Fandom Naruto: Leaves in the Wind

[KnightOfNight]

It was a mere month after the grueling Bandit Eradication War and Summer had finally arrived in Konohagakure. On what seemed to be a normal day, three teams of chunin were called by the jonin that trained them. Each one in a hurry to see them and quickly left after giving them their missions, mentioning some sort of meeting.

Squad 2
CNHart Kloudy Shining Wizard
Squad 3's former teacher, Ryouta was a young man that seemed to age a month for every week that passed recently. Some people had suggested it was due to the actions of the squad he trained but he was always quick to deny this. When he had gone over the mission details, there didn't seem to be a lot to it. Fishing boats hadn't been seen off the coast for days and it seemed odd.

After roughly a day's travel, Squad 3 finally got the village in sight and the problem was clear from the start. The boats weren't at dock, but their sails had been ripped from the masts. Furthermore, not a single person could be seen on the boats or at the docks, surely the fishermen would be doing their best to fix this. As the party turned their focus from the boats to the village, they could see the windows had been boarded up from the inside, as if they feared something lurking outside.


Squad 5
Scion rennuelaw clarinetti
When they came across their former teacher, Osamu, had smelled of alcohol. Of course this wasn't anything new, but he still managed to outdo himself every time they found him. This time he was sitting under a bridge and looked as if he had been there all day. Struggling to get through his words, he finally just grunted and handed Kotone a piece of paper before stumbling off somewhere. On the paper, it had explained that a group of experienced hunters had gone missing in the woods and it was a simple find and rescue mission, but under the neatly written text the words "please be careful, you're like daughters to me" was sloppily added on. Despite the time spend with his squad, Osamu refused to accept that Kotori was a boy.

The woods weren't far from Konohagakure, but it wasn't a pleasant walk in the heat. Adding onto that, the natural music of the wind and wildlife was missing. Eventually, the squad came to a clearing where the remains of a recent camp was hastily buried.

Squad 9
Duwang Ixacise Fearlesstiger (to join in later)
Rikuto had been waiting for his former squad at a ramen cart and before going into the details of the mission, went into a speech about the wonders of easily obtainable food at any time. Luckily for the team, this did eventually lead into the mission briefing. A nearby farm hadn't been heard from recently and concerns were growing. Before leaving, Rikuto ordered Neru and Katsuyoshi their favorite bowls and reminded them that Niji would be late, if he showed at all, due to his condition.

When the duo arrived at the farm, it felt as if dozens of eyes were watching them and none of them friendly. The crops had been ravaged by hands unskilled in farming, that much was clear. All that seemed to be left were the rice paddies to the north but no one was out there, in fact, no one at all could be seen.

 

[Scion]

Kotone was once again, as she tended to be when encountering her teacher, very tempted to embrace Osamu with a hug or a pat to the shoulder to insist things would be okay. While she had given up hope on trying to get Osamu to drink less, the former courtier at least wanted to keep her squad's inebriated mentor out in a good mood. It was the very least she could do. But that grunt he gave was a very distinctive one, to most who encountered Osamu they could at least have a general understand of what his grunts meant. Kotone had interpreted this grunt to be one of his 'sour grunts', which meant that he wanted to be left alone to well, do things that a polite lady would never say in public. She took the teacher's note and after reading it she glanced back to Naoko and Kotori and spoke.

"Our most esteemed sensei has given us a very important task that we are to undertake, it appears that there has been an incident, so to say, which has caused the disappearance of our countrymen. If you wish for me to be more specific on the nature of our countrymen, I shall do so as our teacher noted it to us with his fine penmanship. The individuals missing are hunters who have gone missing in the woods of the land, which can be acknowledged as a strange event. My apologizes for describing it as strange without explaining why it is, I shall do so now, these hunters were apparently quite skilled so it seems odd that they would be lost in the woods by themselves. Our most esteemed sensei has tasked us with finding these individuals, which hopefully should not be too dangerous as they..." Kotone blinked as she stared at the message, using her left hand she cupped her mouth as the words of the page reflected that belief. Oh dear did they still think Kotori was...

Not wanting to potentially infuriate one of her squad-mates Kotone crumbled up the paper into a ball and stuffed it into her satchel tied to the sash of her kimono. "Our sensei just wishes us to be careful in this task they wish for us to complete. Nothing more, nothing less. If I may state, which please forgive me if I seem too direct in this I just wish to repeat the wishes our sensei is asking of us, we should be quick in reaching the site as you never know during a missing persons case how long it will take to find. And we, forgive me if I do not state your interests I do not intend to misrepresent you, should be quick in this so we can get these esteemed members of society back home where they belong."

....

Kotone was panting as she reached the site, and was leaning over herself as she begun to catch her breath. The heat of the sun had seemed to have really taken a toll on her, and the (former) courtier wished to regain her composure before analyzing the site. After a few moments she stretched back up, placing her right hand on her temple to keep the sun's glare away from her eyes as she looked from side to side. What she saw was, rather strange, this camping ground was clearly fresh yet there was no trace of life here. The very animals themselves did not appear to make a noise.

Looking back to her squadmates the Kotone once again spoke. "If I might make a suggestion, we should examine the composition of these grounds, perhaps look for any tracks. But might I suggest, forgive me if this suggestion sounds like it is obvious I just wish to express my personal concerns you do not need to heed them if you don't feel as if they need to be heeded, be careful approaching these grounds. They look, odd. Not to mention the very animals themselves do not make a noise here despite the fact that nature itself is usually ripe with harmonies. So please, take care would you?"

clarinetti rennuelaw KnightOfNight

 

[CNHart]

Deadly silent, the day turned significantly sour for Tamatsuki, compared to the short while before entering the village. The atmosphere melted into the scenery; a concoction that would surely make anyone unfamiliar with it shake in their boots. Between the boarded windows, the mysterious fishing boats, the lack of villagers busying themselves with everyday life; it’d take a fool to not notice how strange the situation was.

The dirty blonde-haired Shinobi swept a careful gaze to and fro, subsequently speaking in a quieted but not totally hushed tone, “We should check the houses, if something were waiting for us; they would have seen us coming long before we stepped foot in the village,” he deduces, confidently; towards his fellow team members, he glances at Kotegiri in particular, “You don’t recall noticing anything on the way here, right, Masamune?”

He paused, waiting for the answer whilst taking in the sight of the ominous setting before them once more, “Shizuka, when we move in; take the rear. Masamune and I will move in side by side, but spread out at a five meter spacing,” he waits for a sign of approval from both of his peers before advancing further.

Shining Wizard | Kloudy | KnightOfNight

Tamatsuki = ♣

 

[Shining Wizard]

Kotegiri had always hated the seaside. The way the sand and shells crunched underneath her geta as she walked. The scent of rotting kelp that settled over everything like a wet blanket. The stinging sensation of the sea breeze against her skin which made her feel like she could begin rusting at any moment. Not to mention the prospect of having to go out on the open ocean, which was sure to be a bad time regardless of whether or not she got to fight a cool sea monster. Absentmindedly picking her nose as she wandered into the village, Kotegiri's thoughts were occupied with a singular question: What kind of oneliner would you even use when you were facing down a sea monster?

Looking up at the mention of her family name, Kotegiri craned her head backwards to look at Orphan and Casual. As usual, she hadn't really been listening to whatever Casual had been saying; but she'd heard somewhere that a leader had to, like, acknowledge their underlings sometimes. She flicked a booger at Casual for emphasis.

"Aight that's cool and all but give me a minute cuz I got a waaaaay better plan."

Without waiting for a response, Kotegiri walked up to the nearest hut, took a deep breath to center herself, and then just started kicking the door as hard as she could.

"OI, GET ON OUT HERE! THE BLADE OF JUSTICE HIKES ALL THE WAY OUT TO MEET YOU BACKWATER HICKS, AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS COWER IN YOUR SHACK? WHERE'S YOUR SENSE OF HOSPITALITY, YOU BASTAAAAARDS!?"

CNHart Kloudy KnightOfNight

 

[Ixacise]

The long trek had finally come to an end, it was an uneventful trip into the boonies and sure enough they were at a farm. "Hey Katsuyoshi, let's poke around the farm and maybe head towards those rice fields before we bother the locals." He said as he began inspecting the damaged crops. Just as the reports said, the crops were crudely harvested and all sorts of physical damage had been inflicted on the various plants with some even being completely uprooted. Whatever did it definitely wasn't human, there should be some presence as he really doubted some world class ninja was resorting to poaching from a farmer in a such a roughshod manner.

"So my plan is we head to the rice fields and go kick its ass. We're not alone and probably being watched already. The paddies seems like a good place to check out as it's probably got something there, probably a trap. But hey, if we get the jump on them first, we can probably throw derail their plan." Neru said to him in a low voice, as he didn't want their plans to be too easily heard. He then added, "Of course, if you wanna keep investigating the area here that's fine too, I just believe our destination is that paddy."


Duwang Fearlesstiger

 

[KnightOfNight]

After stumbling away from the girls (and boy) he considered to be his daughters, Osamu came up with a genius plan, or at least something resembling one to his drunken mind. If he couldn't watch after them himself, he'd get someone else to, it was just a matter of who. The few people he could consider his friends were likely going to the same meeting as he was so they were out of the question. He pondered on this for some time before just the right person passed into his view. A girl dressed in black with a long flowing scarf had walked directly into Osamu's path and was promptly pushed out of the way as he continued to a large young man.

While he slurred his words some, it wasn't as bad as it usually was as he hadn't taken a sip for at least five minutes. "Heyyu, gointhaoods 'n maak shure my girls 're safe. I jusdun truss this misshun." Osamu then looked the young man over again before continuing his rambling. "Jusdun g'kissinem. Got it?!" He then pointed in the direction of the woods, as best as he could remember, and waved the man off.



Yasu stumbled as a man that smelled like he drank an entire brewery shoved her to the side. "It's not even noon!" She couldn't help but feel a little frustrated over the man's rudeness, but decided not to dwell on it as she continued on her way. She didn't want to be late for her side job after all.

Zerohex

 

[Duwang]

In his left hand, Katsuyoshi held a cup of iced tea bought from the ramen store. He was, for the most part, content. He got to work his charms on the girl at the cart before his teammate and mentor arrived, he got to eat his favorite tonkatsu ramen made from his favorite bone broth that made him feel like a caveman. His right hand was at his side, which was a typical look for Katsuyoshi, always ready to unsheathe his sword and fight if the moment called for it while still maintaining the all-too-casual look one might expect from such a person.

As Neru spoke, Katsuyoshi responded mostly in the affirmative, nodding his head. His jutsu wasn't exactly inconspicuous, requiring quite the long sequence of hand signs to actually work as intended, depending on how he intended it to work. When the pair was finally at the farms, Katsuyoshi continued to lead Neru toward the rice patties, signalling to his partner with an "ok" hand sign, letting him know what he wanted to do.

The two were together for quite some time, having been partners as genin. They were the underdog team but that didn't mean that their sensei didn't try, and boy did he try. Finally, before reaching the rice patties, Katsuyoshi signaled with a balled fist for Neru to stop. He took the last sip of his drink, then slowly lowered it down. After, he calmly but quickly processed through the hand signs required for his hidden jutsu.

Clearing his thoughts, Katsuyoshi attempted to read the thoughts around him, hoping that he could parse through all of them and estimate the amount of people who were hiding out in the rice fields as well as whether or not they were friendly.

 

[Fearlesstiger]

Despite missing the initial mission briefing it didn't take long for Niji to track down his former sensei and get the rundown on what was happening. He wasn't too far behind his squad but each time he had to stop to rest the gap grew wider. When he finally reached the farm he was quite confused, it felt like he was being watched yet there was barely anyplace for someone to be hiding. Shaking off the bad feeling he began to look around for anything that was related to the mission.

Looking around at the destroyed crops it was obvious whoever did it lacked experience. Niji couldn't really tell if the culprit was even human since the way the crops were handled had no real consistency to it. The problem was he didn't really have any knowledge of local wildlife so he didn't know what sort of animals or insects would consume the crops. Putting the theory out of his mind for now he walked toward the surviving rice paddies. Hopefully his squad hadn't run into trouble without him.
Ixacise Duwang

 

[rennuelaw]

A soft scoff of annoyance and disbelief escaped Kotori's lips as he and his teammates found their sensei under the bridge, sitting there like some kind of drunken hobo. Despite the fact Kotori had come to care and consider Osamu as something of a father figure, despite the man's refusal to address to him by his proper pronouns, he had long since given up on trying to get the man to stop drinking. With a roll of his eyes when Osamu struggled to speak before giving Kotone a note to read to the rest of the team, Kotori proceeded to cross an arm across his chest while raising his other hand to his face to check his nails as Kotone began to read the note in an overly formal manner, yet another thing he gave up on trying to get one of his teammates to stop doing. They all did things that used to do things that annoyed him that he gave up on trying to change, he would say that he had just stopped caring but deep down he knew it was because he had come to care for them all, flaws and all.

"Please don't drink yourself into a coma, you dumbass." He said to Osamu after Kotone stopped talking before turning to his teammates and jerking his head in the direction of the forest as a way to say 'Let's go' before taking off.

------

To someone who wasn't observant or didn't know Kotori that well would think he was just fine but the slight heaving of his chest, the faint presence of sweat on his mocha skin, his clenched jaw and the piercing look in his eyes showed just how tired he really was and just how much of a foul mood the heat had put him in. When Kotone began speaking, he looked at with an unconscious glare though she was probably used to his unintentional glares at this point. He nodded at what she said before turning his piercing gaze to the ground, examining it.

Interactions: Scion clarinetti KnightOfNight

 

[KnightOfNight]

Squad 9
Duwang Ixacise Fearlesstiger

When Katsuyoshi reached out to the surrounding area with his mind, the first thoughts he could pick up were of fear. Outside of that, they seemed to have little idea of what was going on around them but one image stood out in their minds. A jizō statue with a peculiar expression, as if it were mocking the fearful people for looking to him for help. Then, something far more sinister entered his mind. The images of Neru and himself from every angle, and a feeling of malevolent glee. The images didn't make sense, many of the angles had nowhere for someone to hide, not even the most skilled of shinobi could hide behind the shoddy, waist-high signpost behind them.

But before he could figure it out, some of the thoughts changed suddenly to Niji, who had just arrived at the edge of the farm. Whoever was watching them now knew about their back up and... Niji's smell? One of the minds Katsu could sense was close enough to smell Niji but he didn't seem to notice it. He was in serious trouble.

 

[clarinetti]

Squad 5: Naoko Aoki​

While it had come as no surprise, it was frustrating all the same when the kunoichi and her teammates eventually found their old mentor dozing in the shade of a bridge, the stench of booze clinging to him like a cheap perfume. With equal parts shame, pity, and frustration Naoko watched a man she had once looked up to reduced to slurred phrases and careening about the grounds. It was all one could do to refrain from exuding a scoff as one of her teammates did, though the woman refused to acknowledge his words of concern. As kind as the sentiment might have been, a retort sat ready on her lips to be thrown back. You are- were- like a father and uncle to us, yet you fail to heed your own advice and take care of yourself. What kind of example is that? The words would remain unspoken though, and she set aside her disgust as Kotone, ever doting on their teacher, retrieved the parchment and proceeded to read out their assignment.

At her fellow kunoichi’s suggestion that they hurry along to their task, the turquoise-haired shinobi nodded in accordance. “Agreed- no point in idling about here. Let’s go.” Glancing back once more in the direction that Osamu-sensei had wandered off towards, her expression was bitter as the squad departed from the village.

——

Here the air was abnormally stagnant, a heavy silence shrouding the usual cacophony of the forest. The only noises which she could hear were their own as the team approached the coordinates given to them. All of them were clearly a bit fatigued from their hearty sprint, the trio breathing heavily upon reaching the clearing where the hunter’s had been last spotted. Listening as Kotone ever-so gently suggested that they be cautious, a smile unconsciously tugged at her cheeks. Even after knowing each other as long as they had, the former courtier was unfailingly polite and formal in her speech. Some might find her mannerisms a bit distant, or even pretentious (And truthfully, there were moments where she herself found this to be the case), but it was more-so out of habit than anything else she expected. “Of course, Kotone- you be sure to to do the same as well.” Naoko replied with a nod before turning to face their third colleague. The effeminate man seemed in particularly foul spirits this day judging by his expression, and seemed not to appreciate the humid weather Of course, Kotori hardly needed a reason to be in a pissy mood, but the heat was something they could at least immediately try to deal with.

Absentmindedly rummaging through her satchel, the kunoichi eventually produced a half-full canteen from her bag. Taking a quick swig for herself, Naoko held it out for her teammate’s taking if they so chose to. “Did you bring a bottle? It’s a muggy one today… we should make sure that we all stay hydrated and sharp.” Pausing, she scanned the periphery for a long moment before returning her gaze to her comrades. “I see no signs of a struggle here… if they were ambushed, it would have been elsewhere, yeah?”

Scion rennuelaw KnightOfNight

 

[Scion]

“O-oh...” Kotone remarked to herself as tilted her head while glancing towards Naoko. She gave a soft smile and a quick bow to her fellow kunoichi and took a swig from the canteen. “My gratitude for your most gracious offering of refreshment. I will submit an agreement to your statement of the importance of staying hydrated. In regards to your question Naoko, pardon the familiarity in address but by your note you wish to speak in those terms, yes I did bring a bottle but as I noted earlier in explanation of the importance of keeping ourselves filled with refreshments to allow our bodies and mind to stay sharp, we should reserve as much water as we can between us all via pooling our resources of water together, because who is to say how long we will be searching for our missing countrymen, as we are against a metaphorical clock, as over time the chances of finding missing individuals grows ever higher. Now while you bring up lack of a struggle, it is rather odd that such a site would be hastily buried as such? Hunters, especially those who were as skilled as our esteemed teacher noted in his message, generally take care in dismantling their sites. While a proper ambush might not have occurred here, something happened that caused this site to be evacuated in such a hasty manner.”

After finishing her brief, well at least when it came to her usual manner of speaking it could be claimed as brief, statement on the matter to reassure the importance of finding these hunters, the kunoichi carefully began gazing upon the grounds looking for any signs of tracks, whether footprints or by remnant traces of dirt from the individuals responsible for it or any tools they might’ve used to bury this scene.

As Kotone saw it, there were a few important aspects that needed to be divined before they could truly find the hunters. Who might’ve come and gone from this scene before they showed up? How did this encampment get buried so quickly that even precursory glances upon arrival corroborated? What trails were left behind from this situation? Surely if this site was buried this quickly, there had to be a reason for it being buried and more hopefully that there would be clues left behind regarding who did it. And if witnesses were able to be gathered this would help the ninjas uncover what exactly happened to their countrymen.

Emerging back up Kotone began slightly gesturing with her wrist to remove excess dirt that she no longer needed to analyze or frankly needed on her palm. The courtier craned her head towards her fellow ninja peer Kotori, blinking for a moment as he gave that glare, the glare of a man who frowns so often he does not realize he is frowning.

“Oh yes...” Kotone started up, “...Kotori, I apologize for breaking into the familiarity but I find that you tend to listen more when I use your given name and not your family name and I’d very much like you to heed what I will say to you shortly, not to mention we have as a group broken into speaking via familiarity as Naoko started it. But, before I delve into speaking into what I wish for you to hear now, I would like to extend my gratitude to you playing it cautiously in examining these camps. After all this, if you do not mind me making a judgment, is a rather strange situation. Now what I would like you to heed is the following; while you might’ve intended for your words with our most esteemed sensei to have a charitable benefit, referring to him as a...” Kotone quickly began reddening at the thought of having to utter that phrase, and quickly she began fanning at herself with her right hand and shaking the thought out of her mind. “...needless to say such a phrase is uncouth and not applicable to our most esteemed sensei, who has done so much for us, even in a manner of jest.”


clarinetti rennuelaw KnightOfNight

 

[Kloudy]

Shizuka Shinrai
Fishing Village - Unknown House

Sigh...

Shizuka followed the others about a metre behind, not really engaging in any of the conversation. The fishing village they had been tasked with investigating was nondescript to boot: rickety houses and abandoned boats for all he could tell. The place didn’t look particularly well-maintained, but that probably all tied into why they were there in the first place. Shizuka ran a lazy glance over his surroundings, noting spots where an ambush might originate from, barrels and fences for cover, potential debris to weaponise and the like. It never hurt to be somewhat prepared, after all they had no idea what it was that they might be facing.

“Why are you asking her?”

A flash of annoyance crossed his features as Tamatsuki asked Kotegiri if she’d notice anything. Shizuka was pretty sure he was supposed to be their squad’s sensory-type, so he had no idea what prompted Tamatsuki to ask that hard-headed idiot. Of course, the Shinrai shinobi had been keeping an ear out at the rear of their party for any possible pursuers or threats. Thanks to his enhanced hearing resulting from a lifetime spent training his senses, he could discern that there weren’t any stalkers nearby for at least a hundred metres, unless they had silenced themselves somehow. Quiet was always better after all.

As if on que, ’The Blade of Justice’ decided it would be a good idea to all but break down the nearest house’s front door, loudly yelling all the while. Shizuka winced slightly and adjusted his hearing to become less sensitive, lest he was deafened by their resident idiot’s ruckus. Still not one to take chances, Shizuka did draw a kunai just in case an angry fisherman did decide to come out and kill the squad. Distractions like these were perfect for ambushes and he glanced back sharply over his shoulder, slightly paranoid that one such attack may come.

“Can you shut up? We’re attracting unnecessary attention.”

CNHart Shining Wizard

 

[CNHart]

He looks towards Shizuka, answering him; “I trust you enough not to have to ask you for that sort of information, her on the-,”He winces in tandem with the snowy-haired Nin, “Other hand… I… Well,” The ordeal completely blew him off the rails, he didn’t seem entirely perturbed by Kotegiri’s actions; he even went as far as to point out and oddity, “Tamer than usual,” He comments, before giving a hopeful glance towards Shizuka; he’d end up following suit, although he just adopted an even more cautious stance.

Despite the ruckus, Tamatsuki was clearly treating it like a normal situation; his gaze focused on the hut, specifically the windows to see if anyone was peering through curtains or gaps in the boards. He’d do the same for every other hut in the vicinity; the uncertainty of any survivors weighed on his thoughts for a few moments before he made the decision. “Masamune, it’s a good chance that we won’t be well received right now; if there’s anyone here to even speak with us-” He points out, hoping to calm the irrationally rash girl down.

Even while he was preoccupied with reasoning with Kotegiri, his eyes were constantly looking passed her; there were moments that made him seem like he might have actually had bad depth perception with how often he had to refocus on her. Quite the contrary, the stillness in the area had invoked within him nearly the same amount of paranoia Shizuka had; regardless, the blonde-haired Shinobi kept a cool visage.

Shining Wizard | Kloudy | KnightOfNight

Tamatsuki = ♣

 

[rennuelaw]

Following his teammates' example, Kotori pulled out his own filled canteen and drank some before putting it away. Looking at his teammates as Naoko and Kotone began to speak, he nodded in agreement with Kotone's statement before returning his gaze to the ground without saying anything. He never was one to talk during missions, especially when looking for clues. At the mention of his name, Kotori returned his gaze to Kotone while pushing a lock of hair that had fallen to cover his eye behind his ear. A small amused smile appearing on his face when the girl started to explain why she used his first name. The smile, however, soon died and was replaced by a look of pain and sadness at the mention of their sensei. Not expecting the change in topic, Kotori's mouth open and closed for a moment as he searched for words to stay before schooling his expression into one of mild annoyance and rolling his eyes before shifting his gaze to the ground again.

"If he wants to drink himself into a coma like a dumbass then I'll call him a dumbass. Now can we not talk about our alcoholic sensei or my lack of grace when I address him. Like seriously anything else would be good." He says in a gruff tone, clearly not wanting to talk about it, his eyes scanning the ground. He didn't want to think about it, he already lost his mother and sister, he didn't know if he could handle losing someone who was a father-figure to him as well. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on the task at hand.
Scion clarinetti KnightOfNight

 

[Shining Wizard]

Hammering on the door didn't seem to be getting Kotegiri anywhere. It wasn't just a latch or chain- from the way it refused to bend inwards, she could guess it had probably been barricaded with something. Luckily, Kotegiri had a precision instrument on hand for exactly this kind of situation. Stepping backwards, she paused to make some indeterminable handsigns inside her sleeves before drawing one back to unveil what appeared to be some sort of combination of sledgehammer and meat tenderizer.

"We're friggin' ninja, ain't we? Dunno about you two queers, but I'm pretty sure I can take a couple a' punk-ass fishermen who can't even defend their own boats."

With a grunt of effort, she wound up the sledge-tenderizer and slammed the head into the door, punching a head-sized hole through both the thick driftwood and the wardrobe behind it. Two more swings, and the lower half of the door had been reduced to so many splinters. Kotegiri crouched down to enter the darkened interior of the shack, pausing a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness before continuing.

"Now you two can stand around holding your dicks if you want, but I'mma wring some answers outta this place."

Kloudy CNHart KnightOfNight

 

[Duwang]

Reflexively, getting the thoughts of all the individuals around him, Katsuyoshi produced a smoke bomb out of his bag, cooked it, and ignited it underneath Neru and himself. Then, out of the smoke cloud, came Katsuyoshi with his sword drawn, ready to strike down at the signpost. This was, of course, an intangible clone which could not hurt any of their assailants directly. That much was up to Katsuyoshi.

"Let's go. We gotta make a run for it." Katsuyoshi beamed the thought into Neru's head. He could tell that his last teammate had made it, and that he was in danger. When the smoke subsided, at least Katsuyoshi was gone, leaving only the clone behind. He had hoped Neru followed him, though the limits of his jutsu were telepathy and not mind control.

Then, in Niji's immediate direction, Katsuyoshi threw a shuriken just to his side more as a warning shot to those around him than anything else.

 

[Scion]

Kotone’s eye twitched a bit as Kotori once again uttered such filthy language, while her mouth was left agape. As her cheeks once again flushed at how a damsel like herself had to hear such language, the kunoichi gave a quick yet gentle stomp towards the ground while shaking her head. Well, at least she had an opening for getting him to stop such vulgarities.

Clasping her palms together and steadying her breathing a bit, she craned her head to glance at Kotori. “I see we are at a veritable standing of which we can both come to a proper metaphorical crossroads, where both of our desires will intersect and unite in a harmonious accordance. Your desires, please feel free to correct me if wrong but I am simply working off the statement which you had presented to me, revolve around talking regarding another subject instead of, well for the sake of it, I shall not directly name the subject we know you wish to not speak of. And my desires revolve around your particular choice of words from the colloquial lexicon, which have an intrinsic value as being most inappropriate for public discourse. So what I suggest is the following, in exchange for you not using such language, I shall not bring up that subject. We can at least agree to these conditions to remain until we complete of our task in establishing the location of our countrymen and returning them back to our civilized lands. I believe this is a fair transaction? And in the off-chance one of us slips up, I propose that Naoko serves as a moderator who will report diligently of these infractions, to which the violator will be charged with...” Kotone paused for a moment as she rested her hand upon her chin in thought, ”Perhaps any transgressor can cover a few coins to the other for when they go to eat later? We can hammer out that rule when we need it, after all I believe fully in that we can retain such a deal.”

With that said Kotone returned to looking at the grounds for any other possible clues. ”...Sooo, forgive me for asking this well I will ask but first let me explain my situation, but after this mission is over my intent at this particular moment in time is to visit a center of trade so I may replenish some of my ink, due to my mistake in assessment of how much was left in the bottle that I was currently using to practice my calligraphy. After this I further plan, at least hypothetically, to go purchase tickets to observe a show at the theater or perhaps I will end it with a quick trip to eat. The inquiry I alluded to before hypothetically involves either of you, assuming you are interested of course in following me to these engagements.”

rennuelaw clarinetti KnightOfNight

 

[KnightOfNight]

Squad 2
CNHart Kloudy Shining Wizard

Kotegiri's assault on the door prompted the occupants to finally speak. "N-No! Please just go away before they kill us all!" But the sound of splintering wood quickly drowned out their voices. When Kotegiri entered the shack, she could see the people inside were sobbing, whatever they thought was out there must have been terrifying as it was clear they haven't left their home for days. "Why are you doing this? We were waiting until they left."

While the other two were focused on Kotegiri's antics, countless ravens appeared on the surrounding houses. They were watching in silence, their eyes gleaming with an intelligence beyond that of normal ravens. Such a sight would make even the least superstitious people believe in ill omens. But, how they got there without even Shizuka hearing the flapping of their wings was a mystery. Could they be minions of whoever, or whatever, was terrorizing these poor people?

 

[Ixacise]

Neru simply stood in silence as he observed Kastuyoshi doing his work. He anticipated the obvious, that an attack was rearing to go on them. The moment Katsu dropped the smoke bomb was the signal that it was time to go into action. He drew out and extended his spear while effortlessly hammering some seals. When the "Let's Go." popped into head he followed suit. His instincts told them that finding a hiding place would be good, but there was nothing out here and he'd rather just rush into the fight.

"Now what?" He thought hoping he was in range of the telepathy.

As he followed Katsu he then realized the other guy, the third teammate was finally here. Although he was kinda far from their relative position and probably in open danger to the unseen threat. He simply stood there waiting to react against whatever was fixing to come out in a calm manner. Like fishing with a good bait, you let the fish do the work to come to you, and when you feel the bite you hook it in.

 

[KnightOfNight]

Squad 9
Duwang Ixacise Fearlesstiger

When the clone swiped at the signpost, it did what any signpost would do in that situation, bend over backwards to avoid the blow. This was soon followed by overwhelming thoughts of "They know!", "I can't believe he blew it!", and a lone "I really screwed up." In an attempt to salvage his terrible mistake, the signpost burrowed into the ground to reposition itself somewhere hopefully safe.

Meanwhile, a large misshapen shadow loomed over Niji for a brief moment before exploding into leaves as the shuriken thrown by Katsuyoshi forced whatever it was to make a sudden retreat and then... Silence once more. Even the thoughts calmed down for a moment before starting back up as a voice boomed out.

"AYYY! None of this concerns you! So just get outta here and let us do our thing, got it! Or we'll have to do you in like we did the farmers here! Ain't none of you are surviving this, so just get going!"


Squad 5
Scion rennuelaw clarinetti

The state of the surrounding area of the camp was possibly stranger than the camp itself. Despite the fact that it was hastily buried, no footprints could be found. Surely if they were in such a hurry, they wouldn't have time to cover their tracks, would they? However, one sign of a recent visitor could be found. Five deep gashes in a nearby tree, but they didn't appear to be from any sort of attack. It almost looked like as if some clawed beast rested against the tree, as if it was watching the hunters at their camp...

But then, the splintering of wood sounded through the forest as a tree in the distance toppled. Then the sound repeated and another tree fell. And another... They were getting closer. What sort of monster could do this yet go undetected despite being so close to Konohagakure?

 

[CNHart]

His eyes finally narrowed, turning to a glare as Kotegiri busted the door down, causing the folks inside to be scared shitless, “Masamune! Get the fuck out here, our job isn’t to give the locals a reason to hate us, nor is it to beat on helpless villagers for your own fuck-off reasons,” the comments about his supposed sexuality held little to no weight to him, in fact everything before this moment was drowned out by the tension in the air; that just seemed to flutter out of the doorway.

His gaze jumped from the busted entrance to the ravens; earnestly not a man of superstitious leanings, albeit finding the arrival of the black birds ominous, he immediately brings his right hand over his back and draws his ninjato. The steel hissing against the leather until the point clears the sheathe, “Masamune, the fight might be out here,” certainly jumping to conclusions awfully quick, hopefully the raging queen of destruction might notice his alteration in tone from his earlier shout; he was deadly serious.

While he definitely didn’t have the natural, predator instincts Kotegiri had or the sensory abilities of Shizuka; he was more than capable of knowing when he was being watched, the hairs on the back of his neck stood end to end, as the beady bird eyes bared down on him from their socket perches. His own orbs were still squeezed between lids as he inspected the strange avian phenomena. He gave a questioning glance Shizuka’s way before continuing to keep his eye on the flock surrounding them.

Shining Wizard | Kloudy | KnightOfNight

Tamatsuki = ♣

 

[Shining Wizard]

Kotegiri took a second to spit in the cowering woman's general direction before stepping out, to better express her disgust for these people. Unwilling to defend their livelihood, they had shut themselves away, waiting for a savior instead of grasping destiny with their own two hands. Law of the jungle said she should by all rights leave these people to die in their own filth, but you couldn't be a legend if you only helped those who deserved it. It's really my fault for being so amazing, she mused.

More importantly, Casual was stepping. Her sledge-hand withdrew into her sleeve and was replaced with a narrow-headed lance made from the same black metal. She absentmindedly pointed it at Casual.

"Kintama, never use that tone with me again or I'll gut you like a goddamn fish. Besides, all I see is a bunch of fuckin' birds. You telling me you can't kick a bird's ass?"

Kloudy CNHart KnightOfNight

 

[Scion]

Before Kotone was able to receive a response to her very formal inquiry which basically translated into 'hey I'm going to go shopping later, then maybe go see something and, or, grab a bite to eat do any of you want to tag alone' in layman's terms, she noticed the rather distinctive sound of trees collapsing. Well that probably helped answered the question she had of what beast marked the trees, and most probably what happened to the hunters. The former courtier just stared into the distance in the treelines where the crashing sounds originated from, it wouldn't be too much longer before whatever-it-was in the woods would approach the members of Squad Five. Kotone craned her head to glance between Naoko and Kotori as she once again spoke.

"Considering the circumstances at present, I will await your answer on whether or not either of you, or both of you, have the desires to accompany me to my intended destinations later. If I might make a suggestion, forgive me if you had already thought of engaging in what I will mention, shall we execute 'Stratagem Sonobe - Fortunate Bamboo Method A? I shall prepare for this protocol however if the tactics needed to handle this situation, I shall re-assess and re-engage in a different method more suitable for it. But with that said at this particular moment in time I shall set up my piece for this particular stratagem. My sincerest apologizes if either of you think this call is the wrong decision, but at this current juncture I believe this will be a suitable pattern in which we should operate from." Kotone remarked, quite assured that her team-mates remembered that protocol of setting up bait to attract a potential target before engaging in ranged practices. Method A, of course, noted that this particular stratagem would not utilize Kotone as bait for the potential target but allow her to take refuge in the shadows.

Opening her satchel, while she proceeded to sneak towards one of the trees, Kotone pulled out a simple white bed-sheet which was only remarkable for two cut out circles. The courtier placed herself close against the tree and began applying her chakra to the bed-sheet while setting it up so she could have a visage of the events around her. After all she needed to be able to observe situation before springing upon it. Which the Cloak of Invisibility Technique would help with as the bedsheet began to mimic the appearance of the tree bark. Now Kotone just needed to wait patiently for her moment to strike against whatever that creature may be.

KnightOfNight rennuelaw clarinetti

 

[rennuelaw]

Kotori's eye twitched as while he raised his head to look at Kotone again, looking as though he was trying to peer into her soul. You would think after being in a team for so long that she would get used to his tendency of using vulgar language. He opened his mouth to say something before rolling his eyes and waving his hand dismissively while muttering 'Sure, whatever'. Returning his gaze to the ground for what felt like the sixth or seventh time, he started walking forward, getting closer to the treeline when Kotone began speaking again. He hummed softly in thought, wondering whether he should go with her or not before deciding he had nothing better to do after the mission. He opened his mouth to speak but was momentarily distracted when he noticed what seem to be claw marks in the bark of a tree that stood a few feet in front of him. He moved closer to inspect, his lavender eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out what could have left such marks but leave no footprints.

He turned to address his teammates and tell them what he saw but was interrupted by the sound of splintering wood coming from deep in the woods in front of which made him summon a glyph under his feet and use it to jump back, distancing himself from the treeline. When Kotone spoke again, he simply nodded while pulling his spear off his back before getting into a fight stance.

"Ok, you do that and I'll act as the bait, " He said, still looking at the treeline with narrowed eyes as another glyph appeared, lazily spinning under his feet.

Scion clarinetti KnightOfNight