[Mission] Through the Fire and Flames

Post by **Niro** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 1:19 pm

Kawa had sent out messenger hawks to his two comrades earlier this morning with a mission for the duo.

Something was poking around the edge of the village defenses and needed to either be removed or destroyed. They were assigned to do this in the name of Mamorinuku so that the village could see just how the organization was progressing in their duties.

The hawks had given them the directions to meet each other at the main gate and depart from there.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:59 pm

When Kazuo had gotten the message he had to admit, he almost let out a girlish squeal of joy. Almost. But he was far too manly for such things now. Yessir. Still, in his excitement for taking on such a high ranking mission for Mamorinuku, he may or may not have gotten halfway to the rendezvous point in nothing but his boxers. So technically, as he and Koji made their way through the streets, this was attempt number two to reach the gates. This time he was completely decked out in his new gear, including the coat he had gotten from his brother as a graduation present. It was a little tattered and worn but that was to be expected of a hand-me-down.

Coming to the gates, he immediately started looking around for the one who would be his teammate. He knew it would be a Hyuuga named Aina, but that was the extent of what the summons had given him. There was no use trying to sniff her out either, he had no idea what her scent was, and there were a few other teams coming and going so simply waiting for the next person to show up wouldn't help. The only course left to him was that he would need to do it the good old fashioned way.

He started pacing back and forth, waiting.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 3:15 pm

It was another night that she had fallen asleep at the hospital in the chair beside Minoru's bed, and she had been awoken by the summons. Like the day she met with Kawa to join the organization she had to take an extra minute to get ready, including make up, which was why she wasn't early or even on time, she was a few minute late actually. Part of her wanted to be excited for the mission, but all she could think as she walked was that this would be her first mission in some time that she wasn't teamed up with Minoru.

Goro tried to cheer her up, bounding up ahead of her, bounding back to nip at her boots and bounding ahead again. But the only thing the pup managed was rather embarrassing. As they arrived the pup had nearly run into a rather large dog, as it happened it was her partner's companion. The pup skidded to a stop, turned tail, and ran towards Aina who was walking with her eyes on her feet and as such she didn't see him until he slammed into her ankles and knocked her flat on her face. "Dammit, Goro!" she swore getting to her feet and looking down at the little pup with her arms crossed. "Go home! You weren't supposed to follow!"

The pup whined and cried at her, but Aina remained stern.

"No! Go! This is not safe for you!" she told him, and then watched as the pup walked away slowly, tail between his legs and whining pitifully as she sighed under her breath, and turned to see Kazuo. A blush lit up her cheeks, mostly because of her embarrassing fall a moment before. "Uh... I'm Aina, you must be Kazuo?"

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:14 pm

Koji's growling was what first drew Kazuo's attention away from his pacing. He was used to the dog growling at other people by this point; no matter what he tried Koji just did not like other people. But this was the growl he used around other dogs. It was lower, more feral. He looked towards the ninken and saw a much smaller pup bolting away from the aggressive mut. Kazu let out a sigh and walked over to koji's side, kneeling down next to the dog and yanking on his ear; hard. "Honestly, it's no wonder you've got no friends. Bloody sourpuss." Apparently being compared to a puss was enough to Koji to snap at Kazuo, causing the Inuzuka to flick him in the nose with a laugh. "So, don't like being called a sourpuss huh? Good to know."

With a quick, rough rub of Koji's head, Kazuo turned his attention from his dog and up to the approaching Hyuuga. He chuckled at the way she told the pup to go home. That was how he was with Koji, once upon a time. Nowadays, he knew the dog could take care of himself. Standing up to his full height, Kazu brushed the dirt from his knee and offered Aina a lopsided, toothy grin. "Howdy." The Inuzuka held out a hand, open and waiting for a handshake. "Right in one, I'm Kazuo. Kazu for short, not that it's much shorter, haha." It was obvious Kazuo was in a good mood, his laugh was light-hearted but still deep; not a fake chuckle in the slightest. He jerked his head in the direction of Koji, who was now sitting beside him and watching Aina with narrowed eyes, nose constantly sniffing at her scent. "The sourpuss is Koji."

"So, looks like we'll be working together on this mission, huh? Let's knock it outta the park, neh?"

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:47 am

Aina was still red as she shook Kazuo's hand and nodded. "I'm Aina." she said, introducing herself, and silently glad that he hadn't made a crack about Goro knocking her on her face yet. When she released his hand she dropped hers to let Koji sniff at her if he wanted. She remembered doing the same for Masami's first dog, Ao, though that time hadn't gone well. 'Hopefully this one doesn't try to chase me up into a tree...' she thought to herself as she waited to see what the dog would do.

"Sorry about Goro, I haven't been able to go anywhere without him since I got him. This is the first time he has to let me out of his sight." she said with a chuckle, nodding as Kazuo mentioned the mission. "Sounds like a plan." she mentioned, trying her best at a smile as she turned towards the gate. She really wasn't feeling up to a real smile, hardly able to get her mind off Minoru in the hospital.

Though trying to force her mind somewhere else and on her new partner made her chuckle. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Inuzuka who gave one of my students trouble would you? Hibiki Tenchu?"

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 4:10 am

Kazuo's eyebrows rose a little after they shook hands, curious to see how Koji would react to the approach. It was a smart approach, it was obvious the Hyuuga had dealt with dogs before. Koji sniffed at the extended palm, a subtle growl constantly grinding in the back of his throat. As soon as he had sniffed it, he turned his head away and made a snorting noise. Kazu sighed and shrugged. "Don't mind him. He doesn't play well with others." Koji barked once in apparent agreement and stood up, trotting off towards the gates as if he were the one in charge of the mission. The teenaged Chuunin let out a long suffering sigh and scratched at the back of his neck. "Get your ass back here, mutt."

Though he said that, he started to follow the dog out of the village gates, assuming Aina would follow. He noticed the forced smile, it was hard to miss, but decided not to comment on it. Whatever it was it was her business. And if that wasn't a sign he had grown up since joining Mamorinuku then he didn't know what was. Once upon a time he would have dug and dug until she tried to kill him. At the mention of Tenchu, Kazu paused and scratched at his chin, causing the whiskers to rub back and forth. "Tenchu, huh? What'd he say? 'Cause I didn't cause him trouble, honest. He's the one that set me on fire. I still have the scars to prove it. You think I wear these bandages to look cool? Nah uh. So anything that happened after that was just deserts."

Stepping through the gates, Kazuo looked around at the massive trees that made up Konoha's first and most formidable line of defence. These were all laced with Senju chakra. Something he never knew until he joined Mamorinuku. Seriously, those guys had all sorts of tidbits of information just lying around the place. He had a rough idea of where they were headed and started in that direction, Koji padding along slightly ahead of them, constantly sniffing at the ground and air. Kazu turned his attention once more to Aina and grinned. "So, how is Tenchu anyway? I haven't seen him in a while. Hell, I got promoted since we last saw each other."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 4:23 am

Aina watched the dog trot off ahead and shrugged. "First time I met an Inuzuka familiar he chased me into a tree like a damn cat..." she remarked, smirking as she looked over at Kazuo. "So far Koji is an improvement." she added chuckling quietly.

Of course she laughed as he mentioned getting lit on fire, looking over at the bandages he mentioned which she really hadn't noticed. Honestly she hadn't noticed much about the guy yet. She was stuck on Minoru in her mind and trying to force herself to focus on the mission at hand was more difficult than she'd anticipated. "I think he said something about you being a cool guy and, I quote, 'fuck that dog'." she replied, shaking her head. "I never did ask why he didn't like Koji, but must be some kind of reason for it."

The Hyuuga stretched, checking over her pockets to do a quick inventory as they moved, momentarily withdrawing a kunai from one of her scroll pouches and spinning it before putting it back. She was glad to find everything in place, after all she should have checked things over before she left. "He's doing good, over training himself as usual so I've had to teach him the hard way a couple times how bad chakra exhaustion is." she replied to his questions with a hint of a true smile. She hadn't thought about her team since she had been in the hospital herself, a hand dropping to rub across her upper chest with a slight grimace at the memory of the more minor wounds she'd received during the invasion.

She hated thinking about the others even more. "He's actually dating a good friend of mine, a girl from your clan named Masami." Her eyes wandered to Koji up ahead as she thought about how she'd earned Ao's trust when she spent time with Masami. "Anyway to get your partner to change his tune? If we wind up doing more missions together it might come in handy if he doesn't hate me."

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:12 pm

He chuckled as he ran, listening to Aina's talk of Inuzuka's and Tenchu. "I guess you know the Inuzuka well, huh?" He could honestly say he had never met a Hyuuga that seemed so open to the other clans. A lot of the ones he had met had been stuck up and haughty, or too obsessed with training to just relax and have a little fun. "Ah, I think I'll leave that story for Tenchu to tell. Next time you see him though, ask if he can sit down properly yet? Hehe!" They were picking up speed as they talked, the conversation falling into a natural rhythm that played in sync with their movements.

Kazu glanced between Aina and Koji and shrugged when she asked if there was a way to change his tune. "Koji is very… I don't know how to describe it, really. He's got an inferiority complex with other ninken because he's the runt of the litter. And compared to how big some of our dogs get, he'll never be quite so large. I guess as a way to try and make up for what he thinks as a shortcoming he is very aggressive." As he spoke, Kazuo watched Koji with a slight frown, the dog still travelling ahead of them. If they were to really pick up speed, they'd probably leave the poor bastard in their wake. "He'll hit his growth spurt soon. All Inuzuka ninken do. He's just taking a little longer than most. Hopefully then he'll calm down a little."

His words came up short and a nervous chuckle escaped his lips as he gave Aina an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, kind of went off on a tangent there. You wanted to know how to get him to be nice, yeah? Afraid that won't happen anytime soon. But give him time and he'll at least trust you. And for right now, you can at least trust me when I say he will work with you for the mission. He's an aggressive little shite that doesn't like anyone, but he is still an Inuzuka Ninken. He'll do whatever it takes to complete the mission."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:42 pm

Aina nodded as he asked her about her familiarity with the Inuzuka clan. ”And the Awai to a degree, my boyfriend… is from that clan.” she found herself hesitating, mentally chiding herself as she realized she almost used past tense.

However despite that she found herself smiling as he talked about Koji. She’d heard Masami talk about Ao but these days it was such a depressing subject given what had happened to her, it was nice to hear Kazuo talk about Koji in such detail and happily even. When he apologized for going off on a tangent she grinned at him. ”Honestly it’s nice… it’s been a minute since I was around someone in such a good mood.” she replied as they moved along. ”My friend Masami can hardly talk about her ninken really. Her first… well things were tragic, she only just got a new companion the other day but I’m not sure how the training has been going with him. Honestly I need to stop by and see her sometime and check on them. I do miss though how she used to talk about Ao before everything went sideways.”

She didn’t want to say much more, not wanting to bring Kazuo down off his good mood as it seemed to be helping her along as well. ”You know… Kawa told me to ask you about your first meeting with him… not sure why.”

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:43 pm

Kazuo's smile vanished and he gave Aina a dead look. "So you know the boss as well, huh?" His voice was suggested he was incredibly unamused. "He told you to ask because he is a sadistic bastard that takes pleasure in the torment of others. That's why." He had no desire to relive the severe arsekicking that had encompassed his and Kawa's first meeting, but nevertheless explained it to Aina. "First time I met the boss was just after the invasion. I was all angry and shit back then, I guess like most other people ya know? Anyway, he shows up out of the blue one day with Rai." He almost went to explain who that was and then gave Aina a look. "You probably already know who Rai is, huh? You certainly are a people person for a Hyuuga.

"Anyway, he shows up and tells me to fight him. I knew I'd lose. Rai knew I'd lose. Hell, Rai even helped and we still lost. Badly. I don't think we landed a single hit on the bastard." Kazuo shook his head, a small smile replacing the frown that had been on his face momentarily. It wasn't really a… bad memory per se. He just didn't like the fact that Kawa enjoyed rubbing salt in the wound at every chance he got. Hell, the prick wasn't even here and he was somehow tormenting Kazu. "One thing led to another and I wound up joining his little Mamorinuku, though I work more under Rai than with Kawa."

Kazuo opened his mouth to ask just how Aina knew Kawa when a bark from Koji drew his attention forward. They were approaching their destination. "Well, I think we're gonna have to put this conversation on hold." He sniffed at the air, trying to pick up any foreign scents, though while he did so he gave Aina a cocky grin. "So, how good are those eyes of yours, eh? Can they beat my nose?"

TechniquesShow

Canine Focus • Scent
C-Rank Taijutsu
Concentrating on their inherited senses and the training they receive, the user becomes more acutely able to smell the area around them and is able to achieve canine levels of tracking capability. More specifically however the user also becomes more able to refine scents they intake, being able to pick the scent of blood or fire out of the matrixes of smells made by a forest or a building. This requires focus to initially begin and if interrupted it tends to confuse the senses but once it has begun it is active until the user ceases focusing on it. Because of the mental faculty needed to keep this in mind, the user suffers -1 Wit until it is deactivated and they also become more vulnerable to anything that attacks the sense of smell.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:49 pm

”Well for what it’s worth… he threw me out of his office window the second time we met.” she replied, simply nodding as he mentioned putting the conversation on hold. She closed her eyes a brief moment before they intensified with the look of the Byakugan and she had a look ahead, with a bit of a grin. ”You know, I never have tested my eyes against an Inuzuka’s nose… so I guess we’ll have to find out.” she replied.

”On a previous note though… first time I met him he got kicked into a crater by another Bannin… pretty funny though.” she added, still smiling as she took a look around them, as far as she could see with her doujutsu. She was starting to find herself glad that, if she had to work with someone other than Minoru, she had Kazuo. He seemed to be pretty upbeat and so far had managed to get her mind mostly out of it’s funk, and back on mission.

DoujutsuShow

Byakugan is the blood inheritance limit of the Hyuuga Clan. When the "Byakugan" is activated, the clan member gains an extra-sensory perception, which gives them penetrating sight and telescopic vision. This allows them to see the tenketsu of other living beings around them. Using the Byakugan, the user has a near 360° view of their surroundings. The higher the skill of the clan member, the further the distance they can see and sense incoming attacks. This vision does have a weakness however. There is a small blind spot that extends outwards from the vertebra of the upper back. The distance that they can see is dependent on the user's control stat:

Control of 1-3: 1/4 Mile
Control of 4-6: 1/2 Mile
Control of 7-9: 3/4 Mile
Control of 10-12+: 1 mile

Post by **Niro** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 9:23 am

On of the outskirts of the village barrier was an encampment. It was quite large, totaling about 15 large tents. It was a wonder that they hadn't been picked up yet by the village. Well, the village was a bit too busy at this point dealing with finishing up reconstruction to send a team out to check on tiny blips on their radar.

The first thing that Kazuo would smell would be fire and the faint traces of cooked meat and people but the scent was fading. Like it hadn't been visited in a few days. Aina would be able to give more detail to those findings with her eyes. The place was deserted with the embers of several fires going but barely alive. There was no movement in the camp in the slightest, as if it had been abandoned.

They'd need to get closer to figure out what was going on.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 1:40 pm

As he sniffed at the air, taking in the various scents of the encampment carried on the air, a slight frown marred his features. He turned to Koji and raised an eyebrow at the dog, who barked once in response. They were both getting the same reading then. "There are plenty of scents but they are all old, maybe a couple days at least. I can get a better read if we get closer, but there are lingering traces of… ashes and embers? Like a fire that was left to burn out. It's making it hard to get a proper read from here." He turned to Aina, curious as to what she could figure out with her Byakugan. Seriously, those eyes were like cheating. "What about you? What can you see?"

He would drop down from the tree after whatever Aina told him and start making his way to the camp. If he couldn't pick up any scents and Aina couldn't see anyone, he saw no reason not to approach. Besides, he needed to be closer to be able to pick through the scents and find a trail worth following. He wasn't going to waste time being overly cautious. Stepping between two of the many tents, he came out into the middle of the camp, the obvious clearing, where several fire pits were still glowing slightly orange with dying embers. "So Kawa got kicked so hard he made a crater, huh? I have to meet the guy that did that and give him a medal or something." He said as he knelt down next to one of the fire pits, brushing his hands over the ashes and coals. There was a lingering heat to them but they weren't hot enough to burn him.

Closing his eyes, Kazu started to draw in breath and began to pick through the aromas of smoke and ash, ignoring the burning sensation of the embers and the mouth-watering scent of cooked meat, to focus on the lingering scent of sweat and skin that was distinctly human. It took a little work, as the smoke had mixed with the sweat, but he would be able to get a read of roughly how many people they were looking for and then he could use that to track which way they went. All through this process Koji was standing alert and ready, keeping guard to ensure his master wasn't distracted.

Techniques UsedShow

Tracking • The Beast Within
B-Rank Taijutsu
Prerequisite: Canine Focus • Scent Active
After utilizing their nose and training their sense of smell for so long, users have become able to tap their sense of smell to its most refined and most bestial. Inhaling deep the user disregards the most common scents and focuses instead on the freshest, most out of place scents in an area, starting at all scents within 5 feet after inhaling for one post and expanding to 20 feet after inhaling for two posts. Once the user has done so they are able to approximately estimate the amount of individual humans, animals or creatures and the most intense smells of each person, including if they were injured or if they were tired by gauging sweat levels. This then allows the user to track these groups of scents using the previous technique chain, with the restrictions and requirements of each technique taken into account.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 10:36 pm

Aina listened to Kazuo as he spoke, her eyes scanning the area ahead, and what she saw caused her to frown. ”There’s no one.” she told him. ”I see a couple fires going but they’re weak at best, very close to going out. There’s no people, no movement.” she added with a sigh, keeping her Byakugan active as she walked along with Kazuo.

She hated doing this, moving while using her doujutsu, it had taken time to get used to and still made her nauseous sometimes, but she had a very bad feeling about this and really wasn’t looking to allow an ambush to happen. She planned to stay aware.

She heard Kazuo mention Kawa again and the girl had to think. ”I think he mentioned the guy’s name…” she replied, pausing beside him as she thought about it. ”Old Man Metsu, and Metsu-Sama, those were the two terms he used for him…. Though the latter was only after the guy was out of sight and still flicked a rock at him so hard it nailed him in the forehead and made him bleed.” she finally said, having remembered a bit more of what happened.

”What did you find?”

Post by **Niro** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 12:07 pm

Kazuo would pick up an extremely small scent of blood, leading deeper and away from the duo into the forest. The smell would come from three drops of blood dried onto the grass onto the forest floor. Something had gotten to the camp before the three had arrived, quite a while ago. It seemed they would need to figure out and take action.

The two would need to follow the direction the blood was found in to even come across another scent of blood. And when they did, they would find a clearing filled with bodies of those in the encampment, ripped to shreds with body parts everywhere. The forest, once painted green, was now red with the angry blood of the departed.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:59 pm

Kazuo didn't answer Aina as he moved, his nose constantly sniffing, literally following the tangy scent of blood he had managed to pick up through everything else. He came to a halt at the source, three tiny drops of blood that almost anyone else would have missed. "It's blood. Not a lot but the scent gets stronger this way. Someone must have been hurt and bleeding as they left." The Inuzuka started to follow it, a feeling growing in the pit of his gut that told him this was a bad idea. He found another few drops of blood and the scent was growing stronger with each and every step he took. It was getting to the point where blood was overtaking the smell of the forest. He could practically taste the coppery tang it was so potent.

He had slowed in his pace, still following the trail, but not even focusing on his heightened sense of smell. It was to the point where even Aina would be able to smell it now. Whatever was around this next tree had that feeling in the pit of his stomach begging he not look. With a shaky hand, already guessing what he was going to see, he grabbed onto the tree trunk and slowly stepped around it. The sight he was met with had the Inuzuka immediately turning his head away, eyes clamping shut and leaning the entirety of his weight against the tree, other hand coming up to cover his nose. It was… horrendous.

"Koji!" Kazuo called, regretting opening his mouth as he could practically taste the gore and it the urge to vomit was overwhelming. "Stay back there!" He didn't want that dog anywhere near this. He very gradually turned back to carnage that was the clearing and stepped over the threshold, so to speak, entering the clearing proper. He kept his hand over his nose, though his eyes were still watering from the overpowering smell. "What in the hell did this?"

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 6:22 pm

Aina followed Kazuo quietly, frowning as he mentioned blood. Her experience with blood and violence was surprisingly limited for a shinobi. Closest she’d come was a mission with Minoru when she’d been attacked and he had killed a couple of men in retaliation. Though even now she tried not to think about it, the smell she was about to encounter saw to that anyway. How could she think about anything else with that smell in her nostrils?

It was only going to get worse as they came around that last corner. Aina didn’t even get a chance to duck behind a tree before she threw up between her feet, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees with a groan. ”Sorry….” was all she could manage to mutter as she stood that way for a few moments. From her time with Masami she knew Kazuo’s nose would be really sensitive to smells, she could only hope the smell of the blood meant he wouldn’t notice the smell of her breakfast… and that seemed like a terrible thing to hope in and of itself.

When she finally managed to straighten, wiping her mouth with a grimace and the back of her glove, she looked at the gore before her and felt more than a little dizzy. Yet still she stared, refusing to let herself succumb to it. Fighting her own sickness and the feeling of dizziness, she stepped further into the clearing, looking around as she realized she must have involuntarily deactivated her byakugan when she became ill, and again her eyes intensified with the doujutsu as she took a better look around them. ”I don’t know…” she said quietly in response to Kazuo’s question. As much as she hated it, they needed to know if this was man or beast. ”Do you think blades did this, or teeth and claws?” she asked, checking the surrounding area as far as her eyes would allow her to see.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 6:49 pm

Kazuo gave Aina a sympathetic shrug when she apologized for something that Kazu had very nearly done himself. He had used his nose to track the dead and the burnt in the direct aftermath of the invasion, the smell of burning flesh was something he thought would never be beaten as the most horrifying scent he could imagine. He was being proven wrong right now though. He forced himself to sniff the air, the blood and guts were overpowering, and beneath it there was the smell of human excrement and… if he had to name it, it would be fear. He could smell the lingering fear that these poor bastards had felt when whatever happened here happened.

In direct violation of his orders, Koji had slowly approached the clearing after Aina, though he was lingering around the edges of it. Kazuo wanted to tell him to leave again but it would be pointless. Koji was a ninken, not some house pup, much as Kazuo hated to admit that right now. The Inuzuka walked into the clearing proper, waves of biles rising up his throat as he stepped around the gore and severed limbs as much as he could. "There is no way this was caused by a blade." Some of the corpses were literally torn in two at the waist, heads and arms and legs had been ripped from bodies and strewn about. "I don't even think a normal animal did this."

Sucking up any fear or disgust he felt at what he was about to do, Kazuo knelt down, the knee of his pants getting coated in the thick, viscous blood. He was checking the corpses for signs of… feeding. If something had done this in order to eat, that was one thing. But if there were none and this had been an act of pure aggression.

…

He did not want to think about the sheer ferocity of the creature that might have been responsible for this massacre.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:01 pm

Aina took a deep breath to steady herself, and almost instantly regretted it. The smell in the air was so potent she could practically taste it, by breathing even she was swallowing it, and the young woman shook her head, resting a hand against a tree to steady herself. After a few moments she steeled herself against what she was about to see and forced herself to walk over and stand beside Kazuo, looking down at the bodies as she deactivated her byakugan for the moment that she might see it better. ”Maybe a summoning animal?” she ventured as she looked at the carnage, glancing over at Koji as she wondered just how the dog was able to handle this.

She was so glad that she hadn’t let Goro join them. He would have been a wreck at the sight of this.

Ignoring the sound of her boots in the blood, Aina tried to remind herself this was why she wore boots, as she began walking around the pile, activating her byakugan again to take a quick survey of the surrounding area to make sure nothing and no one was sneaking up on them. She was also trying to see if there were any tracks her eyes could find. A thing ferocious enough to do this had to be big right? Maybe she could see it’s tracks.

Post by **Niro** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 1:20 pm

Upon closer inspection of the bodies, the duo would notice that some were chewed as if they were food while others had wanton violence unleashed upon the body. They were corrected that something inhuman had made this massacre in the forest.

It could pose a serious threat to the village if allowed to fester and strengthen.

The teeth marks were huge. The tooth itself easily doubled the mass of one of Kazuo's hands if they could get their hands on one. This thing was a monster and they'd need some serious teamwork to find it and bring it down.

As Aina was walking around, her foot would sink through the blood and muck into the upturned earth until her shin. Upon removing her appendage and maybe clearing the ground a bit, they would find the foot print of the beast.

Huge.

The prints were moving away from the camp and deeper into the woods of Fire Country itself. They'd need to keep tracking the beast to find it and prevent it from coming across another group of people or even a village. The loss of life if it reached a town would be drastic...

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:05 pm

Kazu let out a low whistle when he realized just how big this things gob must be; the bite marks were massive. He was careful to avoid directly touching the flesh, using what little clothing remained on the corpses to push them around a bit, getting a better feel for the sheer enormity of the foe they were tracking. That was when he heard it. That sickening, squelching, splodging sound that could only mean one thing. Turning around, the Inuzuka winced in sympathy at the sight that greeted him. Aina was shin deep in what he could only assume were liquefied human remains. "That's gonna stain."

He stood up and made his way over to her side, making sure she wouldn't slip and fall completely into the puddle of blood and guts in her attempt to get out. Was there a pot hole or something there? He took a closer look at the area and… it had a very distinct shape to it. He blinked a few times and his jaw almost dropped. Probably would have if not for not wanting to take in any more of the smells. "Um, Aina, now, don't be alarmed, but…" Kazuo gulped and motioned to the puddle she had just stepped in. "I think that's a footprint."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:13 pm

Aina made another sound as she tried not to throw up again as her foot sunk into the sludge. But it wasn't just that that was the problem, she turned and looked at Kazuo with wide eyes as she could only state, "It's in my boot..." in vocal tone that suggested she might actually cry.

She really didn't want to look down as she felt everything inside her boot get soggy, and Kazuo's statement didn't help much. But she finally looked down and swallowed hard, trying to ignore the racing of her own heart at the thought of just how huge the monster had to be.

Glancing around she realized she couldn't pull herself out without falling and glanced at Kazuo. "Uh... give me a hand? My foot is kinda... stuck... I think..." she said, shaking her head.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:31 pm

Kazuo nodded and stepped up next to Aina, lifting one of her arms and placing it over his shoulders, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Don't go dragging me down now. I already need a new pair of pants after this; I don't think I could afford a new vest. Do you have any idea how much these things cost?" He gave her a nod and a grin before gently moving away from the gore-filled foot print, making sure Aina could lean her weight on him to make sure she didn't slip. He subtly channelled chakra into his feet to ensure his own footing. He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't want to fall into this. He probably would puke at that point.

Once she was safely out, he noticed Koji at the edge of the clearing, nosing at another print, trying to catch a scent over the blood and guts. Kazu smiled at the dog before glancing down at Aina. "Uh, unless you want to stay here a little longer, maybe fill the other boot to balance it out, I think Koji found the trail again." He was still holding her in his arms at that point, a lopsided smile on his face, though the crinkling of his nose would tell her just how much the smell was starting to get to him.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:40 pm

Aina frowned as she hung on to Kazuo, trying not to put her full weight on him or unbalance him in a way that might knock him down. "Actually I do know how much one costs." she replied as they moved, grimacing as she remembered the ordeal that had led to the replacement of her own. "I only just replaced mine after the invasion, my last one was hardly useable after the way they slashed it..." She nearly bit her tongue just to keep from saying much more, suddenly finding she didn't want Kazuo to know of her embarrassment, the fact that she'd been taken hostage in the entire ordeal. She still hated herself for it, and for the fact that she felt like her being held hostage had been what lead to her Clan Leader's death.

At least in all the terrible smells in that place, the closeness to Kazuo gave her nose a bit of a distraction, it was the first time she noticed the Inuzuka smelled pretty good, and it took everything she had not to blush slightly as she realized this. 'Knock it off.' she mentally chided herself. 'Forget it, it's not worth it.' she thought to herself, reminding herself of the pain she'd been going through with Minoru being in a coma, and her promise to herself to never let it happen again.

She was more than a little glad to be out of that muck and for the distraction as Kazuo spoke up, and Aina nodded. "Let's get on this things trail then I guess... I just hope we have a chance against the bastard..."

Post by **Niro** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 5:14 am

The trio would find the trial of footprints and blood leading deeper into Fire Country and follow it.

Their original mission was to see who and why was testing the barrier, not to follow some abomination but sometimes they evolved during the course of the mission. They'd need to round back on the camp once they found this...thing.

The trail would lead them deeper into Fire Country where the footprints would continue and the shrubbery would be destroyed by the massive size of this beast. However, no scent of the beast would be able to be found by either of the Inuzuka clan members. Odd. It should smell like blood and gore, at least. But nothing, just the footprints were found.

Their trail would eventually come across a small fishing village of around 30.

Well, it had been a small fishing village of about 30.

The entire area was now destroyed. Homes were crushed and broken through while bodies were scattered everywhere. Some fires were lit, maybe to use against the attack but now they were just spreading through the evidence.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:24 pm

Kazu raised an eyebrow in curiosity at the mention of her vest getting destroyed but otherwise said nothing, simply nodding and making sure Aina was table before finally letting go of her and making his way over to Koji. He was nosing at a footprint, this one with a little less blood and gore in it. He was whining a little, looking between Kazuo and the footprint helplessly. "What's wrong?" Kazu sniffed at the footprint, wondering if there was something in there that was making it worse for Koji. What he found was possibly the most disturbing thing he could have hoped to find.

Nothing.

There was no scent of the beast. There was no scent trail leading from the footprint, not even lingering blood that, after a massacre like this, should have lingered on its fur or scales or whatever the hell it had. "Well that's not good." He at least understood why Koji was whining now. Not being able to get a scent was possibly the worst thing that could happen to an Inuzuka while tracking. He scratched behind the dog's ears, "It's not your fault buddy." He turned to Aina. "It's masking its scent somehow. We can't get a scent. I suppose we'll be tracking it the old fashioned way."

He glanced down at the giant footprint. He doubted it was going to be difficult. "Call me crazy, but I think it went this way." The forest gave way to Fire Country. He rarely ventured outside of the forest surrounding Konoha. He was only a Chuunin, his jurisdiction as a member of Mamorinuku was pretty much limited entirely to the forest and that was about it. And so he started to follow the trail, eyeing the destruction of the land that this creature had left in its wake. He really hoped that they found it before anyone else wound up dead.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:39 am

Aina followed Kazuo again, periodically activating her doujutsu to check the area before giving her eyes a rest. She didn't want to overuse it after all. She noticed Koji's behavior as well and watched Kazuo comfort the pup before explaining things to Aina at which point she simply nodded and followed the pair once more.

The destruction was terrible. It might not have been a pile of corpses and gore like before, but it was still terrible and Aina was sickened by it. The only reason she didn't get physically ill this time was because after what they'd seen before, nothing would be quite as bad as that. "We need to make sure this thing doesn't see us once we do find it." the Hyuuga remarked, doing another check of the area with her eyes.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:13 am

Kazuo was about to open with some sarcastic comment but cut himself short. Perhaps right now wasn't the best time to be a smartarse. "I'm sure that won't be a problem. Given the size of the thing, we'll probably see it long before it sees us." He was running alongside Koji, who was putting all of his effort into searching for the next footprint. Apparently the dog was annoyed he couldn't track whatever this beast was by scent anymore. Kazu shook his head at the dogs pride and looked up to see a mass of black dots swirling above a village in the distance. That many birds in one place… "Oh no."

Picking up his speed, unconsciously leaving Aina and Koji behind. That smell hit him, the smell of burning flesh, and he lost all forward momentum. The village was in ruins. Fires were running rampant, all he could smell was blood and burning flesh. His teeth came together with a resounding snap, jaw clenched as tightly as it possibly could, but lips open and baring his fangs. He brought his fist down into the ground, hard enough to crack it. "Damn it!"

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:30 am

Aina ran after Kazuo as he bolted ahead, trying desperately to ignore the sound and feel of squishing in her boot as she moved. 'God this is going to get annoying... as if it's not nasty enough as it is...' she thought to herself with disgust.

By time she came up beside him, she jumped as he punched the ground and she looked out over the village, activating her eyes again as she looked through as much as she could from this distance. "Another one..." she said quietly. "But it didn't pile the bodies this time... maybe it only does that when it feeds? So why feed on one group but not the other.... was it just defending itself from attack this time?" Aina was muttering, mostly musing to herself as she looked out over that village and finally dropped the intense gaze of her clan before looking to Kazuo.

She rest a hand on his shoulder and gave a light squeeze, her attempt to be reassuring though she already felt like she was bad at it. "Come on." she said quietly. "Let's go."

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:42 pm

What in the hell were they even following? Some kind of monster, obviously, but what had caused it to appear? Why was it cutting a path of destruction through the country? He clenched his fist tighter but slowly stood up when he felt Aina's hand on his shoulder. For right now, he was doing his best to not focus on his nose. He didn't think he'd be able to function properly if he had to smell burning corpses again. "Yeah." Koji was at his side by this point, nudging at his ankle, before turning a glare on the village ahead. The dog was just as pissed off as the master was it appeared. Kazu ran a hand over his head and back. "We're going to find this thing and we're going to crush it." Koji barked once in approval of the plan and started forward again.

Walking through the ruins, Kazuo glanced from side to side, taking in the bodies and the fires and the wanton destruction. He inspected a few of the corpses to see if they had been chewed on like the others or if Aina was right and this wasn't a feeding frenzy but just mindless slaughter. He didn't pause for long though, following the clear path of devastation and the footprints. They couldn't afford to lose any ground by slowing down now.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:02 pm

Aina followed Kazuo and Koji closely, checking the area periodically, but what Kazuo said bothered her. "Kazu, this thing might be too big for us, we might have to settle for gathering intel on it and taking that back." she reminded him, despite knowing he was mad and just might snap back at her for her remarks. "We're no good to anyone if we just get ourselves killed."

Hell she hated her own words, but she knew it was true. It was a lesson her father had hammered into her head over and over again since she was a kid, and now she was living the choice it seemed. She couldn't imagine this beast being something they were capable of taking down, given it's path of destruction.

Part of her was scared to face it, and yet part of her was hoping, every time she used her Byakugan, that she might catch a glimpse of the beast in the distance.

Post by **Niro** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 7:15 pm

The bodies were just...mangled. Not as if they had been fed on but rather that they had been attacked, or hunted or whatever verb you wished to use, as sport. A play thing for the beast to kill some time and wane its boredom.

And then...

A roar. It was in the distance, farther up the coast where some mountains resided.

The tracks were fresh from the village and the beast close. Now the trio just had to close in on it to either try their luck or play the safe route...Gather intel and report back to command.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 8:16 pm

"I'm aware of that," Kazu started with a grunt. That was the standard operating procedure for all Sekkoutai missions. Track, gather intel, report back, let someone else handle the heavy lifting. He ground his back teeth together hard enough that it was audible before letting out a harsh sigh. "But you're right. We need to find this thing at least, give a report on what it is we're up against. And if you're right and it's too much for us to handle, we'll fall back." The growling coming from Koji suggested he wasn't exactly happy with this plan. "Yeah well, I aint happy with it either. But she has a point. We're no good to anyone if we're dead."

He cursed his luck and was about to head off when he heard the sound echoing in the distance. Holy fucking crap that thing was loud. "… You know what; definitely going with standard operating procedures." Any feelings of vengeance or cutting this thing down to size went right out the window with that roar. That was loud enough that he hadn't been using his enhanced hearing and was about to pick it up clearly. Turning to Aina, his angry face replaced by one of sheer astonishment, he cleared his throat. "So, uh, ladies first? Hehe."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:35 pm

Aina frowned as Kazuo seemed to snap at her in response, though in truth she’d expected it in some form. She was glad to hear him agree with her however, simply because she didn’t fancy the idea of being killed because some guy couldn’t calm his own ego.

Then there was the roar. Aina stopped dead in her tracks and stared towards the direction it had come from, she didn’t even realize until Kazuo spoke that she’d been holding her breath, and of course what he said made her frown at him again. Normally Aina would not have been the first to move, but she was almost annoyed as she rolled her eyes and walked past him. ”Two seconds ago you wanted to hunt it and destroy it despite the size of those prints… what, did your tail tuck itself between your legs?” she quipped as she smirked at the Inuzuka and walked past both him and his dog.

Though in truth, despite moving forward, Aina really did not want to be first in meeting this thing. Part of her was hoping he’d get upset by her words and at least walk beside her. It might have made her feel a bit better at least.

Post by **Niro** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:11 pm

Meanwhile, in the mountains up the coast...

The beast roared again as it faced off a pack of mountain lions that had come together once the threat had been sensed in the mountains. A group of 15 wild cats surrounded the beast in hostile positions.

The group of 3 behind the monster leapt, letting out yowls and growls. A massive tail whip flew through the air and crashed into the large cats, tossing them into a solid rock wall where they became unresponsive. The beast, a gigantic scaled lizard, rushed the remaining cats and tore into them as if they were nothing at all to the beast. Their remains littered the area as the reptile roared again, the wild cat blood seeping into the stones of the mountains.

While the monster was busy in the mountains, the trio had been making their way through the town and towards the beast.

The entrance to the area was a mountain path that was...scratched. It was the easiest word to describe the walls. Deep gouges in the stone met their eyes that would give away the claw size and maybe even the strength of the beast.

Did they really wish to continue hunting it?

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:09 pm

Kazuo came up short at that. He opened his mouth, a hand raised, and then shut his mouth again. The process repeated a few times before the Inuzuka quickly stomped up alongside Aina, arms folded and muttering under his breath. "Show you tail between my legs. You've got your tail between your legs. Bloody woman." Koji let out a snort of air at Kazuo's quick mood swings with a slight shake of his head, trotting along beside the pair of humans.

Coming up on the mountains, Kazuo eyed the opening to the ridge with a slight frown, trying to gauge the depth of the gouges in the sides. Whatever this thing was, it most definitely had claws. As if the footprints weren't enough. When they got closer, Kazuo broke away from formation slightly and walked up the side of the cliff face, chakra flooding into his feet to make sure he could actually achieve the feat. Coming up to one of the claw marks he put his hand into the opening and kept going until he touched the back of the rock. He had reached in up to his elbow. He took out his arm and looked at his hand, picturing the claws that he usually grew in combat. Whatever this thing was, he didn't have shit on it.

The echoing roar that bounced off the ridge walls made Kazu wince, clapping his hands over his ears. It appeared the damn thing was fighting again. The Inuzuka pushed off the side of the mountain, cutting off the flow of chakra to his feet, and landed at Aina's side with knees bent to absorb the impact. He stood up to his full height with a frown clearly visible on his face. "You know, I'm starting to think you were definitely right. We should probably go back for help." He looked up at the mountain pass and his frown turned into a more thoughtful expression. "But if we leave it, who knows how many more villages it will annihilate. The hell are we supposed to do?"

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:24 pm

Aina watched Kazuo work, a frown visible on her face as she swallowed hard and activated her byakugan again. She listened to what Kazuo said, but the young Hyuuga visibly tensed and froze at what she saw. ”We don’t have a choice, Kazu.” she said quietly, deactivating her byakugan and giving the Inuzuka a look. She didn’t look like she was going to be sick again, but the fear would be clear as day in her eyes. ”We can’t take that thing.” she told him, glancing down at Koji before returning her eyes to Kazuo.

”We go back to the first camp, find out why they were there, and get back to the village as quickly as possible. Our best bet is to get back as quickly as we can so they can deploy someone whose capable of dealing with that thing. Us three wouldn’t survive the encounter.” She’d wait for Kazuo’s response before turning and heading back towards the first encampment.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:55 pm

"And what about in the meantime? That thing could go on another rampage." Kazuo frowned before looking between Aina and the ravine. "… How far can your eyes see? Is there an opening on the other end or is the pass only one way?" The thoughts were running a mile a minute, but he was quickly looking between the entrance to the mountain pass, the top of said entrance, and then the pass itself. If it was sealed on the other end… "We can probably trap the big bastard. Keep it locked in here until we can get reinforcements out here to deal with it."

He knelt down and pulled his hip pouch from his belt, opening it up to take out all of his exploding tags. He detached the ones he kept tied around a few kunai for quick use in combat and added them to the pile as well. In total it was seven of the slips of paper. It was probably enough. "I mean, even if it isn't sealed on the other end, we could probably blow up the other opening as well. I mean, yeah, it's gonna suck to have to run all the way to the other end, but we can cross over the mountain rather than use the pass. Avoid the beastie that way."

It wasn't the greatest plan in the world, but it would hopefully be enough to hold the monster long enough to get people out here to deal with it.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:07 pm

Aina stopped in her tracks and frowned as she turned back around to activate her byakugan again. ”Looks like this is the only way in or out.” she remarked, turning to look at Kazuo a moment with that frown still on her lips. ”I don’t carry any tags or anything on me so whatever you have is all we got.” she added, turning to look in the direction of the monster again, watching it’s movements carefully.

”I’ll keep an eye on it while you place them… you owe me though.” she said, the last bit being more of a mutter as she really didn’t feel comfortable sticking around this beast. But she knew Kazuo was right. They couldn’t really stick around, true, but they couldn’t just let it run rampant either.

Sanjuro · Post by **Sanjuro** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 4:25 pm

Kazuo gathered up the tags and waved over his shoulder at Aina as he started scaling the walls again. "Yeah, yeah, I'll buy you dinner or something when we get back to the village." He had picked up on the mutter as clear as day, not realizing he hadn't been meant to hear it. Reaching the top of the entrance to the ravine, Kazu took out a kunai and started to dig into the earth a bit, burying the exploding tag so the force would push against the rock entirely and not just release half of its energy into the open air. He repeated the process for each exploding tag, crossing over the ravine entrance with a massive leap, and did the same to the other side.

Once again he jumped down to Aina's side and started running through the same set of hand seals twice. He honestly hadn't considered the size of the explosion in his plan. The hand seals triggered the tags and the resulting landslide certainly did the job of sealing the path. It also sent a lot of the debris straight for the trio. "We, uh, may want to run now!" Picking up Koji by the scruff of his neck and tossing the dog over his shoulder, Kazuo dug his feet into the ground and started running in the direction they came as fast as he could. "Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!"

Name	Village	Rank	Team
Tatsuo [color=#940839][b]	Iwa	Tsuchikage	Team 18 Jousai
Kinomichi [color=limegreen][b]	Iwa	Bannin	Jousai
Kotetsu [color=slategray][b]	Iwa	Genin	Team 7
Ashura [color=coral][b]	Suna	Genin
Sai [color=#FF14A1][b]	Kiri - MN	D-Rank
Yamato [color=#C71585][b]	Kiri	A-Rank

Name	Village	Rank	Color Code
Hirohito, Hideki	Kirigakure	Bannin	#0047AB
Higurashi, Kazuo	Iwagakure	Special Jounin	#FFC40C
Akechi, Gendo	Cold Country	C-Rank	pink

Name	Village	Rank	Color Code
Hirohito, Hideki	Kirigakure	Bannin	#0047AB
Higurashi, Kazuo	Iwagakure	Special Jounin	#FFC40C
Akechi, Gendo	Cold Country	C-Rank	pink

Name	Village	Rank	Color Code
Hirohito, Hideki	Kirigakure	Bannin	#0047AB
Higurashi, Kazuo	Iwagakure	Special Jounin	#FFC40C
Akechi, Gendo	Cold Country	C-Rank	pink

Name	Village	Rank	Color Code
Hirohito, Hideki	Kirigakure	Bannin	#0047AB
Higurashi, Kazuo	Iwagakure	Special Jounin	#FFC40C
Akechi, Gendo	Cold Country	C-Rank	pink