[Graded][Plotboard] The Kindness of Strangers

[Sanjuro]

When footsteps struck the planks of the bridge, Daiichi didn't even raise his head. He stifled a scream, dropped the binding from the wheel that he was trying to reattach and crawled under the cart as quickly as possible. In tears, digging his back into the rough coat of mud and manure that covered the underside of the carriage's floor, he was screaming intermittently and trembling with fear. The footsteps slowly approached the cart, Daiichi noticed how cautiously and delicately the sandals moved on the beams that were mouldy and rotted through. He bit his knuckles, attempted to silence his screams, as the legs attached to the sandals slowly bent down until there was a face staring at him. Young but with defined features, marked by dirt and grime attributed with a hard day's travel, but with two dark red tattoos standing out on each cheek.

"Get out of there."

Daiichi hissed through his teeth, regathering his wits. Another set of footsteps drew his attention, falling in beside the crouching figure. A glint of metal underneath the wild mane of brown hair drew his eyes, and he spied the symbol of a ninja. The metal forehead protector engraved with a spiral-like leaf. Konoha ninja had shown up!

Kazuo smiled, offering what comfort he could, and nodded. "Come out, friend. I won't do you any harm." He looked up, obviously looking towards his compatriot. "Yoshi, grab my canteen for our friend here."

There was something in the voice that was reassuring and intriguing, although the tone was not pleasant. Muttering prayers to several gods at once, Daiichi at last stuck his head cautiously out from under the carriage. The ninja had a long mane of brown hair, tied into a tail that reached the small of his back held back by the black cloth headband, and a black wool coat that was tattered around the edges and currently scraping up the muck from the bridge as he crouched down. The second figure was younger than the first, with shorter black hair with no headband, but the metal identifier of a ninja was strapped around his waist on a blue sash.

Daiichi extricated himself with difficulty, grumbling. He wiped his nose on the back of his hand, smearing his face with wood tar from the axle. The ninja darted a look to the broken wheel before turning dark brown eyes with slit-like pupils back to the man.

"We can help you get moving again, as soon as you tell us what happened here." Kazuo motioned for the man he had addressed as Yoshi to pass the canteen to the merchant. The ninja's eyes shrewedly passed over the cart, noticing the distinct signs of violence. Long gashes along the edges of the cart, blood that had yet to fully dry, and reigns and a harness that had been ravaged. "Yoshi, keep an eye out for me would you? Koji should be catching up soon."

[Niro]

Yoshinori and Kazuo had been dispatched to check out some of the roads and smaller settlements throughout Fire Country. It was up to them to make sure they weren't having any issues and, if they did have an issue, it was their job to make sure the issue was fixed. The older shinobi had caught led them deeper into the forest of Fire Country as they came across a damaged cart. The two had crossed a bridge over a small canyon which had served as an ambush point according to the scene in front of them. A figure had quickly scurried under the cart as the planks clanked around in response to their weight.

Kazuo bent down to the man and started to converse with the figure while Yoshinori wasn't sure if it was a survivor or a foe. The young chuunin stood on guard, a hand hovering over a kunai holster just incase there was trouble. Finally, Kazuo called for his canteen and Yoshi grumbled about being 'pack mule' and 'extra inventory' before proceeding to hand the aforementioned item to the special jounin by tapping his shoulder with it.

"Take the damn thing already."

Yoshinori then returned to his post of being on guard, this time his attention had been shifted to the treeline and bridge. The figure had been a survivor and there was a chance someone had been watching to finish him off and finally procure the cart.

"Where is that damn dog anyway? You'd figure he'd be right up your ass like usual." Yoshinori snarked at his elder in jest.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo took the canteen and grinned at Yoshi's attitude. He understood the feeling of being the pack mule all too well; really, it was a Chuunin tradition at this point. Finally promoted from the boring days of chore-like missions only to realize that Chuunin's were glorified administrators or overly skilled labourers nine times out of ten.

"Who knows with that mutt. Probably caught the scent of fresh meat and went to find it. The older he gets the more he thinks he's the alpha. I'm going to have to put him in his place again sooner or later."

With a shake of his head, the Inuzuka turned his attention back to and passed the canteen to the merchant, who took it and drank from it greedily and deeply. His face was covered in the muck and shit that was attached to the underside of the cart but there were no obvious signs of injuries on him.

"My thanks, ninja of Konoha." Daiichi muttered, splashing some of the water onto his face once he had had his fill to clear some of the filth. "I had feared the beasts of the woods had returned. Assaulted, we were; killed my ass, dragged it off into the trees, and the pathetic cowards I call a pair of sons ran at the first sign of danger." The merchant handed the canteen, now empty much to Kazuo's chagrin, back to the ninja who stowed it in a pouch tied to his belt.

"Beasts? What manner of beast? Wolves, wild dogs, mountain lions?" Daiichi shook his head harshly at all the suggestions. "Then what man? Speak, quickly."

"Some manner of monster or demon. Like men, but with arms that touch the ground, thick as tree trunks. Skin so dark it was impossible to see them coming from the shadows."

Kazuo frowned. "Right. Well, we'll keep a look out for these demons. Let's get your cart back on the road shall we." Standing up, Kazuo brushed off his hands and moved underneath the cart, taking the place of Daiichi. "Yoshi, I'm going to lift this damn thing. Help our friend here reattach the wheel. Quickly, we're not far from Nagiso and we should try and get there before night fall. Don't want to get ambushed by demons that can hide in the dark."

He was perhaps only a little mocking at the idea of being ambushed by demons.

[Niro]

Yoshinori snorted at the mention of putting Koji in his place. That damn dog had tormented him since he was a child and if anything, he knew the dog would find some sort of wily way to pull a fast one on his master.

"Hopefully he cleans up before he waltzes in here then or else he might scare our friend here even more with blood all over his muzzle." Yoshi commented as the man detailed the events which had happened here. As he told his story, Yoshi's brow furrowed in worry. The monsters he described sounded something like ogres from fairy tales and the spirit world which meant he was glad to have someone as strong as Kazuo with him for this. If what the merchant had said was true, the pair was in for quite a ride.

Kazuo slid under the cart and pushed it upwards with his monstrous strength. Yoshi just stared in jealously for a moment before sighing and moving into place with Daiichi to reattach the wheel to the axle of the cart. With a grunt and a well placed shove, the wheel snapped back into place and Yoshi slapped the cart a few times to indicate the deed had been finished.

"Wheel is reattached and ready to go. Think we should wait for Koji or should we just get moving? 'Cause if we're gonna want to move this cart, one of you is gonna be the one lugging it around until we reach town." Yoshi shrugged. Compared to the strength of Kazuo and even to Koji, Yoshinori was weak and would in no way be able to lug around a cart and the man atop of it.

[Sanjuro]

"I'll call him but let's get moving. I want to at least get off this bridge, we are way too exposed out here if something does decide to attack."

Gently lowering the cart back to the ground, Kazuo slid out from underneath and did his best to wipe his hands free of the muck that now covered them. As he did he made a quick hand seal and gathered chakra in his throat and across his lips. A shrill, chakra-enhanced whistle followed, one that could very easily echo for some distance but was of a high enough pitch that only creatures with a higher sense of hearing would be able to pick it up. It was a useful Inuzuka trick, to be sure.

"Alright, let's get a wriggle on, shall we? Sir, get in the wagon. Yoshi, rear guard."

Moving to the front, he lifted the two beams of wood that had once held the mule's harness. The wagon was heavy, to be sure, but nothing he couldn't handle pulling for a few hours. Even Special Jounin's were relegated to little more than manual labourers on occasion. With a grunt of effort, Kazuo soon had the wagon moving forward, Daiichi seated atop it and making himself as small as possible, eyes constantly darting about, watching the tree line on the opposite side of the ravine.

From the shadows under the swaying wooden bridge, several figures began to emerge as soon as they had started moving. Large, lumbering arms that looked more beast than man curled up and around, pulling masses of rippling muscle with it. They were approaching from the rear of the wagon, completely out of Kazuo's field of vision, but right behind Yoshinori. One managed to pull itself all the way onto the bridge, looming over Yoshi, it's body easily as tall as Kazuo, a hulking mass of muscle and inky-black skin. In two bounds it would be on top of the Chuunin, large, clawed arm ready to split him in two.

[Niro]

The normal scowl of Yoshinori's face came back into existence as the two shinobi began preparations to travel with the cart and merchant. He fell into the rear guard as ordered by his superior and began to silently scan the area around them for any sort of clue towards these demons that had apparently attacked before hand.

As they began crossing the bridge, something seemed wrong. The feeling of being watched wouldn't shake itself from Yoshinori's mind and he began to sweat a bit as they became even more vulnerable. A glimpse of movement made the chuunin's eyes widened in realization.

"Kazuo! They're behind us and under the bridge, go!" Yoshinori shouted and slapped the back end of the cart as one of the beasts moved in on the group and aimed specifically for him. He tensed his lower body and grunted as he resealed the pent up power by aiming a kick at incoming appendage, specifically the wrist, knocking it away from Yoshinori and off to the side before the chuunin continued on and launched another kick at the beasts end to send it stumbling over the edge of the bridge.

"They're fast and we got more coming!" He continued on as he began his own run to the other side of the passage.

SpoilerShow

*[Strong Fist Style • Great Leaf Flash]
C-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite: *[Strong Fist Style • Balance]
The user will tense the muscles in their lower body to a great degree. Doing so causes them to briefly become immobile but creates an enormous amount of pent up energy. By bringing their back leg forward in a straight kick they release all of this energy in a single explosive burst. This can take out a lot of defenses and unless they’re supported by outside forces will knock a kicked foe back a number of yards equal to the difference in their strength and the practitioner's.

*[Strong Fist Style • Rising Leaf Wind]
C-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite: (Instinct+Taijutsu)/2 greater than opponent's taijutsu
A disrupting kick that can be launched from nearly any position. This kick is delivered quickly and at 3/4 strength but is aimed at any possible opening and extremely difficult to defend against, quickening the tempo the practitioner is keeping.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo's ears twitched when Yoshi started calling out. He turned and glanced around the cart in time to see his young friend kicking at… nothing? His foot looked like it was meeting with resistance in mid air but there was nothing that Kazuo could see. He sniffed and smelt nothing either. Was it a Genjutsu of some kind? As Kazuo moved to lower the cart and talk Yoshi down, he noticed that there wasn't nothing there. There was a shadow cast on the ground. A moment later the entire bridge shook as Yoshi delivered a powerful kick and Kazuo watched as the railing on one side was shattered by an invisible force.

Or an invisible creature.

"What are you doing master ninja!? Get me out of here before they kill me!"

Snapping back to reality, Kazuo grunting and made a few hand seals, funnelling chakra to his limbs that would serve to enhance his strength even further. Grabbing the cart's old tack once more, he took off at a run which far belied what should have been possible for a human pulling a loaded wagon by hand. What would have been a three-minute crossing for even a horse at full gallop became a one-minute rush of adrenaline and movement. Once Kazuo had crossed, he leapt up and over the wagon, landing behind it on all fours and ready to charge onto the bridge when he finally heard the return howl from the whistle.

Koji broke through the tree line on the other side of the ravine, running at a full sprint, covering the distance between the beginning of the bridge and Yoshi in but a few bounds. Another of the shadow creatures landed heavily on the bridge, having leapt from the ravine wall in a display of strength and athletics that would have been incredible to those that could see it; at this point it seemed only Yoshinori was close enough. Koji sprang with a savage growl, canine teeth uncovered, and the ears pressed close backwards on his head. There was a shuddering groan of the bridge at the impact of the beast hitting the ground and Koji atop it, tearing and biting with a savage ferocity.

Kazuo's eyes snapped across to the already worn looking rope that held the bridge in place and swore as it began to bend under the combined weight of everything on it. "Get off the damn bridge! It's gonna collapse!" As he shouted, a third shadow creature landed on the bridge, between Yoshi and Kazuo, effectively cutting off their escape and with a quiet snap the rope broke. Kazuo darted forward and grabbed it, holding the bridge in place, and almost tore his shoulder from its socket in the process.

Now, with a clearer view, the beast was distinctly primate in nature. Powerful upper body, huge lumbering arms, but smaller legs. Its head was small and unthreatening compared to the rest of the body, but it had dark, pitch black eyes that seemed almost luminescent. Those eyes were focused directly on Yoshinori.

TechniquesShow

[Four-Legged Technique • Warwolf]
B-Rank Ninjutsu
An advancement on the standard Four-Legged Technique. After performing the necessary hand seals, Kazuo will flood his system with chakra and take on a more canine appearance. His pupils will become nothing more than slivers, his teeth will sharpen and his canines will extend into full-blown fangs, his nails extend into razor-sharp claws, and he will be able to travel faster on all fours. He will also have a slight increase in muscle mass, most obviously noticeable in his upper body. While active, this technique increases Kazuo's Strength by 5 and Speed by 4, although this comes at the cost of -9 Control over his chakra for 5 posts.

[Spat • Bestial Assault]
C-Rank Taijutsu Manoeuvre
Koji approaches his target at maximum speed, darting rapidly from left to right during the approach in an attempt to confuse the target and avoid a counter attack. Once in range he will leap at the target, aiming to use the momentum of the charge and his Strength to knock them down. If this is successful Koji will unleash a flurry of bites and scratches to take full advantage of the situation and end the fight quickly.