side with the visible bone sword curled beneath her grip. The ones that did fall to their knees grip at their throats furiously, blood seeping between their fingers. Every single bandit that dashes at her end up the same way, their throats slashed and collapsed on the ground while their life escapes through their fingers. Flashy jutsu is well enough, but Yuuka only uses calm, calculated precision.
Between the three of them, the first wave of bandits is easily thwarted. However, the commotion has begun to drag a rather large group of bandits out of the buildings they were in and into the town square. Dozens off them walk out, wielding blades, clubs, and such and preparing for a fight. "Bring it on!" a few of them shout in turn, apparently thinking they are invincible or something just because they've been able to so easily abuse the people of this town.
Kiku watches as the other two take out the bandits with Taijutsu. Now Kiku doesn't actuall have a seal that can offically kill, but she does have something that rather nasty, and clean. She ducks under a club from one of the bandits, and grabs him by the neck. She rushes through a crowd up against a way, and then slams the bandit into the wall. She lets go of him, and forms a barrier that flattens against the wall…Crushing the man…
Tsiro's eyes widen in anticipation of the new group. He raises his hands with bones protruding from them. "Come, die by my hand!" he yells outwards as he starts another dance. This time instead of spinning around in place, he began to weave through the bandits, evading their slashes as he made his own with his elbows and hands. At one point he lodges a bone from his palm into a man's skull. He then releases the bone and moves behind him, pushing him into a group of men. Once they have moved the recently deceased away from themselves, a shot of bone bullets fire outwards into the group from Tsiro's hand. He was off in a world of his own and enjoying the hamlet out of it.
The closer inland they move, the more bandits seem to swarm from the buildings themselves. Yuuka narrows her aquamarine eyes quietly as she tightens the grip on her blade, ignoring the gathering bandits completely as she instead shifts her attention to the actual buildings. Searching for the aforementioned pub. Finding it easily enough Yuuka turns and approaches the entrance, slashing the throats of any bandit that rushes her and letting them fall by the wayside. "Who is leading this group?" her voice projects. If she wasn't noticed previously, she sure was now.
As Tsiro calls out for the bandits to come, they do just that. Dozens of them rush both him and Kiku. Were they actual shinobi, this would likely seem a hopeless fight. However, since they are just normal men who are simply trained by life in combat, they fall much easier.
Inside the pub, all the bandits inside look up as the woman takes down the men at the entrance. "That'd be me," a rather large man says as he stands, gesturing toward her. What this means becomes rather apparent as every bandit in the bars drops what he is doing to charge at the Kaguya woman while he himself moves toward the back in an attempt to flee.
Kiku sighs a bit as Tsiro makes more work for her. The woman ducks under the first attack, and then spins away from a second attack. The third attack comes dangeriously close to her neck before she leans back away form the blade, and under it. The man spins around after crashing into his friends. She spins around in place, and brings out her huge camellia blade. The woman beheads the trio as she looks back at Tsiro with a look of annoyance…
There was not a whole lot of care in Tsiro's attitude. This was his stress release. With each slash of bone, blood splattered across the buildings on both sides of him. The wounds he had inflicted on the bandits were most certainly fatal. They never seemed to end and he never seemed to get tired of striking each of them down. It was almost orgasmic for the young Kaguya to have such an endless supply of bandits.
As they clustered together around him, a few lucky shots were delivered to the boy. Mainly slashes to the back or to the arms. With each sensation of pain, the boy seemed to enjoy the battle even more. "My mother hits harder and she's dead!" the Kaguya yells out in response to the slice on his back. Soon he is spinning and truly painting the town red. Yuuka can have the leader and Kiku can do whatever it is she was doing. Tsiro had not a care in the world…
A flicker of something darker shades her expression for a fraction on an instant as the corner of her lips tugs with a hint of annoyance. "Spineless coward." Yuuka mutters under her breath as her free hand reaches up over her shoulder. Then in one smooth motion the woman throws the length of her right arm forward, releasing her grip on the sword in her hand just as her left pulls at the base of her spine, blood visibly seeping between the stark white vertebrae. Everything seems to collide together, all happening at once as the thrown sword arches through the air straight at the retreating leader, morphing into a net of vines as it flies to catch and ensnare its target. All the while the spine is pulled free of her body and whipped outwards in a wide horizontal arch, knocking back several dozen rushing bandits.
While Kiku takes on fewer bandits and Tsiro seems to be killing them in droves, Shuuren is seen leaping up onto one of the taller buildings in the area to watch from above. His arms fold over his chest again as he watches the handywork of the Kaguya. They really are a brutal bunch, but that is what he hired them for.
Inside the pub, the bandit leader is caught by the vine of bone as the others are knocked down. "What do you people want?! This isn't Kirigakure! Why do you even care about this place?" he yells out in rage he is trapped by, the other men standing up and attempting to charge Yuuka once again.
Kiku isn't somebody who is great at fighting large droves yet. She has to pick her spots carefully, and attack their weaknesses. What she's really great at though is defense. As a group surrounds her, Kiku moves into an alleyway, and forces them to come after her a few at a time. Her large sword doesn't help her much here, but the woman does have other ways of fighting.
As they attack her, Kiku looks at them, and gives them a does of her Hell Viewing Technique. She tries to send her bandits back towards Mister Happy over there killing folks, Tsiro.
Somehow a bandit managed to get close enough to punch Tsiro in the face. You know the type of hit to the nose that makes your eyes water and you possibly think your crying. This was not quite that. This was the same spot except it managed to anger Tsiro. The boy's eyes were watering, but that did not matter. He needed not see the man to kill the man. As his head jerked back, the boy's fist rose and returned the hit to the face, except that there was a bone sticking out of his palm. The end of the bone exited out the back of the man's head only to lodge into a wooden board making up the wall of what would have been the general store. Feeling this, Tsiro chose to release the bone from his hand and return to the heavenly carnage he was enjoying.
The fingers slowly uncurl from the end of the long spine whip as it begins to move on its own accord, rising into the air much like the head of a snake. And as the bandits struggle to get up on their feet to charge at her again, the spine whips at them once more in a wide arc, slamming hard and crushing ribs. "You think that really matters? The Land of Water is still our domain…" Yuuka silently lifts her right hand, purely a visual gesture as the bone netting completely ensnaring the large bandit leader steadily lift up off of the ground. Soon he finds himself floating in midair, helplessly hovering and wildly kicking his legs. Narrowing her gaze on her capture prize, the corner of her lip curls with a small scowl as she mutters, "If there are any of you left alive still, stay down and I will not bother hunting you like animals later."
As he is lifted in the air, the bandit leader seems a little too distracted to answer Yuuka back. If any of the bandits are still alive, they seem to have decided to take the Kaguya's advice and play dead. Outside, the numbers of bandits seem to be dwindling more and more. The scene has turned from a sea of bandits into a sea of corpses with only a few bandits left. "Looks like this is coming to a close. May have to send a cleanup crew to handle all this blood, though."
Kiku sighs as she leaves a bandit whose gouging his eyes out after seeing hell. She moves over to Shuuren, and sighs a little bit. "You, me, beach.", she tells. The girl purrs a little bit. "Besides, there was no challenge in this. They weren't really shinobi. There wasn't a fight here…"
The first glimpse of reality comes to Tsiro as he notices the bandits are running out and that his fun is coming to an end. "Come on…" the boy pleads as he drops the last couple of bandits near him. He then looks around at all of the blood splattered over the village walls. A smile forms on his face as he looks towards Shuuren. He had only seen a blood bath like this once before. That event ended with Kiku dropping a house on him. A growl escapes the boy's lips as he remembers how she interrupted his fight. That devil stole his kill… Now his breathing was a bit heavier.
The hovering form of the entangled bandit leader emerges from the pub entrance before Yuuka, her aquamarine eyes blinking slowly as she looks over their handiwork littering the road. Piles of corpses and a river of blood. The only thing missing was the harsh glow of a fierce blaze. She firms her jaw subtly before turning her pale head to glance over her shoulder, spying Shuuren on the nearby rooftop overseeing everything. "I figured you might have some use for this one, so I saved him for you especially."
With a flicker, Shuuren appears on the ground near Kiku. He glances around, surveying the carnage before looking to the man floating along with Yuuka. "Ah, this fool. I'm sure I can make some use for him, perhaps as a message to all his kind, if this one isn't big enough." With that, he gestures toward the ship, saying, "The townfolk will handle the burying of all these bodies since they are now in my employ. I'll come back once they've finished that to tend to my other business with them. Shall we get back to Kirigakure?"
Kiku nods her head. "I agree. I want to head back home, and get some strawberries. I didn't get my shipment yet.", she pouts. The woman looks back over at Tsiro. She shakes her head a little bit, and moves under Shuuren's arm. She purrs a little bit, quite content there.
Tsiro walks back to the ship covered in blood. He cared not for the bandit leader or what happened to him. As his eyes spotted Kiku, the boy simply shook his head. She was a trained Kaguya woman. That was like being a shaved lion or a toothless tiger. She seemed to have no pride in her clan. Tsiro simply continues on to the spot where he had rested for the trip earlier. He leans up against the wall once more and closes his eyes. He seems oblivious to the fact there is blood staining the wall.
Unlike Tsiro or Kiku, Yuuka's clothes were completely spotless as the group make their way to the docks once more. The hovering, entangled form of the bandit leader settles on the boat deck as she slips quietly on board. Looking at the others, the young woman smiles lightly to herself with a bit of pride to see the next generation in the midst of battle. Maybe one day they will be able to protect the clan just like how she strives to do just that.
